Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Murder Isle - Part Four - by Mack the Knife "How did you create that?" asked Phillip, trying to force calm into his voice. "That should not, despite your power, be within your talent." Siska smiled down at her miniature duplicate. "Well, a man showed me how," she said. "He was in my dreams last night." Phillip hissed. "A man came into your dreams and you felt it fine to simply learn from him whatever he wished to put into your head?" The words came in a rush, with hardly a pause between them. His face had grown red, livid with agitation and upset. "He seemed a nice man," replied Siska, sounding hurt and somewhat frightened. "I'm sure he did," said Phillip, growling now and stomping a foot closer to her, one of his hands raised and clenched into a fist. Siska cowered back, the homunculous vanishing and her arms coming up to shield her face and neck. A pitiable whimper escaped her and she stumbled back, falling over the arm of one of the chairs. "I didn't know!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. "You never told me anything about men in my dreams!" Phillip stopped, and lowered his fist. "I'll never strike you, Siska," he said, his tone dropping to a softened tone, like a father's. "I shouldn't even have menaced you, knowing your past." She peered over her forearm, which did not lower much. "I didn't know," she said in a whisper now. Some women could be pretty when they cried. Siska's eyes were puffed shut and her face red and swollen now. She was not one of them. "I won't speak to him again, if you wish it." "I don't know that you have a choice," said Phillip, his tone hardening slightly again, but she could tell it was not her he was upset with now. "I don't even know who it might be, only that teaching you something like that is dangerous when you're just beginning your training. Very dangerous." He looked at the little book. "Every time you craft one of those, you are borrowing a bit of your own soul to make it, did you know that?" he asked. "If you fail to control the flows and bind them in the right way, you will lose it, a part of yourself. I've failed once to at least reclaim the energy, and I was bedridden for a month, and probably lost a year of my life. A second time might kill me, I'll not chance it." "I won't fail, it's easily done," said Siska, not flippantly, but stating a fact. She held out her hand again and the miniature of herself appeared again, still smiling. "There is little to it, really." Phillip shook his head. "So you think," he said quietly. And maybe to you, it is truly simplicity itself, he thought. "Still, I don't like someone tutoring you in your dreams, let them come to me and we will plan your instruction, tell him that," said Phillip. "If he is without wicked intent and truly wishes to help you learn, I will welcome the assistance." Siska thought about that. "I will tell him, and I will not learn from him any more unless he agrees," she said. A long moment passed as Phillip regarded the tiny Siska in her hand. He held out his own and the little Siska crawled over to his palm, the minuscule weight of her dimpling in the flesh of his hand, he lifted her to look closely at her. "She is exquisitely detailed, though," he said. The tiny Siska turned in his hand, as if to allow him to see her all around. Phillip looked up at the real girl. "I could never craft one so perfect," he said. "On my best days, it only superficially resembles me." He peered back down at the homunculous and smiled. She was on her knees, tugging at a golden ring on his finger, as if to take it. He could feel the feeble pulling and sat her down on the table. "You do know they have their own agendas?" "Who?" asked Siska. "Homunculi," said Phillip, reaching into his pocket and handing the miniature of Siska a silver coin, a tenth mark. The little person snatched it and grinned at him, bouncing with happiness and ran to the edge of the table to leap off. She landed with a small sound and ran off into the house. "They are intelligent, after a fashion, and have their own desires and such. They will echo your own, to a point, as they are a fragment of yourself. Yet, they don't always do what you might." Siska watched the doorway where the little copy of herself had vanished. "Why did you give her the coin?" she asked. "They collect shiny things, like birds or some animals," said Phillip. "Mine certainly did, though they were useful, after a fashion." "She helped me clean house this morning," said Siska. "She is very useful and seems to know what I want her to do." "Of course she does, you are linked," he said. "She is an extension of yourself, like an arm or leg. Remember, though, they are simplified versions of yourself. If you grow angry with someone, she will attack that person, without hesitation. Homunculi are guileless, and unable to hide their base reactions." A blush rose on his cheeks. "I probably should not share this, it is rather embarrassing, but to show you how careful you must be. I once liked a woman, and found her very attractive. My homunculous made a credible attempt, on one occasion, to ravish her. Luckily for me, she found it funny, thinking it a joke." Siska laughed. "Oh, my," she said, glancing toward the doorway. "I'll keep that in mind." The tiny Siska came back into the room, dragging a mouse by the tail and carrying a nail in the other hand. She glared down at the dead mouse then smiled up at Siska. The apprentice wizard gasped and snatched the mouse up, flinging its body out the window. "Yeah, they do that, too," said Phillip idly, looking at the grinning double of Siska. "You can imagine her with a real weapon, or she'll just make do, it appears." The homunculous hefted the nail with both hands, brandishing it menacingly. Her little blue robes were stained with blood and she had a few nicks on her arms and legs, where it seems there had been a struggle. The mouse had not gone down without a fight. "All I will say is to be careful," said Phillip. "You know the spell now, and I cannot take that from you. It's dangerous, mark that, and be aware of what you risk, understand?" "Yes, mentor," said Siska, lowering her eyes. The miniature Siska lowered her head, too, putting the nail behind her back and scuffing a foot on the floor. "I will try to use it sparingly, but it is hard to resist, she's so cute." The little copy smiled brightly at him and patted his toes in the open sandals he was wearing. Phillip smiled despite himself, and shook his head. "She is, isn't she?" he agreed. "After lunch we will be doing some exercises," he said. "Keep her, that way you will not need to summon another, each summoning is a risk, I'd rather you not do it more than you need." Siska smiled as if he had given her permission to take in a stray cat. "Yes, mentor," she said in a happy chirp. - - Phillip and Siska rose from the table and the miniature Siska was sitting beside Siska's plate, snatching stray peas and bread crumbs as the full-sized woman ate. "Does she need to eat?" asked Siska. "Only if you keep her around long enough," said Phillip. "While here, she is fully real, a tiny person, and needs food and water, and such." The little Siska cupped the watered wine from Siska's glass drinking by the handful, having to stand atop the edge of a bowl to do so. Siska did not mind sharing her food with the little Siska, it was, after all, part of herself. They retired to the back court again, to the ring of bare stone. "As before, stand in the middle and make contact, if you've not kept it," he had not checked for the minute flow again this day, but suspected she might hold it. Siska walked to the center of the ring and concentrated a moment. He saw the magic coalesce from the air about her and form a shimmering halo about her body. Little Siska had found her way through the grasses, which were neck high to her and was pulling herself up onto the stone slab. She went to stand beside Siska, furrowing her tiny brow just as Siska was doing. "She'll not interfere with your lesson," said Phillip. "Unless she distracts you." "No," said Siska, opening her eyes. "I have it held, now." "Good," said Phillip. "I want you to imagine taking that energy and putting it into this." He pulled a glass sphere from his pocket and placed it on a little column just off the stone slab. Siska concentrated on the sphere, trying to send the magical energies within her and about her to the glass ball. Tendrils of the flows reached toward the ball, stretching, but then collapsing back to the halo about her. She tried again and again, each time, the tendrils grew longer before falling back. "Very good," said Phillip. Sweat was breaking out on her skin with the effort. To Siska, it felt like she was trying to push at a wall made of rubber. She gasped and the link to the flow broke. Staggering, she sat on her rump. "I can't," she said. "Honestly, I would have been amazed if you could," said Phillip. "Still, you came closer than most would imagine for a novice." "What is it?" she asked, looking over at the ball and panting. The little Siska was sitting beside her, panting and fanning her face as if she, too, had been running. "The ball?" asked Phillip. "Just a glass sphere." He shrugged. "Silvered glass, though, and will contain some small amount of mana if it were forced into it, not like a manacrystal, or anything, but still useful to have about." Manacrystals were why people came to these isles in the first place. Murder Isle, she had heard, had been rich with them, but those mines had long ago played out. They could store vast quantities of mana, ready for wizards to tap and power their spells. Even a tiny manacrystal was worth a small fortune. "Do you have a manacrystal?" asked Siska. "I've two of them," said Phillip, almost proudly. "One is the property of the order, however." She blinked, impressed. "I'd like to see one, one day," she said, wondering what one looked like. "Of course," said Phillip. "Remind me to show them to you later." He turned toward the door. "Keep trying whenever you're rested enough until dark, okay?" "Yes, mentor," said Siska, rising to begin another round against the glass sphere. - - Darkness fell, and she had only managed to slip one tendril to the crystal, and that for only the briefest of moments. Phillip seemed quite satisfied, however, when she handed it to him. The dimmest of glows nestled in the glass sphere, flickering faintly. It would not be at all visible in good light, but the sun's descent had left it nearly dark outside. "Very good, very very good," said Phillip, pocketing the stone and patting her arm. "Now, off to make supper," he said. "Your friend came by, Mist, I believe. I told her to come by tomorrow morning, that you would be free to visit with her then." So engrossed had Siska been that she had forgotten the girl coming to visit her. "Yes, mentor, thank you," she blurted out. Siska smiled at his praise and went to the kitchen. The little Siska followed her, beaming as well and walking with a proud step. He would have to remember to watch out for her as he walked about. And to keep an eye on where he left loose coin, as well, he thought with a smirk. - - Now, with the larders filled, supper was a proper affair and Phillip had to push himself away from the table after a broiled beef steak and big helpings of beans and rice in beef gravy, along with bread and cheese, as well as grapes for dessert. "You're going to make me fat," said Phillip, patting his belly and smiling. "I'll die fat and happy, then." He added, to make it a compliment. Siska had eaten at least as heartily as he, and was still nibbling blocks of cheese from the platter. The little Siska was still chewing from a single block she had absconded at the beginning of the meal, as well as a chunk of meat Siska had given her. "Perhaps I should get her a plate and cup," she said. "Doll toys might work," said Phillip. "Some vendors in the market sell some fine ones made by dwarves that would work as well as the real thing, were you half a foot tall." Siska nodded, watching her miniature self chewing a massive mouthful of cheese. In the preparation, the little Siska had cut the cheese into blocks for her, using the smallest knife in the cupboard, wielding it like a axe. The little Siska was strong for her size, and seemed impervious to falling, always landing lightly and skittering off. She could climb well, too, managing to clamber up onto counters and the table top easily. "If he comes to my dreams tonight, I will tell him what you said, mentor," said Siska, turning her violet eyes to him. "I do not want you upset, nor do I want him teaching me something that might harm me." Phillip nodded. "Thank you," he said. "I would very much like to know who this man is, for certain." That the man had just been a dream never crossed either of their minds. The results of his lesson were far to obvious and real. Phillip had tried to imagine that she had learned from the book for a brief moment earlier, thinking that maybe she had read parts of it and simply formed the dream to give her self-taught lesson some credibility to herself. "The bath will be hot by now, if you wish to use it," he said. "I bathed before supper, but wasn't very dirty, so it's clean." She grinned. "A hot bath would be very nice." The strain of pushing the mana toward the ball had left her arms and legs aching and sore. "I wonder if little me can swim?" "She will come if she can, I imagine," said Phillip, smiling a the miniature Siska as she dusted off cheese crumbs from her robes. Siska cleared the dishes and would wash them in the morning. She went up to the bath room and shed her robes. Little Siska was beside her, pulling her little robe off over her head and eyeing the tub eagerly. Siska scooped her up and climbed into the massive brass tub, splashing water over herself. The homunculous splashed in it happily, like a child, diving into it and chasing the floating bar of soft soap. Just watching the antics of her miniature self made Siska feel five years younger, and she giggled a lot, splashing and enjoying the bath more than she had any bath in many years. By the time she was done, the water was tepid and the floor was almost evenly coated with water all about the tub. The little Siska remained in the tub, paddling in merry circles about the water until Siska pulled her out and dried her off with a corner of her own robes. "Wow, you do look just like me," said Siska, looking at her own tiny reflection. "I hadn't thought that you would be so - complete." The little Siska looked down at her nakedness and pretended to cover herself in embarrassment, though she smiled. Siska washed the little silken robes out and wrung them mostly dry. "It will be clean and dry in the morning," she said. "Besides, I sleep unclad," she added, nodding to the little Siska and receiving an identical nod in return. Phillip was already abed when she snuck across the hall in the buff, slipping into her own chamber and followed by a little shadow of herself, equally furtive and naked. "I might roll over and squash you, if you sleep in my bed," said Siska, patting down a cushion of a pillow and laying a folded handkerchief atop it. "I'll try to get you a bed as soon as I can." The little copy laid upon the flattened pillow and nuzzled under the blanket of a handkerchief, smiling up at her. "Are you me or a pet?" she asked. The little copy frowned at pet and she pointed at Siska. "Very well," she said. "Good night Siska." - - No dreams came to her that night. At least none she could recall when she awoke. She peered over to the pillow upon her night stand and saw little Siska was gone. "Siska?" she asked. A tiny tap on her neck made her turn about and she saw the tiny Siska, standing, now clad in her robes again, and holding out two grapes. Siska took them and popped one into her mouth. "Breakfast in bed?" she asked, grinning at her homunculous, who bit into the other grape with gusto. Phillip was up and about, apparently, as well. "When you're up, and after we've eaten, I need you to ready to go out," he said from the hallway. Siska got out of bed and dressed. She felt fortunate that Phillip was not a harsher taskmaster, but felt she had done something wrong in laying abed so late, as it was. She stumbled down the stairs and began preparing a breakfast of eggs and flatbread. Phillip came in a few minutes later, grimacing and carrying little Siska in his clutched hand, her little arms pinned to her side. "There are certain things I will not allow even a homunculous to watch me do, and the privy is one of them," he said. When he had sat the little copy down, she covered her face with her hands and peeked out through her fingers. He turned and stalked back into the house and Siska looked at her tiny copy. "You watched him go to the bathroom?" she asked. Little Siska nodded, then lowered her hands to her shoulders and spread them as far apart as they would reach, grinning broadly. "Yes, I know," said Siska with a sober nod. "He is blessed in that area. But you must not go spying on him, lest you wish him to order me to lose you." Little Siska flinched and nodded in agreement. "Still, his manhood is a wonder to behold, is it not?" asked Siska, turning back to her eggs and smiling slightly. "Which I will show YOU any time you ask it," said Phillip. "But I'm not quite craven enough to lust for a six inch woman, just yet." He had entered the kitchen quietly. Siska blushed purple and the little copy of her did as well, both hunching their shoulders as if trying to retract their heads into their bodies. Siska, though, recovered, her mind working furiously. "Meaning you do lust for me?" she asked, giving him a sidelong glance that alleviated a bit of the burning in her own cheeks by transferring it to his. Phillip blinked a moment as his cheeks reddened. "That's not what I said," he said, but also did not deny anything. Siska was learning that what a wizard did not say was often, if not always, more important than what they did say. She sat a plate of flatbread and eggs on the table for him. "It's okay if you do," she said, teasing him. "I don't mind." He stammered a moment, not managing to form any words. "Outnumbered by one woman," he murmured and sat to eat. He thought about it a bit, too, what she had not said. "Where are we going, if I may ask, mentor?" asked Siska, speaking around a mouthful of flatbread. Phillip swallowed and looked up. "To the meeting place of our order, to make you known," he said. He thought a moment. "Did you dream last night? Of the man, I mean." "No," she said. "He didn't come to me." Siska could not quite decide if that was good or bad, or if she liked it or not. "What is the meeting place like?" "Busy," said Phillip. "This is a large city, and there are many wizards here, even if the people don't realize it. The order goes beyond Tressen, in any case, farther than most know, as well. You will see." She nodded, handing little Siska a piece of flatbread to munch. "She will have to stay home," said Phillip, pointing his fork at Little Siska. "They would bear calves if they knew an apprentice summoned a homunculous after a single day of learning. You should probably not mention it." "Lie about it?" she asked. "No!" said Phillip, with enough vehemence to cause both Siskas to cringe. "We do not lie, except when absolutely necessary." To Siska's ears, it sounded like rote, like he was quoting something. "You will be taking your vows there, too, if you will accept them." "What vows?" asked Siska. "They are clear when given to you, I can't really talk about it," said Phillip. "You will either choose them or you must leave me." She blinked at him. Such an ultimatum so early in the day was rather shocking. "I see," she said. "No doubt I will choose the vows, then." "You won't be able to back from them, once taken, understand?" he asked. "Yes," said Siska. "I keep my word." "There's that, but it's more than that," said Phillip. "You will find yourself unable to break them afterwards, lest by the direst of needs." "Nothing is horrible of them, is it?" asked Siska. "No, nothing like that," replied Phillip. "We're not of the Darkness, so the vows are proper and good ones." "Your friend is here again," said Phillip, smiling at her. There was a knock upon the kitchen door and Siska saw Mist's head in the upper half window. "How did you know?" asked Siska, grinning at him and standing to open the door. "A wise wizard keeps his own house, at least, under his control," said Phillip. "We have our ways." Siska slipped out the door and greeted her friend. "Good morrow, Mist," she said, smiling. "I came by yesterday, but your mentor said you were busy with exercises," said Mist. "Yes, well, being an apprentice, I don't set the schedule," said Siska, giving the door a quick glance. "He claims he will let me do as I like this evening though, after we've gone across town for something." Mist gave her a big smile. "That's great," she said. "We were planning a bit of an outing this evening, you're welcome, of course." "An outing?" asked Siska, raising an eyebrow. "Just myself, Manda, and Rayanne. We're going to have a picnic, I suppose, then go watch the young men training in arms at the North Downs Park," she said. Her face turning to excited smiling at the end. "They train with no shirts and only wearing very short pants." Siska widened her own eyes. "Do they?" she asked. "Sounds like quite a show." "It is, most of them are quite handsome, and they move like they're dancing," said Mist. "Sometimes, they come to speak to us when they are given a moment to rest." "It sounds like a fun outing," said Siska, smiling. She opened the door and stuck her head inside. "Mist would like to know if I can go on an outing this evening." "Sure, but you will have to do double training tomorrow," said Phillip, who was rolling a ball of cheese back and forth with the tiny Siska across the table. "Very good," said Mist. "We'll collect you after tea, then." "See you then," said Siska, opening the door again, not entering until Mist disappeared around the house. - - To mark the importance of this journey across the town, when they emerged from the house, a pair of tall black horses had been saddled and were awaiting them at the street, held by a small boy. Phillip thanked him and handed him a tenth mark, sending the lad scurrying off. "I don't often rent Master Elver's horses, but I want you to make a impressive entrance," he said. "It is only fitting, in truth." She had only ridden horses around the enclosure of the exercise ring in the mistress' estate, but could at least manage to stay in the saddle, unless the creature reared back on her. She slowly climbed atop the tall animal and felt it sidestepping and adjusting under her to her weight. "Good, I was afraid you might not know how to ride," he said, watching her take up the reins. "I can, a little," said Siska. "Just don't expect me to go galloping over fences and things." Phillip chuckled and nudged his horse's flanks and they moved off through town. It was a pleasant morning, with bright, cool sunshine and the clean smell of recent rainfall that washed the streets and air alike. White, puffy clouds scuttled overhead and even the normally surly people on the street seemed happier. Despite their size, the horses were placid and simply walked along, moving well through the crowds and not balking, simply stopping whenever something or someone passed before them. People gave them casual glances that she noted, now, carried a slightly worried edge, perhaps fearful. Siska wondered if that look had always been there. If so, she had not noted it until now. Maybe it was Phillip's known power that brought hesitant looks from the people. Unsure of what to expect, Siska watched ahead of them for some building worthy of being the center of a society of wizards. Her imagination ran through the possibilities - a spired fortress or a glass tower, or some other such from stories. Phillip clucked to his mount, turning them onto a graveled path that seemed to meander into a small patch of woods. They were well out of the main core of the city now, well beyond the inner walls, and even rising into the low mountains that formed the center of Murder Isle. The saddle was beginning to hurt Siska's backside, she was unused to riding, and had never sat upon a horse nearly so long before this day. "Is it much further?" she asked. "No," said Phillip. "We are on the lands now that belong to the Blue Order." She had not noted any changes, but then again, she supposed not all property was marked by a fence or wall, though in the city, that seemed to be true. The woods were dense, and she was rather uncomfortable. Siska had heard tales about monsters living in forests and kept looking about them at the dense underbrush beneath tall pines and firs, mixed with some broadleafs that she did not recognize. The harsh winters on the isles kept most other trees from doing so well as the evergreens. The forest terminated with a suddenness that startled her, causing her to stop the horse with an unthinking tug upon the reins. Her frenetic imaginings of a wizards' hall had envisioned something grand and wondrous. What presented itself before her eyes was mundane beyond compare. A house sat amid the clearing. It looked like any of a number of rural homes they had passed on their way to the place. It was larger, more like a sprawling series of smaller houses, a tiny village, all joined by walkways and narrow halls. If there had been a plan to the place's construction, that plan had been conceived by a madman. Roofs angled off in differing ways and even at differing pitches. It had not even all been built of the same materials. Some sections were wooden boards, whitewashed and over a wooden framework beneath. Other part were naked brick, still others were half-timbered. One section was made of glass, over a skeletal lattice of wood, and looked to be a greenhouse, a giant version of the one the mistress' garden held. None of the buildings or portions of the one building, if that were the more proper term, rose above four storeys, and most of it was shorter than that, two or three. The windows were of various styles, not all glazed, and of different sizes, even on the same building. It rather hurt her eyes to look upon, causing her to blink. "It's not much to look upon," said Phillip, donning a wide grin at her consternated expression. She could see blue clad people moving about between the buildings, in open courtyards. The structure stood at the bottom of a natural bowl of pasture, allowing someone to look down into it from the edge. "It isn't," she agreed. Nudging his horse he began down and she followed. Siska did not know if she should be relieved or disappointed. Two young boys in powder blue robes approached as they neared a set of doors, just another set among dozens from what she could see. They took the reins and took the horses off. "We'll be needing them later," said Phillip and one of the boys bowed and murmured acknowledgment. "I would expect more deference from apprentices," said Siska, watching them leave. "The kind you give?" asked Phillip, grinning. "Though I rather like some of the ideas you have regarding proper activities between mentor and pupil." Siska blushed at those words and turned to him. "I had no idea about what is proper in this case," she said. "I know it, but I do, and still I let more than should have happen," he said. "I should confess that breach, but they might take your education from me if that came to light." The young woman widened violet eyes. "They wouldn't," she gasped. "I am your student, I will take no other teacher." Phillip laughed as he turned to the door and opened one. "Yet you listen to a man in your dreams," he said. "You are truly a woman." Not sure if she had been insulted or not, Siska followed him into the cool interior of the house. Inside was little different, and the room they entered looked like a common room in any of hundreds of small homes, or so Siska would think, even if Phillip's had been the only one she had ever seen. The mistress' home was far from common. Two more boys, older than the other two outside, but still years younger than Siska passed by, talking to one another. They were old enough to notice girls, though and both craned their heads around as they passed to take a longer gander as Siska. She smiled to them, in what she hoped was a friendly smile. One of them nearly ran into a door frame and she stifled a giggle. "Literally turning heads now, are you?" asked Phillip, guiding her across the common room, past comfortable looking chairs and a well-laid fireplace, unlit, to one of three doors opposite the entrance. He opened the second of these, and climbed the stairs beyond. A young woman, about her own age was descending the stairs. Her dragon pendant caught Siska's eyes as it glittered at her neck. The young lady looked up with interest. She was brown haired, with wide brown eyes and olive skin, not like an islander at all. She gave Phillip a curt bow. "Good to see you at the house, Phillip," she said. "And you bring a friend?" "Good to be here, Anetta," replied Phillip. "Yes, this is Siska, my new pupil," he said. "I will be apprenticing her, personally." "Apprentice?" asked Anetta, turning an eye toward Siska. "A bit old to be just beginning, is she not?" Siska felt her shoulders sag a bit at the woman's words. "Siska will outstrip us all within two years, Anetta, mark my word," said Phillip. Anetta paused at that, her eyes widening. "You think so?" she asked, then muttered something and looked at Siska. "One's fire!" she hissed between clenched teeth. "I thought you said she was an apprentice?" "She is," said Phillip, looking at Siska. The young woman looked away. "She's tapping even now," said Anetta. "Smoothly as a bay's waters when still." Phillip beamed at Siska. "She did that first day, actually," he said. "Tapped the source first day and was doing that by nightfall, maybe from first tap." Siska was unsure exactly what they were talking about but thought it had to do with her using the energy to help herself along. "It's nothing, really," she said. The brown haired girl looked at her. "If we say it is something remarkable, then it is - Siska, is it?" she asked. "You accept praise as it is given, apprentices rarely earn it." "Yes, ma'am," said Siska automatically, a flush rising in her cheeks, and she cast her eyes downward. Phillip took Siska's elbow and guided her up the stairs. "I need to check in at my office before taking her before the council," he said. "Best we get moving." Anetta watched them walk up the remaining stairs and onto a long corridor of doors, both left and right, about halfway down, on the right, Phillip opened a door onto an office every bit as disorganized and cluttered as his home had been. She looked at the stuffed shelves and the various artifacts scattered about the room. "Will I get an office?" she asked. "When you are raised to a full member of the order, yes," said Phillip. "How long does it take?" asked Siska, picking up a slender wooden rod as long as her arm, polished to a mirror sheen. Phillip began digging into a pile of papers and turned to gently take the rod from her and place it on another shelf, almost dislodging a misshapen skull from its perch. "A normal apprentice, like the boys downstairs, six years or so," he said. "You, two years." "Why so fast?" asked Siska. "How can I learn what I need to know in two mere years?" "You can't," said Phillip. "But you will know enough to pass the tests in two years. You can study then on your own to finish out your education. You've so much raw talent that you're starting with a few years of control and empowerment under your belt already." He seemed to find what he sought in the papers, pulling one sheet of parchment forth and going to a massively cluttered desk with a small area, barely larger then the parchment, free of mess. He uncapped a ink vial, then discarded it over his shoulder and found another. He dug through a cup holding a dozen quills until he found one not caked with old ink and began writing. "What is that?" she asked. "It will be your application," said Phillip. "Your introduction to the order, if you will." She nodded, thinking she understood and turned to another shelf, this one jammed with books so tight that she had to use both hands to pull one free. It seemed to have something to do with earth and minerals and the effects to be garnered from magical interaction with them. The first diagram in the book caught her eye. The formulas on the page seemed to leap off the paper and lodge in her brain, they did not seem to be ink on parchment, but something alive and she gasped as they burrowed into her mind. Phillip did not seem to notice, but went on scribbling, as she could hear. The odd sensation stopped and she turned to the next page. Those formulas and symbols did the same thing, squirming a moment, then springing forth through her eyes and imbedding themselves into her thoughts. She not only saw the formulas and the rotes that lay behind the spells of them, but she could see the changes wrought in the paths of her mind that they would create if she enacted them. With some concentration, she could enact those changes without performing the motions or speaking the words. By the time Phillip finished his earnest scribbling, she had moved through almost a third of the book, flipping from page to page, almost not pausing more than the two or three seconds that it took for the information to register to her eyes and moving on before the deep ramifications could even settle into her mind. "Geomancy hmm?" asked Phillip. "I don't hold to specialization in magic, like some folk. I think a wizard should look every direction at once." "Oh," said Siska looking up. "No, I think you're right. I want to learn everything." Phillip raised an eyebrow. "Everything, well, that may be a bit much, even for you, but we can surely go past one or two colleges." She nodded. "That's what I meant, if I knew what a college was," she agreed, giving him a sheepish smile. He took the book from her and sat it negligently down on a handy surface, then handed her a scroll, sealed with a waxen seal of light blue. "Your introduction," he said. "The formal one, anyway." She took the scroll and looked at the seal. A dragon's claw embossed the wax. "I'm rather afraid," she said. "Don't be, Siska, you're among friends here," replied Phillip. "Though it will sometimes be hard to tell that." He guided her out of the office and down the corridor, toward the opposite direction from that which they came. She hoped these odd wizard people were her friends. They passed a room where a half dozen younger adolescents stood at a round table, with a massive block of stone in front of each. They were staring at the stones with focused concentration. "What are they doing?" asked Siska. "An exercise?" "Yes," replied Phillip. "If I know Wemrell, he's got them trying to make spheres from those cubes. The last batch of apprentices in geomancy probably turned them into those cubes." He stopped speaking, watching Siska's face shift to a blankness. He could feel the tendrils of magical energy reach out toward the nearest of the stone cubes. A young woman was working with that cube, a pretty blond girl of, perhaps, fifteen would be a third year apprentice. She pulled back, eyes widening as one of the tendrils touched the cube. Phillip was unsure if an apprentice would see the tendril, but she would have felt it, she looked over her shoulder, to where their instructor was facing another table, with similar students and cubes, then toward the door. "Are you sure, Siska?" asked Phillip. "I don't wish to hold you ba. . ." his voice drifted off as the stone began to reshape itself at the touch of the tendril of mana, flowing for a moment hesitantly, then with more purpose. When the girl looked down, she jumped back, startling the other students around her table. The cube had become the likeness of the girl's own face, a very good likeness, including her look of severe concentration, which she had worn when Siska first saw her. Siska smiled and nodded to the girl as she turned to stare, wide eyed, at the tall woman with the violet eyes. Phillip took her arm and urged her on. "You're going to be trouble, I can feel it," he said. "You like that, don't you?" asked Siska. "Something tells me you were trouble when an apprentice, as well." Phillip grimaced at that. "That was long ago," he said, but his eyes softened. "Still, I was a 'spirited' youth." Siska giggled as they moved off, away from the babble coming from the little classroom and the sounds of excited wonder from the older wizard who had been giving the lesson. "If that poor girl is lucky, the teacher will only consider it happenstance that she molded it into the shape of herself, rather than force the poor thing down the path of geomancy, swearing she has the 'gift' for it." "Is a geomancer such a pitiable thing?" asked Siska. "It sounds a - solid - field of magic." "Oh, very good," said Phillip rolling his eyes. "That one has never been uttered, I'm sure." Siska giggled again and only stopped when they came to another door, this one sheathed in metal plates, like armor, riveted securely to a wooden frame beneath. The steel looked dented and battered, and showed signs of rust at the edges. "This is the council hall," said Phillip. She looked at the rather ignoble door. "Plain, isn't it?" she asked. "We don't go in for pretty, flashy things," said Phillip. "At least, not as an order, though individuals, of course, have their own preferences. We don't stand upon ceremony, either, simply address all the councilors as such or as mentor, either is proper." She nodded at his hasty instructions. "Should I bow?" "No," said Phillip, shaking his head. "That's for nobles, we're wizards, not some hereditary privileged class that only must be born to demand respect, we earn it." The words sounded like very long-considered litany, something he had been taught. "Nod your head a bit, if you feel you must do something. Like you're agreeing with them." She smiled at the look of consternation on his face. "Did you do something wrong in taking me to teach?" asked Siska. "No," said Phillip, though his eyes darted to the side. "However, some of the money I used to buy your freedom was not strictly mine to spend." Siska's eyes widened. "You stole money to buy my freedom?" she asked, her voice rising in shock and worry. "Well, no, I didn't steal it, either," said Phillip, throwing a short band of cloth over his shoulders. It bore a broad blue stripe in the middle edged with glimmering gold. "I'm the treasurer of the order, though probably not for long." With that, he pulled the door open.