“We are not adopting any strays, Bon!” a woman practically yelled as soon as they walked through the door. “I’ve told you, we can’t afford it, especially not after that stunt you pulled this afternoon.”
“Who are you calling a stray?” Midnight said. “I am impeccably groomed and beautiful.”
The woman jumped and eyeballed Midnight and Lemon. “You… really did meet a talking animal.”
“I told you I did,” Bon said.
“Yeah, but I figured you were lying to me again.”
“You’re not supposed to lie to your parents,” Lemon told Bon.
He scowled back and said, “I know that!”
“Knock it off, you two,” Midnight snapped. She turned back to Bon’s mother and said, “My name is Midnight. I am the familiar to Wizard Hogarth, who is currently attending the conference. We were informed by Wizard Hogarth’s lab assistant-”
“That’s me!” Lemon said.
“-that she had met a boy who’d displayed magical aptitude,” Midnight continued smoothly, ignoring Lemon’s interruption. “We’re here to take him up to the conference for some testing and see if we can find a master looking to take on a new apprentice.”
“What, because of that little sleight of hand thing? That’s not real magic.”
“I assure you that it is,” Midnight told her. “We’ve confirmed it ourselves.”
“But that’s nothing. Any street corner performer can do that.”
“Perhaps, but the difference here is that he is actually using magic to move the item, not misdirection.”
“Told you,” Bon muttered. “It did so count as magic.”
Bon’s mother looked back and forth between them, thought about it for a moment, and then let out a thoroughly gobsmacked, “Huh. How about that?”
“I’m going to assume you don’t have any objections to your son going up to the conference with us?” Midnight asked.
“Well, I can’t say that I know,” Bon’s mother said. “What exactly does that mean? Is Bon going to be in any danger?”
Midnight shook her head and hopped up onto the kitchen table next to Bon’s mother. “He will be in no danger. He will be introduced to various wizards who are looking for an apprentice. Most likely they’ll want a demonstration of his current repertoire of spells. They may see if he can learn a few basic incantations quickly, just to take a good measure of him. Given how many wizards are currently present, I would say it’s his best chance to find a master quickly. I can’t promise anything on behalf of another wizard, of course, but I think he has good odds.”
Lemon sat back and watched Midnight work. She was always like this whenever anyone came around or they went out on business, so prim and proper. Her whole manner of speech changed and she sat straight upright without ever moving. It was like she was a totally different cat. Lemon could not help but contrast the Midnight in front of her to the one in her memories who’d had a bucket of water spilled on her once when Lemon accidentally bumped the table it was sitting on.
There was a stark difference, both in temperament and vocabulary. Lemon still didn’t know the meanings to some of the words Midnight had said then. Hogarth had refused to tell her.
Lemon looked over at Bon, who was listening with rapt attention as Midnight described some of the tasks Bon could be expected to tend to as a wizard’s apprentice, and some of the things he could expect to learn from his master. His jaw practically dropped to the floor when Midnight mentioned the average wages of a journeyman wizard, and he wasn’t the only one. Bon’s mother sat down in one of the three chairs around the table, and she sat down hard.
“And… and you’re sure my little Bon could be a wizard.”
“One hundred percent,” Midnight said. “I have seen the magic with my own eyes. My associate can literally smell it on him. It is not a question of whether he could be a wizard. He already is. The only question is who we will find to see to his training.”
“I need to talk to my husband about this,” Bon’s mother said. “This is kind of a huge decision.”
“I understand,” Midnight said soothingly. “Will he be back soon?”
“Not for a few hours. He went to pick up an extra shift at the mill, try to come up with a bit more coin. We’re… a bit light right now.” Bon’s mother shot him a quick glare as she spoke.
Stolen novel; please report.
Rather than look ashamed, he scowled right back. “We wouldn’t be if we stopped giving those jerks money.”
“We do not have a choice, Bon. You know this, and yet you insist on antagonizing them and making things harder for us.”
“There are way more of us than there are of them. We should all tell them to get lost. What are they going to do, fight the whole street?”
“Yes,” his mother said, her voice hard. “That is exactly what they will do. And when they come in with knives and swords and spears, how will we defend ourselves? When they come in groups of twenty or thirty, do you think we’ll be able to stop them?”
“If this is such an issue, why doesn’t the city guard do something?” Midnight asked.
“Where do you think half the money they extort from us goes? If the guard comes in, it’s going to be to help that group of thugs collect their share.”
“The guards are being bad?” Lemon gasped. “But they’re the guards! Their job is to be good.”
Everyone else in the room turned to look at Lemon. Midnight just rolled her eyes, Bon let out a snort, and his mother gave a sad shake of her head. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way around here. The guards only work for the rich people. For the rest of us, they’re a hazard to be avoided whenever possible.”
“That’s dumb. Someone needs to fix that.”
“Maybe someone will,” Midnight said. “I know a budding young wizard who grew up right here and probably has some strong opinions about the how the people living on Wall Road are treated. He might very well come back in a few years when he has the power to make some changes. Then again, perhaps not. You never know what the future might hold, but it is certainly an option.”
“I could learn how to set their butts on fire,” Bon said. “Burn down that old warehouse they use as a headquarters, send them packing when they come around with their clubs in hand. Yeah, I like that idea.”
“Probably not the best way to go about it. Most cities frown on arson,” Midnight said. “But we’ve gotten a little off-track. It would be best for Bon to come with us now while the wizards are still about their business at the conference. Once evening comes and they settle down for the night, it will be much more difficult to introduce Bon to potential new masters. Additionally, there is something of a spectacle to behold at the conference itself. It is quite the experience.”
Lemon was getting bored now. She knew it was important to get permission, but she was tired of talking about the conference. She wanted to go back to it and see all the new things wizards had come up with over the last year. Bon’s mother didn’t look like she was going to budge anytime soon though. Lemon supposed it was understandable that she wanted to wait for Bon’s father, but it was going to be hours and hours before he got home. Her refusing to make a decision was a decision in and of itself.
Some smell caught Lemon’s attention. She raised her snout and took a careful sniff. “There are people outside the house,” she said, halting the conversation and dragging everyone’s attention to her.
“How many?” Midnight asked.
“Six, I think. I recognize a few of them from the men who were chasing Bon earlier today.”
A second later, someone started pounding on the door. Bon’s mother took one look at it and all the color drained from her face. “What do they want now?” she moaned. “They already took all the money we had.”
Midnight jumped down from the table, casually strolled across the room, and opened the door with her own version of Wizard’s Hand. Unlike Lemon, she didn’t need a special collar charm to do it. The man who’d been pounding on it opened his mouth to speak, then paused and frowned when he realized there was nobody standing in front of him.
“Can I help you?” Midnight asked from his feet.
“Uh… Yeah. Um.” The man’s brain was clearly struggling to catch up to the unexpected reality of having a black housecat answer the door and speak to him, but eventually it got there. He regained his confident swagger, and said, “So the boss said on account of that little thief’s attitude, we’re supposed to take him in for a whipping. That way he’ll learn his manners right.”
“No.”
“What?” the man asked, his face slipping back into a mask of confusion.
“We will not be allowing you to do that. This young man will be coming with us this afternoon.”
“Aw, just kick it,” one of the thugs said from behind the man. “What’s it going to do, hiss at you and claw your boot up?”
Lemon winced. Midnight did not like when people dismissed her, and she wasn’t the nicest person on an average day. Just from the way her paws were flexing, claws popping in and out, Lemon could tell she was mad. Really mad. “Come on,” she whispered to Bon as she dragged him farther away from the door.
The man’s foot cocked back, boot up in the air and a nasty grin on his face. Then he flew backwards thirty feet to slam into the wall that gave Wall Road its name. He was immediately followed by the other thug who’d suggested kicking Midnight. The cat’s head turned slowly to stare at the rest of the group.
“I believe I made myself clear. Would anyone else like to disagree with me?”
“She’s really scary when she gets mad,” Lemon said.
“Yeah,” Bon agreed, gulping. “Does she get mad a lot?”
“Not usually like this.”
None of the other thugs had anything else to say about the idea of taking Bon in for a thrashing. They picked up the two that Midnight had thrown across the street and scurried off while she gave them a baleful glare. Only after all six of them had run off did she move. The door swung closed gently behind her as she slunk back across the floor and jumped up to the table again.
“As I was saying, it really is in Bon’s best interest to come to the conference with us. Not only would it help him begin his career as a wizard, it might just be a good idea for him to spent a night away from the neighborhood. Perhaps even two.”
“I guess you’re right,” Bon’s mother said, no longer quite so forceful and argumentative. “Bon, you’re sure you’re okay with this?”
“Of course, Mom. Why wouldn’t I want to go to a floating island in the sky full of wizards doing awesome magic stuff? Beats hanging around here doing chores.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… fine. Go ahead. I’ll talk to your father when he gets home, and I want you back here tomorrow morning so we can talk about all of this wizard business as a family, okay?”
“Got it, Mom.”
And with that, finally, they were off to the conference.