Small Magics (52 page)

“Which is too bad,” said Henry. “I was hoping to see his face.” He drained his cup in a single, long drink, sighed happily, then turned to Thomas. “So, what have you been doing behind locked doors all day?”

“The door was open and her brother was in the next room,” Thomas said firmly. “And what we were doing was research.” “Did you find out what the bishop is going to do?” asked Benjamin. “No. We were sidetracked before that,” said Thomas, smiling at Eileen. Henry and George raised simultaneous eyebrows. Eileen smiled back. “And

if you’ll sit down, we’ll show you what we’ve found.”

“Can you feed us first?” asked Benjamin. “We’ve been working all day, unlike some.”

“There’s food in the cupboard,” Thomas said. “The remains of lunch and some much better wine than what you’re drinking.”

“Fine.” Benjamin emptied his glass and headed for the cupboard. “Wait until we’re done, then show us.”

“You’ll want to see this first.”

“Wrong,” said Henry, following Benjamin.

A startled gasp from George made them both spin in place. Thomas was holding out his hand, the small, glowing ball of blue light floating just above his palm. The two students stared, mouths open, eyes wide. George’s head was swivelling back and forth between the light and Thomas’s face.

“It’s all right,” said Eileen, grinning. “It’s just magic.”

“Aye,” George’s eyes were huge, his voice barely a whisper. “Aye, it is.” He leaned closer to Thomas’s hand, squinting at the little ball of light. “It’s just like the one Timothy did.”

Thomas managed a nod, but didn’t take his eyes from the ball of light.

“That can’t be real,” said Benjamin. He stepped around George and reached out to touch the ball of light. Thomas held very still, keeping his mind focused on the ball of light as Benjamin poked at it. His finger sank into the surface of the ball. Benjamin stumbled back, nearly falling. “Sweet Father, it is real!”

Thomas blinked and the ball of light vanished. Eileen clapped him on the back. “That’s the longest you’ve made it last so far! And someone touched it!”

Henry was looking very pale. His mouth worked a couple of times before he managed to get out the words, “Well. You’re not insane.”

Thomas grinned. “I told you.”

“You said you couldn’t do spells,” said Benjamin, stumbling back and finding a chair. He sank heavily into it. “You said so.”

“I couldn’t, then.”

“And now you can?”

“Aye.”

Benjamin’s face was etched with fear and confusion. He rubbed hard at his face, as if the action might drive away what he’d seen. “I have to report you to the Master of Theology.”

“What?” Thomas realized on the instant what he had done, “Ben, no. It isn’t witchcraft.”

“Then what is it?” demanded Benjamin. His face was pale and fear was bringing sweat to his brow. “That…
thing
. What was it?”

“Magic!” Thomas felt his desperation rising. He struggled to control his tone, to sound calm. “It’s just magic.”

“Just?” Benjamin’s voice rose an octave on the word. “There’s nothing ‘just’ about it!”

Benjamin started to rise. Thomas stepped in his way. “You can’t, Ben.”

“I have to!” Exhaustion and shock edged his voice. He was shaking where he stood. “It’s my duty to report witchcraft, Thomas. I have to.”

“But you don’t know that it’s witchcraft,” protested Eileen, stepping up beside Thomas, “You don’t know anything about it!”

Ben stayed where he was, swaying on his feet. Henry stepped forward. “Sit down, Ben,” he said. When Benjamin didn’t move, Henry laid a hand on one of his arms. “Ben, listen to me. All right? Not to Thomas, to me. Will you listen?”

Conflicting loyalties warred in Benjamin’s face.

“Please,” begged Thomas. “For our friendship. Please.”

Benjamin bit his lip, then nodded. “All right, Henry. I’ll listen to you.”

“Good,” Henry put gentle pressure on his arm, guiding him back to the chair. “Sit down, now.”

Benjamin swayed in his place a moment longer, then allowed himself to be seated. Henry went to the table and got Benjamin’s wine cup, pressing it into the bigger student’s hand until Benjamin took it and drank some.

“Good,” Henry repeated. “Now let me think.” He rubbed at his face just as Benjamin had done a moment before, and Thomas remembered that neither of his friends had slept the night before.

Of course,
Thomas realized,
neither have I.

“All right,” Henry paced the floor, still rubbing at his face and muttering to himself. Benjamin looked almost ready to rise again when Henry stopped pacing. “All right,” he said again, nodding to himself. “It’s a court; we’re in court. Thomas, you stand accused of witchcraft—”

“This isn’t a game—”Benjamin’s protest stopped dead at Henry’s suddenly raised hand.

Henry’s words were slow, his tone steady. “Thomas is making little balls of light float in the air, Benjamin, and I’m trying to find out whether or not we hand him over to be hanged. I know this isn’t a game!” He pointed a finger at Thomas. “Thomas Flarety, you stand accused of witchcraft. How plead you?”

There was fear in Henry’s voice, as much as in Benjamin’s, but there was a gleam of excitement in his eyes and Thomas knew that Henry was doing his best to give Thomas a chance to prove himself. Eileen, still standing beside Thomas, took his hand, squeezing it hard. Worry had drawn two lines across her forehead, and tightened the skin around her eyes.

Thomas raised her hand, kissed it, then gently guided her towards her brother. George took her arm and the two sat on the floor against the wall, leaving Thomas standing alone in the middle of the room. He turned back to Henry and Benjamin. “I plead my innocence.”

Henry nodded “Right, then. Will you answer all my questions?”

“I will.”

“Will you tell me only the truth?”

“On my soul.”

“Not enough,” interrupted Benjamin. “If your soul is already tainted—”

“On the souls of my mother and father, then,” said Thomas. When Benjamin still looked doubtful, Thomas added, “On my oath as a student of the Academy.”

“That will do.” Henry turned to Benjamin. “Will that do?”

Benjamin looked fretful still, but nodded.

“All right, then,” Henry took a chair and sat in it facing Thomas. “What you did—the ball of light. How did you do it?”

“Uh…” Thomas looked for a way to describe what he’d done. “I called it.”

“From where?”

“I don’t know,” Thomas thought about it. “From inside, I suppose.”

“But you couldn’t do that before,” protested Benjamin. “You said you couldn’t.”

“I couldn’t,” agreed Thomas.

“So how can you now?” asked Henry.

“I… I learned.”

“From what?”

“From the….” Thomas realized at once where Henry was going, and his heart began to sink. “From the book.”

Eileen caught the change in his tone. “What? What’s the matter with the book?”

“A book can be a tool of the Banished,” said Thomas, his eyes still on Henry, who was beginning to look grim. “Meant to ensnare the unwary.”

“Aye,” said Henry. “There is that.”

“And you used it!” Benjamin practically shouted the words. He drove himself to his feet and advanced on Thomas. “You knew that if you used witchcraft I’d have to report you! You knew that you might be dooming your soul!”

Thomas held his ground. “Aye.”

“And you did it anyway!” Benjamin was nearly on top of him. “Why? Why would you do that?”

“Because I had to know!” Thomas shouted back, weeks worth of anger and helplessness spilling out of him with the words. “I’m the only one who has been able to see anything! The only one who could hear anything! I’ve spent half a month wondering if I’m right or insane and now I know. I’m right!”

Benjamin grabbed Thomas’s shirt, shaking him. “You’ve lost your soul!”

“No!” Thomas’s hands closed over Benjamin’s, stilling the bigger man. Thomas made himself speak quietly. “It came from inside me, Ben, not anywhere else. I made that ball of light appear. Not any evil power. Just me.”

Benjamin let go of Thomas’s shirt and stepped back, his hands falling to his sides. The anger drained from his face, and his voice was as quiet as Thomas’s when he asked, “How do we know that?”

Thomas realized he had no answer to the question. Benjamin stayed where he was, staring at Thomas as silence filled the room.

“Got it!” Eileen slapped her hands on the floor and pushed herself to her feet. “I’ve got it!”

“You?” said Henry, sounding surprised.

“Aye, me. I knew all that time with the nuns would pay off.” She turned to Benjamin. “Thomas claims that what he can do is a gift, right?”

Benjamin blinked, obviously not expecting to be answering questions. “He claimed his ability to see magic was a gift,” he said, “but this is different.”

“How?”

“He used a spell book,” Benjamin explained. “Anyone can use a spell book.”

Eileen smiled. “Can you?”

If her first questions had caught Benjamin off-guard, this one nearly knocked him over. After a moment’s spluttering he managed, “I wouldn’t.”

“But can you?” Eileen persisted.

“Of course!” Thomas, picking up where she was going. “If anyone can use the spell book, then the power could come from anywhere. But if only those with the gift could use it…”

“Then the power comes from within,” finished Henry. He smiled at Eileen. “Very well put.”

“But how do we know that power doesn’t come from the Banished?” demanded Benjamin.

“Because!”

It was George who said it, and the other four all turned in some surprise at the big smith. His brow was furrowed in concentration and he held up a large hand, one finger upraised while he thought. It was a long thought, and Thomas nearly went off his mind with impatience, but they waited, letting the man work through it. At last, George put down his hand and smiled. “Because.”

“Because why?” demanded Benjamin.

“Because that which is within is given to us by the ones who created us,” said George slowly. “the Banished didn’t create anyone, and so can’t give a person something that comes from within.”

“Good!” Henry crossed the room and clapped a hand on George’s shoulder. “Very good! You know, we might make a student of you yet.”

George shuddered. “I hope not.”

Thomas turned to Benjamin. “Well?”

Benjamin stood, silent, a puzzled frown on his face. He was obviously going over the argument in his mind. At last, he fixed Henry and Thomas with a glare. “Logic can be the tool of the Banished.”

“False logic can be a tool of the Banished,” both Henry and Thomas protested at once. They looked at each other in surprise then began to laugh, the sound breaking the tension in the room.

Benjamin rolled his eyes skyward. “The High Father save us from philosophers and law students.”

“Does this mean you agree?” Thomas asked.

“Aye, I do,” said Benjamin. “And the Four help us all.”

Relief rolled over Thomas in a wave, and the smile broke free. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” warned Benjamin. “We still have to test the theory.”

“I already have,” said Eileen. “Everything Thomas managed to do, I tried. I couldn’t make any of it work.”

“That’s as may be,” said Benjamin, “but I didn’t see it.”

“Fair enough,” Thomas headed for his room. “I’ll get the book and you can try it.”

“Not me,” said Benjamin, “I’ll not be endangering my soul.”

Eileen rolled her eyes. “I’ll do it, all right?”

“And me,” said Henry. “After all, there’s no sense in only one of us endangering their soul.”

“And me,” added George. “I’d hate to be left out if it does work.”

“All right, then, we’ll all try it.” Thomas got the book from his desk, and brought it out to the table. “Do you want to try the ball of light first, or would you prefer levitation?”

The eyes of George and the two students widened. “Levitation?”

***

Several more hours passed before the students got their supper. They passed the spell book around, all save Benjamin trying whatever they could, Thomas demonstrated the ball of light again, then levitation with a spoon, then the relaxation spell. Of course, no one could see the last one work, other than by the expression on Thomas’s face. The others, without exception, could not do any of them.

The experiments also began to yield the extent of Thomas’s gift, for try as he might, he could not make the ball of light any larger, or lift any items larger than a spoon off the table, and that would come rattling down the moment he stopped concentrating. He tried levitating a cup, but it only wobbled back and forth. Thomas could feel himself getting tired by then, and called an end to the experiments for the day. The others asked to see more, but Thomas shook his head.

“I can’t. I’m exhausted.”

“Exhausted?” Henry protested. “You haven’t done anything.”

“I’ve made the ball of light a half-dozen times and I lifted that spoon ten times. It’s tiring.”

“But it’s just lifting a spoon.”

“Without touching it,” reminded Thomas. “Can you do it?”

“No.”

“Then don’t tell me how tiring it is.”

That gave Henry pause. “Fair enough. How about the other ones, can you do any of them?”

“Most of them are complicated,” said Eileen. “Some need ingredients, some require chanting. The one for healing a broken heart gives you a phrase which you have to chant for an hour, every evening, for a month.”

“Probably to keep you distracted,” suggested Henry.

“There’s also spells that need you to be in certain places,” Eileen opened up the spell book and paged through until she found the one she wanted. “Look at this one. ‘To divine a man’s whereabouts’.”

Henry read it. “You need to be in a stone circle, facing moonrise.”

“Well, we won’t be trying that one,” said Benjamin. “The nearest circle’s a two day ride south from here.” He took the book and opened it to a random page. “This one’s ‘For causing harm to those you hate’.”

“Aye,” Thomas took the book from him. “The entire second section’s like that. The first section is spells of luck and charm, the second section is spells of harm.”

“Are there only two sections?”