The Magic Thief (8 page)

N
every decided to take me to the academicos the next afternoon because he'd heard the magisters were meeting later in the evening.

“They won't be expecting me already,” he said,
picking up his cane and jamming his wide-brimmed hat onto his head. “Best to keep them on their toes. Come along, boy.”

He swept out of the mansion and, me following, went across the puddled courtyard, then down the stairs to the tunnel and the gate. Without hesitating, he raised his locus magicalicus and spoke the opening spell. After a sputter and spark, the gate swung open and he strode through it, me running to keep up.

“Nevery,” I said, wanting to ask him about how to find a locus stone and also about going to school. They were going to teach me to read, of course, but what else?

“Listen, boy,” Nevery said, pausing to give me one of his keen-gleam looks, then striding on.

I nodded to show him I was listening.

“You must call me ‘Master,' not ‘Nevery.'”

I didn't get it. Nevery was his name, wasn't it? “Why?” I asked.

“It's a sign of respect, boy.”

“I respect you,” I said. It was true; I did.

He shook his head. “It shows that you respect that I possess knowledge, experience, and abilities that you do not, boy. That I am your master.”

I thought about that while Nevery opened one of the gates. “But I possess knowledge, experience, and abilities that you do not, Nevery.” And at least I didn't call him
old man
the way he called me
boy
.

“Perhaps. But I am your teacher,” Nevery said.

“Well,” I said, running a few steps to catch up with him, “I could teach you what I know, if you like.”

“Could you indeed?” He shot me another look. “What, for example?”

“Like picking pockets and locks, learning the secret ways in the city, walking in the shadows. It's worth knowing.”

He looked like he was about to answer, then he closed his mouth and strode on, his cane going
tap tap tap
on the damp cobblestones of the tunnel. He let us through another gate, polished and more
ornate than all the other gates. “Hrm,” he said. “This is the academicos gate. Come along.”

He led the way up the stairs to the academicos island. The stairs opened onto a wide flagstone-paved courtyard thronging with chattering students and teachers. The school itself was a huge central building with four spired towers that were flanked by four-story wings that reached out like embracing arms.

As Nevery strode across the courtyard, me hurrying behind him, people stopped and stared and gathered in little groups to point him out as he passed along. He ignored them; knowing Nevery, he didn't even notice. When we reached the wide steps leading up to the academicos front door, he
tap tap
ped toward the door, then turned aside, seeing someone he recognized.

Oh, no. I recognized him, too. The fat wizard from Magisters Hall. I felt suddenly afraid that he wasn't going to want me at his academicos.

“Brumbee,” Nevery said with a nod.

Brumbee, who wore the same dark suit under the bright yellow robes I'd seen him in before, looked surprised. “Nevery!”

“The magisters meet this evening, do they not?” Nevery asked.

“Yes, we do.” Brumbee blinked. “Perhaps we should go into my chambers to, ah, discuss it?”

“No,” Nevery said. “I have a few things to do before the meeting.”

“Oh! Then you'll be joining us?” Brumbee asked.

“Yes,” Nevery answered. He pointed at me. “This boy here is my, hrm, apprentice. He needs a place at the academicos.”

“Your apprentice?” Brumbee asked. “But you've never had an apprentice before.”

Nevery scowled. “Well, I've got one now. Can you take him?”

Brumbee spared me a quick glance, then looked again, more carefully. “Yes. Yes, I think so.”

“Good,” Nevery said. He looked down at me.
“Behave yourself, boy, and see if you can learn a thing or two.” He turned to leave.

Brumbee reached out and grabbed his sleeve as he turned away. “Nevery!”

“What?”

“It's just…” The fat wizard lowered his voice. “We need you here. Thank you for returning to Wellmet.”

At that, Nevery looked surprised. Then he grasped Brumbee's pudgy hand and gave it a brisk shake, and strode off down the steps and away.

Brumbee watched him go, then turned to me. “Well, well. Nevery's apprentice, are you?”

I nodded.

“Come with me, please.”

I followed him into a high-ceilinged, echoing gallery. A double stair led down from a second floor balcony, and the floors were paved with slippery black stone. We crossed the wide hall, reaching a door, which stood open. Brumbee led the way through.

“My chambers,” he said. “My office is here, and a workshop and study. Very convenient.” He shut the door. “So we won't be disturbed.”

The room was decorated in a darker yellow than Brumbee's robes, and contained a gleaming, carved wooden desk with a comfortable chair behind it, a few benches and bookshelves against the walls, a dark blue rug spangled with stars on the floor, and a few other chairs. A fat black cat was curled on a chair, and a tabby looked up from its perch on the windowsill. I stood just inside the door, and Brumbee crossed to sit behind his desk.

“Well then,” he said, folding his fat hands and looking at me. “I believe we have met before. Despite the fact that the embero spell is highly illegal, Nevery used it, I think. You were the cat, were you not?”

Drats. He was going to throw me out for spying on the magisters. I thought about lying to him, but there was no point. I nodded.

“Hmmm.” He pointed at one of the chairs.
“Would you like to sit down?”

The chair looked comfortable, but I felt like staying by the door. I knew—
knew
down in my bones—that I was supposed to be Nevery's apprentice. But I was afraid that Brumbee was going to punish me for spying on the magisters by sending me away or telling me I was too stupid to come to his school.

Brumbee was looking through his desk drawers, pulling out paper and pen and ink. He slipped a metal nib onto a pen. “What is your name?”

“Conn,” I said. That wasn't my whole name, my true name, but it was enough to start with.

“All right.” Brumbee dipped his pen in the ink and wrote something down on the paper. Then he looked up at me. “And your age?”

I didn't actually know the answer to that question. I shrugged.

“Hmmm,” Brumbee said. “How many years of schooling have you already had?”

I didn't say anything. This was a big mistake.
I'd be better off going back to Heartsease and trying to persuade Benet to teach me how to read.

Brumbee put down the pen. “Are you going to answer my questions, Conn?”

I took a deep breath. Nevery wanted me to do this, so I would do it. “If I can,” I said.

Brumbee looked at me, where I stood by the door. “Hmmm.” He nodded. “I think I understand.” He was silent for a moment, thinking. “Ah, I've got it,” he said to himself, then spoke to me. “How did you meet your master?”

Now there was a question I could answer. “I tried to steal his locus magicalicus.”

Brumbee's eyes widened. “You did
what
?”

“I did steal it, actually,” I said.

“And it didn't kill you?”

I shook my head and stepped closer to the desk. “It tried to, after a while, but I stopped it. Nevery thought that was interesting, so after he took the locus stone off me, he made me his apprentice.”

“Really!” Brumbee said.

“Well, not exactly,” I said. I sat down in one of the comfortable chairs. “He took me on as his servant at first, but then he realized that I was supposed to be his apprentice.”

“My goodness,” Brumbee said. “And so—let me see if I've got this right, Conn—he needs the academicos to teach you some things so you can get on with being a good apprentice.”

“That's right,” I said. “Mainly, I need to know how to read.”

“Ah. Yes, I see,” Brumbee said. “To read. We can, of course, teach you that here.”

I felt a sudden relief. He wasn't going to throw me out, after all. “Can I start today?” I asked.

“It's a bit late for today. But tomorrow, certainly,” Brumbee said. “You understand that most students, both the apprentices and the regular students, start at the academicos when they are quite a bit younger than you are?”

I nodded.

Brumbee spoke to himself, fidgeting with his pen. “But I don't want to put you with the youngest children, do I?” He shook his head. “No, I don't think that would work. Hmmm.” He fell silent. Then he asked me, “What have you learned already, Conn?”

“A little bit about locus stones. And not to mix tourmalifine and slowsilver.” I thought back over the past few days. “And the embero spell, and all the key words for the gates leading to Heartsease, and a spell for making light.”

“Good!” Brumbee said, smiling. “Would you mind showing me your locus magicalicus?”

Oh. “I don't have one yet,” I said.

Brumbee stopped smiling. “Of course you do. You must. Or Nevery would not have taken you on as an apprentice.”

“Well,” I said, “he did.”

“This is most irregular,” Brumbee said. “Without a locus stone, how does Nevery—” He cut himself off. “I shall speak to him about it. He'll
have to help you find a locus stone—we have quite a large collection at the academicos; they tend to gather here. And he'll have to present you at Magisters Hall. It is traditional for any wizard's apprentice to be recognized by our governing body.”

I nodded. I'd seen the magisters at work; I wasn't afraid of them.

“As for the reading,” Brumbee went on, “I think it would be best if you join a class of older students and receive tutoring on the side. You'll have to work very hard to catch up.”

That was all right. I would work hard, and I would catch up.