I am drawing heavily on The Inheritance Cycle with how Eragon learns magic from Oromis, reading, writing and learning to approach the magic in a scholarly way, vs just free shooting it...

Dusting along the east wing, Orion saw books on all sorts of subjects. Bestiaries, Chronicles of ancient kings, tales of magic and so on. It was amazing, he could not wait to read them all and was making a long list of things to read when he had the chance. However, the place was very, very dusty and so he worked hard to make it shine for Geoffrey. All seemed well, he was devoted to his task... and only then did he realize he forgot the ladder.

"Damn." He said and so stood on a bookshelf to reach a higher shelf, only for the entire section to move, turning around in one single swinging motion. "AHH!" But his cries were swallowed up by the new room he was in, one covered in cobwebs and dust and many other objects. The air was filled with something sharp, warm, like the breathing mouth of a dragon before it ate you. "What is this place?" Looking around, he saw a books on the ground and a chest, all strew about as if they left in a hurry... and then he knew. "This might be from when magic was still practiced in Camelot, the dust and the cobwebs, the secret space... should I tell Geoffrey or should I..." Shivering, he continued to look about, hearing a muffled knocking sound. Leaning down, he realized it was coming from the box, the chest. Grabbing it, he was barely able to move it up. He heard more muffled moving and recoiled. "Stay away from that... sorry, whatever is inside, I cannot risk any trouble." He moved the chest to the end of the room so he would not trip over it. With that done, he moved around and zeroed in on a single book on a table.

Approaching it, he absently opened it, only to gasp... the words were in a language he did not recognize, but knew well enough was magic. He had heard magic users in the past, Thomas Collins was a prolific healer and Orion had run into him a few times before, the words looked like those spells sounded. Absently, his hand moved over the pages, feeling their rough texture. "Magic...should... I should give this to the King, say where I found this... or can I... I always wanted to learn the craft, always... to help others, to help myself..." He shivered, pain rushing through his very soul. "This place, the things inside here must be magical, or tied to magic to warrant such masking, at least in part. As long as I do not reveal this place, I can practice in secret, no one else likely even knows of this place, but I must practice in secret... I need to translate these words, there must be a way to translate the ancient language... I can look about here, but not until tonight, when Geoffrey is asleep... I need to leave, and only then can I practice..."

Hurrying to the bookshelf, he pressed the switch and turned with the shelf to the rest of the library. Thankful he had only been gone a few minutes, he continued his work. He would end up mopping the floor and collecting twenty books for Geoffrey to evaluate. Then, from after Lunch til four, he would be assessed for his skills in reading, writing and arithmetic. The man was amazed with what he was capable of and only had to inform him on a few words he had been mispronouncing.

"I think you've earned the rest of the day off, I do not want to overwhelm you too much on your first day. Read to your heart's content and take whatever you wish to your room." Geoffrey said, a smile on his withered face.

Beaming, Orion nodded. "I will, I saw an interesting bestiary in the East Wing that drew me." Bowing softly to the older man, he turned and walked away, shaking with excitement and happiness and more fear than he wanted to express naturally.

"Oh and boy," He turned back to his new master. "I will be introducing you to King Uther later tonight, remember your manners... and do not speak without permission. King Uther's temperament has never been... the most palatable."

Orion just shivered, nodding. "I understand... um, perhaps before I met him, you can educate me on the proper procedure for how to behave?"

"That would be wise. Return to me when you hear the bells tolling, we will speak then."

And so, after nodding once more, he returned to his new secret room. With rag in hand, he started to restore the space as much as he could, making a mental note at the titles of the various tomes. Some were in the Language of magic and unreadable but most were in the common tongue. He noted there were books on magical creatures, objects of magic, magical history, tales of Priestesses, the Ancient Religion... and, to his utterly vast joy..."A tome of translation- The Ancient Language and the Common Tongue..." Pulling that tome from the shelf he sat it down and opened it up, and saw that it was exactly what it sounded like. "This is book on learning the Language of magic and translating it into the common tongue, I can learn the entire language this way, not just the spells. I can learn to know what the spells mean, so I know what to do with them,... this is amazing. And to think all of this was locked away because of Uther's fanatical hatred of magic.

I cannot allow anyone to find this... I need to find a way to spell this place from discovery... and maybe a preservation spell for my new collection! Yes, all good things... and maybe a spell to mask my presence, so I can study in secret... yes... all important things..." Shuddering with pleasure, the fourteen year old boy, sat down, opened the tome and began to read. "I will study this first and only then will I begin to study magic... yes, that seems wise... I have about two hours before I must return to Geoffrey, I think I can spend half of that reading this and the rest reading the Bestiary, so he never suspects I was not reading it or was somewhere I shouldn't be."

And like that, Orion, peasant boy and new apprentice to Geoffrey of Monmouth, began to study the language of magic, eager to practice an art that very well might result in his death...

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a blast to write. The Room he found is where the Goblin is, it is a real room, and there really was a grimoire in it! I suspect that learning a language of magic would help cast the spells better, you might be able to cast your own new spells if you understand the words!

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.