Realms of the Arcane - Brian M. Thomsen [5]
I must note, though, that the gift you sent, while charming, did cause a little difficulty. The magical bird sang most marvelously by the command you described, but could not be silenced the same way! It chirped and twittered for weeks before I was able to conjure up the true command. It was actually rather comical. I confess that by the end, I had to banish it to a shelf on the outdoor privy for the sake of household sanity.
Still it is the intention that matters, after all.
Perfect & etc., Magister Pavish
P.S. I saw Marriana's father, Minister Dalton, at the privy council chambers. Imagine my surprise to learn he disowned her upon your marriage. To think that she had to suffer such a price!
Posted from Pine Shadow Wood
Magister Pavish,
First, I must let you know I received your letter many months past, and against my first inclination, I did not cast it upon the fire. I cannot say why.
It is admirable that you now say I was wronged, especially given that speaking out before would have required courage. You present me with the virtue of nothing-having done nothing against me nor anything for me, you consider me indebted to you. What little you could claim I discharged with my previous dispatch.
Then you chide me for being bitter. Could you be glib if our lives were reversed? You know as well as I who was innocent. I had no need of the Theurge's spellbook to pass a conjuration examination. As you wrote, someone chose me to take the blame. Some say it might even have been you. After all, we were rivals in so many things. What better way to overcome an obstacle? You always favored the quick and easy; perhaps you favored it more than I suspected. I have spent these years wondering who and why, and now you complain about my ingratitude.
No doubt you expect me to honor your request for aid, and I will not be so ignoble as to spurn you completely. Nonetheless, my aid comes with a caution. In your pursuit for this lost artifact, I think you reach for something more dangerous than you realize. With no library up here, I can only say from memory, but in the Duel of Tromdarl and Greenwinter it all comes to an end when Greenwinter triggers his master creation and destroys Tromdarl with it. Every apprentice worth his salt knows that much, and that's what Master Feurgond taught.
What apprentices don't realize is there's a final canto to the work, one that gets lopped off in a fair number of readings. Master Feurgond laid out the scroll one time after lecture. It's a lament from Greenwinter's consort, crying for his absence-something about how a storm of fire and thunder carried him and his artifact away, much more than just wandering off into history. The master said it was only an allegory-and a bad one at that-for Greenwinter's victory and the later disappearance of the artifact, but I am not so sure.
I worry, too, about this ultimate power. To what ends will you use it? You would not be my first choice as its wielder. At the Academy, you always struck me as a touch arrogant and a little petty. I suppose you could have changed since then; time will do that, but perhaps the staff is better off in more responsible hands, or not found at all.
This then is my price: before I render more details to you, I intend to go up and study the whole thing more closely for myself. If I am satisfied with what I find, you will hear more.
In a week, I will be off to the mountains to see what I can learn from the pattern. Then we shall see.
Magister Torreb
P.S. So sorry about the mechanical bird. I thought it was a rather clever device myself, and certainly not that taxing on one's talents to decipher.
I admit the creature you sent is a clever choice. I am guessing it's something you created from your own blood-something like a homonculous. It positively adores Marriana and she it. However, the beast has an unnaturally nasty dislike of me. I hope this is not some product of your own feelings.
You have sent me a challenge I must rise to. I trust you'll find my gift worthy of your sensibilities.
Most Perfect and Absolute Magister Pavish