1

Servia was dizzy. For her the world was still spinning. She felt totally disoriented. It was the oddest feeling she had ever experienced. For a fraction of a second, it felt like she just was not there anymore. It was like she did not exist in that moment. It was an unnerving sensation to say the least.

One moment she was in a back alleyway of Verant City and the next moment she suddenly found herself in a field. Vask stood next to her, the noonday sun blinding her eyes. Where were they?

Servia De Gallio had never been teleported before. It was something that only a well trained wizard could do. It was the hardest branch of magic to master. But for those who could master it, the world was theirs for the taking. She had been through portals many times in the past, but that was a much easier spell and spanned much shorter distances.

Servia stumbled to her knees when she tried to take her first steps after re-materializing. She felt completely exhaustion. She started to sweat beneath her heavy velvet robes which had kept her warm in the dark cold cell only a short while ago. Vask was already several steps ahead of her. He was a Grand Master and shook off the effects of the teleportation as if it was nothing.

“Are you alright, girl?” Vask said to her. He stopped and waited for her to respond.

“I’m sorry, my Lord! I’ve never teleported before!” Servia confessed. She was on her knees before him. “I’m not used to the… experience!”

Vask chuckled to himself and smiled. “Some people don’t like teleporting. They claim it upsets their balance. On the other hand, I revel in the experience! How did it feel to you?”

Servia thought about it for a moment and shuttered. “It felt like… Like I didn’t exist… for only a moment!” She admitted.

“Ah, that’s because you didn’t!” Vask said with a grin. “It’s powerful magic. If you’re a good girl and do what I tell you, then one day I may teach you how to wield that kind of power. You could navigate time and space itself!”

“My Lord, I am humbled by your offer!” She told him, but secretly she was not sure if she wanted a power that would make her feel so strange.

“You can stop grovelling, Miss De Gallio,” Vask sneered. “You’re my apprentice now. You think I selected you because you’re some humble little girl? It’s time for you to stand up straight. You are better than regular folk. It’s time to begin your real training.”

Servia looked at her surroundings. She could see the large field was encircled by old growth forest. A tall keep was just in front of them. Only the Gods knew how far away they were from that alleyway in the Wizard’s Quarter, she thought. Were we even in the Verant Empire anymore?

“Where are we!?” Servia asked bewildered. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the bright light. The immense well manicured lawn soon came into focus.

“Why you are at the Fillius family estate, of course! About a hundred miles northwest of Palantine,” Vask explained as if it was completely obvious to anyone.

“We traveled hundreds of miles in an instant!?” Servia questioned as if it was completely impossible.

“Indeed!” Vask replied. “Would you like to see Bandor? We could go there.”

She shook her head. Bandor was on the other side of the continent. “Maybe another time,” she suggested.

Servia looked around on the ground as she still stumbled a bit when she took a tentative step forward. She found herself standing within a circle made of white sand that was a hundred yards away from the family home. “Why is there sand in a circle here? Is it for the teleportation?”

“Good, you are asking questions! That’s very encouraging, I must say. To answer, it doesn’t block the power like life force can. This is the center of the node. The whole estate sits on one, but this is the most powerful spot,” Vask explained.

Servia felt that he sounded very much like a grandfather when he spoke. He did not seem at all evil. He watched her get her bearings leaning against his staff and smiling at her. She had heard whispers in school that he was a powerful person, not someone to be messed with. But now he seemed much softer and more caring. She wondered how long it would last. Servia decided to ask more questions since he was in a mood to answer them. “What’s a node?”

Vask, unwilling to wait any longer turned and began walking away towards the house. Servia hiked up her robes. She had to sprint to keep up with Vask’s steady pace. “I don’t understand, my Lord!?”

“Of course, you don’t!” Vask snapped with a bit of irritation. “They don’t teach this kind of magic in your school. There are a lot of things you need to learn that no school will teach you!”

“Is that why I must apprentice with you? Can you teach me more powerful magic?”

“My dear girl, I could show you things that would frighten you to your very core!” Vask said coldly as they approached the house. Old ivy climbed all over the rough-hewn stone walls giving the building a natural look of ancient ruins.

Servia knew that this was a wizard’s keep. Wizards of great renown and power often built their own towers. It was like a sanctuary of sorts. This wizard keep looked to be a hundred years old, but then again Servia was not entirely sure how old Vask really was. Servia looked up at the tall building. She figured the study would be somewhere in the top of the tower. She marveled at the well constructed building. The main tower stretched up five stories above the rest of the house. The main floor sprawled out in all directions like a rambling villa. It was rare to find an imposing field stone building that was this tall outside of Verant City or Palantine. Great care and engineering went into the construction of the keep.

Vask spoke more warmly than before. “Don’t worry girl, I will teach you all about lay lines and nodes. They are underground lines and points of magical power that can be harnessed to produce great effects. We should have a few months I’ll wager, to work on your training.”

Vask and Servia approached a great oak door. Servia did not know what to think. What he was offering seemed too good to be true. She wondered what he was hiding. What were his true motives? She feared the wizard’s power, yet she had sworn her life to him. Now what would happen to her? She started to wonder if she should have turned the offer down. Was that even possible? She wondered. What would he want in return for all this training? What horrible act would she be forced to commit?

Vask open the door. He and Servia walked into the warmth of the kitchen. A short dumpy looking woman was stirring a pot by the stove. Her frizzy hair was pulled back into a bun that looked more like a bird’s nest. She hummed to herself as she worked away.

Servia was strangely taken aback. For some reason Servia did not expect to find another woman here. She did not know what to think. She had assumed that maybe Vask lived alone. She was not expecting other people to be here. Were there more people in his family? It made Servia wonder who this woman was. Could she be a servant, a slave or his wife?

“This is my cook,” Vask explained answering Servia thought before it was even fully formed. “Her name is Millie.”

Millie turned around and smiled at them cheerfully. “I’m a miller’s daughter I am!”

“Ah, Millie is not right in the head,” Vask said shaking his own and looking a little disheartened. “You see she’s quite simple actually. I found her begging in the streets one day. I have a weakness it seems for people who are destitute. I decided I could make use of her. So, I brought her here to look after my kitchen and household.”

“You are not to bring that up, my Lord. You know that!” Millie scolded him. She shook a large wooden spoon at his menacingly.

Servia suddenly realized that she had been in a desperate position herself when Vask came for her. It dawned on her that this might not be a coincidence. Was he a demon? Is this what he did? Finding people at their weakest and offering them salvation… for a price. She really began to worry that Vask had some sort of plan that she had yet to understand. Servia was sure that she was here for a very specific purpose.

“My Lord, what time would you like dinner?” Millie asked the old wizard.

“Give us an hour or two,” Vask said. He started for the next room but turned and added. “Oh, by the way I want you to clean this place up while you’re waiting. This floor is filthy. I need the dining room clean as well. We’ll be eating in there this evening.”

“My Lord, I slaved over this hot stove all day!” She protested.

“Bah, you can slave over the cleaning for a while then! It’ll be a welcome change, I’m sure!” Vask shot back then said to Servia. “See!? Like I said, simple-minded!”

To Servia surprise Millie made rude gesture to Vask with her finger.

Vask snorted and then dismissed her gesture with a wave of his hand. “Ha, I have no time for your antic today woman! Come along Servia, I have others for you to meet.”

Vask went into the next room with Servia hot on his heels. In the room there was a set of stairs that went up into the tower. Vask mounted the stairs and went up to the next floor. Servia looked all around trying to take it all in, but everything seemed so normal. It looked like any other house in the Empire. The furnishings were all typical and modest. If Vask had a lot of money, he did not spend much of it on creature comforts. There were simple chairs and a sofa arranged in front of a large fireplace against the one wall. Large windows filled the room with the late afternoon sunlight.

Servia quickly followed Vask up the stairs. On the second floor was a circular room that took up the whole second floor of the keep. The room was a study of sorts. A large oak desk sat before a big bay window that overlooked the white sand circle outside in the yard. There were two other tables filled with wizard-type things that Servia recognized straight away. She saw a few wands on the one table and couple staffs leaning next to it. The other table held a variety of flasks, potions and colored bottles filled with unknown liquids.

Servia noticed a young man around her age sitting at the desk writing on some parchment. The scratching of a quill stopped when they entered the room.

“Armiger,” Vask’s booming voice filled the room. “I have my new apprentice here. I would like you to meet her.”

Armiger put his quill down and turned around to greet them. When he saw Servia, his eyes widened. He stood up giving a slight bow. He had tight curly hair that shone in the light. It was black as coal, just like Servia’s, but her hair was shoulder length and straight as an arrow. Servia kept it pulled back in a ponytail tied with a red velvet ribbon.

Armiger had gentle boyish facial features and a wicked smile. His dark eyes shimmed with life. He had a thin mustache and the beginnings of a narrow-pointed goatee. Facial hair was out of fashion in the Empire at the moment, yet he wore it well. Servia found him very striking.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” He said in a charming voice. He had a bit of an accent that Servia was not familiar with.

“Ah, this is Armiger, my nephew… Of sorts,” Vask explained. “He’s from Devonport if you’re wondering about the horrible accent!”

Servia was not sure what he meant by that. She figured he must be some type of relative, but not really a nephew. At Vask’s advanced age, Armiger was probably a great-nephew or some distance cousin.

“Well, it is nice to meet you, Armiger. I’m Servia De Gallio,” she said and gave a polite curtsy.

“Oh, I know who you are,” Armiger said with a smirk. “Everyone in the Empire does!”

“Don’t mind Armiger,” Vask said. “He’s a bit of a blackguard, which I blame entirely on the fact that his mother is a doxie!”

Armiger did not show much emotion at Vask’s comment. Normally such comments would have offended anyone. Servia was shocked that Vask even said it. Yet Armiger merely shrugged and said. “I survived, so I guess she wasn’t that bad of a mother.”

Vask laughed evilly. “The only thing that qualifies her as a mother, is having a womb in which to catch the spunk of passing sailors.”

“Hey, at least she still took me to the arena whenever I wanted,” Armiger replied with a grin.

“Yet another reason to stay away from this one Servia. A taste for violent and a spurious family background at best,” Vask said. “Like I said, watch yourself around this blackguard!”

Vask went back to the stairs that went up and took the first step.

“Oh, if you’re looking for Valance, he’s gone out to Palantine to get a few supplies. He should be back soon though!” Armiger said before they disappeared upstairs.

“Palantine, I thought that was a hundred miles from here?” Servia questioned.

“He’ll teleport,” Armiger replied with a look of annoyance.

Vask ignored Armiger’s comment to Servia and replied. “Alright, I can speak to him later. I think there’s a problem brewing that may have to be dealt with at some point. Decimus is going to be a problem. I will explain it later.”

“As you wish, my Lord,” Armiger said formally before going back to his studies.

“Come along my girl, we have much to talk about in private,” Vask said to her.

“And I’m the blackguard!?” Servia heard Armiger mumble to himself before they ascended the stairs to the next floor.

2

They skipped the third and fourth floor which were both similar to the second floor. Instead, they went straight up to the top floor. This was Vask’s private study as Servia had suspected. There were tables filled with all kinds of bottles, wands and staffs. The roof rafters were lined with dried herbs, roots and flowers. There were hundreds of varieties from all over the world. Even with everything Servia had learned about potion brewing, she still did not recognize half of the plants and fungus. A shelf was filled with strange jars containing a multitude of small creatures and various body parts suspended in liquid.

One side of the round room was covered with bookshelves that were overflowing with books both old and new. Stacks of books lay all around them. Servia’s jaw dropped when she saw all of the books and her heartbeat faster. Books were one of her greatest passions in life and this collection was a treasure trove of knowledge. She immediately went over and started to look them over. Some of the newer printed books she recognized, but the older hand-written ones were very rare. She even saw some books were written in strange languages. She sank to her knees before a large shelf and began running her fingers over all the spines as she read them.

“Ah, I see you like books!” Vask said chuckling to himself. “I wish Armiger had the same passion for reading. The boy is too hands on, he skips over the theory.”

“My Lord, I don’t know where to begin, your collection… It’s magnificent!” She said without ever taking her eyes off the books. Vask grabbed two chairs and brought them over to her. He sat on one and gave her the other. She continued to look over the books.

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“Go ahead, look,” Vask encouraged. “Youth is so filled with wonder. It takes me back a lot of years!” He pulled out a small pipe and packed it with a bit of tobacco. He searched one of the tables until he found a match.

“Some of these books are not written in common,” Servia pointed out.

“Indeed, some of them are written in Elvin,” Vask replied.

“You can read Elvin!?” Servia asked in amazement. She had never met anyone who could read Elvin before.

“Of course! Elvin and Enki,” Vask stated almost offend that she would be so surprised by this fact.

“What’s Enki?” She questioned making a strange face.

“My, my, your education really is lacking, isn’t it? What do they teach at that school?”

Servia had always thought it was a good school. She liked the teachers. She liked the subject matter. It had never occurred to her that very specific subjects had been left out on purpose.

“You spent a lot of time in the school library, I’ll wager?” Vask said changing the subject.

“Indeed, my Lord!” Servia replied with a wicked little grin. She was in heaven. Pure heaven surrounded by such incredible works!

“You didn’t have many friends, did you?” Vask asked.

“I guess I wasn’t very popular,” she awkwardly admitted. She shook her head sadly, not wanting to dwell on those thoughts with so many great books before her.

“It’s alright, I know how that feels,” Vask said puffing on his pipe. The sweet smell of tobacco filled the room. “People fear the powerful and knowledge is power.”

“People fear you, don’t they?” Servia said quietly. She hoped to goat him into revealing more about himself. She still remained in the dark about this strange wizard, his life and his goals. It was both frightening and a bit thrilling.

Vask simply laughed. “Of course! Do you fear me girl?”

“I don’t know enough about you yet. But I fear your power. I know it is vast, my Lord,” Servia said submissively unable to look at him. She could feel his power even as he sat a few feet away. She stared up at the towering bookcase and sighed.

“Let’s talk about why you were in prison,” Vask said changing the subject yet again. “I was at your trial, so I know the official story. But that’s not what really happened is it?”

Servia shook her head. She did not want to think about it now! She was free, by the Gods! But Vask made her dwell on it once more. She took a deep breath and explained it as best as she could. She told him about Catalina. How they never got along. She was sure that this girl had pulled the prank. Vask asked a lot of awkward questions about Catalina and how Servia felt about her.

“I hate her!” Servia finally said. There was a fire in her eyes. It really did make her angry to think about what had been done to her, which was exactly what Vask wanted her to feel.

“I certainly don’t blame you for it. She framed you for a crime that she committed. She sent you to prison! While she struts freely around the Wizard Quarter without a care! She didn’t care who got hurt from her actions! It would have made anyone red hot with anger!” Vask moved in closer and became very serious. His voice had a cold sharp edge to it that frightened Servia more than a little bit. “What if you could get your revenge on her?”

“I… I don’t know. I guess I’ve never really thought about it before,” Servia replied. She used a simple shrug to try and mask her fear. She did not like how he put the question to her like that. There was something menacing behind those eyes of his! She thought.

“Never?” Vask questioned in a disbelieving tone. “So why don’t you think about it now? What if you could get revenge for all the horrible things, she’s done to you?”

“I don’t know,” Servia said staring up at him helplessly.

“You don’t know?” Vask laughed. “Come now child, all that time sitting in a lonely dungeon and you don’t know what you would do if she were here right now?”

Servia shrugged again and spread her hands in frustration.

“What if I could bring her here for you? Tied up, helpless? What if I gave you a knife? What if the public would never know that it was you? Would you do it? Could you kill her?” Vask had an evil grin on his face.

Servia was taken aback at his expression. She thought about it seriously for a moment. The chance for revenge? Could she do it? In the end her conscience got the best of her. She shook her head. “My Lord, I don’t know if I could do it such a thing.”

“Sentenced to the Pacilla, two people dead! How many more will be killed because with this evil girl, Catalina? How many other lives will she destroy? Do you think she will stop at just you? What if others in the future could be saved from her dangerous hands? Do you still think you can’t do it?”

“My Lord, given the situation you describe. To kill someone helpless like that? Catalina or not… it would amount to murder. I’m sorry my Lord, but I don’t think I could commit murder,” Servia said shaking her head.

Vask shook his own head in deep disappointment. “My dear girl. That’s why you will never be a truly powerful wizard. You will always be the servant of someone else, a slave!”

“Why!? Because I won’t commit murder?” She exclaimed. She did not like this conversation. She had a conscience like anyone else. Why was it so wrong? She could not commit murder. She knew she did not have it in her. It was not right to commit such an act! She thought.

Even against someone who is truly evil? A voice in the back of her mind whispered to her. She told the soft voice to shut up!

“No,” Vask explained. “You’ll never be truly powerful because you’re too afraid to seize control of your own destiny. The truly powerful take control of fortune. The weak let fortune control them. If you don’t control your own destiny than the Catalina’s of the world will continue to hold you down!”

Servia shivered inside. She refused to believe he was right. Committing murder could not be the true path to power. She thought he might be insane. Damn the Gods! I’m pledged to an insane wizard!

But if he is right? That little voice nagged at her again. There was a small part of her deep down inside that really liked the idea of killing Catalina Lyons. What if the true path to being powerful is always blocked by those who want to take it away? The voice questioned.

No, she thought. Defending yourself is one thing. Killing in cold blood was something completely different. It took you down a dark path. A path Servia would rather not explore.

“I don’t want to be a murderer!” Servia protested.

“Do you dream of becoming a Grand Master wizard? Do you know how hard it is to obtain a position like mine?” Vask continued with his horrible gut-wrenching questions. “I can see it within you. You have great potential to be one. Do you know that?”

“I do?” Servia questioned. She had always dreamed about growing up to be a wizard. Maybe a Grand Master one day? To have a seat on the Wizard Council would fulfill even her wildest fantasies. She felt that dream had died when she was convicted. Now Vask was making it sound like that was still a possibility.

“Of course, you wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t think that was possible. But only the strongest survive to live as long as I have. There are many others who also want to be a Grand Masters, Catalina perhaps? These people will stop at nothing to gain power over you. You can’t let them, understand? You have to start seeing things my way if you ever want your chance to fulfill your dreams!”

“You have given me much to think about, my Lord,” Servia replied meekly. Indeed, in the back of her mind, the evil little voice was already mulling it over. You would never be a slave again if you listened to Vask, the voice said soothingly to her. It purred like a kitten and wrapped itself around her own thought.

“You have much to learn yet, my child and I don’t have much time to train. But you will learn many things that aren’t taught in your so-called school! There are many things that you can only learn by apprenticing under a real Grand Master. So, what have you learn in school? What branches were you taught?”

“Ah, the eight branches of magic,” She replied as she went over them in her head. She was sure there were two more that were not taught at her school, but at others. As she understood it, they were dark magic, dangerous to use and in some cases illegal if caught.

“You realize there are eleven in total?”

“Eleven!?”

“Yes, my child. You have learned only what they are willing to teach you. Only what they want you to know,” Vask said. He thought about it. “Now let’s see, you must have learned mind, illusion, creation and enchantment.”

“Those are the basics. I learned them earlier on,” Servia said eagerly.

“Ah yes, then it got more advanced, didn’t it?” He questioned. “They must have taught you healing, communications, potions and fortune-telling next?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Ah, but there’s much more! You must have known that they weren’t teaching you everything,” Vask said.

“Ah, well… that became obvious when we teleported,” Servia told him.

“There are three branches not taught at your school, but one of them is taught at the Military Wizard Tower.”

“You mean destruction,” Servia said. It was of the two branches of dark magic that much she knew. It use was restricted and mostly used in controlled circumstances like war and combat.

“But there are two others. One you experienced already. Master the space-time branch and you master teleportation. The other branch is necromancy,” Vask said casually.

Servia gasped when he mentioned it. Necromancy was truly dark magic. It was illegal for anyone to use it. A wizard could do time in the Pacilla for even speaking to the dead. To raise the dead!? They would send a wizard to the guillotine for such a crime!

“Will I have to learn necromancy?” She asked frightened by the prospect. She got out of going to the Pacilla once before. She did not want to risk going back there again.

“I haven’t decided yet… You probably don’t need it, but it’s very powerful magic if you wish to learn it someday… I can teach you…”

“No thanks, I have already had one run-in with the law, I don’t need another one!” She exclaimed.

Again, that voice was at it again telling her how powerful she could be. You could make Valerio like you again? The voice suggested.

Shut up! Her conscience replied.

Vask sighed in frustration. “You have to lose this timid attitude of yours. As I have already told you, it will only hold you back from mastering both yourself and others. You are starting to disappoint me Servia…”

“You have five minutes until dinner is served my Lord!” Bellowed the housekeeper, Millie, from downstairs. She added. “We eat with or without you!”

“We’ll be right down, momentarily!” Vask yelled back down the stairs at her. Then he spoke to Servia again. “Apparently, it’s dinner time!”

Servia nodded.

“There is one more thing I wanted to discuss, but we have some time to think about it,” Vask said. “We need to give you a new identity, a new name. You’re too well known right now. People can’t know who you really are once you start working for me. Right now, this is all a secret, nobody aside from the Wizard Council knows that you are under my care. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you’re in the Pacilla right now.”

“I understand my Lord,” Servia said. She liked her name and really did not want to give it up, but Vask had a point. She would have much more freedom to move around in the world if she had a new name. She really liked the idea of having a fresh start in life.

“We don’t need to decide that now, but I want you to think about it. Come up with a name that’s appealing to you and then we’ll create a new background for you,” Vask said. “Now I guess we should eat before the food gets cold!”

The two of them went downstairs, past the common room to another room on the opposite side of the kitchen. It was the formal dining room. There was a large rough oak table that could have sat eight people, but there were only five of them dining that evening.

Millie brought all of the food out and placed it in the center of the table before taking a seat herself. Armiger was already sitting at the table, a history book in his hand. He read absently as everyone took their seats. Servia noted that this flew in the face of what Vask had previously told her about Armiger. Could he be showing off for her? The thought made her blush. She hoped no one noticed it.

“Hot in here, isn’t it love!” Millie said taking Servia by the hand and guiding her to a chair.

“Ah… well, yes! It certainly is!” Servia fumbled.

“Summers are hot around here! That’s why the Imperial family goes to the Verant City for the summer. It’s a bit milder there,” Millie said making conversation. Everyone else seemed to ignore her babbling. “You must be sweltering in those heavy robes! I shall have to find you some light garments to wear if you’re going to spend the summer here.”

“Ah, thank you Millie. It would be appreciated,” It was a bit of a lie. Servia did not think that Millie could find anything that would suit her tastes.

Servia assumed the fifth person in the room must be Valance. He was very tall, almost six and a half feet and lean. He was a good ten years older than Servia and his face was long and gaunt. He was clean shaven and dressed in very expensive and stylish black robes, light and airy, designed for the summer. What she really felt she needed were robes like those.

“My Lord Vask, how are you this evening?” The man’s voice sound stiff and formal. He looked very serious and did not smile once during the conversation. In fact, he did not even look at Vask when he talked to him. He was busy setting some plates on the table for Millie.

“Excellent,” Vask beamed at him. “Valance, I would like you to meet my new student, Servia De Gallio.”

“I assumed we were having a formal dinner for a reason,” He replied before he took his place at the table. He finally looked up at Servia who was seated next to Vask and across from Valance. His eyes were dark and bore deep into her as if she were an insect he was examining.

“It’s a pleasure to…” she started, but only got that far before he cut her off.

“So, you’re the infamous Servia De Gallio,” Valance said.

He did not appear to be the friendly sort, Servia thought. He was cold and distance.

Servia blushed again. The heat was making her sweat. She tried to fan herself with her hand. This reputation she had did not suit her. It was unfair. Everywhere she went people were judging her based on something she had not done. Everyone knew who she was, yet she did not have the advantage of know them as well. It put her at a serious disadvantage in social situations such as this one.

“You don’t look as dangerous as I thought you might,” Valance peered down his long nose at her.

“I assure you, I’m not!” Servia said bitterly. She had an instance dislike for Valance. He seemed to be above everyone else, the way he looked down at everyone.

“That’s a real shame,” Valance said seriously. He gave Vask a glance like he had better know what he is doing.

Vask scowled back at him annoyed, but said nothing.

Valance stared down Servia again, until she was forced to look away in embarrassment. “Our Lord Vask has gone to great trouble to save you from the fate that awaited you. You had better be worth it!”

Armiger did not seem interested in the conversation. He quickly filled his place with food and dug in while everyone else was talking. Once in a while, he would glance up and look around to see if he missed anything important.

Servia had not realized just how hungry she had become. The food in the prison was terrible. She had eaten very little in the last week.

“By the Gods, I am starving!” She proclaimed filling her plate with a bit of everything. The food was very good home cooking. She meant to compliment Millie on the feast, but instead Armiger spoke up finally.

“Oh, you know what its like to be starving, do you?” Armiger suddenly inquired. His eyes were burning into her. He did not look pleased.

Servia looked around. She could see Valance shaking his head disgusted by Armiger’s comment. Vask was smiling broadly while he ate.

“Sorry?” Servia said. She was tired of being pushed around. She decided to push back a bit. It was the voice in her mind again telling her to be more aggressive.

“They don’t feed you at the Wizard Tower? They don’t have cooks and kitchens?” He questioned, but his voice had a mean edge to it.

“Of course, they do!” Servia said unflinchingly.

“Your little middle-class family, they never feed you properly?” Armiger asked. The anger in his voice was growing. He spoke in a louder bolder tone.

Servia did not want to play games. She just wanted to eat in peace. She had been pushed too far already. “It was just an expression Armiger. If you’re offended, then I…”

“You don’t know what it means to be starving,” Armiger leveled angrily. “So don’t tell me that it’s just an expression!”

“Don’t you start this again Armiger,” Valance said in a cold threatening voice.

“Stay out of this Valance. Let me explain what it means to be starving, so the young Lady here may understand better,” Armiger told him.

Servia looked around nervously. Vask had a blank look on his face and did not really seem to be paying attention to anything more than his dinner. Millie was the same way, staring at her plate and ignoring Armiger completely.

Valance was the only one who seemed really annoyed with what Armiger was saying. Like they had been over this subject before and it was getting tiresome.

“Have you grown up on the streets of Devonport!?” Armiger questioned. “Do you know what it’s like to watch your mother prostitute herself, just so you could eat? I mean of course, when the coin wasn’t feeding her own opium addiction!”

“I’m sorry!” Servia said picking at her food. She would not look at him, it was too embarrassing.

“Yes, I guess you are. Don’t speak of starving at this table again because you don’t understand it!”

“Permission to silence him?” Valance asked Vask.

Vask nodded.

It happened so fast that Servia did not even have time to see what was going on. In an instant, Valance had his wand in his hand and with a simple incantation he cast a spell on Armiger that silenced him completely. He kept trying to talk, but no sound would come from his mouth. He waved his hands a round and gave Valance a few rude gestures while he was at it. Finally, he grabbed his plate of food and stormed out of the room.

Valance pulled out his pocket watch and check the time. “I would say that we have about a half an hour before the spell wears off! Let’s eat in peace.”

3

The rest of the meal passed in relative silence. Once in a while, Millie would make an odd comment about the meal or the running of the household, but for the most part she was ignored.

When the meal was near the end, Vask asked Valance how his trip to Palantine went.

“Very well, my Lord,” Valance replied.

“You got all of the supplies?” Vask questioned.

“Of course!” Valance said. “Oh, there was one other thing though. I went to the city central square and I found something you should see.”

Valance reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment. “I found this press release that was being announced today by the orator. You need to read it. It’s about her!” Valance pointed to Servia with one hand while handing Vask the document with the other.

“Me!” Servia said surprised. “Why would I be in a broadside?”

“Foolish girl, two students were killed and you’re supposed to be in the Pacilla right now,” Valance smirked. “You think the real world doesn’t notice these things.”

“This isn’t right. No one is supposed to know this! Why didn’t you tell this me sooner!” Vask said becoming enraged as he read further into the document.

“I didn’t want to ruin dinner. I figured Armiger would do that well enough on his own,” Valance replied coolly.

“This is bullshit!” Vask got up from the table and began pacing the room. “Someone from the Wizard Council has said something to a printer and it ends up on a broadside! I want to find out who!”

“My Lord, who would dare to defy you like that?” Valance questioned.

“It’s Decimus! That rat bastard! I’m sure of it! He tried to challenge me outside the tower today, but he’s too cowardly to duel with me, so he talked to the press instead!” Vask reasoned.

“How do you know for sure, my Lord? You have any number of enemies who could have done this,” Valance was quick to point out.

“You’re right,” Vask said cooling off a bit. “I won’t rest until I know for sure. Valance, I want you to find the printer of this document and bring him to me. I want to know who gave him this story.”

“Understood, my lord!” Valance said. He got up from the table and took his dishes to the kitchen. Millie followed quickly behind him.

In frustration, Vask crumpled the paper and tossed it onto the table and left the room.

Servia was left sitting alone at the table. After a few moments, when she was sure no one was coming back, she reached out for the document. She smoothed in out and began to read it. It was a typical news printing often found in city squares where an orator would read them aloud.

Servia felt sick seeing her name in print. The story was about how she was released from prison and put into the care of an unnamed powerful wizard. Everyone would know it was Vask Fillius even though he was never actually named in the article.

Servia found that she was shaking by the time she had read the whole story. Vask was right, she would need a whole new identity, but luckily, they were hundreds of miles away from anyone who could recognize her. She started going over new names in her head hoping to find one she could live with.