Dreams of Magic Bonus Scene #3
The news went around the school, accompanied by more curiosity than excitement – a Learned Master from the Tower was coming to visit. He would be giving a lecture to the fourth-year students, which was my year, on magical agricultural management. The topic was especially relevant for those who would be joining their family businesses in growing silk or coffee or oranges or all the different crops that many mage families made their money from. My family's money came from fishing and pearls, but I was interested anyway. Agriculture depended greatly on the weather. If I couldn't actually control the weather with my power, maybe I could put my interest in and knowledge about natural weather patterns and the study of weather to use in such a business.
The lecture was very high-level and technical. Most of my classmates shifted and squirmed on their sitting mats, barely hiding their yawns. But I had been teaching myself as much as I could about weather and related subjects, and had advanced far enough ahead of the courses on those subjects that I was able to follow the lecture. The master asked questions and I raised my hand with the answers, and asked more questions of my own.
"Let's see if anyone else has something to say, Kadda –" he said after about the tenth time in a row I was the only one to raise my hand.
"Daruvias," I said, my face burning.
"Kadda Daruvias. Your contributions have been excellent, but let's give someone else a chance."
I slumped on my sitting mat, wishing I could disappear through the floor as the Master looked around the room. "Anyone?" he asked.
Finally, one boy raised a hand and asked why bananas and olives couldn’t be grown on the same plot of land. The answer was obvious – among other things, managing the widely different humidity requirements for the two plants would be difficult – but the master answered patiently, then went on with the rest of the lecture. I still felt embarrassed and self-conscious about showing off my knowledge and drawing too much attention to myself and didn't raise my hand again for a while. But after some encouragement, being called on by the Master without raising my hand, I started speaking up again, and the lecture went back to being mainly a one on one discussion between the two of us.
The master concluded the lecture and sat down, then our regular teacher dismissed us. As everyone started to stand up, the Master beckoned him down and whispered to him. "Kadda Daruvias," our teacher said.
I had just finished gathering up all my notes. I scrambled to my feet and bowed. "Yes, Honored Teacher?"
"The Learned Master wishes to have a word with you."
I waited, conscious of everyone's curious stares, feeling both embarrassed and curious, maybe even a little excited. Did the Master want to continue our discussion? Maybe even recommend me for admission to one of the advanced academies? I couldn't go, I wasn't a strong enough mage, but just to have it suggested would mean that someone recognized and acknowledged the one thing I was good at.
When everyone else, including the teacher, had left, I went and knelt in front of the master. I bowed and said, "You wanted to see me, Learned Master?"
"Kadda Daruvias. I was most impressed with the breadth of your knowledge and the astuteness of both your answers and your questions. Good questions are a rare thing on these school visits."
My cheeks warmed, more pleasantly this time. I almost never heard praise like this. I didn't know what to say, so I fell back on standard politeness. "Thank you, Learned Master. I'm honored."
"Would you be interested in coming to the Tower for advanced training in agricultural management?"
I stared at him, my mouth rudely falling open. I shut it quickly.
"I know. You're young; students just out of primary academy are rarely invited to receive advanced training in their field of specialty at the Tower. More often it's graduates of the advanced academies whom we receive for training. But I can tell you have a great deal of interest in the field, and a gift for it."
I looked down at my knees, reality settling inside me again. A nice thought, but I didn't have the magical ability, and never would. "My family's business is actually fishing and pearls," I said. "Thank you, anyway."
"I know that. But one isn't necessarily bound for life into one's family's business. I'm sure if I spoke to your father –"
My father would laugh and tell him it was useless, I was no good for anything. But then I had another thought. My heart started to race at the thought. The words stuck in my mouth, but I made myself speak. The worst the Master could say was no. And laugh at how foolish I was. Which I was used to, anyway. "The Masters who teach at the Tower. Like you. They mostly teach and study, right? They aren't the same people who go and get trained then leave to work?"
"That's correct. We belong to the Higher Order of Magecraft and Scholarship. We make vows to the Order and live at the Tower, teaching those who come for high-level training."
"So you're mostly scholars, and not just mages."
"I wouldn't exactly put it like that, but yes, scholarship is a large part of what we do, and one must be a talented scholar to enter the Order."
"I –" It was hard to say it, my shameful secret, but the idea of being able to spend my life doing what I did best, without being laughed at for it or feeling like a failure, gave me the courage to speak. "I'm a better scholar than mage. Would it be possible – could I – I mean –"
"You are interested in entering the Tower as an initiate, to prepare to enter the Order?"
I didn't dare do more than nod.
"Well, we are certainly always on the lookout for talented young scholars who are willing to agree to adhere to the vows and strict expectations of the Order. I will have an application along with pamphlets about the Order, our purpose and activities and way of life, sent to your home."
"No – I mean, could you please send them here, instead?"
"You would need your parents' permission, since you are under the age of twenty-five and, I believe, your parents are still living."
"I know. I just want to look it over first, think about it, before talking to my father about it." If I changed my mind, my father would mock me for it. I wanted to be sure, and have all my arguments ready for him.
"Very well. I believe the term doesn't end for another two months, so that gives me plenty of time to return to the Tower and send the documents. I can't make any promises. The process of being admitted involves filling out an extensive application, being recommended, and passing a personal interview. But I do appreciate your interest. And I believe a young man of your scholarly aptitude would feel right at home at the Tower."
I would fit in. I would belong. My heart leaped again; I tried to push back my excitement. I had to get my parents' permission, which seemed unlikely but not impossible, and pass an interview – in which the Learned Master who interviewed me would discover how weak my power was. They wouldn't take me. But, for once, the prospect of likely failure didn't make me want to give up. Even if it was only a small chance, I had to take it. If I made it into the Tower, that would solve all my problems. No more worrying about not being powerful enough, no more worrying about the fact that girls wanted nothing to do with me, no more feeling like I didn't fit in. It would mean giving up my dream of being a sea-master. And Pirazina – I knew that women weren't allowed at the Tower, were never accepted there for advanced training.
But what loss was it to give up dreams that had no chance of ever coming true, anyway?
Copyright 2021 Kyra Halland. All Rights Reserved.
Download the full set of Dreams of Magic bonus scenes - plus a fourth scene! - from BookFunnel.
The news went around the school, accompanied by more curiosity than excitement – a Learned Master from the Tower was coming to visit. He would be giving a lecture to the fourth-year students, which was my year, on magical agricultural management. The topic was especially relevant for those who would be joining their family businesses in growing silk or coffee or oranges or all the different crops that many mage families made their money from. My family's money came from fishing and pearls, but I was interested anyway. Agriculture depended greatly on the weather. If I couldn't actually control the weather with my power, maybe I could put my interest in and knowledge about natural weather patterns and the study of weather to use in such a business.
The lecture was very high-level and technical. Most of my classmates shifted and squirmed on their sitting mats, barely hiding their yawns. But I had been teaching myself as much as I could about weather and related subjects, and had advanced far enough ahead of the courses on those subjects that I was able to follow the lecture. The master asked questions and I raised my hand with the answers, and asked more questions of my own.
"Let's see if anyone else has something to say, Kadda –" he said after about the tenth time in a row I was the only one to raise my hand.
"Daruvias," I said, my face burning.
"Kadda Daruvias. Your contributions have been excellent, but let's give someone else a chance."
I slumped on my sitting mat, wishing I could disappear through the floor as the Master looked around the room. "Anyone?" he asked.
Finally, one boy raised a hand and asked why bananas and olives couldn’t be grown on the same plot of land. The answer was obvious – among other things, managing the widely different humidity requirements for the two plants would be difficult – but the master answered patiently, then went on with the rest of the lecture. I still felt embarrassed and self-conscious about showing off my knowledge and drawing too much attention to myself and didn't raise my hand again for a while. But after some encouragement, being called on by the Master without raising my hand, I started speaking up again, and the lecture went back to being mainly a one on one discussion between the two of us.
The master concluded the lecture and sat down, then our regular teacher dismissed us. As everyone started to stand up, the Master beckoned him down and whispered to him. "Kadda Daruvias," our teacher said.
I had just finished gathering up all my notes. I scrambled to my feet and bowed. "Yes, Honored Teacher?"
"The Learned Master wishes to have a word with you."
I waited, conscious of everyone's curious stares, feeling both embarrassed and curious, maybe even a little excited. Did the Master want to continue our discussion? Maybe even recommend me for admission to one of the advanced academies? I couldn't go, I wasn't a strong enough mage, but just to have it suggested would mean that someone recognized and acknowledged the one thing I was good at.
When everyone else, including the teacher, had left, I went and knelt in front of the master. I bowed and said, "You wanted to see me, Learned Master?"
"Kadda Daruvias. I was most impressed with the breadth of your knowledge and the astuteness of both your answers and your questions. Good questions are a rare thing on these school visits."
My cheeks warmed, more pleasantly this time. I almost never heard praise like this. I didn't know what to say, so I fell back on standard politeness. "Thank you, Learned Master. I'm honored."
"Would you be interested in coming to the Tower for advanced training in agricultural management?"
I stared at him, my mouth rudely falling open. I shut it quickly.
"I know. You're young; students just out of primary academy are rarely invited to receive advanced training in their field of specialty at the Tower. More often it's graduates of the advanced academies whom we receive for training. But I can tell you have a great deal of interest in the field, and a gift for it."
I looked down at my knees, reality settling inside me again. A nice thought, but I didn't have the magical ability, and never would. "My family's business is actually fishing and pearls," I said. "Thank you, anyway."
"I know that. But one isn't necessarily bound for life into one's family's business. I'm sure if I spoke to your father –"
My father would laugh and tell him it was useless, I was no good for anything. But then I had another thought. My heart started to race at the thought. The words stuck in my mouth, but I made myself speak. The worst the Master could say was no. And laugh at how foolish I was. Which I was used to, anyway. "The Masters who teach at the Tower. Like you. They mostly teach and study, right? They aren't the same people who go and get trained then leave to work?"
"That's correct. We belong to the Higher Order of Magecraft and Scholarship. We make vows to the Order and live at the Tower, teaching those who come for high-level training."
"So you're mostly scholars, and not just mages."
"I wouldn't exactly put it like that, but yes, scholarship is a large part of what we do, and one must be a talented scholar to enter the Order."
"I –" It was hard to say it, my shameful secret, but the idea of being able to spend my life doing what I did best, without being laughed at for it or feeling like a failure, gave me the courage to speak. "I'm a better scholar than mage. Would it be possible – could I – I mean –"
"You are interested in entering the Tower as an initiate, to prepare to enter the Order?"
I didn't dare do more than nod.
"Well, we are certainly always on the lookout for talented young scholars who are willing to agree to adhere to the vows and strict expectations of the Order. I will have an application along with pamphlets about the Order, our purpose and activities and way of life, sent to your home."
"No – I mean, could you please send them here, instead?"
"You would need your parents' permission, since you are under the age of twenty-five and, I believe, your parents are still living."
"I know. I just want to look it over first, think about it, before talking to my father about it." If I changed my mind, my father would mock me for it. I wanted to be sure, and have all my arguments ready for him.
"Very well. I believe the term doesn't end for another two months, so that gives me plenty of time to return to the Tower and send the documents. I can't make any promises. The process of being admitted involves filling out an extensive application, being recommended, and passing a personal interview. But I do appreciate your interest. And I believe a young man of your scholarly aptitude would feel right at home at the Tower."
I would fit in. I would belong. My heart leaped again; I tried to push back my excitement. I had to get my parents' permission, which seemed unlikely but not impossible, and pass an interview – in which the Learned Master who interviewed me would discover how weak my power was. They wouldn't take me. But, for once, the prospect of likely failure didn't make me want to give up. Even if it was only a small chance, I had to take it. If I made it into the Tower, that would solve all my problems. No more worrying about not being powerful enough, no more worrying about the fact that girls wanted nothing to do with me, no more feeling like I didn't fit in. It would mean giving up my dream of being a sea-master. And Pirazina – I knew that women weren't allowed at the Tower, were never accepted there for advanced training.
But what loss was it to give up dreams that had no chance of ever coming true, anyway?
Copyright 2021 Kyra Halland. All Rights Reserved.
Download the full set of Dreams of Magic bonus scenes - plus a fourth scene! - from BookFunnel.
