Apprentice Read Free Page B

nighttime constellations.
    Wait, that’s not right either , he thought. Those are the wrong constellations for this time of year. It was daytime though, and he did not know what constellations should be present in the sky.
    Benen focused on the point of light that served to show north. It was always in the sky.
    “Well, what did you see?” demanded the wizard.
    Edvir looked puzzled. “I saw the usual m’lord: sky and clouds.”
    “Useless,” spat the wizard. “You?” he looked to Benen.
    Benen didn’t know what he should say. Should he lie? He didn’t want to anger the wizard further, but perhaps the wizard had been looking for a child to see exactly what Benen had seen. Maybe he only liked to eat the children who saw stars. Benen didn’t remember anything like that from the stories, but who knew the true motives of wizards?
    “I see, er, stars, I guess . . .” he said at last. He’d resolved to tell the truth. He feared that if he lied, the wizard would know and take it out on the village folk.
    “Oh?” the wizard looked at him with excitement dancing in his eyes. “Do you see constellations? Which ones?”
    “Umm, well, a lot of them. I’m looking at Feldin’s Cock right now,” this was the name given to the constellation that was tipped by the north-pointing star.
    “What?!” the wizard’s face contorted in confusion. “That’s not a constellation, stop playing games, boy.”
    “Is too!” Benen retorted. “It’s the one with the north star at its tip!”
    Realization dawned on the wizard’s face.
    “Do you see the one that is eight stars in a circle?” he asked Benen.
    “The whore’s girdle? No,” Benen spoke before thinking. He was suddenly afraid that the wizard would be angry that he didn’t see the expected constellation. He needn’t have worried though, the wizard smiled the broadest smile Benen had ever seen; it showed the his rotten and crooked teeth quite plainly.
    “Perfect. It’s not in the sky at all right now,” said the wizard. He turned to the others gathered in the square. “I have found what I was looking for. I’m taking this boy, he will be my apprentice.”
    “No!” screamed Benen’s father. He was restrained from rushing to grab his son, or worse, hitting the wizard, by his fellow villagers.
    “This is an honour for the boy,” said the wizard.
    “He’s my son! You can’t just take him.”
    “In fact, I can,” corrected the wizard. “It is my right.”
    “It’s your right because we can’t stop you,” muttered Smith, just low enough the wizard might not have heard.
    If he did hear, he let it pass. Benen didn’t know what to do or say. He didn’t want to be apprentice to this wizard, but he feared if he tried to refuse, others would be hurt. Worse, he himself might be hurt.
    “It is settled then,” said the wizard as though an agreement had been reached. “I will take the boy with me now. He will not need to take any of his previous possessions. I am so pleased to have found a suitable candidate that you can be assured I will not seek further retribution against your village for having defied me today.”
    The wizard smiled magnanimously at the crowd of angry men. He kept the smile on his face for a second or two then let it fall when he saw the stony looks on the faces of his audience. After letting go of the squirming Cooper’s boy, the wizard turned about, still holding Benen’s hand, and started walking out of the village.
    Behind him, Benen could hear the whispered conference between the men of the village as they discussed what to do about his abduction. He felt the wizard tense through his grasp on his hand, when Benen’s father demanded the others let him go run the wizard through and get his son back. Unfortunately, Benen then heard the other villagers argue that it was no use. The wizard would not be harmed so easily and his anger would surely doom the village.
    “Better to consider the boy dead, Vellen,” counselled Urgest.