The Bronze Mage (21 page)

To Tabitha's relief, that conversation seemed to sate everyone's curiosity concerning Mage James's interest in her, and her love life in general. Rayner still shadowed her, but his conversations were less personal.

Carissa's curiosity refocused on Rayner himself. She eventually worked out his status and the extent of his magical abilities. Rayner would inherit nothing from his father. He was sixth in line for his grandfather's duchy. Through his mother, he expected to inherit no title, but a piece of arable land which he intended to rent out for its income. He was a very strong magic senser. He usually rented out his services to merchants or nobles who wanted to know whether a particular item was magical, and the type of magic it contained: spell or curse, temporary or permanent. He could watch spells react and even break simple spells, a feat beyond the reach of many magic sensers.
 

Once Tabitha asked him what he had learned about James's spell on her. The only thing Rayner reported was that the spell was still growing stronger.

On a day that felt more like summer than spring, Tabitha and Rayner joined Will and one of Will's young ladies on a longer ride. Carissa and Irene had begged out of the trip, claiming that whatever the weather looked like on departure, it was most likely to start raining again when they were farthest out. Although Tabitha and Cameron had often been on longer excursions, this felt different. Rayner treated her like a girl. It made Tabitha nervous. These feelings were not lessened when, as if by pre-arrangement, Prince William waved them on as he prepared to stop. When they were almost out of sight of the prince and his companion, with the guard situated nervously between the two couples, Rayner also stopped.

"I apologize Princess, but Prince William has been angling for a chance to speak in private with the lady for some time."

They stayed for about two hours, chatted and ate lunch. Although she couldn't remember any specifics of the time later, Tabitha arrived back at Hinlith castle in a very good mood.

TWENTY-NINE

The College of Magic

Two days before Tabitha was to journey home, she was surprised to receive a summons from Mage Edgar. Irene, who'd been helping her pack, seemed unconcerned.

"You know mages: they always want the last word," was Irene's prediction.
 

Tabitha hoped it was that simple. He hadn't tried working on the spell since last summer. Even after having Rayner dog her steps for nearly two months, he'd never called her back to his study. She was afraid that he had decided he wanted one last go at it. If he had a new idea, he might delay her trip home. As much as Tabitha enjoyed her new friends' company, she was ready to go.
 

Her concerns were well-founded.

Upon seeing Tabitha enter, Mage Edgar greeted her with a terse, "I have made arrangements for your stay at the College of Magic while we remove Mage James's spells. Your parents have been informed. You leave in the morning. Be ready by dawn." Then he turned his back to her in dismissal.

Tabitha stared at him in shock. "How long is this expected to take?"

"You have no plans. You will stay until they succeed."

As Tabitha walked in a daze back to her room, she was beginning to think mages weren't nearly rare enough.

However, by the time the sun rose the next morning and she was settled in the carriage for the trip to the college, she had reconciled herself to the plan. Although no one knew what her affinity to the spell would mean for her long term, it wasn't likely to be beneficial. It would be good to have it finally broken.

Despite this, Tabitha was nervous. The process was unlikely to be enjoyable, and though she wasn't entirely without hope of it succeeding, she was by no means confident. How long would they keep her here if they couldn't break the spell? It had only taken a month for Mage Crandall to stop tinkering with the spell, but most of the summer for Mage Edgar. She could almost envision herself as the final challenge passed down to each graduating class of would-be mages. The image made her laugh. There was no way she was staying here that long. She was willing to donate the summer. They could experiment on her in Valstadt if they wanted to continue in the fall.

As it turned out, her visit barely lasted a month.

###

Melanie was the first to greet Tabitha as she disembarked at the college.

"My roommate went home for the summer last week, so you'll be staying with me. They made the announcement on the very last day of classes. I kept wondering why Father never made arrangements for me to travel home. How long have you known?"

"That I was coming here? Since the evening before I left. How long do you think Father has known? Surely he would have mentioned something at the wedding if they'd already decided?"

"I think this has come about because of what we told him at the wedding. I suspect that he, Mage Crandall and Mage Edgar have been talking ever since. I must say, seeing you, that I think they're right. It needs to come off you soon."

"Mage Edgar's assistant mentioned it was getting worse," Tabitha agreed. "That's what you expected wasn't it?"

"Yes," Melanie hesitated, scrutinizing Tabitha with unfocused eyes, "but also, the spell seems more variable than I would have expected. Or maybe my memory is faulty."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember how upset I was when I saw you before the wedding?"

"How could I forget? You scared me."

"I was scared myself. But by the time I left you to return here it didn't seem quite so bad. Now it appears only a little worse than when I first noticed."

Tabitha shrugged. "Don't ask me. The only time I notice it at all is when James..."

"Use his title, Tabitha," Melanie scolded. "He's not your friend."

"I only notice it when the court mage of Xentia," Tabitha exaggerated her enunciation of his title, irritated by her sister, "is around, or when one of the other two court mages is poking at it."

"Well, you'll be noticing it a lot until they break it then. Until we break it, actually. Everyone in their last three years has been invited to help the faculty. You're extra credit."

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Just make sure you cite me on your diploma."

After they stowed Tabitha's bags, Melanie gave her sister a tour of the campus. It was, like everything in Westphal, situated on a hill surrounded by vineyards. The only trees were a few decorative fruit trees that provided shade near the buildings. With all the mystique that surrounded the place, she'd expected something much grander, or at least bigger. But she supposed the school's size was proof that mages really were rare. Full mages studied here for a decade. Anyone who could see magic was sent as soon as their ability was confirmed, or the autumn after they turned twelve if they were discovered before then. Magic sensers were usually sorted out and sent home within a few years, so the School of Magic, located two miles distant, which covered the first three years of training, was twice as large as the College. Outsiders tended to use the titles "school" and "college" interchangeably, referring to either or both of the institutions. Students did not.

At any given time there were around a hundred mages-in-training attending the college, plus two dozen or so full mages teaching in the two schools. It was by far the largest pool of mages remaining in the world, especially if you included the approximately four dozen students with mage potential in the primary school.

Melanie shared with Tabitha stories the history professor had told about ancient mage cities in the Northern and Southern Empires, but both of those domains had effectively wiped out their indigent mages in civil wars that had lasted for centuries before power was consolidated.
 

Mages from the relatively peaceful three kingdoms guarded their own country's borders, but seldom crossed over to the Empires. The kings took excellent care of all their mages, as magic was the trump that guaranteed the smaller countries' independence. For their part, the mages seemed as content as the rest of the populace to steer clear of the greedy giants.

The sisters finished their tour in time for dinner, where Melanie introduced Tabitha to the twenty-odd students and instructors who had volunteered to stay the summer and help break Mage James's spell. Melanie appeared to be friends with every one of them.

By the time they said their good-nights and returned to the room, Tabitha was feeling hopeful, but more nervous than ever. She decided an early bedtime was a better idea than staying up worrying all night and turned in.

THIRTY

Breaking the Spell

The next morning, after a light breakfast, Melanie ushered Tabitha into a workroom.

"The faculty get to study the spell today, then start coming up with some plans. I talked them into letting me stay with you."

Tabitha just nodded. Her mouth was suddenly very dry. Mage Edgar and six strangers were all staring at her.
 

A kind-faced woman in her early fifties approached, smiling, and reached for Tabitha's hand.

"Don't worry, dear. We won't bite. Have a seat over here."

She led Tabitha to a high stool. The thickly padded seat was welcome, but a worry. It meant they probably expected her to remain on it for a long time.

The instructors crowded around her. They began chattering with each other, pointing at invisible aspects of the spell, asking questions of Mage Edgar. She was so used to being ignored by the court mages during similar sessions that the first time someone asked her a question it took her a minute to answer. Melanie was thoroughly interrogated as well. As the most consistent witness to the spell, she was asked to describe her observations in great detail.

Lunch and then dinner were brought to the room. Tabitha alternated standing and sitting, but found she was much more at ease in this comparative crowd than she had been with Mage Edgar alone or even Mage Crandall. Although the discussions mostly went over her head, they were still interesting.

###

The next morning she returned to the same room. Mage Edgar was still there with two of the teachers. They had been joined by five students. The workbench against the wall had been put to use. It was covered in herbs, chemicals, bunsen burners, tubes and vials. Her stomach lurched. The talk was over. Time for the "fun" to begin.

Because of the students, each thing that was tried was accompanied by a detailed explanation. Most of it still made no sense, but Tabitha paid careful attention anyways. After she'd drunk, chewed, inhaled or been rubbed with an item, everyone stared at her, asked each other questions and recording what did or didn't change.

Really, it wasn't worse than what she'd already endured at the hands of the two court mages. In some ways it was better: the explanations kept her from boredom and everyone else was more courteous than Mage Edgar. He was surprisingly quiet, watching the proceedings, making his own notes.
 

Still, by the day's end, Tabitha was feeling even worse than when Mage Edgar had been experimenting on her. While they were all talking about their findings, Tabitha snuck off to the facilities and emptied her guts.

###

Melanie had a hard time waking Tabitha the next morning and teased her about dragging her feet on the way to breakfast. Tabitha forced herself to eat. Drinking magical potions on an empty stomach seemed like a bad idea. She tried to look friendly as a second pair of teachers led their students through the day's experiments, but it was harder to focus. She was nauseated and dizzy all day. When the time was finally up, Tabitha went straight to bed.

Melanie woke her when she returned to the room and talked her into eating one of the rolls she'd brought. They talked after that, about what seemed to have potential and what wasn't working at all. Tabitha asked Melanie if she had a group she would be working with, and Melanie said she'd choose whichever seemed to have the most merit after she saw the third group tomorrow. Then Tabitha laid back down and Melanie started reading one of her texts.

###

Tabitha's stomach woke her growling with hunger the next morning and she was hopeful as they neared the dining room. Sadly, the first whiff of food sent Tabitha to the nearest trash bin, puking. Melanie eventually talked her into drinking some herbal tea and eating a few crackers at a picnic table outside, away from the smells.
 

The scent of the tea, though held intentionally downwind in the slight breeze, reminded Tabitha of James and the chamomile tea he'd given her for an upset stomach. He'd been trying to convince her to stay. Now she was trying to get rid of the last trace of him. She wondered if he knew about this project, but was embarrassed to ask. He was supposed to be the enemy. Or at least the opponent. Of course, he was also a high official in the court of an ally to both Valstadt and Westphal. So, he should co-operate, right? Or be trusted not to interfere? It was very confusing, trying to figure out where he stood politically, magically, personally. Tabitha's brain just didn't work well when she was distracted by her stomach. That probably didn't say much for her. She rested her head on the picnic table and closed her eyes.

When Melanie returned from eating her own breakfast inside, they headed back to the workroom together. With her stomach nearly empty, Tabitha found she tolerated the experiments better than she'd expected. Only once did she have to interrupt to vomit, but that particular potion had been foul. She skipped lunch and opted for a short nap under a flowering tree just outside the building instead.

The experiments in the afternoon fared worse. Tabitha could almost feel something happening with the spell, like it was a live thing wrapping around her. The mages kept reminding her to hold still, but it was difficult. She kept wanting to brush off whatever was crawling across her skin.

One of the staff decided the lack of food was unbalancing the potions, making them more potent than they ought to be. At dinner time Melanie brought a thick, bland potato soup to Tabitha at a picnic table, then went inside to eat and talk with the others. Again her sister's choice of food dredged up memories for Tabitha. But the other soup had been so much better. Not that she could have withstood the smell of bacon right now. Even the memory of the smell affected her stomach. She pushed the bowl aside and again rested her head on the table. But the solitude was peaceful. Eventually, Tabitha finished her soup and wandered into the shade of the forest. Soon, she could no longer hear the voices from the dining room. She turned to head back and realized she'd lost her way again. She was always lost in these woods. James was right. She should have stayed on the path. Now she'd have to wait for him to fetch her. After a short internal debate, she called out to him.