Page 42 of Witchcraft and Fury (Chronicles of the Divided Isle #1)
The rider dismounted and came into the circle of tents. He wore a thick brown cape, and he let down the hood with gloved hands as he drew near. Smoke played with the morning light across a young face framed by short, golden hair and a ghost of a beard. He held out a scroll.
Loveday took it and examined the wax seal. ‘This bears the seal of my brother’s steward. Sit, all of you. Pingot, get this man some wine and see he does not go hungry.’
All eyes were on Loveday as he sat and unrolled the scroll. Not a single emotion played across his face as he read, his eyes scanning the parchment.
‘My brother is dead,’ he announced finally, his voice calm, ‘having fallen from his horse in a riding accident. I now find myself head of the Loveday family and lands.’
Everyone was silent. The rider looked nervous. Eventually Binns reached over to Loveday and patted him on the leg. ‘I am sorry for your loss, friend.’
‘Thank you,’ said Loveday shortly. ‘This is tragic news indeed.
‘Dirk, I’d like you in my tent now to talk in private, if you please.
Eamon, break your fast before riding back to the steward with my reply.
I will not be able to visit the family estates until after the king’s coronation, and the steward will have work to do in my absence.
I would offer you rest as well as food, but unfortunately our party has its own need for haste. ’
‘Of course, Lord Gaderian,’ said Eamon, as Loveday rose from his seat. The wizard froze at the word ‘Lord’. Then he straightened, and Solar could have sworn that, for an instant, there was the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.
‘Carpenter,’ Lord Gaderian Loveday said, turning towards his tent, ‘I’ll want a few words with you in a moment. I haven’t forgotten what you said to me on the slavers’ ship. No student should speak to her instructor like that.’
Loveday and Binns entered the wizard’s tent, and Eamon walked into the trees to relieve himself after just a few mouthfuls of cheese and sausage, moving stiffly from his time in the saddle.
‘Lord Gaderian doesn’t seem too upset at the death of his brother, does he?’ said Oswald, as soon as the students were alone.
‘That was the strangest reaction to a family member’s death,’ agreed Solar.
‘Maybe he and his brother simply didn’t get on?’ suggested Cal with a shrug. ‘It’s not unheard of for families to have their disagreements.’
‘And now Loveday is the head of one of the kingdom’s most powerful families, with all its lands and riches,’ said Bear. ‘And, with his brother gone, he’s also second in line to the throne. I thought he looked a little smug. You don’t suppose Loveday is the ambitious type?’
‘Maybe. I didn’t notice anything smug about him, though,’ said Pingot. ‘What struck me as odd was how emotionless he was. He didn’t seem at all surprised that his brother has died.’
‘What, you think Loveday was expecting this news?’ asked Solar, a chill creeping down her spine. But before Pingot could answer, Binns exited Loveday’s tent and looked over to where Solar sat.
‘Girl,’ he said gruffly, ‘the wizard wants you now. I’d be preparing myself for an appropriate punishment if I were you, after the way you questioned his judgement in Wolfport .
The rest of you, start packing up camp. We can be sure that the goblins won’t have given up the chase yet, the vengeful bastards.
’ He snatched up a hunk of bread and ducked into his tent.
Solar got up nervously. Oswald clapped her on the back encouragingly and Wyman murmured, ‘Good luck.’
But Bear urged her to stand up to him: ‘He just left us to solve the mystery ourselves – us, a group of seventeen-year-olds in a city where all other seventeen-year-olds had already been kidnapped! Tell him what you think of him!’
‘It was the goblins who removed him from the action,’ Wyman pointed out quietly, ‘and Binns who encouraged him to go gambling in the first place.’
‘A qualified wizard should know better than to place himself in a position that could jeopardise the success of a mission and bring disgrace on all our heads!’ Bear retorted.
‘He was in a goblin gambling den, by the gods, when on a royal assignment. How does that reflect on the king?! Loveday has no sense of duty, and truth be told, sometimes I can hardly believe that he is a member of the king’s own Magic Circle! ’
Solar did not reply. She supposed that she should be ashamed of the way in which she had spoken to Loveday after the struggle with the slavers. After all, in a way Loveday had been right to prioritise looking after Cal. He had needed urgent medical attention.
But she felt no shame, no remorse. Instead, as she pulled aside the tent flap, she found herself resolving finally to raid Loveday’s mind.
His reaction to his brother’s death had made something snap inside her.
It was just too bizarre and intriguing, and Lady Faylseigh’s warning too fresh and alarming, for her to continue to resist rummaging through all his secrets.
She no longer cared if she got caught. She had to know the truth, both about his brother’s accident and whether the wizard had anything sinister planned for her.
Solar had never been in Loveday’s tent before. It was partitioned into front and rear rooms. The former was the most spacious, with a desk in the centre and a small oak chest before it. Loveday was seated behind the desk.
‘I should expel you, you know, after the way you spoke to me on the slavers’ ship.’
Solar felt a rising sense of injustice. I only asked him why he was so eager to protect his belongings at the inn, when the rest of us were setting off to risk our lives against the Twin Killer; a just question, even if it did stray near to accusing him of unchivalrous conduct.
She looked down at her feet, feigning meekness. ‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered. She steeled herself to reach out with her consciousness, to attempt to raid her instructor’s mind without eye contact or detection, but she was finding it hard to pretend to listen and make her mental foray at the same time.
‘“Sorry?” That’s all you have to say?’ Loveday demanded.
‘Umm …’ she began, playing for time.
The wizard looked expectantly at her, his golden eyebrows raised.
What will Loveday do if he senses me inside his mind? But the question didn’t matter. She was committed now. She pushed tentatively with her consciousness, but in the very moment before she entered his mind, the wizard’s next words caught her off guard.
‘Well, despite that little slip, there’s no denying that you did an amazing job back in Wolfport.
I’m proud of you. Other instructors might want their students to follow their every word, like drugged-up temple worshippers dancing to the priest’s drum.
But not me. It was brave of you to speak up.
I wanted you to, to challenge me. I do not approve of the tone and words employed, and in future you’d do well to trust me more and speak with greater respect, but the fact remains you demonstrated courage and the ability to think for yourself.
Bear, Pingot and the rest may have been with you every step, but you showed true leadership and courage throughout the mission. ’
Solar blushed, her concentration lost at Loveday’s sudden change in direction, and her consciousness retreated.
‘I just did what anyone would’ve done,’ she mumbled.
She hated herself for it, but she was thrilled by his compliments.
She tried again to marshal her thoughts, ready to make another attempt at invading Loveday’s mind, but the wizard’s warm praise had her distracted.
‘Perhaps, but you also gave the others hope and direction when they needed someone to turn to, after Sir Dirk was forced to confront those goblins and their pet minotaur. And you were outstanding in the final battle against the Twin Killer. That was a stunning shot from your bow, sending him over the edge.’
‘How do you know that?’ asked Solar, surprised, and now totally focussed on the conversation. ‘You weren’t even on the clifftop with us.’
‘No, but I raided Wyman’s mind on our journey yesterday and sifted through his memories. It was easier than unrolling a scroll of parchment.’
Solar didn’t quite know how to respond, nor what to make of the fact that Loveday had spent the day browsing her friend’s memories without him knowing.
‘I have never told you this,’ said Loveday, ‘but I have received a lot of grief from certain members of the Magic Circle ever since I took on a witch, and a low-born one at that, as a trainee. We wizards ranging the country communicate each night by mind roosting, and let’s just say their opinions have started to give me a headache.
Some of them have gone so far as to call me a traitor to my order and to the aristocracy.
Kenric Storrbury, the head of the Magic Circle, is even considering stripping me of my staff. ’
‘Why are you telling me this now? Are you thinking of getting rid of me after all?’ Solar asked, suddenly afraid.
‘Certainly not. I’m telling you this now because your performance in Wolfport, and in Ravenbridge for that matter, highlights the qualities that make you an ideal magical trainee, common girl or not.
‘You alone took the initiative to make initial enquiries with the landlord of The Crooked Harbour-Master. You alone had the presence of mind and skill to raid the mind of Jacob Faylseigh. You demonstrated leadership and logic after leaving the tannery when you ordered Cal, your best fighter, to leave you and fetch me. It was a brave decision. It took tenacity to race to the clifftop straight after escaping the slavers, and I do not believe the others would have done so had you and Sir Dirk not been there to inspire them. These are the qualities that Bayen and I saw within you in Falcontop, all those months ago. These are the qualities that make you the finest student I have ever had the fortune to teach, and which will one day make you an even finer witch.’