A Sorcerer Rises (Song of Sorcery Book 1) Page 13

  “If you are going to continue to study at the academy, we need to talk,” Ricky said. “I’m not going to attack you. I still need your help.”

  Frank looked surprised. “But I stole from you.”

  “What did you steal?” Ricky asked.

  “I didn’t find what I was looking for.”

  “Did you think to ask me to help or even see if Saganet would share what you wanted?” Ricky said.

  “No. Why should I?”

  Ricky took a deep breath. “Because we were friends.”

  “Were is right.” Frank broke Ricky’s grip and took a few more steps before Ricky caught up with him.

  “What did I do to you?” Ricky said. “Why am I suddenly your enemy? You weren’t one until you invaded my cottage.”

  Frank frowned and pursed his lips. He looked around at a few students who lingered to hear what the two boys talked about. “Okay. Lunch at the commissary in the private area.”

  “My treat,” Ricky said.

  ~

  Ricky sat at the table waiting for Frank to show up and saw him slowly walk into the commissary. Ricky raised his hand to wave him over when Victor Taranta followed Frank and put his arm around Frank’s shoulder, steering him towards the buffet line.

  Frank quickly looked around the commissary, and when his eyes met Ricky’s, he turned his head to evade Ricky’s sight. That was all Ricky needed. He stood up while he watched Frank exit the kitchen with a full tray.

  “Sit down,” Loria Mansali said from behind. “It appears Franken isn’t worth it.”

  Ricky sighed and turned. An older boy stood behind her.

  “This is Benno Vesteria,” she said. “I figured that you still needed the help Franken provided, so I want to introduce you.”

  Benno was a year or two older and was bigger than Ricky in every direction.

  “I suppose you might as well join me,” Ricky said. “Everybody’s got to eat.”

  “Indeed!” Benno said. He looked around the private tables as if he had won a prize.

  “Is he your boyfriend?” Ricky said quietly to Loria while Benno’s attention was still on his seat.

  Loria colored. “Of course not! Just listen to our proposal.”

  Proposal? Was this a negotiation of some sort? Ricky thought.

  A student server took their order. With what Benno ordered, he would have to put the lunch on Saganet’s account.

  “Benno can help replace Frank,” Loria said. “He has similar gaps in his schedule.”

  “How do you know what my schedule is?”

  Loria just lifted her eyebrows and looked away as if Ricky asked a question beneath her.

  Ricky turned to Benno. “What kind of grades do you get?”

  “He is in the top ten in every class he’s attended at the academy,” Loria said.

  “And how long have you attended the academy?” Ricky asked.

  “I’m in my third year,” Benno said. “Loria mentioned you’re taking history, geology, and arithmetic. I’m not a Sorcerer, so…” He shrugged.

  “What do you want in return?”

  “I want to spar with Professor Crabacci. He always put me with the poor students when I took swordsmanship last year. I didn’t sign up this year, and I regret my decision. I want to learn more.”

  The first thought in Ricky’s head was ‘conditioning.' Despite his size, he didn’t look conditioned at all.

  “Are you willing to work for it?”

  “Work?” Benno said, with a touch of confusion in his voice.

  “I have to exercise for an hour each day before Professor Crabacci will work with me. He’ll make you do the same.”

  Benno let the implications of that sink in for a bit. “I’m willing. I want to be a warrior. My family laughs at me. My father’s family owns a few clothing stores in Tossa and Applia, and they desire that I train to manage the family business.”

  Ricky looked at Benno’s clothes. They were well made. “Do you have brothers or sisters who can take your place?”

  Benno nodded. “I’m the oldest, though.”

  “If you are willing to change yourself to become a warrior, then I think Saganet can be convinced.”

  Benno looked a bit confused.

  “Professor Crabacci.”

  Loria poked Benno. “See? He’s in tight with his guardian.”

  “We could meet right after lunch and go over the day’s terms and then exercise,” Ricky said. He’d have to give up training with the other class, but schoolwork was worth more than a few extra sparring matches.

  When lunch arrived, Ricky let the pair of them talk. They were good friends, and that friendship had to have started when they were younger. Loria and Benno finally admitted they had gone to the same schools. That probably meant Benno’s family did very well with their business.

  Ricky didn’t feel jealous. Loria talked to Benno differently than she talked to him. He didn’t quite know what the difference was, but if Loria didn’t like him, why would she bring over such an older person to help with his studies?

  As their discussion turned to academy matters, Ricky could finally get engaged in the conversation and found that Benno was much brighter than he seemed.

  “Do we have a deal?” Benno asked.

  “Not until Saganet agrees, but I’m all for it,” Ricky said. His eyes drifted over to Frank uncomfortably sitting with Victor and his friends, but then Frank always looked uncomfortable. Frank had to be forced into working with Saganet, but Benno desired to work in the gymnasium. How could Ricky refuse what appeared to be a better deal?

  Loria looked proud, and Benno beamed. Ricky smiled back at them. “I’ll make sure it happens.”

  After lunch, Ricky took Benno to the gymnasium to visit Saganet, who told them to wait while he started his class.

  “Benno, I thought you gave up weapons training,” Saganet said.

  The youth shook his head. “I want to take another crack at it because I still want to train to be a warrior.”

  “Do your parents know your change of heart? I’m afraid I don’t have any openings. Everybody is paired up.”

  Benno looked down at the ground. “I want to try again to achieve my dream. Hendrico said I could train with him if I took Franken Pestella’s place as a student-tutor.”

  Saganet gave Benno an evil smile and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ricky. “You made such a deal?”

  “Benno needs physical conditioning, and I need mental conditioning.” Ricky shrugged his shoulders. “Frank has found other friends.”

  His guardian nodded. “He has joined Victor Taranta’s group since he came back. I saw them walking between buildings. Did you try to talk to him?”

  Ricky nodded. “I asked him to sit with me at lunch, and he slipped in with Victor, not even making eye contact.”

  Saganet snorted and then peered at Benno. “I demand dedication. Ricky needs an interested and talented sparring partner. You’ll have to work on your conditioning and get to a more appropriate sparring weight.”

  “I’m willing, Professor Crabacci.”

  Saganet nodded, and Ricky smiled with the knowledge that he picked up a new partner.

  ~

  In the session after lunch, Benno proved to be better read than Franken. The older boy could present words with more context than Franken ever did, but Ricky missed having someone to sit next to in his classes. As an audit student, he still sat in the back and was basically ignored by his peers. Even Loria didn’t approach him in any class other than Advanced Sorcery.

  He had to ask Benno, “Is it that no one likes me, or is it that I am an audit student?”

  The bigger youth gave Ricky half a smile. “Audit. No one bothers with audit students. The fact is many of them only last a year, despite the academy’s efforts. You are looked down on as a charity case, and the rest of the students are mostly from well-to-do or noble families. They think you won’t last very long, so they don’t bother to go through the hassle to become friend
s. Honestly, if you couldn’t get Professor Crabacci to work with me, I’d be with the rest.”

  “But Loria—”

  “She’s taking in a stray puppy with you.” Benno made a face. “That’s not quite right. You bested her in Sorcery, and that really did impress her like nothing I’ve ever done.”

  Ricky looked at his tutor. “Do you have a, uh, relationship with Loria? Am I coming between you?”

  Benno leaned back and laughed. “A little bit, but only from my side. Our families are friends, we’ve been to the same schools, but I’m a few years older, so,” he sighed, “no. She likes you, but don’t worry about anything emotional.” Benno reddened as he talked. “All of us are too young for things like that.”

  Perhaps Benno was right, but he certainly blushed when Ricky asked. Now that he knew Benno liked Loria like he did, he could avoid any unpleasantness that an inadvertent comment might create.

  They worked through Saganet’s last class and walked together to the gymnasium through a cold rain.

  “Clean your shoes before you step onto the floor,” Saganet said.

  Both boys headed over to the weapons master.

  “Ricky knows what to do, but you, Benno, need to spend some time with me going over your diet and your exercise. As Ricky knows, I won’t teach you unless you are in better physical shape.”

  “Whatever you say, Professor Crabacci.”

  Saganet nodded and turned to Ricky. “While Benno and I work out a plan, you can start on the floors. Today will be a mop day with students tracking in mud from outside. I want you to post a notice about cleaning shoes in the foyer.”

  Ricky nodded and got to work. He generally mopped the wooden floor at the end of each week, but as he began to work, he could see how much dirtier the floor was. Maybe magic could make the work go more quickly, but Ricky patterned the strokes of the mop to mimic conditioning strokes as best he could.

  “Continue on,” Saganet said, “while I get Benno started on his first set of exercises.”

  Ricky nodded and occasionally turned to see Saganet working with his study partner. When he finished with the floor, he began to work on his own exercises. He stopped when Benno moved slowly towards the exit of the gymnasium.

  “Did you get enough for one day?” Ricky said.

  Benno nodded. His red, perspiring face told the story. “It’s a start, isn’t it?” Benno said, managing a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Ricky watched him leave the gymnasium and hoped Saganet hadn’t scared him off.

  “He has a long way to go,” Saganet said as he resumed examining practice weapons. “He never expressed a desire to improve his swordplay last year, but he is ready now.” He nodded. “If he is determined enough.”

  “I’d rather you don’t scare him off,” Ricky said. “He knows more than Frank, even if he doesn’t look like he does.”

  “You can’t always judge a person by how they look, but sometimes you can. He won’t become a warrior being overweight and under-strength. We’ll see if he can turn that around. Maybe he just needs some encouragement and some guidance.”

  “I can provide the encouragement,” Ricky said.

  Saganet chuckled. “So it looks like the guidance part is up to me.” Saganet tossed an envelope on a table. “By the way, here is something you might like a little of…freedom,” he said. “The Advance Sorcery class is doing so well that Dari Calasay has arranged an early evening dinner outside the academy with an hour or two of free time attached. She generally has a few dinners around Winter’s Day with her students. Dari doesn’t lack for money.”

  Ricky tore the envelope open and pulled out two cards with a few bank notes. “I’m only an audit student,” he said.

  “It’s for tomorrow night. You don’t have classes the next day.”

  Ricky stared at the invitation. “I can wear the clothes I wore to the Sorcery performance.”

  “That you can. For you, it’s not optional. I’m making it a requirement that you attend. Look at the other card.”

  Ricky shuffled the two documents. “A permission slip signed by Mistress Doubli.”

  His guardian nodded. “It’s an indication that she very much would like you to attend if she went to the trouble. You’ll get a bit of free time after dinner, so if constables stop you, this will tell them that you have permission to be out by yourself.”

  “It’s been four months,” Ricky said, “except for the performance.”

  “Another two and you’ve served your probation,” Saganet said.

  Ricky looked up from reading the permission card. “What happens to me after that?”

  “I signed up for a year at your side. That means you have a place to live with me until the start of next term.”

  Ricky nodded and wondered to what kind of restaurant Professor Calasay would take her five students. He broke into a smile. Loria would attend, but so would Victor.

  ~~~

  Chapter Fifteen

  ~

  P rofessor Calasay herded her five students to a separate room at a fancy inn. Ricky looked around at the gray-carpeted floor, and the scarlet gold-tasseled velvet drapes. The chairs were even padded, he thought, as he sat down across from Loria.

  She smiled and batted her eyelashes. Ricky had never seen her do that before. He leaned over. “Have you ever been to a place like this before?”

  Loria wrinkled her eyebrows. “Of course I have.” Her eyebrows rose. “I’m sorry. I forgot where you used to live. You’ll like the food here.”

  Ricky thought back to the outdoor restaurant where he and Saganet ate before the Sorcerer’s performance. He looked outside at the cold rain pelting the windows, obscuring the view outside, and nodded.

  Dinner was indeed good. Victor dominated the conversation, boasting about how his father was improving all their lives as a brand new member of the Council of Notables in Sealio. Loria would often roll her eyes at some of the things the bully said. Ricky had to nod and smile since Victor often shot him glances.

  Professor Calasay rose from her seat. “And for our dessert, a Winter’s Day cake.” She nodded at the attendant who stood in the room. The girl left, and servers came in and put a small cake at each place. A single candle stood in the middle of each dessert.

  “To justify our dinner, we will have a little test. I want you all to put a colored flame on your candle and change the color using your will.” She looked at Victor. “You may go first.” Professor Calasay had just taught them about picturing the magic and then letting their own body determine what tone was needed to resonate.

  Victor blushed a little and nodded. “I would be happy to.” He glared at Ricky before he hummed for a bit and set the candle flame burning yellow. He hummed a different tune and closed his eyes and failed to change the color of the flame. His second try put the light out, but he did replace the flame with a blue color.

  Each student did a little better than Victor. All of the flames started yellow and ended up blue, since it was the easiest color, except for Loria who easily changed her flame’s color to red.

  Ricky took a deep breath and concentrated on what power he felt to create a burning point of light and change the color. He created the flame a foot above the candle, something that he had no problem doing in class, and then changed his color as it descended from yellow to blue to red and then green to match the frosting on the top of the cake.

  Professor Calasay clapped. “My applause goes out to all of your efforts. You may blow out your candles.”

  “But you didn’t do yours,” Victor said.

  The professor blinked. “I suppose I didn’t. I don’t know if I can perform as well as Hendrico, but here goes.” She hummed a very pure tone and closed her eyes. Four flames appeared in a row, white, blue, green and purple, just above the candlewick. They came together and became yellow and descended to the candle. “Is that acceptable, Victor?”

  The boy stared at the professor’s candle. “It is.”

  “Then
enjoy your dessert. You all passed, and as a reward, you may spend the next two hours outside the academy.”

  Ricky knew the others were able to go home on weekends if they lived close enough. He had thought about where he would go and decided to visit his old friend Karian, where he would buy a stock of candy, but more importantly, Ricky wanted to show Karian that he had learned how to read.

  Loria grabbed Ricky’s sleeve on the way out the restaurant. “Can I go with you?”

  Ricky had to think for a moment. “I’m going to visit a friend. He runs a shop. If that is okay, then sure.”

  The sun hadn’t quite set as they proceeded north to Upper Tossa, a less fashionable part of the city, where Ricky had spent most of his time.

  “You showed off as usual,” Loria said. “Do you think you could duplicate Professor Calasay’s trick?”

  Ricky nodded. “With some practice. The challenge is producing four flames at once. I’ve never tried that, although I practiced changing colors after she first told us about modifying our resonance and our will. There is so much to learn.”

  “Less for you,” Loria said, taking his arm and walking closer to him. “Even though the rain has stopped, it’s a little cold.”

  Ricky nearly sputtered at being so close to her. “It is.”

  They walked on in silence for a few blocks before Ricky turned left. “His shop is down this street.”

  Loria made a little sound, noting that she had heard.

  The shop lights were still on. Ricky opened the door for Loria and ushered her into the warmer confines of Karian’s establishment. The little bell at the door rang, and Karian stepped out from the back.

  “Ricky!” he said as he walked quickly towards them. “You look well, and this is?”

  “Loria Mansali,” Loria said, giving Karian a curtsey.

  “You are a relative of Baron Mansali?”

  “He is my father.” She smiled at Karian, but to Ricky, it seemed a little forced.

  Karian looked at Ricky. “You’ve come up in the world. What brings you from the academy to my shop?”