Despite his poor mood, Will laughed a little at the remark. There was a certain pattern to his grandfather’s insults and abuses that had grown on him over time. He still hated the crotchety bastard, but he couldn’t help but like the man a little.
Arrogan’s face remained still and serious. “That wasn’t a joke,” he stated, but after a second his eyes crinkled at the corners.
***
The next two weeks were a misery. The only thing good Will could find about them was that at least he wasn’t in a lot of pain. He couldn’t sleep more than thirty or forty minutes at a time at night before waking up with a burning sensation that told him his turyn was growing again. Consequently, he was constantly sleepy during the day and found himself nodding off at every opportunity, while reading, while cooking, and most especially while trying to learn math.
It came as a complete surprise to him the first night he slept eight hours without waking. He had thought it would happen gradually, but when his unconscious mind finally learned to maintain its grip on his turyn while he slept, it happened all at once. One day he was napping, the next he was sleeping without trouble.
Things got much easier after that, and his reading and math sessions seemed pleasant. His grandfather began to take him on walks as well, pointing out plants and trees that Will already knew, but giving him extra information about them. Many had uses his mother had never mentioned, primarily since she didn’t practice magic. For a midwife, it wasn’t particularly useful to know that ash and oak were helpful in creating protective wards.
What didn’t happen, however, was any actual training in magic or spells. As winter came to a close, Will asked his grandfather about it. “When are you going to teach me how to do something?”
The old man was in a good mood that day, so he answered plainly, “Remember when I first put the spell on you to keep your turyn from expanding?”
He nodded.
“What would you have done if you could cast spells?”
Will already knew the answer. “I would have used magic to keep my turyn lower, but I’ve already mastered the trick. There’s no reason to keep me ignorant.”
“You aren’t even close to being done,” said Arrogan, his tone ending the discussion.
Will sighed, knowing it was useless to keep asking. That evening, the old man illustrated the point by removing the spell on him after they had eaten.
“Oh, that feels good!” exclaimed Will, but seconds later he saw the green line connecting to his chest again. “What are you doing?” He twisted in place, trying to escape the old man’s control, but his best efforts were useless. The flame of his candle turned green, and he knew Arrogan had taken hold of him once more.
The flame shrank even more, as Arrogan manipulated his source. It was now a quarter of its former size. “This is your new goal,” said his guardian.
Will felt tired and lethargic, his turyn too small to sustain him properly. “You’re crazy,” he protested. “I can’t live like this.”
His grandfather smiled, then recreated the spell-cage that would contain Will’s turyn. It was sized to fit his much smaller inner flame now. “You’ll be fine. As you will discover in time, you’ve been relying on your turyn to help you do everything: walk, talk, eat, shit, even think. That’s what ordinary people do with theirs, but you aren’t going to be ordinary. You’re going to learn to live without it.”
“What’s the point? Why would anyone want to be so miserable all the time?” asked Will.
“Ask me again in a few years,” said Arrogan.
Chapter 16
It was over a month before Will could sleep properly again. Keeping his source damped down properly was much more difficult given the new limit that Arrogan had imposed. His only solace was that he hadn’t had to go through the same intensely agonizing period at the beginning this time. He already knew what to do; it was simply a matter of focus and discipline.
What he had more trouble with, though, was his lack of energy. It felt as though he was living underwater—every movement was difficult. Even walking took all of his attention, or he would trip and fall.
Naturally, it was at this point in his development when his grandfather decided that physical training would be beneficial. It began with brisk walks and culminated in Will being forced to run circuits around the house. By the end of the first two weeks, he was covered in bruises and scratches from tripping over vines and brambles that seemed to be everywhere.
When he could finally manage to run completely around the house without falling flat on the ground, Arrogan brought out two long staves of ash. He tossed one to Will, who skillfully caught it with his face.
“Ow!”
“Pick it up,” said his torturer.
Will groaned but did as he was told. Then his grandfather began walking him through a series of staff forms. “Try to follow my movements.”
The staff felt clumsy in his hands and though the movements his grandfather asked him to copy were fairly simple, he found himself having trouble. As usual, his body was incredibly awkward and he knew that if it weren’t for the fact that his natural turyn was so thoroughly suppressed, he could have done it easily.
He got better, though. By the time summer arrived, he was able to follow the forms easily and his grandfather switched to active sparring, or as Will liked to think of it, ‘supervised beatings.’ It was a great relief to him when his cousin Eric appeared one day at the beginning of a training session.
“Will!” called his cousin.
Arrogan turned on Eric angrily. “What do you want? We’re busy.”
“Hi, Eric,” said Will, grateful for the interruption.
“Baron Nerrow is at your mom’s house,” said his cousin excitedly. “He’s looking for you.”
“Tell that two-bit goat wrangler to fuck off,” said Arrogan harshly.
Eric gaped at the old man’s invective, then looked straight at Will. “Your mom told him that you were at our house. He won’t leave without seeing you. Dad sent me to fetch you before Lord Nerrow loses his temper.”
Will’s grandfather was swearing quietly to himself. “Pompous ass! Who does the think he is?”
“I should go, Grandfather,” said Will. “I don’t want anything to happen to Mom.”
“This is her fault to begin with,” spat his guardian. “Erisa can take care of her own problems.”
Eric spoke up. “If Will doesn’t come, she might be forced to tell Lord Nerrow to come here.”
Will was already moving. Leaning his staff against the house, he took a moment to brush the dust and dirt off his clothing. “Let’s go,” he told his cousin.
“Hold on,” commanded Arrogan, his voice projecting authority. Will and Eric stopped and looked at him. The old man pointed at Eric. “Go stand over there. I need to talk to Will for a moment, privately.”
Once Eric had moved off a short distance, his grandfather took him aside. “You need to be very careful when you meet Lord Nerrow. He can’t know anything about your training.”
Will understood. He hadn’t forgotten that his grandfather was some sort of wanted criminal. “I won’t say anything about you.”