Dawn of Dusk

Marshak remained in the safe room. Safe rooms were where a magician could go and practice new spells, create new spells and not have to worry that someone could investigate or copy their new information. These rooms had the most powerful wards on the inner walls and ceilings and also the outer walls and ceilings.

He had just created his forty-fifth new spell since becoming a magician. He learned so much in the water that he began seeing how several spells could be woven together. By taking part of two or three spells, he could create a new spell that would do something altogether new. This surprised the longtime mages, wizards, and sorcerers, even more, because it took a long time for most magicians to understand the spells they were casting.

Much of spell casting involves incantations while tracing magical runes into the air or onto paper. Breaking the incantations and runes down into their basic structures and then reconstructing them in another form takes the greatest knowledge of the most basic structures of magic. No one in the tower knew of any master magician that was teaching magic theory. Most of them teach specific spells that are learned by rote and then by copied into the Grimoire (spell book) of the new apprentice.

If they created a spell enough times and also created other spells that use similar incantations and runes, would enable the user to figure out what the rune and the incantation meant. Once that became known, the magician could use that rune, along with the incantation in another spell. An example would be that there is a spell that causes invisibility; there is another spell that can be used to create a door. By learning the parts and the different chants and motions, someone could create an invisible door, or an invisible door latch for the door.

Since he had a perfect knowledge of magic, it was easy for him to create new spells. Each of these spells could be registered with the guild, and magicians could purchase the right to use the spells. If a master wanted the right to teach a spell, he had to pay an additional fee for the ownership rights to a spell. After a generation or so, the spell would be such common knowledge, that it belonged to all magicians who knew it.

Now the most potent spells would not be registered with the guild, they would be held as close secrets by the creator. Often these spells were kept until the end of a magician’s or sorcerer’s life and often follow him or her to the grave. The Remembering often would save many spells and research into new spells that a magician had going at the end of his or her life, but no one could compel someone to submit to the Remembering. It was voluntary or it wasn’t used.

Marshak had been visited by both Koripak and Thorak although Thorak’s visits had been much shorter; he had been able to do much for Marshak. A future king wanted to meet him because Thorak had recommended him as a court sorcerer. He could only assume that it would be Borrial, Crown Prince of Artermador.

From what he had heard, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be court sorcerer for that man. It didn’t matter if he was to be king.

He had asked Toverak to become his wife and she had accepted. It was unusual for two magicians to marry but not unheard of. Usually professional jealousy caused contention between them but since both Marshak and Toverak knew everything about magic, and except for the fact that Marshak knew Elven magic and Toverak didn’t they were exactly equal, so jealousy was unlikely for them.

They had been married now for a few weeks and Thorak was expected next week to introduce him to the prince. They were all gone now to a funeral in Fulsimter.

There was a knock on his door. He got up and found Toverak smiling at him.

“Come on silly, we need to eat. It is dinner time and you haven’t eaten anything since dinner last night.”

She gave the lock of hair over his forehead a playful tug and he pretended to follow obediently like a puppy.

“Here I am married only a few weeks and already she leads me around like a dog,” He laughed.

“You only wish you had a dog’s life. A dog’s life will look great compared to the life you’ll live with me.”

“Right, life with you is the closest thing to torture that I ever want to know.”

They both laughed and went into the dining area. They got their food and went into the common area to eat.

Vientak was sitting at the only table that had two empty seats. Toverak was not crazy about sitting with her.

“Why don’t we eat in our room,” Toverak suggested, “I don’t like her.”

“Oh, she is all right, I wouldn’t trust her with my life any farther than I could see her though.”

“You know something about her that you aren’t letting on, don’t you?”

“Let’s go sit down and you will find out.”

They walked over to the table.

“Do you mind if we sit here?” Toverak asked.

“Not one of you, But, I suppose if I am to get to sit near your handsome husband, I have to put up with you too for now.”

Toverak bristled. “Just what exactly is that supposed to mean.”

“Well I suppose it means that I don’t like you and would rather not have you around. On the other hand I very much enjoy Marshak’s company. I like his company so much so that I went to his room the night before the test.”

“Yes, you did. As I remember I turned you away. You then went to Ricaral’s room. The next morning, his magical powers were burned out.

It has always seemed to me that there must be a connection between the two events.”

For just a second, Vientak looked afraid, and then she regained her composure.

“Obviously no one else shares your concern. If something dubious had taken place, an investigation would have been conducted, but you have nothing except your suspicions.”

“On the other hand,” Vientak said, “it obviously is true or you wouldn’t have shown the moment of concern. Let me guess, somewhere along the line, you learned the remembering; you then use your rather base charms to talk some young man into using it for you. You then use it to strip away their knowledge of magic, and then use a restore spell to restore most of their memory all but the fact that you were there with them and what happened while you were there.”

“That is ridiculous, the most ludicrous theory I have ever heard. If you try to tell that story to the guild officials, they would laugh you out of Karrondor.”

“Maybe so, but I wonder the other time you tried out for guild membership, if a similar situation happened. That would be easy enough to find out now wouldn’t it?”

Vientak rose to leave, “I’m sorry to have to leave so soon, however, I have many things to do, and I can certainly say I can find better female company that what I have at present.”

Toverak met that jibe with silence, but, after Vientak left, she said to Marshak, “She certainly has you targeted, I don’t understand why, but she is a very dangerous woman. I am not jealous, but I would recommend you stay as far from her as you can.”

“Don’t worry; something from the very start has bothered me about her. The more I get to know her, the less I like her. Oh by the way I spoke with Ferthak today, and he indicated since we were married we could both be taken on as a team as a court sorcerer, but if we got into marital difficulties that neither of us could continue in the position.”

“Well I guess that means that we had better get along with each other, or end our happy time now so I can get on with my career,” Toverak laughed.

“Yeah right!” he said smiling. “There is only one thing that bothers me. From what I know of Borrial, I am sure that I do not want to be his court sorcerer.”

“Neither do I; in fact I told that to Thorak. He promised me that we could not be compelled to fulfill the position if we chose not to do so. He asked me to keep an open mind, and said that we might both be pleasantly surprised.”

“Well he has always been honest with me so far, so I suppose I can accept that from him for now.”

“Well I feel refreshed now that I have eaten, why don’t we turn in now.”

“You’re incorrigible, but I love you, come on.”