Chapter Text
The Seven
Book Two:
First City. Kingdom of Western
Year 9, Gold Season, Grey Week, Blueday
Jared is 6
“Yet another complaint from your tutor,” King George said, glaring at his two youngest sons from behind his ornate desk. “What were the pair of you fighting about this time?”
“Jared has no respect for me,” Stefan shouted immediately. “None at all.”
“I wonder why,” the younger boy mumbled, pushing his dark hair back from his face.
Standing next to the king, their eldest brother attempted and failed to muffle a laugh.
“Not helping, William,” his father snapped.
Jared smirked as Stefan continued to rant about all the dreadful things his little brother had done. Not responding to the exaggerated comments was an effort but he was confident that, if he waited a little longer, he wouldn't be the one getting told off.
Honestly, if his brother calmly mentioned one genuine incident – such as the prank played in the kitchens earlier – then his father could have easily found witnesses to confirm the story and Jared would be in serious trouble. However, at this rate, if he was lucky, the opposite was likely to happen.
And to think he had learnt this skill from Mage Tern during those very odd Tests he had taken last year. His hair flopped forwards again – far too long and very annoying – and he pushed it back with a small grunt, wishing he was allowed to have it cut.
“Enough!” the king shouted, interrupting his middle son who was still ranting. “Jared, is any of this true?”
“But, there's more...”
Stefan attempted to finish his long list of complaints before being abruptly silenced by a stern look from their father.
“When would I get a chance to say all those rude things to all those people?” the little boy replied in a calm, quiet voice. “I mean, when would I get a word in edgeways?”
“Oh dear,” William mumbled, although it was obvious he was trying not to laugh.
Jared was certain that his father also understood what he was doing, but it was also obvious that he had no idea how to deal with it.
“I think that the best solution here is to keep you two apart in future,” the king continued, his gaze briefly flicking down to the piece of paper on his desk in front of him as he stroked his beard. “I've had numerous complaints from your tutor about both of you and–”
“Me? What did I do?” Stefan complained.
“Kept interrupting, perhaps?” the younger boy suggested, unable to help himself.
“Enough, Jared!” his father shouted. “I know full well that you are not entirely innocent here and are obviously provoking Stefan. Be warned, the solution that's presenting itself to me here may not be one you approve of.”
He looked back down at the paper and Jared's gaze followed with a frown. Next to the king, William also glanced over and his eyes suddenly widened in shock.
“You're not serious?” he whispered to his father.
“It would certainly solve... this.”
Both pairs of eyes turned towards Jared and the boy suddenly paled. What were they talking about? Why did William look so worried?
“You have been offered a place at the Monastery,” his father explained eventually. “Under normal circumstances I'd dismiss the suggestion instantly but, in this case...”
Jared waited for Stefan to start teasing him but it seemed that his brother was just as shocked as the rest of the family.
“Why me?” he asked eventually.
“Because you passed and they offered. It may be unheard of for the upper classes to become wizards, but there is no doubt that the requirements for entry are ridiculously high. If you've been offered this place then it means they consider you the best of your age from the whole country. Only three boys have been accepted this year, Mage Tern says. Three from the whole of Western. Imagine that?”
“You're going to be a wizard?”
Stefan had at long last recovered from his shock and now sounded gleeful. Jared knew he would never live this down, it would be all over the palace by lunch time.”
He tried to object, tried to find some reason why it was unfair but he also couldn't help wondering if it would really be that bad. He liked Mage Tern – despite the man's strange outfit and hair – and the wizard was the only adult here who appeared to take him seriously. Jared had actually enjoyed the Tests and couldn't remember ever getting bored when in Tern's company. His palace tutor however was quiet and soft and gave him work that was far too easy – the main reason he misbehaved so much in lessons. Well, that and the fact that he enjoyed showing Stefan up as his brother found school work far harder than he did.
“Why don't you like the wizards, Da?”
He had no idea why that question ended up being the one he asked, but it came out before he had given it much thought.
“I don't dislike them, not at all,” his father replied. “Some view them with suspicion here, it's true, but that's mostly due to the fact that they keep so many secrets and have power that they do not share with us. Some believe that if they stopped being neutral and helped us, the war would have been over years ago – centuries ago, perhaps.
“Neutral?”
“They say they are on neither side,” the king explained, “and give aid to all.”
“You don't believe them?” Jared asked.
“Many people here think they're spies for the Easterners,” William said.
“But that doesn't make any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Stefan disagreed, “Why should we trust them?”
The king held his hand up, his focus still on Jared.
“Why do you say that, son?” he asked.
“Because if they have all this power and are on the Easterners side then they would have won the war years ago.”
The three older males seemed stunned by this comment, as if not having considered the possibility before.
“Well, it's not quite that simple, Jared, but then, war never is,” the king continued eventually. “But, I am interested in what Tern has said about you here and how he thinks you will do well at their special school. If we accept this place then you will be able to find out very much more about the wizards and their lifestyle.”
“Oh, I see.” William suddenly relaxed. “That's why you're agreeing to this. Having Jared in on the inside?”
“One of the reasons, yes,” his father confirmed. “But it solves a number of problems, the main one of which is to keep these two trouble makers apart. I believe both will do much better when not being constantly hassled by the other.”
“Well at least he's the one being sent away and not me,” Stefan said.
“Yes, because you certainly weren't clever enough to pass,” Jared retorted.
“Enough!”
“Are you sure about this, Da?” William asked.
“Well, the more I think about it, the more it seems to make sense. Why don't you take Jared to see Mage Tern, William, and hear what he has to say and I shall discuss it with my advisors.”
“They'll not approve of this, will they?”
“Perhaps not but, seeing he's the third son, I don't really see why it should be of any great concern to them. For you or Stefan it would be different but Jared?” He paused for a moment. “Back to your tutor session now, Stefan and apologise for interrupting his lesson please.”
“But...”
“Please do as I say, and please stop using your rank as a weapon during lessons. It doesn't make you look superior. Quite the opposite in fact.”
Jared smirked slightly.
“And you'll be apologising to him too,” his father continued.
“What for?” the younger boy asked innocently.
“I'm told you have an excellent memory, Jared, so I'm sure it'll come back to you soon enough.”
The two younger boys turned to glare at each other but William grabbed Jared's sleeve and dragged him out with him, preventing the inevitable fight.
“Now look what you've done,” William complained as the pair headed down the long corridor that led directly to the temple.
“What? Wasn't me.”
“Yeah, that doesn't work on me, and you know it. Why can't you just leave Stefan alone?”
The boy shrugged. “I get bored.”
They had entered the large, dark grey building which adjoined the main palace. William gave him a nudge as they entered, reminding him to bow to the front as was the custom. The temple had seemed very intimidating on his first visit but Jared was getting used to it after the various Tests he had taken and decided that he rather liked the quiet here.
“Ah, what can I do for you two boys?” Tern said, coming out of his office at the far end of the temple.
“Father's taking your offer seriously and so we're here to ask more about the Monastery and what other benefits Jared here might gain from going,” William said.
Tern smiled slyly and, as usual, took some while before answering. Jared found himself automatically taking note, fascinated at how the wizard gained so much respect by doing so very little. “I shall be happy to discuss such things with Jared. Thank you for bringing him over, Prince William.”
“Oh, but we thought...”
“No, that's fine. I'm sure your father has plenty for you to do.”
It was a clear, albeit polite, dismissal and William only paused for a few extra measures before bowing again, giving his little brother a shrug of apology before leaving.
“Congratulations, Jared,” Tern said once he'd gone. “It is an honour indeed to have passed all the Tests.”
“So my father said.” He paused. “It means I'm very clever, doesn't it?”
“Intelligence is one factor we measure, it's true,” the wizard agreed with little more than a twitch of the lips. “But hardly the only one.”
“What else then?”
“Well, I can say that your manners and behaviour very nearly prevented you from earning the place, despite being suitable in all other areas.”
“I didn't misbehave at all,” Jared complained.
“We don’t look at the Tests in isolation. The rules in the Monastery are very strict and we need to know that our trainees will be able to cope.”
He scoffed. “Of course I could cope.”
“Maths and Western will be easy for you, no doubt, but obeying our rules will probably be a greater challenge.”
“I could if I wanted to,” Jared grumbled.
“Good.” Tern paused. “Do you want to?”
“What? Go to the Monastery?”
“Do you want to obey our rules? Fit in? Be the very best that you can?”
Jared glared, realising he had just been outplayed. Whatever answer he gave would be likely to make his life difficult.
“What are the other children like?” he asked instead.
“I expect you'll get on with them better than those you encounter here.”
“Yes.” He had already suspected that. “I'm going to have to grow my hair even longer now, aren't I?”
“Jared.”
The wizard's tone had changed. He was serious now, talking to the boy as if he were an equal, which was something that no other adult ever did.
“There are many secrets in the Monastery. Many things I cannot tell you until you have taken the oath. Until your father has confirmed his wish for you to join us.”
“Yes, he said.”
“But I think I might bend the rules and hint at a couple of things anyway. Our secret. Things your brothers need not know about?”
Jared smiled, enjoying that idea. “I understand,” he replied.
“What do wizards learn at the Monastery? Do you know?”
“Medicine, so you can help heal those injured in the war.”
“That’s correct. What else have you heard?”
“That you help both sides in that war.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
The boy just shrugged, genuinely not knowing how to reply.
“Neutral about our neutrality? Well, that's good enough for now. What would you say if I told you that we have a very special way of introducing our first years so their true name and position is not known.”
“I don't understand.”
“No-one at the Monastery will know you are Prince Jared.”
His eyes widened. “What? That's not possible.”
“Imagine it is. Imagine what it would be like to be at school with people who thought you were their equal.”
“I don't think that …”
He had started to object to the idea but stopped mid sentence, frowning. He was always being told how much of an advantage he had as a prince of Western, but recently had started to wonder if it was all worth it. The amount of times that very title was used as a reason why he should be better behaved, why he should be more polite, why he should be doing well at school. That only peasants said that word or behaved like that or....
“Is this still part of the Tests?” he asked suddenly.
Jared suddenly had the strangest feeling that Tern wasn't actually sharing big secrets with him, but rather giving him a lesson of some sort.
“There is no class at the Monastery,” the wizard continued. “You are all equal. As I said before, Maths and Western will be easy for you but, what about that? Could you treat the other children there as if they were as good as you?”
“I could if they were sensible,” he replied. “Stefan's a prince but he's an idiot. I'm sure that there are many common children around who are far better company than he is.”
“A bit extreme, but I see that this is something you may be able to learn. You might be clever enough to cope with that part of the Monastery too.”
Jared glared at the wizard again, realising he was being tricked into behaving and not sure he approved of this form of instruction.
“What else have you heard about the Monastery?” Tern continued. “Anything silly? Unbelievable?”
“Magic,” he replied promptly. “Most of the older boys say you know magic spells.”
“Yes.” Tern replied simply.
The boy looked at him suspiciously. “Yes, you know they say that, or yes you can do magic?”
The wizard smiled slyly. “As I said, if you accept this place there are lots of secrets I can share with you and lots of skills you’ll be taught that you would never learn if you stayed here.”
Jared now knew for a fact he was being tempted and grinned at the wizard, not minding that sort of manipulation one bit. As he went to leave he paused at the door, considering the conversation carefully, thinking about the grown up way the wizard talked to him.
“Will I really learn magic?”
“Yes,” Tern replied, much to Jared's surprise. “But not straight away. Only when you've learnt all our rules and attended the Monastery for very many years. If you want to learn the skill you will have to earn that right.”
Now he understood. Tern wasn't ordering him as his father might. He wasn't demanding the boy did as he was told. He was striking a bargain and giving him a choice.
“I shall work harder at improving my behaviour,” he promised sincerely.
“I think that is a very wise decision, Prince Jared,” Tern replied, giving the boy a formal wizards' bow. “I shall walk back to the main building with you, if you don't mind, and discuss this further with your father.”
Year 9 Gold Season, Green Week, Greenday
“There is no way you'll be able to keep that oath thing,” Stefan teased as they left the temple after Jared's official initiation. 'Be kind and forgiving'? 'Be the best person that I can?’”
“I could do that if I want.”
“If you want? Why would you?”
He shrugged. “It could be interesting.”
“You're actually looking forward to going, aren't you? That wizard has convinced you that it's some great honour and you've fallen for his lies.”
Jared forced himself not to respond to that directly, keeping the oath in his mind, determined not to let Stefan get to him.
“Well, at least we don't have to have lessons together any more, you should be pleased about that.”
“Why not? I thought you weren't going until you’re seven?”
“I'm not, but Da wanted us split, didn't he? So I'm going to start having lessons with Mage Tern straight away.”
“And start learning all the wizards' secrets?”
“Perhaps. Perhaps I'll even learn magic.”
He put as much sarcasm into his voice as possible, determined to get the idea out of his brother's head before he had even entertained it.
“Now you're just being silly.”
Jared smirked and said nothing.
~o~0~o~