Magus (Advent Mage Cycle) (36 page)

Yes, that was my mother all right. I wasn’t kidding when I told Guin that she would adopt the whole world if she could. “Mom, this is Hayden. Hayden, your new mother, Rhebenjaylanan.”

Hayden didn’t get a chance to say one word. Mom just kind of swooped in on him, lifting him up in a hug. His eyes popped open wide, and he froze a little. Almost gingerly, he raised his hands up to hug her back. Mom didn’t let go until he relaxed, which was exactly what Hayden needed at this point. He was starved for any kind of physical affection.

“Welcome home, Rhebenhaydenen,” she whispered into his hair.

That did it. Hayden couldn’t hold the tears back anymore; they were streaming down his face. Mom didn’t seem to care that he was soaking her shoulder; she just held on and murmured some sort of soothing monologue to him.

As I stood and watched, Trev’nor slid his hand into mine, and grinned up at me with his most beguiling smile. “I think he’s gonna’ like it here,” Trev’nor assured me. It was moments like this that reminded me just how proud I was to be in this family.

Aral burst in through the back door, stumbling to a halt just inside and taking in this scene. “What’s going on? Garth, you’re home!”

I bent down and caught him as he tackled me. “Oof! Aral, did you grow again?”

“I’m going to grow as tall as you,” he said proudly.

“Aim higher than that, kid,” I advised. “Try for Braeden’s height, and you might get somewhere. Come meet your new…uncle.” As Asla’s brother, Hayden would, I guess, technically be Aral’s uncle.

Hayden drew back, drying tears away with his sleeve.

Aral looked down, studying this new boy with a slight frown.

“He’s an Elemental Mage from Chahir,” I continued, setting him on his feet. “Hayden, this is Asla’s son, Aral. Aral, this is Hayden.”

“He’s not old enough to be an uncle,” Aral muttered.

Hayden seemed unable to decide about this point of family relationship, looking back and forth from Aral to Trev’nor.

“Well, think of him as an older brother, then,” Asla advised in amusement.

Mom was more focused on practical matters. “Hayden, Trev’nor, Aral, are you hungry?”

“Um…yes!” the three boys sang out as one voice.

She rolled her eyes in mock horror. “Garth, I believe hunger is the universal constant in all boys! You come right back to the kitchen, and we’ll fix you boys something to eat,” Mom told the trio of starving birds. She took Hayden by the hand and started towing him behind her, with Trev’nor and Aral trotting happily along in their wake.

“I’m still a boy and I’m hungry, too!” I called after her plaintively.

She shot me an exasperated look. “Garth, I assume at this point that you
can
cook for yourself.”

“I get no love around here,” I muttered under my breath.

Asla laughed, linking her arm through mine, and started for the kitchen. “Come on, brother, I’ll cook you something.”

“Asla, have I ever mentioned how glad I am you’re in the family?”

That made her laugh even harder.

I didn’t bother worrying about Hayden from that point on. Between Asla and Mom, the kid was ambushed with all sorts of motherly attention. He ate every ounce of it up.

Trev’nor and Aral sat on either side of me, demanding an update on what I had been doing with the team in Chahir. I somehow managed to eat and answer questions at the same time, although the process slowed me down considerably.

Da showed up just as I finished off my plate, Night on his heels. I greeted them with, “It’s about time you two showed up.”

“
And who was it that took three hours to get here?
” Night inquired dryly.

“I had more to do,” I pointed out righteously. “What kept you?”

“We went to buy a bed and some furniture for the boy,” Da answered. He sank into the chair next to Hayden, looking him over. Hayden looked back just as frankly, but with a hint of nervousness. “So. I’m Rhebenardenen.”

Belatedly, I continued the introduction. “Hayden, this is your new father. Da, Hayden.”

Da dropped a hand on Hayden’s head, smiling warmly. “Welcome to the family, son.”

Hayden was a hair’s breadth from crying again, but managed to hold the tears back. “Thank you.”

“I trust that the two of you can manage to raise him and help him adapt to Hain?” I asked of my parents. “He’ll need to be ready for the Academy in two years.”

“We raised you, didn’t we?” Da responded with an arch look. “We’ll manage, Garth.”

“I know. Why do you think I brought him here?” I lifted myself to my feet, looking toward the back door. “I assume that all the furniture is out there?”

“Sure is,” Da agreed.

“Well, let’s get it in, then.”

“Garth, are you sure you have time for that?” Mom asked in worry. “You’ve been here so long already. Don’t you have tasks that need to be done?”

“Not until tomorrow morning,” I assured her. “I have leave to stay here tonight.” Remembering all the things that I had to tell them, I smirked. “And believe me it’s going to take
all night
to catch you up.”

Everyone frowned at me. “What is that supposed to mean?” Asla inquired suspiciously.

“Let’s get some furniture in before it rains,” I suggested mildly. “I’ll tell you when we have everything settled.”

Without waiting, I ducked out the door. People were grumbling behind me about my bad conversational habits. I grinned, knowing they couldn’t see the expression.

Teasing people was
so
much fun.

Chapter Seventeen: Truth

I went with Asla to the Academy the next morning. She was continuing her education, studying to be a Witch. I understood from my mother that she was making incredible progress.

“I still can’t believe it,” she mumbled under her breath as we walked.

I spared her a glance. Early morning traffic on the streets of Del’Hain could be hazardous to one’s health—I didn’t dare take my eyes away for long. I’d get run over. “Believe what?”

“That the Rhebens have a history of magic.”

“Ah, that.”

“And that there are two of them still living in Bromany!”

“That was the part that threw me for a loop,” I admitted. “They’re really nice people, though.” I was fairly sure they’d meet them eventually. Sallah seemed determined to meet all of us.

We reached the Academy gates and she hesitated. “I won’t see you for a while, will I?”

I shrugged, palms spread. “Asla,
nothing
about this job is predictable. It might be a while, it might not.”

“Well, in case it is…” she threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Be careful.”

I returned the embrace. “I will. And good luck studying.”

With a last smile, she turned and hurried off to her morning class.

“Garth!”

Kartal? I turned toward the hail. Sure enough, the Wizard was coming toward me at a fast walk, looking…pleased? I never thought Kartal would be happy to see me. “Hello,” I greeted pleasantly.

“I thought I’d have to go to your place to get you. You saved me a trip.” He stopped a foot away. No, distance hadn’t fudged his expression—he actually
was
pleased to see me. “I spoke with En-Nelle of Tain a few moments ago. She wants you to take everything to Sojavel Ra Institute.”

That didn’t surprise me. “All right. Is it in the same place I left it?”

“They didn’t move it much,” he assured me. “Also, King Guin said that you had questions to pose to the Institute?”

“Yes.”

“But you’ve never been there, have you?”

“I didn’t even know it
existed
until yesterday,” I admitted wryly.

“Guin thought you would need a guide.” He rolled his eyes. “Somehow, I got appointed to the task. I’m also tasked with getting everything to the right people.”

I was actually glad to see him at this point. Heaven knows,
I
wouldn’t have a clue on where to go, or who to talk to. “I’m glad Guin sent you, then.”

“Will this take long?”

“Where is the Sojavel Ra Institute?”

“Down near the Hobendon Peninsula.” Kartal couldn’t quite hide a smile as he said this.

The Hobendon Peninsula?! It seemed like ages ago, but it was only last year that I’d met Kartal in that region, both of us assigned to fix the flooding of the Komot River. “Now that’s irony.”

“Truly,” he agreed.

“In that case, it might take an hour or so. By earth path, at least.” I eyed him sideways, not sure if he’d agree to that.

“Good, I want this over with.” With an imperious gesture, he motioned for me to follow him.

Some things just never change. I took a moment to pray for patience, and followed the arrogant Wizard.

I think the earth path actually made Kartal nervous, but he wouldn’t admit to that. He hid it well, except for his eyes. His eyes kept darting around, as if he were waiting for the earth to start collapsing in on him.

I took pity on him and sped up, getting there quicker than the hour I’d estimated earlier.

We were nearly there when Kartal demanded, “How do you navigate doing this? You don’t even know where it is!”

As long as I had been doing this, no one had asked me that question. I actually had to think before answering, trying to formulate it in words. “Well…it’s actually a mixture of things.”

“Which is?” he demanded impatiently.

“I can sense all of the surrounding area when I’m in the earth like this,” I explained slowly. “Rivers, mountains, lakes…I can sense it all. That gives me landmarks to work off of.”

“Doesn’t that ever get confusing? Don’t you get confused about which direction you’re going?”

“No.”

“How?” he insisted.

“Because every patch of earth feels different than the rest. I can’t mix up one area for another.”

“Feels different?” he repeated dubiously. “Explain.”

I searched for the words, but couldn’t come up with a way to do it. “Kartal…I can’t explain. I just know.”

“Nonsense, there has to be some way to explain it.”

I shook my head, losing my patience with his bullheadedness. “How do you explain the difference between blue and green?”

He was quick to open his mouth, but he paused. After a long moment he darkly muttered, “All right, I see your point.”

“I just
know
,” I told him. “I can’t be any clearer than that. But also, I can feel people. If I’m traveling to a specific person, it’s easy to pinpoint where they’re standing. And this Institute building is full of magicians—all I have to do to find the place is find the most concentrated area of magicians.”

“That’s rather clever,” Kartal admitted grudgingly.

This reaction amused me. Did he think I was all brawn and no brain? Actually, knowing Kartal, that was scarily possible.

I let the matter lie, focusing on getting to the Institute itself. I tried to come up in an area with few people, but the surface was pretty packed.

And as usual, when we rose out of the ground, I gave nearly everyone in sight heart failure.

I winced at this reaction. “Didn’t anyone warn them that we were coming?”

It was a largely rhetorical question, but Kartal answered it anyway. “Apparently not.” He turned and cast a thick shield over the crates. “Leave it there, for now. Let’s go find the right people to take care of it.”

That sounded fine, but… “Why the shield?”

“Researchers are
insatiably
curious,” he responded cryptically.

I had to hurry to keep up with his quick stride as he went right through the half-panicked crowd.

Sojavel Ra Institute was a rather pretty place. The building was large and white, with huge arched doorways and covered walkways. It had a rather quiet, relaxing air to it.

We entered the main doors, Kartal confidently leading the way. The inside didn’t quite match the outside—it was cluttered with all sorts of doohickeys and whatchamacallits, men and women of all ages wandering around with books and papers and artifacts in their hands. I took quick peeks into the rooms as we passed them. Some of these people were so engrossed in their work, an explosion could happen right next to them, and they’d barely notice it.

I was nearly past one door when my ears caught something.

“—telling you that Rhebengarthen is—”

My name? I skidded to a halt and backtracked. In this room, there were about four men sitting around a square table. Or at least, I assumed it was a table underneath that thick stack of parchments, graphs, books and maps.

All of the doors in this building had these little plaques on them, telling what was being researched in the room. I glanced at the plaque on this door.

Advent Mage Study.

I swayed where I stood, eyes glued to the plaque. They were studying me?!

“Garth, what’s the hold up?” Kartal demanded, coming close enough to haul me along.

I couldn’t say a word. I was just too stunned. I pointed instead.

Kartal took one look at the plaque and his mouth formed a silent “O” of surprise.

“You didn’t know about this, did you?” I asked past a dry mouth.

“No idea,” he admitted.

“You there!” One of the researchers, a portly man with graying hair, stood up to face us. “What are you gaping at?”

I was caught completely flat footed. I hardly felt like introducing myself, not to this group. I improvised with, “Ah, um, I was wondering why you’re researching the Advent Mage?”

“That’s obvious! If we can figure out how he gained the powers of a Mage, we can influence more Mages to be born.” He drew himself up proudly. “We have several hard facts to draw from. Indeed, we’re making tremendous progress.”

“Progress!” one of his colleagues scoffed. “Bah! I’m telling you, magic comes from blood.”

“Impossible,” the portly man in front of me snapped. “Magical bloodlines are all extinct in Chahir at this point.”

“Actually, he’s partly correct,” I offered. “Magical inheritance is part of it. But there are other factors, too.”

"And what would you know about this, young man?" the aging scholar demanded arrogantly. "This is the Advent Mage we're speaking of! No one alive is certain on how he gained his power.”