Bookworm II: The Very Ugly Duckling (19 page)

“Tasty,” he said, though a mouthful of steak, bread and raw tomato. “Thank you.”

Elaine shuddered. “Eat with your mouth closed,” she said, dryly. “It isn’t a pleasant sight.”

Johan flushed, but obeyed.
Jamal
had been given rigorous etiquette lessons for the past eleven years; he might be a bully, yet none of his social equals had ever sneered at how he carried himself. But Johan had been allowed to skip those lessons as it had become clear that he would never play a role in society. He’d forgotten most of them as he’d grown older.

He watched with some amazement as Elaine put away most of her food, wondering just where she put it. Her robes were nowhere near as tight as Jayne’s, but it was clear that she was almost painfully thin. Charity had been like that after her first term at the Peerless School, when she hadn’t eaten enough to power her spells. The cooks had fed her up remorselessly until she’d put on plenty of weight.

“The normal rules of an apprenticeship are that the apprentice serves the master in exchange for tuition,” Elaine said. “You have nothing to offer me – and I don’t really need an assistant – so we will have to skip that requirement. A more serious concern is that your magic might not respond well to the oaths of apprenticeship. You might not be bound by the rights and duties of other apprentices.”

Johan struggled to recall what they were. “Obedience, loyalty, secrecy ...”

“And dedication to your studies,” Elaine said. “If you served under a druid, you would be expected to master healing magic in four years – unless, for some reason, you proved utterly incapable and had to be released from your oaths. The point is that you would be agreeing to make a magically-binding oath that would make you follow
all
of those duties ... and, given the odd nature of your magic, the oaths might not take.”

“I don’t understand,” Johan admitted. His studies had never been too detailed, not when he’d never expected a magical apprenticeship. “I thought that anyone could swear an oath.”

Elaine smiled, but it didn’t quite touch her eyes. “Only magicians can willingly enter a magically-binding oath,” she explained. “You would swear to uphold the duties of an apprentice; I would swear to uphold the duties of a master. But your magic might not be capable of binding you to me. And, if so, it would be very dangerous for me to bind myself to you.”

“Because you would be compelled to carry out your side of the oath even if I wasn’t,” Johan guessed. Elaine nodded. “Do we actually
need
the oath?”

“It would make it harder for your father to demand that you go back to his house,” Elaine said, flatly. She held up her hand. “There’s a book on apprenticeships I want you to read, although much of the information is generalised. You don’t have to make your decision immediately. However ...”

She took another sip from her mug. “You and I will be experimenting with your powers, trying to teach you how to control them,” she explained. “Normally, a master would know much more than an apprentice. But in this case, I would be guessing at where to go ... as would you. The apprenticeship might turn into a joke.

“Your magic might add other complications,” she added. “You would be swearing to obey me, but you might well be more powerful than I. That may warp the bond in odd ways. Assuming it forms at all, of course.”

“My head hurts,” Johan complained, making a show of rubbing his temples. “Can we just tell everyone that I’m your apprentice?”

“They’ll want to see proof,” Elaine pointed out. “And without a working bond, we couldn’t present them with anything.”

“I’ll think about it,” Johan promised. He looked down at the table, then up at Elaine. “What are we going to do today?”

“There are some ideas I wish to try,” Elaine said. “But we can deal with them after breakfast.”

Johan nodded. “Can I look at the broadsheet?” He asked. “I want to know if there’s anything about me in it.”

Elaine shrugged. Johan took the broadsheet and frowned as he saw a drawing of Jamal glaring up at him. The artist had managed to make him seem mad, bad and dangerous to know, something that made Johan smile. It
was
a perfectly accurate rendition, at least in his opinion. The text beside it noted that Jamal had been arrested by the Inquisition and was currently being held in the Watchtower, but very little else. His father’s lawyers had probably had a few words with the editor, Johan decided. If they printed anything they couldn’t prove, they’d be sued until they didn’t even have clothes to wear while begging on the streets.

“I thought they would have kept it a secret,” he muttered. “But the whole city knows he’s under arrest.”

“Someone in the Watchtower probably leaked it,” Elaine said, sourly. “Or one of the Privy Councillors, taking an opportunity to embarrass your father. There’s no way to know for sure.”

“Nothing about me,” Johan said, unsure if he should be relieved or annoyed. “How many people
know
?”

“Your family, the Grand Sorceress, the Inquisitors and myself,” Elaine said. “And that wretched druid.”

Johan nodded and went to the second page. This story mentioned that the Dark Wizard Hawthorne had been sighted near a city in the Western Hills, where several children had been reported missing. The writer stated that a number of Inquisitors were already in the area and expected an arrest soon. Johan suspected that the writer didn’t really know what he was talking about. If the Inquisitors were really closing in on the Dark Wizard, they wouldn’t want a broadsheet story to scare the bastard off before they caught him.

“That’s the problem with the broadsheets,” Elaine commented, wryly. “They either print nonsense or they print the truth in embarrassing detail.”

“Maybe I should go after him,” Johan said, seeing a line that claimed that there was a ten thousand gold bounty for Hawthorn’s head, preferably detached from his body. “I could get the gold and ...”

“Get killed,” Elaine snapped. “You are nowhere near ready to face a hostile magician, let alone one so touched by darkness.”

Johan winced at her tone, but had to admit that she had a point.

A letter floated into the room and landed on the table in front of them. Johan took one look and felt his heart sink. His father’s handwriting was distinctive, particularly when he was annoyed. He’d seen enough notes his father had sent to various tutors to recognise the signs of irritation. It was a droll reminder that, no matter how hard he studied, he could never please his father.

“I don’t want to read it,” he muttered. “Can you destroy it?”

“I could,” Elaine said. “But I think you should read it.”

Johan sighed. “Is it even safe to touch?”

Elaine waved her wand over the envelope, casting a simple charm. “There’s a spell to ensure that only you can open it,” she said, “but nothing else. It should be fine.”

Swallowing, Johan picked up the letter and tore it open. His father had written a note on his finest paper, paper that cost one gold per sheet. If nothing else, it was a way of telling him just how much his father cared. But it was really too late for that.

Son,

I have heard the news from your sister that you are now a magician. This is good news, particularly in light of other recent developments. I believe that you should come home, where you and I can sit down and discuss the family’s response to these new challenges. You would be welcome. Charity has forgiven you your little mistake.

My treatment of you in the past has been far from ideal. I am truly sorry for the suffering you have undergone on your path towards magic. Now, I believe that we can rebuild our relationship and work together to ensure that the family’s position is solid. Towards this, I would be willing to sponsor you to enter the Peerless School ...

Johan felt the letter grow suddenly warm and dropped it, a half-second before it burst into flame. How
could
his father so casually claim to accept him, now that he was a magician? The message was arrogant and condescending and ... he gritted his teeth, willing his rage to abate. His father didn’t even realise that he
couldn’t
enter the Peerless School ...

“That’s a
no
,” he said, addressing the pile of ashes. Surprisingly, the fire hadn’t spread to the table, despite the heat. “I am
not
going home.”

“You may wish to write and tell him that,” Elaine said. “He
did
send you a formal letter.”

“Fine,” Johan sneered. “Can you pass me a sheet of the cheapest paper you have?”

Elaine sighed, but walked over to a drawer and produced a cheap notepad. Johan took it and glared down at the blank sheet, trying to decide what to write. He didn’t know any words unpleasant enough to get the full depth of his feelings across to his father ...

... And to think that he would once have done anything for his father’s approval.

“I’ve made up my mind,” he said, firmly. “I wish to be your apprentice.”

“Then read the book,” Elaine said. “I’ll give you an hour.”

Chapter Sixteen

True to her word, Elaine gave Johan an hour to read the book. It shouldn’t really have taken that long – it was a short book – but it would give them both time to think. Johan should not enter into an apprenticeship without knowing the possible dangers, while
she
needed to think about his latest display of accidental magic. It was more interesting, she knew, to note what
hadn’t
happened as well as what
had
.

He hadn’t damaged the wards, or the table, or anything else. The only thing that had been destroyed had been the letter, while the rest of the room had been completely unharmed. It suggested that he was definitely better off visualising the outcome of what he wanted, rather than trying to guide his magic through the words and gestures used by other magicians. But what did it really
mean
?

Taking a breath, she tapped on the door and waited for him to call her inside. When he did, she was surprised to see Jayne there too, unloading a trolley of books. They were all on apprenticeships, she noted, as Jayne saw her and gave a hasty bow. Evidently, Johan had worked out how to request books and other materials from the library staff.

“Thank you, Jayne,” Johan said, flushing slightly. “I’ll call you when the books need to be returned.”

Elaine watched the younger girl go, then looked at Johan. He was clearly attracted to Jayne, unsurprisingly. She
was
attractive ... and she wasn’t as much of a brat as many of the other girls from various Great Houses. And she had something apart from fluff between her ears.

“The staff aren’t there for you to bother,” she said in mild reproof. She smiled as he blushed bright red. “If you want to flirt with her, you can do it when she’s off-duty.”

Johan’s face turned even redder. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just ...”

Elaine understood. He wouldn’t have met many girls, given his effective imprisonment, and those he had met would have shunned him; Jayne might have been the first girl who had responded to him as a
person
, rather than a horror to be ignored or even killed for daring to exist. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to try his luck ... after all, magicians had a degree of sexual freedom unthinkable to mundanes.

“Flirt with her when she’s off-duty, or even invite her here,” Elaine said, remembering days when she’d thought that she would go through life alone. She still did, even though she was no longer a maiden. “But for the moment ...”

She settled back on a comfortable chair and met his eyes. “Did you read the book?”

“I did,” Johan said. He frowned, breaking eye contact. “It wasn’t always pleasant reading.”

Elaine nodded. One advantage of the Peerless School was that it was hard for tutors to take advantage of their pupils. An apprenticeship bond, on the other hand, allowed an unscrupulous teacher to take merciless advantage of his apprentice. The apprentice could become an unpaid servant, a criminal accomplice or even a sexual partner, and it would be completely legal. She couldn’t blame Johan for hesitating. There was a good reason why apprenticeship bonds were rare.

“The choice is yours,” she said, flatly. “I won’t force it on you.”

“My father might,” Johan said. “Did you read the letter?”

Elaine quirked her eyebrows. “And how was I supposed to read the letter?”

Johan nodded, ruefully.

“My father said that he wanted me home because of my magic,” he said. “And that Charity forgave me. And that we could work together to save the family. And that he would sponsor me to enter the Peerless School ...”

“So he doesn’t know everything,” Elaine said, thoughtfully. Light Spinner and Dread wouldn’t have said a word to anyone, but she knew just how easy it was for rumours to spread. Clearly, Charity’s report of her accidental transformation hadn’t allowed her father to deduce that there was something weird about Johan’s magic. But it should have done. “Or maybe he’s hoping that you don’t know everything.”

Johan slapped the table. “Will I
ever
be free of him?”

“
My
father is dead,” Elaine said, although she understood what he meant. Whatever his faults, Johan’s father hadn’t knocked up a random woman just to ensure that his abandoned daughter eventually became a Bookworm. “As you grow older, he will have less and less influence over you.”

“I can’t enter the Peerless School,” Johan protested. “Doesn’t he know that?”

“Not yet,” Elaine said. It
was
a problem. Any normal magician would jump at the chance to enter the Peerless School. It would puzzle anyone who realised that Johan
wasn’t
going to go there. Combined with what had happened to Charity, she knew, it would be far too informative. “But you couldn’t go there until the start of next term anyway, which is four months off. There will be time enough for us to work out a solution by then.”

She smiled, then stood up. “I have some other experiments I would like to try,” she said. “Coming?”

Johan stood up, eying her nervously. “Do you have any ... advice to offer about Jayne?”

Elaine almost giggled. What sort of person would view
her
as an expert on relationships? The sole relationship she’d had had been destroyed by a pair of bright red eyes ... and besides, she knew almost nothing about Jayne. She was just a student who was looking for extra money by working in the library when she wasn’t in classes.