The Collected Christopher Connery Read Free

individual assignment and that was only sixty-seven
years ago.” She paused. “She died during it, if I recall.”
    “Yeah, that was sort of why I left her out. ‘Youngest
currently living Illuminator in seventy years’ doesn’t have the same ring to
it. Feel better yet?”
    Nia laughed and discovered, to her surprise, that she
did. “I will try not to live up to her legacy.”
    “Good.” Arthur picked up his own small bag. “I can take
your bag for you if you want.”
    “Thank you.” Nia handed it over, laughing when Arthur
winced.
    “What’s in here, your lead collection?” When Nia only
laughed again, he added, “Is it too late to revoke my gallantry?”
    “Yes.” Nia swept by him and through the door.
    “Do you have to meet with the Directors before we go?”
Arthur asked as they made their way down the wide central stairs. Several other
magicians hurried past them on various errands. Some of the better sort greeted
them both with equal friendliness, but there were several who offered Nia
chipper good mornings as they averted their eyes from Arthur. He didn’t seem to
notice, but Nia made sure her answering greetings were appropriately chilly.
    “No, I spoke to the Directors yesterday,” she answered as
they stepped into the entrance hall, their shoes tapping on the polished
marble. Delicate magic had been used to place color inside the stone and keep
it safe from the constant drag and scuff of passing feet. The colors formed
detailed pictures of dragons and other beasts which twisted into complex spells
of protection that could be activated at any time by the correct sequence of
words.
    Arthur paused inside a circle formed by the wormlike body
of a cave dragon trying to devour the tail of a fire-breathing manticore. “Did
they mention me?”
    Nia busied herself with opening her umbrella as she tried
to think of a polite way to answer. Of course they had mentioned Arthur. Some
of the Directors, the council of experienced magicians who led the Academy, did
not approve of him accompanying her. A few of the dissenters had argued that he
was needed at home. Highly trained in both mechanics and medicine, Arthur’s
skills, non-magical though they were, were extremely valuable to the Academy.
But the rest had fallen back on the old mainstay: He’s a danger to himself
and others. All bound magicians are, but ones like him especially.
    Nia knew perfectly well that Arthur was no danger to
anyone, but the Directors’s fears were understandable. As a bound ward of the
Academy, Arthur’s movements were carefully regulated and he was not allowed to
leave the Academy without a chaperone. Years ago, his magic had been locked
inside him with special spells. Most bound wards underwent the procedure later
in life as punishment for some misuse of their talents, but Arthur had been
bound young, at only nine years old.
    The reasons were classified, but Nia knew them. She had
been a witness at his trial after all.
    Fortunately, she had eventually managed to convince the
Directors to let Arthur join her. No one would prove a better assistant,
regardless of his past.
    “They just asked me if you were prepared,” she said at
last. “I told them you always were.”
    Arthur snorted. “At least I kept an eye on the clock, not
that it did any good.”
    “Oh, hush.” But Nia let herself smile. Despite his
tendency to fuss, she was glad Arthur was with her. She couldn’t rely on anyone
the way she could rely on him.
    Passing through the wide doors, Nia and Arthur made their
way across the lawn to the car. The rain was coming down hard now, but this
close to the Academy, the lawns were magically shielded, giving the children
space to play even on wet days. Farther away from the main buildings, however,
the magicians in charge of the gardens and the wards who assisted them were
running to and fro, getting the tents and sunlamps ready for another rainy
season.
    Outside the protected area, the rain gleamed on the