William Calhoun and the Black Feather. Book I

William was sleeping, curled behind a witch statue in the far corner of the Portrait Hall. He was dreaming that Quincy von Bulberg had sneaked into his house at night and killed him, William, in cold blood, after whispering ‘Metero Mori’ and waving his feather slightly. He could hear his family shouting in the distance:

“Let me in… How dare you!...”

The voices sounded so vivid and realistic that William started listening in. And they kept going in his head:

“You can’t go in there!” a strict male voice was saying.

The same female voice objected hotly:

“A murder has been committed in there! He is dead, but this does not mean that my word has no significance around here anymore!”…

The male voice replied:

“I’m very sorry, but nobody is allowed inside!”

The female voice started shouting:

“Who are you to forbid me to enter?!”

The voices were growing louder and they woke William up completely. They were actually coming from the corridor, right behind the door of the Portrait Hall. To his dismay, he instantly recognized Frau Bertha’s voice. This made him jump up instantly and hurry over to El to wake him up.

“El, come on! Wake up! People are coming!” But El wouldn’t budge, then he had to slightly kick him, making him jump up wildly.

“Will, what’s going on? Are you out of your mind?!” he grunted, not knowing what was going on.

“We need to hide somewhere! There’s Frau Bertha behind those doors and she’s trying to get in! She’s currently being held back by the guards left by your father!”

“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

“I tried, but you weren’t reacting!”

“We’ve got little time! Where can we hide?!”

William quickly looked around the room, found three sculptures standing close to each other and pointed them out to El.

“Let’s hide behind three wizards!”

They dashed towards the sculptures, and on the way El stumbled over a tall pedestal with a vase, making William frown. The vase swayed, but, to their surprise, instead of falling on the floor and shuttering, it tilted slightly with a thud, then they heard familiar creaking a few steps away from them. They turned around at once and saw that instead of a wall with a large portrait there was an entrance to a rather bright room.

“That’s the secret door!” William said. “Come on, El!”

Without a moment’s thinking, they ran inside and, once in, started pushing the door. Pressing his cheek to the door and pushing it with all his might together with William, El saw from the corner of his eye the life-saving vase slowly returning to its upright position as the door was closing. In less than ten seconds, they managed to shut the door tight. And just in time, because at that very moment, the handle of another door leading to the Portrait Hall started turning, and the next moment, Frau Bertha entered the hall accompanied by someone.

“Oh no…” El grunted nervously pressing his back to the door and leaning against it in exhaustion, “we’re locked again!” He looked around the room they were in. “And this time in the dead man’s study!”

“Well, it’s better than the room where he’s become a dead man,” William said over his shoulder, as he stood with his ear against the door, trying to hear what they were talking about in the Portrait Hall.

“I’ve stumbled over that toad vase just in time!”

“It’s easy to hear what they’re talking about in there, El!”

“Is it?” He turned back to the door. “Let’s hear what that nasty frau is talking about.” He pressed his ear to the door.

And indeed, every word said in the Portrait Hall could be clearly heard near the door in von Bulberg’s study. They recognized Frau Bertha’s voice:

“The body was found right here, Albrecht! Your task, as Baron von Bulberg’s mailmage, to inform the media and his daughter Freiin Ditriche as soon as possible!”

“Mein armer Master!”* came distressed voice of Quincy von Bulberg’s mailmage. A moment later he asked in a busy-like manner: “Will not the journalists run into enrolees in the castle? Will not this cause panic among the children?”

“They have left the castle in the morning and they are heading to London at the moment! We have a lot to do, Albrecht! Let us not waste any more time!” Frau Bertha replied, then there came the sound of her steps as she walked away and it was impossible to make out what they were saying anymore.

“Logic tells me we’re screwed,” El said with quiet panic in his voice, but a moment later, quiet panic turned into hysteria. “Why didn’t my silly head realize that the Six O’Clocker leaves at six in the morning, not at six in the evening?”

“Yes, looks like we’re in a real mess, El,” William was feeling pretty downhearted after learning that they’d have to find a way to return back to London on their own.

“Real mess? It’s greater than Germany itself!” El cried out. “How are we going to get out of here? By what? When? We’re in Germany, at the castle of the president of the International Federation of Wizards, who was actually killed right before our eyes, and now we’re hiding in his study, where we’re locked! And if we consider the fact that nobody even has a clue about this study, we can assume that nobody will try to get us out of here, and sooner or later we’ll inevitably kick our feathers from hunger, thirst, old age, and…”

“El! El! El! Stop!” William interrupted pessimistic predictions of his friend. “We won’t help ourselves by panicking right now, it’s difficult enough without it, so let’s try to figure out how to get out of here!”

“Get out? We’re locked in here, Will! L-O-C-K-E-D! Do you hear me? Locked!”

“I can hear you! Calm down,” William did his best not to panic and asked after a while: “So, we can’t peregrine back to London with the help of our feathermaps if you’re so distraught?”

“Of course we can’t! We can peregrine back home with their help only after we peregrine from there at least once. Feathermaps memorize all places of departure and arrival, and our feathermaps are empty so far, there aren’t visible addresses in them. Even if there had been, we couldn’t have peregrined from here, anyway!”

“Why is that?”

“Wake up, Will! We’re not at an innkeeper’s party! We’re at the castle of the president of the International Federation of Wizards, nobody can peregrine out of here or in here!”

“But the rectors peregrined here somehow, El!” William didn’t want to give up.

“I know how! They had an invitation. It’s possible to peregrine to places like Alpurg only if you have an invitation. And we’re here because of a different occasion. As for Augustus, he peregrined with the help of a featherture! So, as you can see, peregrining in Germany isn’t our forte, mate!” El lowered his head.

“I just find it hard to believe that wizards can find themselves in a hopeless situation. There’s always hope, El. We only need to think and then…”

“Will, buddy! Of course, I understand that you’ve been with us for a very short time,” El interrupted him, “but try to understand that the fact that we’re wizards doesn’t make us omnipotent and that we don’t meet any dead ends. The best example is the situation we’re in right now! In other words, it’s a dead end!”

“But still, let’s looks around here first, maybe we’ll find something useful,” William suggested in a sadder voice and they started examining the study together.

The study of Quincy von Bulberg wasn’t filled with any unusual objects. There was a large desk in the middle of the study. There was a high chair with a comfortable seat and high arms beside it. It was clear that this study wasn’t meant for receiving visitors, it was a place of solitude. There was a large window on the right, daylight streaming through it and illuminating the whole room. El came up to the window and said in a doomed voice:

“We’re dead, buddy!” he said. “We’re not in a much better situation than von Bulberg in that department.”

“It’s not the best time for jokes, El!” William started to get angry with him. “We can jump out of the window any time, you know! And at the moment our desperation isn’t that great, so let’s continue looking for another way out!”

“Yes, of course, as you say, buddy…” El replied in a distant kind of voice. “But I really think you should look out of the window…”

William did so, but the moment he looked out, he felt emptiness in his stomach. Beyond the window, he could only see the mountain abyss and he also saw that the study was situated right over the cliff edge going right into that abyss. He and El couldn’t even see its bottom, even in the daylight.

Falling into utter despair, he turned around and started pacing the study nervously, hoping to find a secret object that he could move and open the door that had led them in here. He examined every item in the room. He eyed the walls, then the floor. Trying to find something that could serve as an ideal lever that would activate the door mechanism, he looked around again. And then it dawned at him! He glanced at the fireplace, which was near von Bulberg’s chair, then ran up to it and exclaimed happily.

“El! We’re saved! There’s a fireplace in here! We’re saved! See, I’ve told you there’s always hope!”

El, who was still standing silently and staring at the abyss beyond the window, looked around and saw William trying to find something in the fireplace.

“What are you talking about? And what are you doing?”

“The fireplace, El! Think! I’m trying to find matches to light it!”

”What will the fire in the fireplace give us?” El still looked puzzled. “Have you decided to keep warm before you die?”

“No, El! We’ll send a letter to Nymus, and he’ll come to take us back to London!” Then he lowered his eyes and asked: “He can do that, can’t he?”

“Nymus, Nymus, Nymus…” El muttered, as if trying to recall whom Will was talking about, but in a moment, his eyes slowly rounded and he brightened up immediately. “Your mailmage! Will, buddy! You’re a genius! A genius!” He shouted across the study. “Of course he can! He’s a mailmage! Now step aside, I can lit the fire myself!” He took out his magic feather and ran up to the fireplace. “And you should find a piece of paper and write the name of your mailmage on it!”

He directed the feather at the wood in the fireplace and whispered ‘Parvus Ignisis’. There were several sparks in the fireplace, then a small fire appeared. So small, it could be easily blown out by the faintest breeze. “Hurry, Will, before it goes out!”

Seeing that his idea was a success, William ran to the table, but almost immediately, he noticed to his dismay that apart from a large lamp, a few books, feathers for writing and some document, there wasn’t anything else. He tried searching in the drawers, but the next moment he found, to even more dismay, that there wasn’t even a trace of paper in there. Then, without wasting any more time on thinking, he grabbed the document, mentally justifying it by the fact that von Bulberg wouldn’t need it anymore, grabbed a writing feather from the table, and quickly wrote Nymus’s name on the back side of the document, after which he ran back to El and handed him the paper. El grabbed it and was already going to throw it into the fireplace when he froze, unable to tear his eyes from the paper. Seeing his hesitation, William urged him:

“Come on, El! The fire is too weak and it can go out any moment!”

“It’s a letter, Will!”

“I know, but what can I do, there weren’t any other papers on his…”

“It was written by von Bulberg’s murderer,” El interrupted him.

William froze for a moment in surprise and then El continued without tearing his eyes from the letter:

“It says about the meeting.”

“Do you think that Augustus sent it?”

“Who else? The old man read it and ran outside.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Otherwise he wouldn’t have left it on the table without even hiding it.”

“Yes, you’re right,” William agreed with his friend after giving it a bit of thinking. “Well, read it.”

“It says:

’And the Dead Duke will be born anew

With the Offspring of the Proud blood true’

The hour has come. Tonight, at midnight, by the portrait.

C.W.B.”

“C.W.B.?” William asked. “What is C.W.B.?!”

“I’ve no idea. That’s what it says,” El pointed at the letter and handed it to William. “Here, read it yourself.”

William took the letter, re-read it and asked in puzzlement:

“Duke, Offspring… does it ring a bell?” he gave his friend a meaningful look.

“You mean it’s somehow connected to Bardalf and his friend?” El frowned.

“Well, they spoke a lot of similar words! Alright, let’s call Nymus, we’ll have time to think about it!”

“And the letter? Are we just going to burn it?”

“If we want to get out we will!”

After that, without any further thinking, he brought the paper close to the fire and one of the corners caught fire at once. The next moment the letter suddenly flared up with dark green flame and disappeared without a trace in his hand. Then the study of late Quincy von Bulberg was filled with the sound of ‘crumpled paper’, already very familiar to William.

“Nymus!” he cried out happily.

“Good Mail, Master Calhoun!” Nymus’s voice was as cheerful as ever. “I was going to meet you at the Cabstation!”

When he saw El, he gave William a questioning look.

“This is El! We met on the day of arrival!”

Nymus bowed to El politely and said:

“I am a mailmage from the Nymus House, proud to serve the Calhoun House! I am glad to meet the friends of my master!”

“Hi!” El greeted him cheerfully. “Pleased to meet you, too, Nymus! Will you help us get back to London?”

Only then did Nymus pay attention to the interior of the study, he looked around and inquired:

“Where are we?”

“In von Bulberg’s study,” William informed him calmly.

This name almost made Nymus faint.

“Envelope Seal!” he cried out. “In the study of the president of the International Federation of Wizards Quincy von Bulberg himself?!”

“Yes,” El replied shortly. “We really want to get our feathers out of here.”

“But how did you get here?” Nymus was still confused.

“It’s a long story, Nymus,” William waved him off. “We’ll explain everything on the way. You can get us back to London, can’t you?”

“I can. But not with the help of peregrining. It is impossible to do it from here,” the mailmage gave a nervous look around the room as he was saying that.

“Why?!” William and El asked at the same time.

“Do you want to peregrine from the castle of the president of the International Federation of Wizards?”

“The dead president,” El noted.

“Holy Envelopes! Is it really true?!”

“Haven’t you heard?” William gave him a surprised look. “We thought everyone knew about it already.”

“But how did it happen?” At the moment Nymus looked as if he’d slept for half a century and missed all important events in the world.

“Not now, Nymus! We’ll tell you everything on the way! Now we need to get out of here,” William urged him. “And why can’t we peregrine together with you?”

“Because I cannot peregrine you from here no matter how much I want it,” Nymus waved his large hands, “those are the rules. I will not be able to peregrine together with you, because only mailmages can peregrine in and out of here. And wizards are denied entry and exit by magic spells.”

“What do we do now?” El asked, falling into despair again.

“Wait here for me! I’ll go get the transport and return to pick you up.”

“Well, alright. When will you come back, Nymus?” William asked.

“In a couple of minutes, no more, Master Calhoun.” He was going to peregrine, when he suddenly remembered: “Oh, and open the window in a minute and leave it like that.” The moment Nymus had finished his sentence, he peregrined noisily.

When they were left alone in von Bulberg’s study, William suddenly asked:

“Listen, El, what is this Pardalsus Dance Fafner was talking about?”

“Not Pardalsus, Paradalsus!” El corrected him. “Paradalsus Dance is a feather duel to death between two wizards.”

“Why do you think he said the dead were dancing?” Now, when the matter of them being locked up in von Bulberg’s study was going to be soon resolved thanks to Nymus, William started pacing the room trying to connect the letter that they had found on von Bulberg’s table with the events of the last night.

“I honestly have no idea! Perhaps, someone they have considered dead has returned…” El suggested.

Their conversation was interrupted by steps behind the wall. Those were followed by voices from the Portrait Hall. William and El exchanged glances and pressed their ears to the wall again. As it turned out, Frau Bertha and von Bulberg’s mailmage Albrecht had returned.

“Do you also think there is someone inside, Albrecht? I have clearly heard some noise!” Frau Bertha’s voice with her German accent became even more unbearable when she was nervous.

“Yes, Frau Bertha!” Albrecht’s rough voice replied. “It was a mailmage, I swear I have heard mailmage peregrining! You cannot confuse this sound with anything else! And it came from here, from the Portrait Hall.”

“But nobody can peregrine here, Albrecht, you should be aware of that!”

“Mailmages are never wrong, Frau Bertha! We can peregrine anywhere if summoned,” Albrecht replied.

“But there is nobody in here! Which means you are wrong. But do not get upset, I do not blame you, you have just lost your master and in this condition your instincts can misguide you. I can also barely…”

Suddenly Frau Bertha’s voice broke off and there was complete silence in the Portrait Hall. Not a single sound was coming from behind the wall. After a minute or so, the two friends stepped away from the secret door.

“They’ve left. It’s time to open the window for Nymus!” El reminded. “Help me, I can’t do it alone, Will, the window is shut too tight.”

William joined him at once and soon, after several joined attempts, it became clear that opening the window in von Bulberg’s study wasn’t an easy task.

“Pull harder, El!”

“I’m pulling as hard as I can, Will! But this thing won’t give in!”

Finally, when they grabbed the metal handles tighter and pulled at them with all their might, the window opened very loudly, revealing a more realistic view of the snowy abyss under the window. They could instantly feel mountain air on their faces. They examined their surroundings, hoping to spot Nymus. But, when they found nobody beyond the widow, they decided to return to the secret door to make sure that the noise from the opening window hadn’t attracted any unwanted attention. Before the boys could make even one step, the room shook from a loud thud on the wall. As it became clear soon, somebody was trying to open the secret door from the outside.

“Frau Bertha!” they heard loud voice of Albrecht the mailmage. “Frau Bertha! There is someone inside, in the study!”

The two friends realized that all this time the mailmage and Frau Bertha had been standing in the Portrait Hall, listening to the sounds from behind the wall.

“What study are you talking about, mailmage?” Frau Bertha cried out.

“Master von Bulberg has a study adjacent to the Portrait Hall. I have often been there when summoned!”

“Let us peregrine in there! What are we waiting for?” shouted Frau Bertha.

“I can only peregrine in there when the master summons me!”

“Come, quick!” Frau Bertha’s voice said again and then there were steps leaving the Portrait Hall.

The two friends, who were standing still and who had heard every word, exchanged glances nervously.

“We came here through a secret door, Will!” El realized. “And a secret door means that there’s a NOT secret door nearby! Which in its turn means that…”

“At the moment Bertha is heading there to get in here through a normal door!” William quickly finished for him. “But where is it? We haven’t seen any other door.”

After examining the walls of the study, they did find a plain narrow door, which they hadn’t noticed before. Instantly reacting, William grabbed one of the chairs and blocked the door handle with it. El followed his example, taking the second chair and doing the same thing. Then, after making sure that the chairs were securely blocking the long handle, they stepped away from the door and froze in place, expecting the worse.

“Well, where’s your mailmage, Will?!” El nervously asked a few moments later.

“How should I know? He said he’d be back in a few minutes. Not much time has passed since his peregrining!”

“What’s with this stupid ban on peregrining!” El blurted out. “My Wizards, at moments like this I always feel sorry I haven’t been born a mailmage! Oh, fine! I’ll try not to die of old age before you mailmage returns! Or, which is worse, before Frau Nastiness bursts in here!”

“We don’t have anywhere to go, El!” William ran to the window to check for Nymus, but then somebody from the outside started turning the door handle and they heard the voices of Frau Bertha and mailmage Albrecht again, but this time they were coming from behind another door.

“The door is locked! Someone has locked it from the inside!” And she started banging on the door. “Who is in the study?! Open up immediately or I will have to open it with force!”

For a moment, the two friends froze not to reveal themselves, then turned to the window, hoping for the best. William hadn’t noticed right away that there was a dot in the sky that was swiftly approaching them. So swiftly that a moment later this dot turned into Nymus, who was flying towards them at great speed.

“El, it’s Nymus!” he whispered, pointing at the mailmage, who was approaching them.

Nymus was approaching very fast and with every moment it became clearer that he was flying on a weird thing, which looked either like a barrel or a very tall bucket.

“He must be kidding me!” El said after seeing what the mailmage was flying on.

“And we’re going to get back to London on this thing?!” William couldn’t believe his eyes, seeing what the mailmage was going to use to get them away from here. “It seems easier to just jump out of the window!” he added sceptically.

Meanwhile, Frau Bertha’s voice behind the door was growing louder.

“Oh well! You leave me no choice! Adaperio!” she shouted and one of the chairs flew towards William and El, luckily without hitting either of them.

“Heeey! Master Calhoun, jump in,” Nymus flew up to the window and opened the doors of his unusual flying vehicle, then stepped slightly back to make way for them.

“Come on, Will, get in!” El gave Will a leg, he climbed onto the high window frame, took a deep breath and stepped into that weird vehicle with fear.

He made and unsure step, slipped and nearly fell into the snowy abyss spread underneath. But Nymus reacted instantly, grabbed him and pulled him in! Once inside, William reached out his hand to El, who grabbed it, jumped onto the window frame and climbed into Nymus’s flying vehicle. And where El’s foot had just been, the second chair was already landing.

“Go!” El shouted to Nymus.

Nymus instantly pulled something sticking out from the body of his vehicle and it soared up into the air, then it lay on course and accelerated.

“Just in time!” William cried out, holding onto the sides of the vehicle. “It’s been a close call, but we’ve made it!”

“Yes! We have!” El cried out happily. “Now this nasty swamp fly will never get to us.” But the next moment, as he glanced down, he added with less joy: “Let’s hope my bravery will make it through this journey!”

“What are we flying on, Nymus?!” William asked, as he was standing in the crazy flying apparatus.

They had to shout each time they wanted to say something.

“It’s a mailcraft, Master Calhoun!” he replied over his shoulder, watching their course closely. “We, mailmages, use it when we need to deliver a large package or to get out of places where peregrining is prohibited! I’ve never thought Alpurg would be such a place!”

William glanced back. In the daylight, Alpurg looked even more menacing than late at night in the fog. William instantly noticed stone dragons perched on top of the numerous tall towers. From four sides Alpurg was surrounded only by the snow abyss and many other snow-covered mountaintops. William turned back to Nymus. It seemed that he had just heard what he had said and raised his brows in surprise.

“A mailcraft?! But it’s just a tall bucket with little doors, Nymus!” He couldn’t believe he was saying that while standing on the bucket itself, which was hurling them across the sky.

“It is a bucket, but not an ordinary one, Master Calhoun!” he replied quickly. “This bucket is even faster than the Six O’Clocker with its famous Blue-Eyed, not mentioning the flying vehicles of demits they are so proud of! This is the broomstick!” He pointed at the long broom behind the mailcraft. “It serves as a steering wheel, allowing to set a certain direction for the mailcraft, so it is easier to maneuverer it!” Nymus shouted. “In the times of my grandfather, mailcrafts did not have a broomstick, they had to hold it in their hands, which created additional inconvenience during the flight. The broomstick could fall out of hands sometimes and then they had to land in an improvised manner.”

“Awesome!” William said in delight, looking down at the blurry shapes of hills, forests, and mountains passing by swiftly.

The mailcraft didn’t seem pitiful and useless to him anymore. He turned back to Alpurg again, wanting to remember it again, to look at the castle from that unusual angle. But to his amazement, instead of the abyss Alpurg was towering over, he could only see tick green forests. And the pleasant breeze brought sea air from somewhere. Though Nymus’s mailcraft seemed more dangerous than the Six O’Clocker, after a couple of minutes in it, William quickly got used to it. He looked over at El. He was very pale, holding tight onto the sides of the mailcraft, stunned and silent.

“What do you think about the flight, buddy?” William shouted, but El wasn’t even able to speak, so Will had to shake him lightly. “Are you alright?”

El hadn’t come back to his senses yet. He was looking down at the landscapes passing by below them and shouted nervously:

“Will, I don’t want to die in this stupid doublet! I don’t want to die in Germany! I don’t want to…”

“Calm down, El! Take a grip on yourself and don’t look down!” William grabbed his shoulder.

Finally, El calmed down a bit.

“I’ve never thought I’ll fly by a mailcraft, to be honest!” he cried in fear. “You’re right, I won’t look down or I’ll throw up!”

“Perhaps, you can tell me what has happened to Quincy von Bulberg?” they heard Nymus’s voice, slightly muffled by wind. The mailmage was standing with his back to them and steering the mailcraft. His right hand was stretched back and he moved the broomstick on the outside from time to time, giving the mailcraft a new direction.

After this question, the two friends decided that it was time to tell the mailmage everything. Besides, El could use a distraction and not look down while they were flying. He and William told Nymus everything about the events at the castle. And Nymus hit the sides of the mailcraft from time to time, to show his indignation.

“What, even Fafner didn’t think about looking for a secret door?!” he shouted in surprise, then pulled at the broomstick suddenly, making a left turn.

“No, he didn’t!” William was trying to hold tight not to fly out of the mailcraft accidentally. “He probably thought, like the rest of them, that von Bulberg had entered the Portrait Hall through the normal door!”

When their story had come to the moment they had found the fireplace, William unwarily told the mailmage how he and El had summoned him. Nymus instantly reacted in a very unexpected way:

“Envelope Seal!” he cried out. “To summon a mailmage by burning a written letter!” Nymus considered everything that had to do with letter to be something sacred, demanding special treatment. “Stealing letters is a very criminal trade, Master Calhoun! Burning letters is a bad sign! It is the same thing as a wizard burning his magic feather!”

“Nymus, Nymus!” William hurried to calm him down. “He had already read it, besides he wouldn’t need it anymore! And, moreover, it is somehow connected to me.”

“How can it be connected to you, Master William?”

“Do you remember me mentioning in my story that Augustus came right out of the portrait of my ancestor, Deverell Calhoun?”

“Yes, I do, Master Calhoun! He was a glorious ancestor! Glorious indeed! It was thanks to him that…”

“Yes, yes, I remember!” he stopped another wave of praising speeches about the glorious Calhoun kin. “So, El and I believe that the letter was sent by that Augustus fellow! So, if we are right and it was really from Augustus, it means that it has a connection to me or one of my ancestors!”

“Did the letter have the name of the sender?” Nymus shouted, his eyes still on the course.

“Yes! It wasn’t a name, just three letters C.W.B!”

As soon as William had said those three letters, the mailmage let go of the broomstick and the mailcraft, not being steered anymore, headed down. But Nymus quickly took a grip on himself and returned the craft onto the previous course.

“Easy, Nymus! “ El shouted in horror.

“I apologize, Master Elian!” Nymus shouted back and turned to William. “Does Master Calhoun know what these letters mean?” He voice sounded unsteady even despite him shouting.

“No, we hoped you’d be able to help us solve this mystery!”

“C.W.B. means County Without Banners, Master Calhoun!”

“County Without Banners!” El intervened. “Fafner spoke about it that night, I’ve just remembered.”

“That’s right!” William said. “How could I’ve forgotten?”

“So Fafner also thinks that it is the doing of the Counts?”

“Well, looks like it!” El replied.

“I’ve just remembered…” William said again, who was restoring the events of last night bit by bit. “That Augustus fellow! He addressed von Bulberg as “garafa” and mentioned counts in the conversation, who wanted to take revenge on von Bulberg for some reason!”

Following William’s example, El started to turn the events of last night in his head again, bit by bit, and remembered:

“He also said that it had become cold again at some court!”

“No, not like that,” William corrected him, also remembering, “something had to do with some kind of cold court, I don’t remember what exactly.”

“Green Monogram!” Nymus cried out. “That’s something!” He fell silent for a moment, and then said again: “That’s really something!”

William and El exchanged glanced.

“Nymus, do you know anything about those counts?”

Nymus, who seemed to be still thinking over something, didn’t reply right away:

“Master William, County Without Banners is the most horrible thing that has ever happened to wizards during the entire history of their existence!”

“Do you know where this County is?”

“It is not exactly a County master Calhoun has thought about!” Nymus told him. “County Without Banners is the name of an order of very dark wizards! Their main goal was complete and utter destruction of the real nobility among wizards! So to say, mass destruction of aristocracy!”

“But why was it so important for them?” El asked, hanging on to each Nymus’s word.

“Because, Master Elian, the aristocracy rules the Wizard Community. You should be the one to know it! A common wizard has no rights to take a leadership position, that is the law of the Wizard Community. And it has been in action for several thousand years!”

“Was von Bulberg an aristocrat as well?” William felt as if he was in medieval times for real, remembering right in time that he was still wearing a doublet.

“Quincy von Bulberg was given the title of Viscount many years ago. He was not an aristocrat by birth.” Nymus looked really alarmed by their story about last night.

“And why did Augustus call von Bulberg a traitor, Nymus?” El asked.

“I don’t deliver what I don’t send!” Nymus was as puzzled by this fact as William and El.

“What is garafa?” William asked.

“That was how counts addressed each other, real counts and the ones we’re talking about now. It is an old address of a count to someone equal.”

“This means, von Bulberg was really one of them!” El concluded. “But why did they kill them?”

“We will never know that for sure!” Nymus said and the two friends felt the mailcraft starting its slow descent. “We are landing! Hold tight!”

William looked down and saw a clearer picture now than during the last lookout. They were heading down and with each moment, the shapes below became clearer until he could make out the London Bridge, the Parliament buildings and the cold waters of Thames.

“We’re already in London!” William could hardly believe his eyes. “Getting to London from Germany so fast! Nymus, your mailcraft is a miracle!”

“Miracles are quite real, Master Calhoun!” There was a smile hidden in Nymus’s voice.

Soon the mailmage asked about the first stop and El said his address: number 5 in the Benson Street. They changed their course, and in less than a minute, they were in the street El had named. A minute later, the mailcraft landed in the backyard of El’s house. Nymus got off first and held the doors elegantly as he let his passengers out.

“So this is where you live!” William noted, looking at El’s big white house, quite like a demit one. “A great house, mate!”

“Thanks, Will! You should come and visit me some time!”

“Some time it will happen!” William promised. “So, time to say good-bye?”

“Wait!” El said suddenly, taking his feathermap out of the pocket of his doublet. “Why haven’t I thought about it earlier? Take your feathermap out!”

William silently pulled his feathermap out and gave El a questioning look. He took out his magic feather, opened the feather map and touched it with the tip of his feather. The feathermap crumpled noisily, but unfolded a moment later. William took it and saw small words ‘Elian Gibbs’ shining red in the upper corner. They did the same with El’s feathermap, but this time with William’s magic feather.

“There!” El said, folding his feathermap and putting it back into his pocket. “Now we have our first featherdata on our feathermaps!”

“First feather… what?”

“Well, yes! Featherdata. Nymus will explain it to you! In case we’re going to be in different groups, contact me by the feathermap tomorrow after Featherology! And now I need to go!” He turned to the mailmage. “Thanks for getting me back to London, Nymus!”

“Always happy to be of service, Master Elian!” Nymus replied.

“You’re lucky to have your own mailmage, mate,” He turned back to William. “Our Tappens serves only my dad! Well, good luck with Featherology tomorrow and see you soon, Will!”

“You to, El! See you!” He said goodbye to his friend and returned to the mailcraft.

Nymus stepped inside after William, closed the doors and swept the ground with the broomstick in one quick movement, making the mailcraft soar into the air. The mailcraft headed towards the Blackfriars Lane. Once in the air, Nymus was the first one to break the silence.

“I am very happy to see that Master Calhoun is making friends already! Master Elian seems like a good friend to me!”

“Yes, it’s wonderful! El is a good guy!” William replied, feeling slightly sad that his adventures were over. A bit later, he remembered: “Nymus, tell me about those featherdata El has been talking about.”

“What does Master Calhoun know about feathermaps?” Nymus asked calmly.

“Well, only that the feathermap will help us peregrine into the houses of the teachers where the classes of the Preparatory Course are going to take place.”

“Well, then Master Calhoun should know that feathermaps are living beings like you and me.”

“You mean they also eat, drink, and get into trouble in Germany?” William grinned.

“Yes, and they also grow, increasing in size with time,” Nymus continued seriously, as if he hadn’t understood the joke.

“How?”

“When a wizard leaves his featherdata on the feathermap of another wizard, this means that he considers him a friend and trusts him completely. It is almost the same as giving a magic feather to someone. And if someone’s featherdata get into the hands of foes, the wizard may be in danger, because anyone can contact him with the help of a feathermap and know his location at any time.”

“That’s how it works!”

“According to the Wizard Etiquette, when someone shares their featherdata with you, you should do the same thing in return, leaving your featherdata on their feathermap.”

“But what are the featherdata for?”

“With their help you can contact the wizard whose featherdata are on your map at any moment. The more featherdata there are on a feathermap, the bigger it becomes. I think demits call this kind of communication the telephone. Demits invented the telephone, the internet, all kinds of instant communication means, but believe a mailmage, Master Calhoun, all their communication means are children toys compared to a wizard feathermap, at the very least because communicating over a distance with its help has a much more real feel than when demits do it.”

“And how does a feathermap work?”

“Rather simply, Master Calhoun! You only need to unfold it and select the featherdata you need with the touch of your magic feather. Then set up the connection with the second touch and the other person replies.”

“So, it means that this thing is super useful!” William said happily.

“Get ready, Master William! We’re landing!”

They silently approached the backyard of number 13 in the Blackfriars Lane. As William was leaving the mailcraft, he noticed something on its doors he hadn’t noticed before because they were in a hurry. There was a large green symbol, already familiar to William since his visit to the Post Office.

“Nymus, so this is an official transport of the Magic Post Office?”

“Of course, Master Calhoun!” he confirmed. “It’s my work vehicle!”

William looked around. He was surprised down inside to think that over the last day he had experienced so many things and the house on Blackfriars Lane was still standing here as usual. And all this time, demits were living in the neighbouring houses without suspecting a thing, and going about their usual business. He looked at the garden behind their house and asked suddenly:

“Nymus, why do we land in the backyards? Is it to stay unnoticed?”

“Partially, yes. But according to the Wizard Etiquette, any decent wizard will not allow himself to enter the house of another wizard through the front door – it is for demits. If a wizard visits another wizard through the front door it means he shows his disrespect to the family living in the house or he has come with evil thoughts.”

“I see! Well, thank you for helping El and me, my trusty mailmage! As promised, you came to my first summons! Green Monogram! I’m so happy with a mailmage like you!” William said, mimicking Nymus and patted him on the shoulder gratefully.

Nymus nearly burst in happy tears. He really liked being praised or when he was considered useful.

“Mailmage form the Nymus kin is always ready to come to his wizard’s assistance!” Nymus stepped into the mailcraft and bowed theatrically.

“Alright, I’d better go before Mrs. Hoggart sees you here and in that thing, too! Otherwise, she’s going to kill you twice. First because you’ve dared to stain her lawn with your dirty mailcraft, and then because you’re not a demit! See you, Nymus!” William grinned widely and Nymus took his words for a joke.

“Good Mail, Master Calhoun!” The mailmage raised his hat a bit and then swept Mrs. Hoggart’s lawn with a light movement of the broomstick handle. The mailcraft soared up into the air, set course and disappeared from view in an instant.

“Well, the weekend wasn’t boring!” William thought and entered the house.

William’s room was on the first floor, so he didn’t have to take the stairs, where Hoggarts could see him. He realized that if he appeared in the doublet before them, he’d have to explain it. Of course, he could say that he was getting ready for Halloween, but considering the fact that there was a whole month until the holiday, this version was a no go. When he entered the house, he saw that almost all the furniture had been moved from their usual places. It looked like Mrs. Hoggart was doing an overall cleaning. He slipped into his room unnoticed, but once inside, he didn’t recognize it right away. All the furniture in here was moved away from the walls. First of all, William made sure that Mrs. Hoggart hadn’t looked inside his wardrobe and hadn’t found his school textbooks in a bag. After that, still unsure what was going on in here, he took the doublet off, pulled out some clothes from the wardrobe and changed into his usual jeans and a shirt. Then he took out the feather and the feathermap from the doublet pockets and hid the doublet itself deep inside the wardrobe. Then it was time to hide smaller things from view. He put his feather into his pocket and hid the feathermap under the mattress. After giving his room, the new version of it, anyway, another look, he went to look for Mrs. Hoggart. When he reached the kitchen, he found Mrs. Hoggart, all sweaty and extremely busy. Noticing William, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and headed to him.

“Here you are, my dear boy! I haven’t noticed you come in!” She gave William a hug, then looked at him and asked: “How was your weekend? Did you have good time at Bobby’s?”

“Hello, Mrs. Hoggart!” He was very glad to be home again and see Mrs. Hoggart safe and sound. “Yes, it was great! Bobby and I…” William stumbled, trying to come up with some activity Bobby and he could have done at the weekend. “We read books and did our homework!” he said the only thing that came to his mind.

“What’s this, Willy?” Mrs. Hoggart frowned. “You can’t study all the time! You should have rested for a few days, homework can wait!”

“Well, we had some rest, too,” William replied, feeling awkward to be lying to her. Then he remembered about the mess in the house and asked: “What happened in here? Why has all the furniture been moved?”

Mrs. Hoggart started telling him how she had asked Mr. Hoggart to deal with the stand by William’s bed, which had led to it breaking up. After which they had to buy a new stand, but it turned out to be bigger than the old one and obstructed doorway. As the result, they had to move the bed and the rest of the furniture. That was when they found a part of the wall not covered with wallpaper, hidden by an antique wardrobe before. After that, Mrs. Hoggart decided to change wallpaper all over the house, not to ruin the colour harmony anywhere.

William was listening to all that, barely following all the small-scale disasters in the house coming up in Mrs. Hoggart’s story. She was telling all that in such a serious voice as if a meteorite had landed in William’s room and it was impossible to live in it anymore.

“Come,” she pulled William by the hand, “I’ll show you everything and then you’ll see that it’s just unacceptable!”

When William entered his room, he saw what had become of it again. He didn’t have time to make any remarks about it when Mrs. Hoggart walked to the part of the wall hidden by the wardrobe before that and pointed at it.

“Here! See? It’s just something outrageous!” She said indignantly. “This! On a wall in a civilized house!” Mrs. Hoggart seemed to get angry every time she saw this little spot of a bare wall.

Seeing her sincere indignation threatening to turn into a storm, William hurried to calm Mrs. Hoggart down.

“Mrs. Hoggart, but this part of the wall used to be covered by a wardrobe and nobody saw it. Why don’t we return the wardrobe back to its place? Then the bare part of the wall won’t be seen again.”

“Willy, how can you say such things, dear?” Mrs. Hoggart’s eyebrows shot up and William realized that his method of calming her down wasn’t the right one.

Mrs. Hoggart became even more upset because of the idea to leave everything as before.

“Alright, alright, let’s have wallpaper!” William hurried to agree. “I have nothing against new wallpaper!”

“Perhaps we should do some repairs as well?” Mrs. Hoggart was standing with her finger pressed to her chin, looking from part of the floor to the other one, then the ceiling and the floor…

“Repairs?” William asked.

But Mrs. Hoggart didn’t seem to be listening to him. She was standing with her eyes squinted, having mentally approved her own decision.

“Yes! Some repairs is what we need! After all, we do live in this house and it’s a good idea to improve its condition!” she said, finally convinced that she was thinking the right way.

William thought that if they were going to stand here for another minute, Mrs. Hoggart would decide to improve something else, so he didn’t argue anymore, asking instead:

“But where are we going to live during the repairs?” He still couldn’t believe that Mrs. Hoggart was serious about it.

“Have you forgotten, dear? We have a house in Devon. We’ll move there while this place is under repairs, and then we’ll go back to the newly repaired house!” After a moment she added: “Why didn’t I think about it earlier?!”

William had been to Hoggarts’ house in Devon many times. Each year they celebrated Christmas there, in summer, they moved there for a couple of months. It was possible to live there, in general. But the prospect of moving there now, when he was going to start his first class in the Preparatory Course, seemed like a threat to his magic studies. At least, in the coming couple of months.

“But how am I going to get to school from Devonshire?” William was trying to find excuses for cancelling the repairs.

“Oh, this isn’t a problem! Edward will drive you to school in the morning, on his way to work. We’ll have to get up earlier than usual, but…” she shrugged, “it’ll be only for a couple of months.”

“So, when are you going to start the repairs?” William asked, trying to sound carefree.

“We’ll need to discuss it with Edward today, but I think we should start it before next weekend. Then we’ll be able to move to Devon over the weekend without any hurry.” She gave the bare part of the wall another dissatisfied look and then hurried out of the room. “Alright, Willy, rest, dear, I need to get back to the kitchen and deal with the oven!” She kissed William on the cheek quickly, hugged him again and left the room.

William stood like thunder-stricken in the middle of his room staring after her. After everything he’d heard he couldn’t quite come back to his senses. He still thought that it was a crazy idea to start repairs in the whole house because of a part of the wall! Blast that wall! he thought angrily and ran up to that very part of the wall to kick it, but when he came close to it, he froze in amazement. Something on the bare part of the wall suddenly had attracted his attention and he froze on the spot, staring at this ‘something’.

On the wall, William saw a very faded and barely visible picture he still managed to make out. At first, he didn’t understand what that image was. It was at his eye level. He came up really close to the wall and gave the picture a thorough look. And when he did, he was bewildered even more, freezing on the spot again and staring at the wall stupidly. It was an image of a FEATHER!

Even though the feather was barely visible, its outline was quite clearly seen. There was a pointed hat on the upper edge of the feather. He tried to follow the image upwards, but he saw that it disappeared further along. Then he moved away from the bare part of the wall and sat on the edge of his bed, still shocked, thinking about this weird picture. What could it mean? For some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking that the feather was magical and the hat there reminded him of the hat on Frau Bertha’s head during the ball. In any case, he would have time to think about it. And currently he had to talk Mrs. Hoggart out of starting the repairs. Because if Mr. Hoggart was going to take him to his old school in the morning, he could be spotted by teachers or classmates. And then it would turn out that William wasn’t attending the school for a week. He decided to come out of his room with the excuse to help Mrs. Hoggart. Perhaps, he would find some arguments to convince her that the house didn’t need any repairs and it looked good even without them.

They spent the rest of the day moving the furniture and other things around. And when Mr. Hoggart had returned in the evening, Mrs. Hoggart discussed the idea of repairs with him, which, to William’s dismay, seemed like a very good idea to Mr. Hoggart. He also added that they were supposed to start repairs long time ago and he was thinking about replacing the furniture as well.

William was desperate! Late at night, he went back to his room to go to bed. He glanced at the image of the feather and the hat on the wall, then set the alarm clock to seven o’clock, took out the feathermap from under the mattress, placed it under his pillow together with the magic feather, climbed into his bed and started thinking. He was thinking about the letter found in von Bulberg’s study, about the connection of von Bulberg to the mysterious County Without Banners. It seemed like an incredible thing that the president of the International Federation of Wizards was once connected with a bunch of murderers and had some business with them. He remembered the words in the letter: ‘And the Dead Duke will be born anew with the Offspring of the Proud blood true’ - that Duke again! Who was he and why was he mentioned so often?! The events of last night worried William. He really wanted to know who Deverell Calhoun from the portrait was and if there was a connection between him and that other Calhoun Mr. Wellington had mentioned back at the Feather Best. There was also that third Calhoun, mentioned by Bardalf Gramm in his conversation with Geldern… who was he?

These thoughts changing each other like pictures in his head, he gradually fell asleep.