Will didn’t like the sound of that, but before he could protest, Selene raised her hands and said a word softly under her breath. A thin line of power flowed from the watery elemental beside her, meeting her hands and then forming a strange pattern in the air before her. The dark-haired girl peered through it as though it was a windowpane, her eyes fixed on him.
Maybe if she sees how small my turyn is, they’ll give up, thought Will hopefully.
Selene frowned, narrowing her eyes. “That’s odd.”
“What is it?” asked Lord Nerrow.
“Give me a moment,” said the older girl. Waving her hand, she dispelled the pattern and created another, studying Will even more intensely the second time. “I can’t see it,” she admitted after a moment.
“What do you mean, you can’t see it?” demanded Lord Nerrow. “It’s there, otherwise he’d be dead.”
“The source,” clarified Selene. “His turyn seems to be roughly what I’d expect, perfectly average, but I can’t see the source at all. Everything within him is cloudy.”
“Ridiculous,” said the nobleman. “Let me do it.” He performed a similar procedure and began studying Will as well, but after only a few seconds he stopped. “That is curious. It’s almost as though someone has warded him, but I don’t sense the presence of a spell.”
“I didn’t eat much this morning,” said Will, at a loss to find a good explanation.
Laina giggled at that. “Your diet has nothing to do with it.”
Will bristled at her remark. He knew from his early months observing the candle flame that being hungry could affect his turyn level, although only slightly, but he didn’t argue. The spoiled brat has probably never gone hungry in her entire life, he thought to himself.
“Pardon me, William,” said Lord Nerrow. “This is intrusive and may even cause you some discomfort.” Then, without waiting for a response, he lifted one hand and a line of green shot toward Will’s chest.
Will knew exactly what that was. Arrogan had done it to him many times already, and he despaired at the knowledge, but even as he flinched, the green line went through his chest and then slid away to one side.
The Baron grunted and tried again, but still failed to make the connection to Will’s turyn. After two more attempts, he glared at Will. “Are you doing that on purpose?”
“Doing what, my lord?” asked Will innocently. It was hard pretending he couldn’t see what the nobleman was doing. “Did something happen?” He had no idea why the man’s spell was failing where Arrogan’s had always worked, but he wasn’t about to ask questions.
Lord Nerrow sat back, momentarily nonplussed. He ran his hand through his hair and let out a long breath. “Never mind. I can see you have a healthy level of turyn in you, so I doubt there will be a problem. The masters at Wurthaven can sort out whatever peculiarities you possess.”
“I don’t really want to be a wizard,” said Will, “though I appreciate your kindness.” Laina frowned at him, and after a second, he realized his mistake, adding, “My lord.”
“You should leave him be, Father,” said Laina, her tone condescending. “Birds fly and pigs root around in the mud. He’ll be happier here.”
“Laina!” said Selene. “That’s enough!”
Lord Nerrow stood and stretched. “Fine, William. I’ll give you some time. Keep the letter of introduction. You can think about it and give me an answer next year. If you change your mind sooner, come find me in Cerria.”
Erisa stood and bowed deeply. “Thank you for understanding, Lord Nerrow.”
Belatedly, Will realized he should be doing the same and he hastily jumped up. Laina laughed at his rush and he found himself scowling at the girl. The touch of fingers on his cheek startled him, and he turned to see Selene had stepped up beside him as the other two made for the door.
“It left a scar,” murmured the young woman.
He understood her meaning then, for he often forgot about the mark on his cheek. “I don’t even think about it most days,” he told her.
Selene pulled her hand away, as though remembering her manners. “Thank you for helping her.” And then she left with the others.
Chapter 17
His grandfather was coming out of his ramshackle dwelling when Will got back, a large, glass jar in his hands. “Oh, you’re back.”
Will was faintly disappointed by his mentor’s bland greeting. “What’s in the jar?”
“Troll piss,” said the old man without even a twitch.
“What is it really?” said Will, repeating his question.
Arrogan lifted the small, wooden lid and held it out toward him. “Have a sniff if you don’t believe me.”
At five feet, Will already knew he wanted nothing to do with the foul odor emanating from the jar. “Oh, that’s awful! What’s it for?”
“I thought I’d use your absence as an opportunity to take care of some housekeeping chores. A little of this sprinkled around the edges of the garden should keep the deer away from my plants for at least a month,” explained his grandfather. “But since you’re back, I suppose I’ll just have you do it for me.”
Ugh, thought Will. “Aren’t you going to ask me what Lord Nerrow wanted?”
Arrogan lifted his chin. “I have absolutely no interest in that man’s doings, so long as he stays out of our business.” Placing the jar on the ground, he stepped up to Will. “Time to put the spell back on you.”
Will had been thinking about what had happened with Lord Nerrow at his mother’s house and had planned a deliberate bit of rebellion. “No.”
His grandfather’s brows shot up in surprise. “Oh, really?”
Will began backing away, and as he had expected, his teacher reacted by sending a green line of power out to seize his turyn. A second later he found himself paralyzed. Arrogan wasted no time reapplying the spell-cage around the source of Will’s turyn. Then he brought out the candle and redid its spell as well.
The old man studied him for a moment and then released him. “What was that about? You should know better by now.”
“I was testing you,” Will answered with a grin.
Arrogan’s mouth went wide. “You? Testing me?”
He nodded, then handed his letter of introduction to his grandfather. “Lord Nerrow offered to sponsor me.”
The old man scanned the page quickly then tossed the letter to the ground. “I should have expected something like this.”
“He also examined me to make sure I had the necessary potential.” After the words left his mouth, though, a second thought came to him. Why would he have expected that?
Arrogan snorted. “I bet that frustrated him. You’re far enough along now that I doubt he got much of a read on you.”
“He tried to seize my source, like you just did, but he couldn’t do it,” said Will, watching his grandfather’s reaction carefully.
The old man frowned. “That would have been bad, but he failed, eh? Hah! I knew the fool didn’t have it in him. The sorcerers these days are sloppy, even worse than those milksop mages they train at Wurthaven.” He eyed Will. “You look like you have some questions. Go ahead.”