The Magi (The Magi Series) (13 page)

“Yes, sir,” Elijah answered. “You want me to keep the secrets I learn.”

The man nodded. “Yes, but it’s more than that. Each and every Magi in every city across the world will be entrusting you with our knowledge. The survival of our kind can only continue if we remain united, and that begins with keeping our secrets safe. Your oath must contain that promise and commitment not just for this council, but for every member of the Magi community.” Elijah looked at Roddick and then back at the council.

“I understand,” he said. The council looked back and forth, catching the glances from one another and nodding in relative agreement.

“Elijah Hawk,” the councilman continued, “please stand.” Elijah stood up, feeling the intense burden to prove himself worthy. As he stood up, the entire council stood as well. “Please respond with ‘I will’ or ‘I will not’. Will you promise to keep the secret of the Magi, working hard to understand the world that has been given to us, protecting all that is good, and using power only when necessary—never for greed or your own selfish ambitions?”

Elijah thought about what he was promising. It was easy to agree to these terms now when he knew nothing and had no power to be tempted with. It sounded so simple to agree, but with so many people trusting in him, he needed to mean it. It wasn’t as simple as saying words. As the seconds ticked by, he began to feel the intense silence of the room. All eyes were on him, waiting for his answer. Elijah knew that it was going to have to come down to a choice—a decision to do what was asked despite the unknown. A decision to do what was right regardless of the temptation of power.

“I will,” he said.

Roddick smiled proudly. The council bowed slightly to him and shook the hands of each other as if his promise was their success too.

“Welcome home, Elijah,” the councilman said. “We formally anoint you as a Preliminary Magi-in-training. You will be given your gear at the barracks when your training begins.” Roddick walked to Elijah and leaned in to shake his hand.

“Congratulations,” he whispered. “Go on ahead without me. Miranda can take you to the barracks. I may be a while. Samuel’s case is a little more complicated than yours.”

“Is everything going to be okay?” asked Elijah.

“Don’t worry,” said Roddick. “Samuel just has some questions to answer.”

Elijah stepped out of the stone building and into the soft snow. The early fog was dissipating, so he was able to easily find his way back to the house. When he told Mrs. Roddick about the meeting, she lit up.

“Way to go!” she said boisterously. “You’ll be the talk of the town for a while, I figure. It’s not often we get new faces around here unless someone’s being born.”

“What about Samuel?” Elijah asked. “Do you think they’ll let him stay?”

Mrs. Roddick paused for a moment as she was picking up after Lizzy, who had just taken off all of her clothes and was currently running naked around the house while Tirzah chased her and pleaded with her to put her clothes back on.

“I don’t know about Samuel,” Mrs. Roddick answered. “I can’t see them sending him back to the academy.” Mrs. Roddick was talking to herself at this point. She was clearly very deep in thought. “No. They have to keep him here. He can learn too. It may just take a little more patience.” Elijah wasn’t sure if he should respond to Mrs. Roddick’s discussion with herself, so he decided to change the subject.

“I’m supposed to go to the barracks. Would you be willing to take me?”

“Yes. Just let me get a handle on these two and we’ll all take a trip there.” Mrs. Roddick put on her robes and got the girls ready. With a combined effort, Tirzah and Mrs. Roddick were able to convince Lizzy to get dressed. They all walked to the edge of the city center, following the river over the slushy snow and crossing the cobblestone bridge toward the barracks. Then, they hiked through the fields and traversed the hills where the huge oval building of the barracks was nestled, just on the edge of the forest.

Walking inside the barracks, Elijah thought it looked very similar to the inside of the council room. The same colored banners, embroidered with the elements, were hung here as well, and several blazing torches scaled the walls. Elijah’s favorite part of the room was the giant oval fire pit stretching out almost as long as the room itself. Many iron rods were set out to poke the embers while they smoldered. It was clearly meant to be an area of relaxation because many chairs and benches rested just a few feet from the pit so students, currently absent due to the holidays, could visit while warming themselves by the fire. Elijah admired the stained glass windows on the walls depicting images of the elements and what he assumed were Magi characters. On one side of the oval room, behind the fire pit, was a staircase leading up to another floor and down underground. It was lined with dark purple carpet.

About that time, a short, bald man and a very handsome-looking family ascended the staircase to the main floor where Elijah and Mrs. Roddick were standing. The bald man and the family, recognizing Mrs. Roddick, approached Elijah.

“Hello, there,” the bald man said, looking at Elijah. “I’m Frank Button. I’m the supervisor here at the training barracks. Is this the young man Glen was talking about?”

“Yes. This is Elijah,” Mrs. Roddick responded. Mr. Button and Elijah shook hands. “Glen is still talking with the council, but Elijah will need a room after the recess, and there’s a possibility that another young man will need one as well.”

“Of course,” said Mr. Button. “In fact, I brought over the Mayburys to introduce to this young man since he will be spending quite a bit of time with the kids during the training, eh? This is John and Alice Maybury and their son and daughter, John, Jr. and Hannah.”

Elijah shook hands with each of the family, but something very unpleasant happened to his entire body when he went to shake Hannah’s hand. At first, he felt like his stomach was spinning and winding its way up into his throat. The palms of his hands became suddenly sweaty, and his knees were so wobbly that they couldn’t quite hold him so he tripped, nearly knocking the entire family over. Elijah gathered himself and managed to blurt out something to Hannah that was supposed to sound like “Nice to meet you,” but ended up sounding like “Naha-ha cement achem.” It was quite possibly the most embarrassing moment of his life.

“John and Hannah will be training with you when you start next week,” Mr. Button said, oblivious to Elijah’s mishap. “John’s been training for a couple of years now, but this is Hannah’s first year, so you’ll see plenty of each other, eh?”

Mr. Button continued to talk to the Maybury parents and Mrs. Roddick, but Elijah wasn’t paying attention. He was stealing a few glances at Hannah when he thought the coast was clear. He couldn’t help it. Elijah had had his fair share of crushes before, but there was something different about this girl. She was very eloquent and majestic-looking. Her face and smile were kind and warm. Even though she looked to be only twelve or thirteen, there was something very adult about her. It was as though she knew something about life that other children her age did not. Elijah noticed that her eyes never wavered from the person talking. She listened to the conversation with a polite smile on her face. Besides the kind face and the majestic behavior, Elijah thought Hannah was beautiful! She had a thin face and fair skin. She was tiny, but not frail. Her hair was light brown, and her eyes were bright green and lively. As he glanced at Hannah once more, he noticed everyone had stopped talking, and she suddenly looked at him. He met her gaze for a moment until he realized that
everyone’s
eyes were on him. Elijah darted his eyes from person to person wondering why they were staring.

“Elijah?” Mrs. Roddick asked, looking amused.

“Yeah?” Elijah said panicked.

“Mr. Button asked if you had been assigned a mentor yet,” she said grabbing for Lizzy’s arm.

“Oh,” Elijah said, feeling mortified. He glanced again at Hannah, and she was smiling sweetly at his blunder. “No. Master Roddick said I needed to talk to an elder before I do anything.”

“About what?” asked Mr. Button.

“I’m not sure,” he said even more embarrassed than before. Elijah felt like an idiot. He had no idea what he was talking about, and he still couldn’t get the memory of being caught looking at Hannah out of his mind.

“Hm. I see,” said Mr. Button.

“If you want, Miranda, we can take him to see Arthur,” Mr. Maybury offered. “He lives around our area, and you seem to have your hands full at the moment.” Mr. Maybury looked at Mrs. Roddick’s two girls who were frolicking around the oval room.

“That would be fine,” said Mrs. Roddick. “I’ll tell Glen when he returns. Are you okay going with the Mayburys, Elijah?”

Elijah’s heart sank. That would mean he would be spending more time with Hannah and her family. He wasn’t sure he was ready to face them so soon after making a complete fool of himself.

“Yes,” he said, knowing that he didn’t have much of a choice. Mrs. Roddick was clearly busy, and it would be rude not to accept the kind offer by the Mayburys.

“Alright then,” said Mr. Button. “It sounds like we’re all settled. I’ll see you in a few days then, eh Elijah?” Elijah nodded once more, refusing to open his mouth again if he didn’t have to.

After ten minutes of walking with the Mayburys, Elijah decided that things weren’t so bad after all. The Mayburys were a very friendly family and took an interest in Elijah. They explained that they were at the barracks to discuss the training progress of John, Jr. and Hannah. Elijah told the Mayburys about Saint Phillip’s Academy and Master Roddick. He told them that his parents died, but didn’t give them any details. He had the entire family—especially John, Jr. and Hannah—hanging on his every word, however, when he told them about Chancellor Hawthorne and his Thorn Stick.

“That’s awful!” exclaimed Hannah as Elijah narrated his story. “Did it hurt?”

“A little,” Elijah said at first. Realizing that he was not really telling the truth, he changed his story. “Actually it hurt a lot. I was lucky and only had it happen once, but that was enough for me.”

“Well,” Mr. Maybury interjected, “you won’t find Thorn Sticks around here.” John, Jr. and Hannah agreed by shaking their head.

The morning fog had completely lifted by the time they crossed the river again, and Elijah looked upon the wide-open land of Savenridge. The Mayburys led him deeper into the valley toward the northern part of Savenridge, which felt more like countryside to Elijah. It was much less crowded in these parts than the southern entrance, where the Roddicks lived. There were just a few houses sprinkled about, and the farther they walked, the fewer houses they encountered.

“Here we are,” said Mr. Maybury when they finally arrived. “Why don’t you come in and get warm, Elijah. Then, we’ll take you to Arthur’s house. He lives up farther—just a little northeast of us.”

“Thank you,” said Elijah.

“Are you hungry?” asked Mrs. Maybury. Elijah was very hungry, but he didn’t want anyone to go to any trouble.

“I’m okay,” said Elijah.

“Well then, have a seat and warm yourself up by the fire,” she said.

Elijah would not have called the house fancy, but it was definitely very nice. It had numerous rooms. Both Hannah and John, Jr. had their own room, plus there was an extra room for guests, and a small library. It was also decorated nicely. Oil paintings hung from the walls—many of them pictures of the family. The rooms were neat and tidy, and the living area was large with lots of comfortable-looking seats around a big fireplace. Elijah wasn’t sure how money worked with the Magi, but the Mayburys were obviously well off.

Soon, after dropping off Hannah and John Jr., Elijah and Mr. Maybury followed the river northeast toward Arthur’s place and knocked on the door of a tiny stone house with a straw roof. Arthur was very old. He had a trimmed white beard that turned gray the closer to his head it got. His head was bald, but the hair he lacked on his head he made up for in his ears. He had very youthful-looking eyes, blue in color, that were kind and full of wisdom, yet sneaky. Elijah sensed that while Arthur may have been friendly, he looked as though he had something up his sleeve.

“Ah, well hello. Good day, John,” said Arthur aggressively shaking Mr. Maybury’s hand. “What can I do for you?” The old man looked at Elijah as if he knew he was the reason for the visit, but he waited for Mr. Maybury to reply.

“Good day to you too, Arthur. This is Elijah. He is new to Savenridge. The council has just made him a Preliminary student. However, he is a bit—uneducated in our ways and beliefs. He could use an elder to explain things with a little more detail. From what I’ve heard, though, this young man has quite a remarkable mind.”

As Mr. Maybury talked about Elijah, Arthur grunted and nodded, occasionally rubbing his beard as if deep in thought. He stared at Elijah, sizing him up, and although he wasn’t quite sure he saw it, Elijah could swear Arthur winked at him kindly.

“Would you be willing to share your knowledge with him?” asked Mr. Maybury.

“If he’s willing to listen to an old geezer like me ramble on and on, I sure as heck won’t turn him away,” said Arthur smiling. “I could use the company, too.”

“Thank you,” said Mr. Maybury. He turned to Elijah. “I’ll let the Roddicks know you are here. It was good to meet you, Elijah.” Mr. Maybury turned and walked back toward his house.

“Come on in,” said Arthur. “I have a pretty good fire going now. Go find the warmest spot to sit—and then move over so I can sit there.”