Realms of Infamy - James Lowder [113]
"A young man like yourself could use a stone like this," I said, flashing the gemstone again in the bright sunshine of early summer.
Sil was tall, nearly my equal in height, and he met my eyes. He tipped his head, waiting for me to say more, but before I could, a gnome, gnarled by decades or likely even centuries of harsh living, pushed his way in front of Sil. "You flashing that thing to get attention, or you planning to sell it?"
"Both," I said, trying to keep a casual eye on Sil as I spoke with the old one.
The gnome extended a deformed hand with two hook-like, reptilian fingers. "May I see it?" he asked.
I must have hesitated. He thrust his stumpy hand up toward me. "I know how to handle it!" he insisted.
I leaned down and held the stone out on the flat of my palm. I tried not to shudder when he touched me.
"Ahhh," he sighed, clearly relishing the cool feel of the cerulean in his fingers. "This will work well, yes?"
I nodded.
Sil moved even closer, looking down at the gnome's contorted fingers and at the smooth, perfect stone. The opossum looked on with the same intensity.
"What do you use it for?" Sil asked.
"Ice magic," the gnome and I responded in unison.
Clearly the boy wanted to ask something more, but the gnome plunked the gemstone back on my small stand and spit a question of his own: "How much?"
I ignored him and attempted to finish my response to Sil. "Surely, a young man like yourself has considered making snow fall out of season?"
"I've tried, but I haven't mastered the spell," said the boy.
"How much?" the gnome asked again, pulling his shoulders back and speaking loudly to make himself more visible between the two of us.
"Your choker should settle it," I said, pointing to the wide gold band around the gnome's thick neck.
I expected him to scoff, but he reached his stunted hands under his wild gray beard to unclip the choker.
"Wait. Will you take this?" The apprentice pulled a large midnight blue cloth from his belt. He fluttered it gently over the crystal, and where the lump should have been, the surface was smooth.
"A parlor trick-or thievery!" The gnome yanked the cloth off the table, but the crystal was where he had set it.
"Rest your hand on the table," said Sil. He motioned to the gnome, who eyed him skeptically but thrust an arm forward. The boy laid the cloth lightly over the gnome's reptilian hand, and again the plush blue material lay smooth on the small table. The gnome's arm appeared to end at the table's edge. "Only works on a flat surface," Sil said, almost apologetically. "But it's handy. And quite valuable."
The gnome jerked his arm out from under the cloth.
Sil looked at me expectantly. "How about it?"
"A parlor trick," the gnome repeated. "This is valuable," he said, flopping his gold choker down on the cloth.
"But it's a parlor trick I haven't seen," I countered quickly. I had the choice of angering the gnome or doing what I had intended, which was to use the crystal to learn more about the boy. "And I've seen a good deal of magic in my time."
"Humans!" the gnome harrumphed in disgust. "Your time's so short you don't know the difference between a child's toy and real magic. What'll a boy like him be doing with a stone like that?"
I shrugged. "Making snowstorms?"
"A waste! A bloody waste!" The gnome flailed a twisted arm toward the apprentice.
The opossum hissed, and its fur bristled. I've no idea what sort of sound an opossum generally makes, if any, but this sound was almost human, and filled with malice.
The gnome recoiled and seemed instantly shorter. "Keep it away!"
The boy put a calming hand on the animal, and it immediately quieted. "She'll do you no harm if you do me none," he said matter-of-factly.
"She'll do me no harm