Spying for Dragons...

(Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me. It all belongs to Patricia C. Wrede...well, except for Samiel)

(A/N: The first chapter is going to be really short, and I'm sorry about that! I usually update every day to every other day, and the next chapter will be longer. Please R&R)

Chapter One: Meet the Wizard

I'm not a bad person...Truly, I'm not. It's not my fault my father forced me to become a wizard.

And that's what I am. A wizard. All because of a stupid mix-up when my father was drunk.

That, actually, is probably the sad story of my life. My name is Samiel... Either my father couldn't spell 'Samuel' or he staggered home when he was drunk and asked my mother, "When's 'sa meal going to be ready?" and decided he liked it. I don't know how this came to be my name, but it definitely wasn't his creative effort.

When I was little, I always wanted to be someone famous. At first, I wanted to be a hero.

That lasted until about the time I was twelve, when I actually met my first hero. It was then I realized that stupidity seemed to run in their blood. No, a hero wasn't the job for me.

Then, I wanted to be a magician. That lasted about a month, actually. I tried to read a book on being a magician, but I couldn't figure out what half of the words were. That ended any thoughts of that particular job.

Next, I decided I was going to become a renouned swordsman. I practiced day and night with a wooden practice sword until I was about seventeen. Then, sadly, I realized that I couldn't even lift a real sword, let alone use it.

And so it continued. I liked a job, I tried it out, I hated the job.

One night, I came home after helping a neighbor with her animal menagerie. Well, maybe not a real menagerie, but she had loads of animals, some of which could talk. She had wanted help with her new pet lizard, because she couldn't figure out what it ate.

When I finally got home, it was really late. My mother had gone to sleep, and my father had just gotten home from drinking date with his buddies.

"Wher'v you been?" he slurred when I walked in the door.

"I was helping Mrs. Nelvin with her new pet lizard."

" 'Eh?" My father asked thickly, staring drunkenly past me with a stupid smile on his face.

"LIZARD." I said loudly.

"Wizard? Why o' course. Perfect job. Wizard. You'll be a wizard."

With that, my idiot of a father stumped out of the house.

I stared after him, dumbfounded. After a few moments, I reassured myself. He wouldn't actually find a wizard. No, he'd probably get lost and stagger home in the morning.

With that, I went up to bed, certain I was right.

I wasn't.

The next morning when I came down the stairs, my father and mother were in the kitchen, as usual. However, there was also another man there.

"Gotcher a wizard." Dad said proudly.

I tripped over the last step. "You what?"

The man looked shrewdly at me, eyes glinting. He was dressed in blue robes and held a stick.

"So, you want to join the ranks of the wizards, do you?" He asked smoothly. His voice was smooth and precise, and I could tell right away that he was not a nice person.

"A-actually, father just heard wron-"

I bit the end of my sentence off at the wizard's look. He wasn't someone to mess with, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. Briefly, I imagined what I'd look like if I contradicted him. It wasn't pretty.

"Er...yeah." I ended lamely. I knew I should have said no. I really should have. But no turning back now...

And that was it. Immediately, I was taken to the wizard's council. They apparently decided that I was worthy, and made me a wizard. I have the staff and everything.

Wizards, as you know, have a pretty nasty reputation...and for good reason. The first council meeting that I ever attended, they were already plotting to capture someone named "Shiara" and demand the King of the Enchanted Forest to take whatever spell he had on his kingdom that prevented the wizards to soak up magic into their staffs away.

Or something like that.

Personally, I've never used any magic. It just seems...wrong. Kind of like stealing. One of the first things that I learned was that wizards took magic from other people or things and used it as their own.

So maybe I was stuck being a wizard, but I wasn't actually going to be a wizard.

I didn't like what the wizards were plotting.

I didn't like how they decided to fulfill their plan.

Heck, I didn't even like them.

And yet, I was one of the wizards elected to do the dirty work and capture the girl. How did that work? I still don't know...

All I knew was that I really, really, really didn't want to help. Actually, I wanted to stop them. The problem was, I was trapped. I couldn't stop them if I tried. There was nothing whatsoever that I could do.

As I sat alone after the meeting, I sighed.

Suddenly, I really wished I had decided to be a hero...

(A/N: Yeah, like I said, it's really short. And I'm really sorry about that, but the next chapters are longer. Please, R&R!)