Rain slapped Pip’s face
and slithered beneath his tunic, running cold down his back and into his
britches. These weren’t the usual autumn mists, but bone-chilling rain. Mud
churned beneath his feet, sticking in clumps to his tattered, tired boots. They
shouldn’t be out trudging the roads today. They shouldn’t be out at all. No one
should. But today they didn’t have a choice. Today all the villagers had to
attend a summons.
No one knew what this
summons would be about. The magistrate had already issued a proclamation
setting a new harvest quota for the ordinarius, and if it wasn’t met, King
Mordred would take more than just taxes. He would take flesh.
So they’d all had to
help. Even his little sister, Mary, had worked her tiny fingers raw pulling
turnips in the garden. If only they lived south—in King Arthur’s realm—then
surely their lives would be easier. King Arthur was supposed to be a fair king.
Pip sighed and trudged along behind his parents. Mother and Da had said maybe
the taxes would increase, or maybe the rations would decrease. Pip knew that
whatever the magistrate had to say, it wouldn’t be good. He was a pig who only
cared for himself.
The rain dulled to a
heavy mist, and a group of ravens flew and twisted in the sky, their wings
nearly blacking out the pale winter sun. One dove toward Pip, its caw
shattering the cool morning silence and filling Pip’s belly with dread. He
stopped and stared, watching the flock disappear into a smear of darkness.
“Pip. Hurry up, lad!
Stop your daydreaming,” his father bellowed. “We can’t be late for a summons.”
A shiver of power
tingled over Pip’s skin as he watched the last of the ravens disappear into the
morning mist and then ran to catch up with Da and the rest of his family.
“Did you see the
ravens, Da?” Pip whispered so his little sister Mary couldn’t hear.
Da stopped and looked
at the sky. He crossed himself and shook his head, his brow furrowed with
worry. “I didn’t see any. And I pray to God there were no ravens, lad. There’s
too much darkness about already.”
Pip’s stomach twisted
in knots. Da hadn’t seen any ravens, only Pip had. Maybe it was another vision.
They’d only come since he’d discovered he was magus, and he still wasn’t used
to having visions. Real or imagined, though, surely ravens were an omen of
things to come. But the magus wouldn’t possibly take more from the ordinarius
families. They’d taken enough already.
“When I’m a mage,” Pip
swore to his sister, “I’ll make sure every ordinarius and magus is treated
fairly. Then none of us will need to worry about village summons or selfish
magistrates.”
“Shhhst,” Mother
hissed, eyes like whips, head twisting from side to side to see if anyone had
overheard.
Da grimaced, and Galen
glared. Galen. Pip scowled; his older brother always sided with their mother.
Pip had never been close to Galen. His brother was old enough to work the
fields when Pip was born, and they’d never spent much time together. The only
time Galen ever spoke to Pip was to criticize him on his handling of a chore or
to try to stop him from using magic. No wonder he was Mother’s favorite.
Pip gazed at the barren
field around them. The closest villagers were several paces away. “There’s no
one close enough to hear us,” he protested.
“I said not to speak of
it.” Mother’s words were clipped, her eyes colder than the morning rain.
Pip held his breath and
then let it out slowly instead of speaking his mind. He was glad to be a magus,
even if he was new to his power, which had come after his twelfth birthday,
just passed. But his family had told no one. Not yet. Mother had been
especially strict that no one should speak of it. No one should know. Maybe it
was because he’d only discovered his power. Maybe it was because no one else in
his family had any magic. Mother was just being suspicious when she should be
proud.
Pip wrapped his arm
around his little sister and whispered. “When I’m apprenticed to become a mage,
I’ll be sure to learn more than a few tricks to keep you safe and happy.” He
tweaked her nose and she giggled.
They made their way
along the muddy lane to their village, which lay south of the hill fortress at
Etin, a two days’ march north of Hadrian’s Wall. Both magi-soldiers and battle
mages sometimes skirted their village, yet they never stayed. It was a poor
place, but the local mage lord who oversaw the ordinarius farms was kind
enough. It was Mordred’s edicts that were harsh, forcing ordinarius families to
cut back on their own rations to provide more to his court and the magus class
ruled by the cruel northern king. And all because ordinarius had no magic.
Because they were not magus. It was so unfair. At least there were more
ordinarius than magus in the world; otherwise, there would be no end to the
work they did for the magus class.
When they arrived at
the small muddy square that marked the village center—usually decorated for
festivals or alive with peddlers selling their wood or tin or cloth—it was
empty of festivities. Armed magi-soldiers dressed in black and blood red,
Mordred’s colors, lingered at the perimeter. Their swords gleamed in the pale
morning light and their wary eyes darted from face to face.
Mordred’s soldiers were here. Fear shot through Pip’s veins. He peered around the square taking in the magi-soldiers’ armor, embossed with silver runes. Da had long ago taught him and Galen to identify the magi symbols to stay clear of trouble. He saw none of the plain clothed magi with their green sashes, nor any magi marked with the golden runes or red sashes of a battle mage. Still, they’d never had soldiers here for a proclamation before. Something was different. Something was wrong.
10 comments:
I love the cover art, synopsis and excerpt, Merlin's Apprentice: The Mage is a must read for me and I am looking forward to it. Thank you for sharing the author's bio and book details
What a super neat themed book.
This sounds like an excellent read.
It sounds good.
What a heavy burden for a young child. I like the topic.
The excerpt is interesting. Thank you for sharing it.
I like book details
Sounds excellent
I enjoyed the excerpt. Thank you for the giveaway!
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