Chapter 14

30th Day of Deep Winter 768 n.c

We had just finished a delicious breakfast of fried potato cakes, sausages, eggs and bacon and I had helped Mother clean up ready to leave for church. Father, instead of being out getting the horses ready had sent Jocam, Daavid and Jara to do so. He was still sitting at the kitchen table. Dishes finished, Mother bustled Illith and Kara off to wash up and get ready.

"Sharein?" Father called to me as I was about to follow them, "Have a seat for a moment."

Tentatively, I sat down at the table, wondering if I had done something wrong; if Mother had told him about my visiting Shard's altar.

"Yes, Father?" I prompted, once I had sat.

He looked worried about something and didn't speak for a few moments.

Finally he said "Mother tells me that you have been offered an apprenticeship with the Wizard Malkarov. That you may start this, even before you have reached your seventeenth name day."

"Yes Father." I answered, worried at what was to come next.

"You are my eldest child Sharein. You might be a girl, but you are still my first born," he sighed and chuckled to himself wryly, "I had expected the better part of a year to prepare. Whenever you expressed a disinterest in the boys in Easthaven my heart leapt a little thinking that I wouldn't lose you. I knew it would happen eventually, of course, but I hoped it wouldn't for a bit longer. It makes me feel old, Shar."

I smiled warmly at his not-oft used nickname for me, my worry eased a little. This wasn't the sort of conversation he'd have with me if he intended to forbid it.

"I just want to know," he continued, "is this what you want, what you really want? The life of a wizard seems to be a lonely one, apart from everybody else. Do you really want to be Malkarov's apprentice?"

"Sharein's going to be a wizard!?" came the shout from the doorway to the bedrooms as Illith burst into the room.

I looked at her in shock, then back to father.

"Yes." I said, "that's what I want."

"All right then. Your Mother and I will have a word with Father Mattias before church." Father answered as he stood up. I stood up also; and was swamped by hugs from Illith, Father, Mother and Kara (who didn't seem to know what was going on, but never missed an opportunity for hugs).

Mari and I talked about inconsequential things for the first part of our trip into Easthaven, she seemed distracted though, looking frequently at the front where Mother and Missus Meadowbroek were in discussion.

Eventually though she turned back to me and whispered "Have you?"

Having absolutely no idea what she was talking about I responded "Have I what?"

"Have you met someone?"

Oh. With all the discussion this morning about my upcoming possible apprenticeship with the Wizard Malkarov, I'd managed to distract myself from the worry about Church and kissing Shard. Now that Mari had me thinking about it, my worries disappeared and were happily replaced by the fact that yes… I had met someone, and I spent the better part of yesterday kissing her senseless (and being kissed senseless in kind by her!)

Mari's sharp deep breath of realisation (and sudden clapping of both hands over her mouth) brought me back to reality, it also brought the attention of both of our Mothers onto us. Thankfully, they just laughed to themselves and went back to their discussion. I buried my face into my hands and peeked out at Mari through my slightly spread fingers.

"Who is she?" Mari asked quietly, "Is she from Easthaven?"

"I can't say." I whispered back. "But no, she isn't."

"Have you?" She began.

I prompted, "Have I what?"

"Have you kissed her?"

My blush must have been answer enough, for she let out a little squeal.

"I must apologist to Brahdi today, there is something to this paying attention thing after all." she giggled to herself. "What was it like?"

I thought about it for a moment, "Like nothing else. Like time stopped and nothing else existed. I've never felt that way before in my life."

And then I realised, and remembered who I was talking to. While kissing Shard was just so indescribable, the kiss from Mari was the only thing that came close.

"Well, almost never. Kissing family, or my cousin that one time was just… how do I put this?" I pondered.

I thought for a moment, "Water. Actually, kissing Brahm was more like stagnant water. Kissing you was like drinking rum before the Long Night. Kissing Sh.. her is like… oh. What tastes better than rum? What's stronger and takes your breath away better?"

Mari seemed to love my analogy, she laughed a little when I described my one foray into kissing boys as akin to drinking stagnant water.

"It's okay Sharein," Mari said, smiling, "I know exactly what you mean. For me, kissing you was like that sweet wine that Mother let us try this this past Spring. But kissing Tomas was whatever tastes better than rum for me."

I smiled in return, I was glad that kissing me wasn't like drinking stagnant water for her.

When we got to Easthaven, Father immediately set off in the direction of the church, leaving the care of the horse and cart to Jocam, Daavid and the Jara.

"Father says that you may be apprenticed to the Wizard Malkarov by the end of the day." Jocam said to me as we walked up to the church, slightly apart from everyone else.

"I very much hope so." I answered. As the eldest son, Jocam wouldn't usually do an apprenticeship as he would likely take over the family farm. Whilst Mother was a lot less traditional than Father, it would be unlikely that she would interfere with Father's decisions when it came to my brothers. Unlikely, but not impossible. "Would you be happy with the farm, or is there an apprenticeship you would rather do?"

He let out a little laugh, "I haven't really thought about it, but I think yes. The life of a farmer would suit me quite well. It's… comforting knowing that I don't have a lot of choice in the matter. Having to think about what I'd like to do for the rest of my life? I feel sorry for our brothers."

Whilst it was a little uncommon for girls to do an apprenticeship, the vast majority forewent it in favour of marriage. For boys it also wasn't that uncommon for them to have apprenticeships picked out for them by their fathers, but I didn't see Father ignoring their desires in that choice.

"What do you think would suit them?" I asked.

Jocam laughed, "If you asked them at the moment Daavid would say 'soldier' and Jara would copy him. There might be a blacksmithing apprenticeship available for one of them when they come of age."

"I have a feeling that Illith and Kara will both marry, although both are interested when Mother sews, so one might show an interest in a dressmaking apprenticeship." I told him.

We noticed Father heading towards us, he smiled at me as he got closer.

"I had a word with Father Mattias, he's asked me to go to the Wizard Malkarov's tower to request a meeting at the end of today's service. I have to hurry to get back in time for the service myself." He said, touching me briefly on the shoulder before hurrying off in the direction of the wizards tower.

Whilst the church was the biggest building in Easthaven, the Wizard Malkarov's tower was the tallest. It stretched up at least twice the height of the two-story Pig and Wheelbarrow Inn and made entirely of stone. It was not often anybody had any cause to go there, but it could be seen from almost any part of Easthaven.

It wouldn't take long for Father to get there, it was the closest building to the church, Father should make it back in time for service. This actually got me thinking about something else, I had never considered before. Everybody in Easthaven attends the tenday service; even visiting merchants, guards, bards, soldiers. Everybody, that is, except for the Wizard Malkarov. A thousand different reasons for this flitted through my head, but I dismissed all of them. I could probably guess all day long and never come closer to the truth than I could get by just asking him. Of course, I don't even know what sort of master he will be. Time will tell, I suppose.

Church was both horrible and fantastic at the same time. Everytime I started worrying about getting struck down by a column of light from the heavens my mind moved quickly on to the reason for this worry. Kissing Shard, kissing Tenebrae. Which made me remember how absolutely wonderful it was to be kissing Shard. Inevitably a little bit of Father Mattias' droning would filter through my daydream and I'd start worrying again. It was an embarrassing cycle, alternating between anxiety and euphoria, on and on throughout the morning service. Mother must have noticed, because at one point she put her hand on mine and quietly asked if I was all right. She surprised me a little, but I nodded that I was fine and went straight back to my thoughts.

The service ended, with me repeating "All hail the Light" at the appropriate moments without being struck down by a vengeful God. It was a relief, to be honest. The first time I repeated the prayer I did so wincing in anticipation of something horrible.

Father Mattias called to us as we stood up to leave the church. Father instructed Jocam to take the children to the bakery to buy danishes with instructions to wait at the commons paddock for our return. Together; Father Mattias, Mother, Father and I walked out of the church towards the Wizards Tower. It was an imposing structure, stretching far up into the sky looking impossibly high the closer we got to it. It went straight up, with green lead welded windows set at intervals around it on each of four levels. The stone was dark, set together without any sign of mortar that would usually be used to glue stone together, the edges of each block fitting together so tightly that it almost appeared to be one piece. The front door was of arched dark wood, with two thick bands of metal holding it to hinges, with a large door knocker set into the middle that resembled some sort of demonic creature. The creature had bats wings fixing it to the door, with pointed ears, a bulbous nose and held a large metal ring in it's fanged mouth.

Father Mattias, with a chuckle, strode forward and flicked it's nose before reaching for the ring. Before he could pull the ring back to knock, however, the great door swung open of it's own accord. What appeared on the other side did not match up with my expectations at all. What I thought might be a dark and dingy space was instead wood panelled and inviting. Bright carpets rested atop a polished wooden floor with comfortable looking chairs, tables and small lamps or vases atop them. Paintings dotted the walls, as well as a very large framed map opposite the entryway. The room was very well lit, with glowing crystals set onto the walls and hanging from the beams of the roof, lighting every section of the room with a soft white glow.

"Come in, come in!" came a voice from inside.

Together we all entered the Wizard's Tower. Inside, being able to see everything all at once, was amazing. There was so much to look at, so many things that weren't obvious from the outside. The paintings themselves were incredible; some were portraits of people dressed in finery, some were landscapes (One of a beautiful city made of curved, flowing, white stone nestled amongst a forest drew my attention immediately), shelves dotted some walls containing small curious momentos.

Father Mattias smiled at the looks of wonder my parents and I all shared, "It's a bit much, isn't it?" he chuckled.

I couldn't help exclaiming "It's marvelous!"

"I'm glad you think so," came a rich voice from beside us. We all swung our heads around in surprise.

The Wizard Malkarov was standing halfway up a set of wooden stairs that curved around from the left of the door up higher into the tower. He wasn't an old man (the bard's stories always describe wizards as being old with long white beards), probably around his fortieth name-day. He had short brown hair and a brown goatee style beard, he wore long blue robes with silver edging showing strange arcane looking symbols. He was smiling too, something that seemed to contradict the preconception I had of the mysterious powerful wizard.

"Well now," he said as he made his way down the steps, "please have a seat everyone and lets get started."

We all sat down on the seats spread around the room and the Wizard joined us, smoothing out his robes as he sat.

"So," he began looking directly at me with, "you want to be a wizard?"

I swallowed my nerves, "Yes sir."

He smiled at me kindly "None of this 'sir' business. Call me Malkarov, or this whole experiment will be very awkward. It's been a very long time since I've had an apprentice and I was quite prepared not to ever have one again."

I held my breath as he continued "But Father Mattias has called in a favour I owed him."

He smiled wryly and Father Mattias chuckled lightly "However, I cannot teach someone who has no aptitude."

He reached into a pocket in his robe and withdrew with a flourish a scroll tied off with a ribbon and sealed with a red wax stamp. This scroll he passed to me and I accepted it carefully, holding it gently. Did this old piece of parchment hold the secrets to magic?

I looked at Malkarov expectantly and he said with a smile "Open it and read it aloud."

I put my thumb nail under the wax seal and lifted it very carefully. It peeled away from the parchment easily and I unfurled the scroll. Black ink spelled out unfamiliar words written in a jagged script. I read over the scroll in my head first of all, sounding out the strange combinations of letters. Once finished I began reading out loud. I had to guess at most of the pronunciation. Once I had finished, I looked in amazement as the words on the scroll started to fade. Within moments they had disappeared completely and once they had, the scroll itself started to turn into dust in my hands, falling through my fingers only to disappear before it could hit the floor. Mouth agape I looked at Malkarov, Father Mattias and my parents. Father Mattias and Malkarov were both smiling at me widely, my parents on the other hand were staring at me, mirroring my shock. I looked back at my hands, then back at them only to realise that they weren't looking at where the scroll was once held in my grasp but instead were staring near my right shoulder. Confused, I turned my head and almost blinded myself. I recoiled and squinted my eyes. A whispy ball of white light sat bobbing in the air above my chair, it's movements were slow but regular, drifting up and down. It's light matched that coming from the crystals around the room and it was difficult to tell how bright it was unless I looked directly at it, but it was a magical light.

"Did I…" I stuttered, "Did I do that?"

"Yes." Malkarov answered, "Well; you, the scroll and magic did it. But I will teach you all about that once you've started your apprenticeship. Congratulations Sharein, you have a talent for magic."

Excitement welled up inside me. I was going to learn magic!