“Ah, there you both are,” he said as he stepped aside to allow the other to enter the room. “It saves me from having to track down one of you. Gavin, Kiri, I would like to introduce Declan deHavand-”
Kiri gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
Marcus stopped speaking and focused on her, saying, “Yes? Do you have something to say?”
“I always heard that Declan the Dandy’s real name was Declan deHavand,” Kiri said, her voice almost a whisper.
“People hear a lot of things, young lady,” Marcus said. “It’s always a challenging task to separate fact from fiction.”
Gavin’s eyes narrowed on his mentor. “You didn’t say she was wrong, Marcus.”
“He’s got you there, old friend,” the man introduced as Declan said overtop a chuckle. “Yes, the lady is quite correct. To the world at large, I am the bard known as Declan the Dandy. However, I have much older allegiances than the Traditions and Skuv Ir Nathene, and I am here in response to those. It would be best that you ask nothing further on the matter, as I won’t answer, and the asking could precipitate an unpleasant situation, depending on who hears the question.”
Gavin and Kiri both nodded, while Kiri swallowed a bit hard.
Marcus sighed, saying, “Yes, well…as I was saying, Declan will be joining your training curriculum, Gavin, and I would also appreciate it if you kept him with you whenever you or you and Kiri should go into the city.”
“Aren’t I a little old to have a chaperone, Marcus?” Gavin asked.
“Nonsense. I would never insult Declan by having him be a chaperone. Gavin, the Lornithrasa have already attempted to kill you once, and they did manage to scar you with a Void-blade. I am not prepared to risk your life by allowing illusions of privacy outside the grounds of the College. From here on out, we will split your academic studies to allow you time to train with him. Kiri, given that your schedule is a bit more open, you shall train with Declan every morning.”
“But it is a capital offense for a slave to possess a blade,” Kiri said.
“How quaint, child; you think I care about the royal laws,” Marcus replied. “Even if some poor sod became aware of the training you will be receiving and managed to gain entrance to the college grounds, the individual would then face me. Besides, I have no interest in provoking a confrontation with the worthless sot who currently wears the crown or his sycophants; you will not possess a blade outside College grounds. Do you have any further objections?”
Kiri shook her head and lowered her eyes.
“Very well,” Marcus said. “We shall begin the new training schedule next week.”
At the appointed time, Declan came to Marcus’s suite to collect Gavin. Gavin looked up from the book that was the current focus of his attention and had to force himself not to stare. When Gavin first met him, Declan wore earth-toned clothing and looked so unremarkable no one would’ve thought to pay him any mind in a crowd of more than four people. Declan was no longer nondescript.
Declan stood just inside the door of Marcus’s suite, though it was anyone’s guess how he’d opened it with no medallion. He wore leather armor that was a matte midnight black, blacker even than the dye typically used to produce black leather, and Gavin thought he counted no less than eight dagger hilts in his cursory examination.
“How many do you see?” Declan asked.
“Eight,” Gavin said.
“Better than most,” Declan said as he flexed and stretched his fingers, “but you’re still low.”
Kiri stepped out of the room she and Gavin shared. She’d returned from her first session with Declan a short time before lunch, and she moved like she was very sore.
“Do you mind if I come with you?” Kiri asked. “I’d like to watch.”
“I have no objections,” Declan said. “Gavin?”
“Something tells me I shouldn’t be so willing to have an audience for my first session with you,” Gavin said with a shrug, “but why not?”
Declan and Gavin stood just inside the arena ring but on opposite sides, and Kiri sat on the third row of a section of stone bleachers. Declan held a training dagger in his hand, and Gavin was unarmed, save for what he knew.
“So, what Words have you learned, Gavin?” Declan asked.
“Uhm…well, I know a Word of Interation.”
Declan lifted his left hand in a ‘stop’ gesture. “Let’s stay away from death magic, Gavin; I’d just as soon live to a ripe, old age. What else?”
“The only Words Marcus taught me to use are those of Illusion, but I’ve picked up a Word of Conjuration and a Word of Transmutation on my own.”
“Conjuration,” Declan said. “Can you use that to duplicate the mage spell Light?”
“I don’t know,” Gavin said. “What does the mage spell Light do?”
“It creates a palm-sized sphere of white light within a foot of the mage. The mage has some limited control over the sphere, but nothing significant. Most mages use it in place of a reading lamp.”
“Oh! Yes, I can duplicate that.”
Declan smiled. “Excellent. Gavin, I want you to create a sphere of light on the tip of my nose. Begin whenever you’re ready.”
“Uhm, Declan? Are you sure about this?” Gavin asked. “Anything I create will probably be rather bright. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Okay…he asked for this, Gavin thought. He was much better at clearing his mind of all distractions than he had once been, and it took very little time at all to form a mental picture of a sphere of white light on the tip of Declan’s nose. Gavin drew in a breath to speak and invoked the Word of Conjuration, saying, “Nythraex.”
Declan waited until Gavin opened his mouth to speak. He then simply took one step back, which carried him outside the arena ring, but his eyes widened and his jaw slackened when a bright, white haze formed in the air just in front of him and hung there for a heartbeat-at most-before it dissipated.
“Hey!” Gavin said. “You cheated!”
“No, Gavin; I did not,” Declan said, schooling his features back to neutral. “The only objective in a fight to the death is to win. If we had been in such a fight, I would’ve been at a severe disadvantage at any range beyond arm’s reach…especially if you used the Word of Interation you know. That’s the second rule of killing a wizard: be within arm’s reach.”
Gavin felt a chill go through him. “What’s the first rule?”
“Don’t let the wizard know you’re a threat…until it’s too late.”
“Okay,” Gavin said, swallowing hard. “Is there a third?”
“No,” Declan said. “If you fail at the first and then fail at the second, you won’t live long enough for a third to be of any help.”
Declan stepped back into the arena ring, continuing to speak. “Did you see what I did? I used the environment against you. You must always be aware of where you are and what’s around you; you never know when something that is insignificant to everyone else just might save your life. Now, let’s do it again. Put a sphere of light on the tip of my nose.”
He's not going to pull that on me a second time. I’m close enough to this side of the ring that I can take a step back and be outside it, too. I just need to hold my focus and the invocation together while I take the step; I’ve never done that before.
Declan was only the periphery of Gavin’s focus as he cleared his mind and drew breath to speak, so when Gavin perceived movement across the ring, he took a step to the side, which carried him outside the ring…just in time to catch a soft tomato full in the face. Gavin squawked and fell backward, his arms wind milling until he landed on his backside in the mixture of sawdust and dirt. A small cloud of dust rose around him, and Gavin wiped away the remains of the tomato to the accompaniment of Kiri’s laughter.