Mage, Man

August shocked me by placing an arm firmly around my middle. "Stop shaking so much, boy." He said. "You don't want to throw off the landing."

Sarthis glided and flapped toward a large balcony-like platform about midway up the outside of the magedom. We seemed to be coming in so fast that I held my breath and finally allowed myself to shut my eyes. There was a sickening lurch as Sarthis rose just above the platform and then tucked his wings in as he dropped the final distance onto the balcony. I stifled a retch as my insides hadn't handled the flight or landing very well.

August slipped out from against my back and carefully slid over the manticore's side to the platform. He reached up to help me down but I gave him a snort and attempted the dismount on my own. Sarthis bucked as I guess I grabbed him by a patch of fur that caused him discomfort. I was knocked away from the beast's body and sprawled to the floor on my face and hands. I looked up to see the mage shaking his head.

"Foolish boy." He said, glowering down at me. "Get up. Come with me."

Sarthis remained out on the platform. As I watched him he lay down, gave an enormous yawn and set to licking his paws. He folded his wings neatly about him and the long dangerous tail switched back and forth. When he wasn't snarling and being all around terrifying, he truly resembled an oversized housecat.

Before us stood an immense black iron gate comprised of two doors. August hauled one of the doors open and motioned me inside. As I have said, the mage was a fair bit taller than me, by about a foot, so it was no easy task to match his pace as he showed me around the tower. The inside of the place was less menacing than its exterior perhaps, but no less impressive. It made me feel very small. The ceilings stretched high above my head, dark arches of the same alien-looking stone as the outside and the floor seemed to be the same material, only completely shiny and smooth, almost reflective. Every fifty feet or so, high above my head along the walls were peculiar glass globes, each containing a blue flame. They seemed to be torches of some variety, to illuminate the cavernous magedom but I couldn't tell what they were burning, if anything.

August stopped in front of a large room and motioned for me to step inside. "Hurry up, boy." He said impatiently.

Inside was a long table surrounded by many high-backed chairs. The front of the chamber was clearly a dining room with ornate tapestries on the walls and an iron chandelier overhead. In the far back were some cabinets with a large kitchen beyond. There was a hearth in the corner, cabinets, and all along the back walls were pots, pans, cooking implements, a large stone sink and some dried sausages and fruits. Doors were opposite the hearth, I guessed the pantry would lie behind them.

"Dining room, kitchen." August said flatly. "This is where you'll prepare my meals. Breakfast you'll bring me every morning in my study, dinner I will take here in the evenings, or my study if I prefer."

I expected him to give more instruction than this but he whisked out of the room a moment later and I had to hustle to catch up to him.

We ducked down another corridor and came to two large, solid, metal-framed doors at the end. "These are my chambers." He explained. "You will not bother me here if you value your life."

He gave me a stern look, as if requiring a response, so I said, "A man's room is his business."

He gave a small nod then hurried further down the hallway.

The next set of doors ended up leading into a vast network of rooms into which August now motioned me.

"This is my study." He said. I couldn't be sure but I thought I detected a hint of pride in his voice.

An immense wooden desk sat in the center of the inter-connected rooms, nearly covered in books, papers, ink and other items I didn't recognize. I noticed bottles and strange, perhaps alchemical ingredients in a large adjoining room.

"You can bring breakfast to me there." He indicated toward the enormous desk.

I nodded my understanding and scanned the room. There were books everywhere. I had never seen so many books, not by half, not by half that half. The books we had in town were storybooks for children, or farming manuals. I honestly didn't know there were enough subjects in the world to warrant this much reading. I wondered what secrets the old wizard's study held.

He was again measuring my reaction. "Can you read?" He asked.

"I can read." I said, slightly perturbed.

"Hmh." He said with a raised eyebrow. Had he been impressed? Surprised? Arrogant bastard, assuming we were a town full of nitwits.

In the next corridor he showed me an impressive bathroom. A low stone tub was set into the floor in the middle, I wouldn't have recognized it for what it was had he not told me. Around it on low counters I could see soap, small bottles of oil and a scrub brush. There were a handful of globes containing the blue flames flickering on the walls in here too, apparently they were what lit this entire place, perhaps even keeping it heated.

"You will fill the tub using this faucet here." He turned a small metal wheel and water began to pour from a spout underneath into the bath. "I like my baths hot, but not so hot that they scald me. You turn this lever here, halfway for the temperature I want." He finished.

I was confused. "But where does the water come from?" I asked. I was familiar with bathing of course but we had to bring buckets of water from the well or lake and warm them over coals. This was some sort of magic, to be sure.

He gave a sigh. "It's called plumbing. Water is pumped through pipes out of a large cistern underneath us and--" He stopped abruptly. "It doesn't matter where it comes from, boy, you couldn't grasp the science anyway." He snapped. "All that matters is it does, and this is what you need to handle."

He pointed out the toilet which was also a marvel of plumbing as it turned out, instantly removing the waste when you were finished. It was a damn sight better than our village outhouses at any rate.

"You should keep clean as well, I don't want you stinking up the place. You can use the bath after I am finished each day." He informed me. I frowned at the implication.

Next to the bathroom was the laundry, here more plumbing sorcery was used to bring hot water into another, smaller tub set against the back wall. There was a triangular-shaped balcony off of the laundry room through a set of doors where I spotted a clothesline.

"Every two weeks I will need you to wash my robes and bed linens." He explained. "Soap is in this cupboard. This is also where you can find a broom and mop for when the floors start to look dusty."

The final room he led me to was all the way at the end of a fourth corridor.

"This is your chamber." He said as he opened the door for me.

It wasn't much to behold. It was certainly the smallest of the rooms I had been shown thus far. There was a narrow bed inside and a rickety-looking shelf affixed to the opposite wall. On the bed were two sets of very simple, shapeless clothing, apparently meant to be my work clothes while I lived here. Another of the blue-flamed torches was set into the middle of the ceiling. There were no windows, no rug, no books, not even a table. The only other item to be found was a large wooden clock, high on the wall over the foot of the bed.

"There's not much here." I said sullenly.

August shot me a look. "Are you here to work? Or here to complain?" He asked bitterly. "Speak up, boy!"

I returned his burning gaze. "I'm here to work, but I don't think it's too much to ask for a decent bed." I said hotly.

"You're lucky to even have that. Ungrateful..." He began muttering obscenities under his breath.

"And my name, is Lawrence!" I spat.

"What?" The mage asked incredulously.

"Don't call me boy, I'm not a boy. My name is Lawrence Macguire." I folded my arms and puffed my chest out a bit.

The mage laughed in my face. "You've got some nerve, boy, I'll give you that!" He said.

I let my arms fall to my sides and felt my shoulders slump.

"It's nearly time for my supper." August said. He then pointed to the clock on the wall. "I will take it in the kitchen at eight o'clock, sharp." He turned to leave.

"Well what do you want?" I called after him, exasperated.

He stopped and turned back toward me. "Whatever you can make that doesn't taste like pig shit covered in mud." He retorted.

I had about an hour to prepare the mage's evening meal so I headed to the kitchen. Already August was gone from view. I suspected he would be in his study since according to him that was the other place he might take his dinner in the future. Now that I was unescorted, I had time to think and take stock of my surroundings. The magedom felt needlessly big. There was so much open space and as near as I could glean, the old mage, his pet and myself were the only three in residence.

I entered the kitchen and headed to the doors at the back I had seen earlier. I pulled them open and found a good-sized pantry inside. I grimaced as I noticed it wasn't very well stocked. Despite what I had indicated earlier in the day, I wasn't a very strong cook and in fact Thomas would have been the better candidate because of this one simple fact. Still, I could make a passable stew so I set about getting what scant few ingredients I could find together and began preparations.

True to his word, eight o'clock rolled around and August strode into the room and took a seat at the long table in one of the tall chairs.

"It's eight." He said simply. "Is my food ready or not?"

I spooned up a bowl, trying to hold my temper in check and set it in front of the mage. "It's ready." I told him. "Not only can I read, I can tell time too." I narrowed my eyes at him.

He glared at me but said nothing. He took a spoonful of the stew and tilted his head to the side, thinking.

"It's not very good." He said, finally. "In fact it might be terrible."

"Well you don't have much in your pantry." I said through gritted teeth. "And I told you I can cook, not that I'm especially good at it."

August made sort of a pouty face, like a child might. "Well I'm not due to pick up supplies from the town for another week so you'll have to make do. And add some flavor next time."

I could feel the heat of my anger in my cheeks and ears. I said nothing more. Though I wanted to throw the hot soup into the jackass's face I knew that acting out against a strong magic-user like him would likely mean my own demise, or worse.

He finished eating shortly thereafter and informed me that I could have some of the remaining stew for my own dinner, if I could handle the taste. He dabbed his grey beard with a cloth napkin and rose to leave.

"So now what?" I asked.

"So now what, what?" He echoed with a question of his own.

"You're done eating supper, I'll have mine, and then what?" I asked, making my question more plain.

He shrugged. "I don't care, you're of no more interest to me tonight. Stay in your room, don't cause me any trouble." He flashed me a grin. "Or go play with Sarthis on the balcony, he's probably lonely."

Was that a joke? The man had a disturbed sense of humor.

"I can't just stay in my room. There's nothing to do." I said unhappily.

"It makes no difference to me." The mage said as he began to head for the kitchen door.

"Please!" I pleaded.

He actually stopped to look at me. I wondered if he cared at all about my earnest request.

August looked me over for a time. "You said you read." He commented at last.

I nodded in affirmation.

"What do you like to read?" He asked. His usual venom was decidedly absent from his tone.

I shrugged. "I... don't really know. We don't have many books in town."

He rolled his eyes. "Well that's not very helpful, as expected." He scoffed.

"Maybe a book about plumbing?" I offered.

He gave me a stunned look, but recovered quickly. "Why would you want to read about that?" He asked with a note of suspicion creeping into his voice.

"It seems interesting." I said with a shrug. "I don't know anything about it."

"Go to your room." He instructed.

"But I--" I began, but he cut me off by raising his hand.

"Go to your room." He said again. His tone was firm and his piercing stare made me decide to follow his wishes.

I sat down on the small bed in my windowless chamber and let a deep sigh escape me. The clock informed me that it was not quite half past eight. I was going to go mad with nothing to occupy my time every day and night except for washing clothes, cleaning, preparing meals and sleeping. I listened to the ticking clock and thought again about home. It was small consolation knowing it was just outside and at the bottom of the wall. It may as well have been on the moon for the distance I felt between us.

A loud knock at the door brought me immediately back to my current situation. Before I could even say anything in response the door opened inward and August stood before me. He brought up his hands to show me a small leatherbound book.

I stood and walked over to him.

"It's a compendium of the most recent advances in the field of plumbing." He said matter-of-factly. "I doubt you'll understand much of what you read, but I suppose if you're in here reading I don't have to worry about you stupidly poking your nose into my affairs."

I went to take the book but he pulled it away from me.

"Don't damage it, you don't want to anger me." He gave me a serious look. "When you finish with it, return it to me in my study and perhaps we can get you something else to read."

He pressed the book into my hands and was turning on his heel to leave when I said, "Thank you."

He gave me a sideways glance, nodded once, and left the room.

I opened the book, careful not to damage the pages and began to read. Much to my chagrin, August was right. It was difficult reading as I had no basis for any of the science or even many of the basic principles involved. But this was also the first book I had ever seen from the outside world, even if it belonged to a cantankerous old mage. My mind swam with new words and ideas and in spite of everything that had happened today I was able to focus my attention on something else and briefly forget about my loneliness and exile.

CHAPTER 3: LEARNING

I awoke with a start, my eyes wide and my heart pounding through my chest. I had no idea where I was, orange flames licked and flickered all around me. Rising to my feet I realized I was still in the small bed chamber in August's tower. I could see the door was opened partway and dived from the bed through the flames into the hallway. I tried to roll as I landed, patting out the fire on my clothes. I gasped for breath as I realized the flames had dissipated.

"My goodness, are you alright?" A voice asked.

I whirled my head around and found August leaning against the wall outside the room holding his staff in one hand and the other tucked behind his back. He wore a bemused expression on his pale face.

"Th-there was a fire in the room..." I said between heaving breaths. "I had to get out."

"Oh my, that sounds dangerous." The mage said in response. There was something about his voice I didn't like. "But you know... " He stroked his beard thoughtfully before continuing, "If you had prepared my breakfast on time instead of sleeping in I wouldn't have had to cast flashfire on you, you lazy brat!!" He bellowed and gave me the most menacing look I had ever seen. The glow from his eyes was much more intense than before.

I leapt to my feet in realization at what he had just said, and paused. I was still in shock.

"Don't just stand there, boy!" He roared. "Breakfast! Now!"

I scrambled down the hall as fast as my legs would carry me. Behind me I could hear the old geezer howling with laughter.

I whipped up two eggs, some cured meats and heated some toast with butter. My mind was racing as I worked. I had been late with August's breakfast and he had responded by nearly burning me to death. I couldn't mess up again, I finally understood what was at stake here. To anger the mage again would certainly mean my death.

August entered the kitchen and sat at the same chair as the night before. He still wore a satisfied smirk on his face. Bastard. A few minutes later when I had finished his breakfast I set it on the table in front of him, my hands still shaking, causing the plate to clatter. He blinked in surprise.

He took a bite and gave a thoughtful look. "It tastes better than yesterday at any rate. Still not very good though."

I nodded my head in understanding.

He ate more of the food and glanced around the kitchen. "You didn't make anything for yourself?" He asked.

I shook my head no.

"What's wrong with you, boy? You've gone quiet for a change?" He inquired with a smirk.

"I d-didn't know when you wanted breakfast, I'm sorry." I stammered. I hated myself for sounding weak, scared.

"I mentioned it last night." He said.

I shook my head. "You just said supper at eight, I didn't know what time you wanted your breakfast." I said.

August looked me over for a long time. "Come over here." He said at last, pointing to the chair opposite him at the table.

I cautiously approached the table and remained standing.

"Have a seat." He offered. I sat down, still shaking slightly.

He took a long inhalation and I could see his face soften slightly. "You might be right." He started, "Maybe I didn't tell you when I take my breakfast. My fault. I like my breakfast on my desk at nine every morning."

I remained silent, listening to his words.

"But anyone knows breakfast is the start of the day, you didn't need to sleep so late." He concluded.

"I'm really sorry." I said. "I stayed up reading most of the night, the time got away from me, it won't happen again!" I spouted.

"You read that book all night?" He asked.

"I-I actually finished it." I replied.

His eyebrows rose on his forehead. "You, finished the book? I'm... impressed."

I dared to look up at him. Impressed? I thought.

"Listen boy, about before. It's a spell that resembles fire, it might look and smell like the real thing but you weren't actually in any danger." He said. His voice had softened somewhat, he almost sounded human.

I stopped shaking. Was that an apology? Had he felt guilty about setting me on fire earlier?

"It... tends to get lonely around here." He said slowly. "I thought it would be funny. Maybe my sense of humor could use some... discretion. I didn't mean to scare you." He finished.

As I looked at him I could see he was being genuine. It was unexpected, to say the least. At last I felt the fear leave me and in its place I could feel my face begin to burn with anger.

"Don't ever do that again." I said with a stiff tone. "You need me to do something, you can damn well ask me." I snatched the plate from in front of him and headed back to the counter.

"Hey! I wasn't done eating that!" He called in alarm.

"Oh yes you were." I said as I dropped the plate and half-eaten breakfast into a washbasin on the counter.

August rose angrily to his feet. "I apologized!" He griped.

"You will never cast another spell on me." I said defiantly. "I will cook for you, clean for you, wash your blasted underwear without complaint but you will never attack me like that again." I stared at him, openly furious.

He looked away. "It was just a damned joke." He said quietly.

"Are we clear?!" I demanded.

August let out a sigh. "Yes, boy, we're clear. I promise I won't."

I sighed with relief. We both knew that he didn't have to take any of my lip, and I was taking a risk by making demands of him. My mother had often warned me when I was young that my smart mouth would get me into trouble. For as much as the mage made me nervous, it was turning out he was at least capable of being reasonable.