When Mr. Ulrich arrived a couple nights after the boy met the council, the man found the child sitting alone in the darkened library. The boy looked up when he heard the door close and gave Mr. Ulrich a sweet smile.
“I’m tired, but I tried to nap. I’m just so excited.” He told the man, trying his best to contain his buoyed happiness.
“I will not keep you long tonight. I am merely here as part of the contract. Tomorrow, we will begin properly.”
“Oh,” the boy said, and his face fell a fraction. Mr. Ulrich seemed to notice but he said nothing. “What are we doin’ then?”
Mr. Ulrich moved into the room and the boy noticed he was in a creamy sweater and dark tan khaki pants. His dark brown loafers made nearly no sound on the carpeted floor as he drew nearer and sat on the sofa opposite the boy.
“I have sensed an uncommon amount of innocent curiosity in your mind. You are largely unafraid, and you seem to be…wholly unconcerned about anything strange happening.” Mr. Ulrich stopped and studied the boy’s face for a moment.
The boy had no idea what to say. He understood some of what Mr. Ulrich had said but a lot of it washed over him. He wanted to learn to read and to use his two rivers to help Indie feel better. After that, he wanted to learn how to help other people feel better or maybe even entertain them with his gifts.
“I just want to learn. I ain’t scared because I know I ain’t done nothin’ wrong. Here, it’s ok to be like I am. At home, I was scared a lot.” The boy thought of the many times he had been slapped or hit for just talking about the special things he could do.
“Your father is very small-minded. He is also entirely mundane. He is locked away from his arcane and we Nightbound believe that those kinds of people are the natural evolution of humanity. If you can believe it, there used to be a lot more people like you.” Mr. Ulrich’s accent was soothing, and the boy found himself focusing on his voice and not his words.
“Where are you from?” he asked.
“Bavaria.”
“Where is that?”
“It is now a state in Germany, across the Atlantic Ocean, in Europe,” Mr. Ulrich recited.
“Is it beautiful there?” The boy pictured mountains and fields of white wildflowers. Mr. Ulrich smiled.
“Just as you imagine.”
“I only see white people inside you,” the boy blurted. Another smile from Mr. Ulrich.
“You have learned Lineage Divination. That’s interesting.”
“The room before the council room showed it to me, like a door openin’ that I didn’t know was there all the time.” explained the boy. “My momma said that Europe was a white man’s place.”
“That is certainly one point of view. Perhaps it was at one time. But just as here in America, people of all colors live together.”
“That’s good. I would like to see Bavaria some time and I would not like to be in disguise to go visit.” The boy’s face was serious. His earnest concern seemed to disarm the man. He blinked back and said nothing for long minutes. “Someone on Momma’s side was a red Indian and someone on Daddy’s side was from Africa. I can see the color differences in my brothers now since going downstairs and visiting them that was sitting with you.”
“Native American, I believe.” Mr. Ulrich said with a hint of a smile. “That’s the proper term.” They sat in silence again. The boy fidgeted with the hem of his white linen shorts. Indie hadn’t been awake to help him pick out clothes, but he didn’t mind.
“What drew you to the sparkly black shirt you’re wearing, Alexander?” Mr. Ulrich asked, gesturing to his rolled-up cuffs and sequined cardigan.
“It’s beautiful.” The boy had no real answer. He had spied the black sweater, the shoulders dusted in silver and black glitter that faded as it went down his front and back. The sleeves were several inches too long, but he managed to roll the cuffs.
“Does it make you feel special?” Ulrich’s interest in his choice suddenly made the boy feel self-conscious. Jay had already made fun of him all day for it and now Mr. Ulrich seemed to be very curious.
“I just like it.” He hung his head and made a move to shrug out of it.
“Then wear it every day. It’s yours.” Mr. Ulrich was holding out a hand to stop him. “You wear what makes you feel confident while you are here, Alexander. Part of living here will be teaching you how to be confident and proud of your own body. It can do wonderous things and dressing it with care is an important part of the ritual of Nightbound culture.” The boy studied the man’s clothes and chewed his lip, thinking.
“What makes you feel good about that sweater?”
“I made it myself,” he answered. The boy looked at him in surprise.
“My Momma can knit, too. Do you use your arcane to do it?”
“Sometimes, but usually I just use my hands. It is a skill that was taught to me by my sponsor when I was Converted. It calmed me during a difficult time in my life.”
“I want to learn to read.” The boy said in excitement. “I want to be able to read all the books that Jay can read.”
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“James.” Mr. Ulrich corrected him.
“Sorry, yes. James. I wanna read all the books that James can read. He reads all the time. He’s so smart and I wanna be smart like him and kind like Indie. I’m too small to be tough like the twins and I don’t know if I could ever draw like them, either.” After running out of breath the boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He unfolded it and studied it for a moment then handed it to Mr. Ulrich.
The drawing that Two had given him earlier that day was of a knight, dressed in the armor from the entrance hall, his sword thrust into the grass. He had his foot propped up on a helmet on the ground and his own was held under his arm. His long, curly hair was blown back and the face that stared back was strikingly like Indie. The boy delighted in the fantasy.
“Benjamin drew this?” Mr. Ulrich asked, clearly impressed. The boy nodded proudly.
“Toe said he would have one for me tomorrow. I told him I wanted to be dressed in something sparkly and mysterious.”
“Joseph.” Mr. Ulrich corrected absent-mindedly as he studied the image.
It will be such a loss of talent if they fail the Conversion. The boy cocked his head, hearing Mr. Ulrich’s thoughts. It felt like a thought that had slipped through a crack of a closed door. It was not meant for him to hear. But he had heard it and now he was curious.
“What do you mean?” he asked the man. Mr. Ulrich’s head snapped up and he frowned at him.
“You are not welcome to my thoughts, Alexander.” The menace was thick and suddenly the boy was frightened.
“I didn’t do nothin’. It was like you were sayin’ it to yourself but too loud and I accidentally heard it. I didn’t mean it.” He blinked up innocently at the man and shut his own mind, pulling all of himself neatly into his own mind. He tried to show Mr. Ulrich by opening his mind but only a window of it. “See? All to myself.”
“Hmm.” Mr. Ulrich’s eyes narrowed. “I will be teaching you one thing tonight, I believe. Then I am leaving.” The boy sat up in excitement, the idea of new knowledge washing away his anxious fear of displeasing Mr. Ulrich.
“Yes, please!”
“I was thinking things to myself; you are correct. I did not invite you into my mind, but you said you heard it, nonetheless. I am not particularly skilled at closing myself off, but I should really be a lot better at it than you are at eaves dropping on my own consciousness.” The man leaned forward toward the boy. He put the drawing on the seat next to the small figure. He took the boy’s hands in his large, cold hands.
“Close your eyes and imagine your lux and your umbra. The two should be stacked like you learned. I cannot detect the umbra, so I assume you have done this?” The boy closed his eyes and nodded. He had kept them stacked nearly constantly since learning that they could be kept that way comfortably.
“Excellent. Now, reach out with your Manus and try to touch my mind.” Mr. Ulrich instructed.
“My…?” The boy hesitated.
“The part of you that you can extend. It is called your Manus. It means ‘hand’ in Latin.”
“Oh, ok.” He tried to reach out with that secret part of him and met Mr. Ulrich’s mind. It was hot and hard. It felt like a brick wall that was on fire. “It’s too hot to try to go through.”
“Yes, that is because I used my will to bring together my lux into a concentrated fire that will hurt anyone that tries to enter my mind. I am consciously increasing the potency of that fire. Usually, it's more like this…” The boy could sense the fire fading and the wall felt like it had small crevices and cracks throughout.
“Yes!” the boy said excitedly. “When I heard your thoughts earlier, it felt just like it came through one of those small holes there.” He touched one of the holes and felt a hot jolt run down his body.
“You can also make this wall and it will protect you from most beings.” Mr. Ulrich said and then he showed the boy the image of his own mind’s wall. He showed him how to harden his fire and to make it into an impassable barrier. The boy looked at what he was teaching him but frowned.
“I know how to close my mind.” He did so and waited for Mr. Ulrich to commend him. He felt a tickle and then a solid smash against his poorly erected wall.
“You are using only your will to hide your mind. If you learn to use your arcane, your lux, you will be able to have a better barricade against intruders.” Mr. Ulrich showed him again and the boy stopped him.
“It would be easier for me to put my ice up and surround it with fire.” Mr. Ulrich seemed to consider this.
“Do it and then show me.” The boy nodded his head and reached his two invisible hands into the icy umbra hidden below the fiery lux. He drew out a small shard of it at a time and built a wall. He pretended to be building it like he did with the nubby blocks at school, but he could do this much faster. In seconds, he had a full barrier.
“Wait. Before you flood it with lux, let me try to touch it and see what happens.” The boy held still and could sense Mr. Ulrich’s invisible hand drawing nearer at a slow, steady pace. Soon, he felt it hovering just outside his mind, but it was not touching the barrier. The boy got a wave of apprehension from Mr. Ulrich and quickly pulled the wall down and then opened his eyes.
“No, Mr. Ulrich. My ice hurts you. Please don’t make me hurt you again.” Mr. Ulrich’s eyes were wide, and his face was unreadable.
“Yes, it would have killed me. Your barrier would have linked into my lux and just drained me. I would have been a husk.” Then he leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest, but his eyes stayed wide and trained on the boy’s face.
“How do I keep that part of me from hurtin’ you?”
“For now, when I am near, keep it stacked beneath your lux and always keep in mind that you cannot use it the same way you use the lux. I will come prepared from now on.” An image of the opaque metal syringe flashed into the boy’s mind.
“The medicine that saved you at my home,” he said softly. Mr. Ulrich nodded and uncrossed his arms. He rested one long-fingered hand on his large, wide chin.
“Build the wall the same as you did with umbra but use your lux.” The boy closed his eyes and obliged. He found it harder to do as the fire felt slippery in his mind’s hands. It wanted to roll around like liquid and spread like real fire.
“How do I make it hard, like ice?” he asked, his face furrowed into a deep frown.
“For now, use both sides of your Manus. Pack it tight, as you may have done with snow. If some slips out, let it reform in your core and then try again. Start small and you can grow it.” The boy struggled and finally had a lumpy, see-through wall up across his mind.
“I can’t make the fire burn across it like you did,” he pouted.
“I’m much older.” Mr. Ulrich said and this time he did truly smile. The boy snapped his eyes open and saw the man looked much younger and was very handsome when he smiled. His wide jaw housed white teeth. One front tooth on the left was snaggled but otherwise they were all straight. The boy smiled back at him and the smile faded from Mr. Ulrich’s face.
“I can still read every thought you think, Alexander. You must practice this skill. That will be your first assignment. When I see you tomorrow night, I do not wish to be able to hear your thoughts.” The reprimand, though gentle, stung the boy and he let the smile fall from his face.
“Yes, sir.”
Good boy. See you tomorrow night then.
When the boy looked up to say goodnight, the man had already left, and the door was swinging slowly closed.