The Sorcerer's Legacy (28 page)

“Oh no. It uses a very complex and specific type of magic that few practice and even fewer can master. I suppose I could achieve marginal success if I really wanted to devote several years of study to temporal space manipulation but I would rather not. More than one ill-prepared or foolish wizard has been lost in the void trying to do such.”

Several of the books were student books of The Academy as well as those containing blank pages.

“The academy has far more student books than students. It has been disproportionate for decades now so they will not be missed,” Allister explained.

“You are a life saver, Allister,” Azerick said with relief.

They were still a couple dozen books short of each type so they created a study partner system where two students would share one book until Azerick could talk with the stationers’ guild about getting more. A few were set aside and shelved in the library for general use.

Zeke fashioned some practice swords that were little more than three foot long sticks and taught the children basic swordsmanship. All of the lessons were with slow deliberate movements and no real sparring since none of them had the proper protective equipment. Of course, that did not stop several of the students from sparring on their own, which was evident by the number of large bruises Azerick occasionally saw on some of them, but no one had come to him complaining or seeking medical aid so he let it go.

Two weeks passed in which time the snow continued to fall heavily before an unseasonably warm front passed through and the skies cleared up for several days. Azerick called for shortened classes so the children could go outside and get some fresh air and sunlight. They played in the snow for hours before getting too soaked and cold to continue, fled for the warmth of the keep, dried out, and repeated the entire process over again.

It was on one of the last few clear days that Wolf ran up and said that there were two wagons on long runners being drawn by the biggest horses he had ever seen coming up the road to the keep. Azerick stepped out into the courtyard just in front of the portico leading to the main door of the keep and watched as the sleighs drew near.

They were rather large affairs, looking much like a carriage on wide wooden runners affixed to iron supports. The lead sleigh was enclosed just like a normal wheeled carriage to protect the occupants from the weather, but the drivers had no such protection and were bundled up in layers of clothing from head to toe. Even their eyes were hidden behind a strange-looking pair of slatted spectacles that Azerick knew protected the wearer from snow blindness. The second sleigh was open like a wagon but its contents were covered by a large canvas tarp firmly secured by ropes to the sides of the sleigh and was pulled by a team of four.

The horses were magnificent animals, causing Peck to cease his playing and stare in wonder at the beautiful animals. All six were huge draft horses, each standing at least eighteen hands tall. Their huge hooves churned up the snow as they cantered up the hill. They were all red or brown in color with long, white fetlocks and white diamonds on their foreheads or broad white stripes running from forehead to nose.

The horses came to a stop a short ways from where Azerick stood with huge clouds of fog billowing from their large nostrils. Azerick tensed as the driver of the lead sleigh jumped from the open seat onto the snow-covered ground, nearly falling in the process, and ran towards him. The sorcerer relaxed when the man tore the thick wool hat from his head and the scarf from around his face and Azerick recognized who was hidden behind the concealing layers of clothing.

“Alex, what are you doing here?” Azerick exclaimed in surprise as his friend from the Martial Academy ran up and tried to squeeze the air from his lungs.

Alex set the sorcerer back down onto his feet and clapped him on the back. “Rusty told me you were in some kind of trouble and you needed help!”

Azerick shook his head in wonderment. “I really need to talk to Rusty about the definition of the word secret.”

“Don’t be too hard on him, Az, he meant well and he only told those that he trusted the most, which was Magus Allister and me, and of course Colleen,” Alex urged his friend.

“Azerick!” Rusty shouted as he ran from the sleigh and wrapped his best friend in a hug. “Gods, what happened to you, how are you doing?”

“I am doing fine, Rusty,” Azerick answered then slapped him firmly in the back of his bright orange-haired head. “Now get back there and help your wife before she falls, you idiot!”

“Oh, right! I’m sorry, honey, I’m coming,” he called to Colleen as he raced back to the sleigh.

Colleen was smiling broadly, as she stepped carefully through the snow in a wide-footed gait, her extended stomach evident even under all of the clothes. She waved enthusiastically at Azerick and shouted a greeting as Rusty supported her by the other arm.

She shook Rusty loose and hugged Azerick fiercely even though her big stomach created a formidable obstacle. She was even more beautiful than Azerick remembered, with her long blond hair, deep blue eyes, and the natural blush that the cold air brought out on her high cheekbones.

“I cannot believe you are all here!” Azerick cried in joyous surprise. “I did not think you would be here until spring.”

“You know Rusty when he gets an idea in his head. He found someone that was familiar with sleighs and had our coach and a wagon fitted with rails, bought these giant horses, and told me to pack because we are moving to North Haven,” she explained jovially.

“And you just said yes?” Azerick asked in surprise.

“Of course not, I asked him if he had lost his mind, but when he told me of your letter I came on board with his insanity.”

“I am glad you are here. As you can see I am in dire need of help,” Azerick told them, looking around at all the children playing in the snow.

“This is amazing,” Colleen said in wonder. “You wrote that you had over a hundred children but I did not imagine this! How have you done it for even this short a time?”

“I have a few adults here to help me, thankfully,” Azerick replied.

Peck ran up at that moment practically bouncing in excitement. “Milord, Milady, may I stable your horses, please?” the boy practically begged.

“This is Peck, my resident horse expert and stablemaster,” Azerick said as introduction.

Colleen beamed down at the boy. “My, a stablemaster at so young of an age, I am impressed.”

“I’m older than I look, Milady, and a good worker. I take good care of the horses, don’t I, Master Azerick!”

“You sure do, Peck,” Azerick smiled and answered.

“Well I am sure Mister Jansen would appreciate your help with the horses,” Colleen told Peck.

“Jansen is our houseman, driver, and bodyguard,” Rusty explained as Peck raced off to see to the big draft horses. “My father insisted on him a few months back. There are ill tidings about in Southport these days. He is a quiet man but sturdy and reliable.”

Azerick observed the man for a moment and saw that he moved with the conservative grace of a highly trained fighter and noticed the hint of armor between the layers of clothing. A sword and several daggers hung from a thick leather belt at his waist and a short bow and quiver of arrows were secured within easy reach from where he sat in the open sleigh. Peck helped unhitch the two big draft animals and led them to an open stall where he would feed and brush them down.

“So how did you end up getting my message?” Azerick inquired of Rusty.

Rusty laughed as he recalled the incident. “It flew into the dining room through an open kitchen door during dinner and almost gave my father a heart attack! It landed right in the bowl of mashed potatoes and they just stood there looking at each other waiting to see who was going to move first! After a few minutes of the bird not showing further signs of life, my father pried the message out of it and gave it to me. I figured you might want the bird back so I brought with me. It’s in our sleigh.”

Azerick laughed at Rusty’s recounting. “Please apologize to your father for me next time you write him or see him.”

Rusty waved it off but said he would. “Now what is this business of you cutting off a boy’s foot?” Rusty asked.

“That’s me!” Roger shouted when he heard mention of his foot. “My foot got wet and froze before Master Azerick found us, and it got frostbit and him and Evan had to cut the dead parts off. It was gross but it didn’t hurt too badly,” the boy said then threw a snowball at his sister before running off with his loping gait.

“Why don’t you kids take a break and help unload the sleighs?” Azerick shouted out to the swarm of children playing in the snow.

The kids shouted and ran towards the sleighs, excited about doing just about anything new even if it resembled work. Azerick led his friends into the keep where he showed them around, introduced them to Simon, Teresa, Agnes, and the other adults. He showed Rusty and Colleen to the downstairs study where he had planned on them staying.

“I’m sorry that I do not have much in here yet. I really did not expect you all this soon. I was going to go into the city and have a carpenter make a bed, bassinet, and crib and everything as soon as the snow cleared and folks started opening up their shops again,” Azerick explained.

“That’s all right, Azerick,” Colleen assured him. “It was sweet of you to think about me and put us on the ground floor. We brought a basinet with us along with a bit of furniture. It is all on the open sled that Jansen was driving.”

“I’m afraid I will have to put Jansen on the fifth floor. Either that or move Simon or Teresa to make room on the second,” Azerick postulated. “He will also have to share a room with Alex unless he wants to live in one of the basement rooms and none of those have fireplaces.”

“He does tend to make a fuss when he is kept too far away from us,” Rusty told him. “A quiet fuss, but he is one of those people that seem to be able to argue you into compliance without saying a word.”

In the end, it was Teresa that volunteered to move to the fifth floor much to Azerick’s surprise.

“I enjoy the exercise. I shall move my classroom to the other fifth floor room from the basement as well. That will allow the children to stretch their legs and burn off some of their pent-up energy on the way to class,” she primly told Azerick.

It did not take long for the army of children to unload the sleighs and cart it all into the study. Rusty and Colleen had packed nearly their entire bedroom into the open sleigh. They had a bed, wardrobe, dresser, and other living necessities in addition to a bassinet, all disassembled for transport. They even brought the cotton-stuffed mattress that Azerick was immediately envious of.

“I will have to get me one these,” Azerick said as he and Rusty carried it into the room so the kids would not risk dropping it in the snow. “Maybe if Allister is nice enough to me I might get him one too, for his old bones.”

Azerick and Rusty both had a good laugh but was cut short by the old magus’s gruff voice. “Don’t you worry about my old bones. These
old bones
have been through even more than you can imagine, boy,” Allister growled as he climbed the last step up coming from the laboratory. “Of course I would not refuse such a gracious gift if you were so inclined to have such commissioned,” he added with a grin.

“Done, I’ll get all the bedrooms of the keep furnished with one as soon as everyone goes back to work,” Azerick promised.

Alex and Jansen decided to share the room on the second floor. They had struck up something of a friendship on the way north and neither complained about having to sleep on a straw stuffed pallet. All the beds that had been hastily built were set up and occupied by the children who slept in the two refurbished barracks and Azerick doubted that the carpenters in town had any more wood to work with this late past the cutting season.

Azerick found out that Alex and Rusty had become good friends after Azerick left. Alex would often talk to Rusty to ask if he had heard anything about their missing friend. From there, they built a friendship that was strong enough for Rusty to trust Alex with their mutual friend’s whereabouts. Alex immediately volunteered, demanded, to be more accurate, to come along with them.