always lifted his dark moods. Caleb decided to return to his quarters to rest and give some thought to what he was going to do with Tad and Zane.
Zane lay on the shore, coughing and trying hard not to look ridiculous. Tad helped him to sit up and said, ‘If you’re going to wade out over your head, you should at least learn how to paddle.’
Zane spat water and coughed some more. Then he said, ‘I got distracted.’
‘He is all right?’ asked one of the sisters from behind Tad. The six of them were gathered as were other students, all looking on with a mixture of concern and amusement.
‘He’ll live,’ said Tad, pulling his friend to his feet. The sisters whispered and giggled, then fled back to the water. ‘What were you trying to do?’ asked Tad.
Zane spoke while his eyes followed the retreating backs of the sisters. ‘One of them … Zadrina, I think, pulled me out and kissed me.’
‘I can’t tell them apart,’ said Tad. ‘And they’ll all kiss you if you let them.’
‘But this was a kiss! She really kissed me.’
‘And then you opened your eyes and discovered you were under water?’
Nodding his head, Zane echoed, ‘I opened my eyes and discovered I was under water.’
‘Which is when the drowning started.’
‘Which is when the drowning started,’ agreed Zane.
‘I am going to have to teach you to swim.’
‘Soon,’ said Zane, watching the girls splashing with some of the other boys. ‘But not today. I drank enough of the lake so I may never be thirsty again.’
‘Well, let’s head back.’ Tad looked in the direction of the villa. ‘Caleb and Nakor were talking just before we went swimming. I wonder if they’ve decided what to do with us?’
‘Well,’ said Zane. ‘Whatever they decide I hope they wait until tomorrow, because I’m supposed to meet Zadrina after evening meal in the pool garden.’
Slapping his foster brother on the shoulder, he said, ‘Just don’t drown yourself.’
‘I won’t.’ As they walked towards the villa, Zane said, ‘Do you know they come from a world that’s mostly water? That’s why they’re in it most of the day.’
‘I’m still having trouble imagining another world,’ conceded Tad.
‘Worlds,’ said Zane. ‘I would too, but everyone here takes it as a matter of course, so I’m getting used to the idea.’ He looked around as they walked. ‘When we were boys, it was easy to think of Kesh and the Kingdom, because people from both nations passed through the town all the time, but other nations were hard for me to imagine. This is like that, I think, only more so.’ He glanced at Tad. ‘If that makes sense?’
Tad nodded he understood.
They hadn’t quite reached the main building when a slender man wearing a pair of tights and a billowing shirt appeared from out of a doorway and said, ‘Ah! There you are. You are the two boys from Stardock?’ He didn’t wait for an answer but motioned them to follow. He moved like a dancer or acrobat, fluidly and with an economy of motion, and on his feet were ankle-high boots of odd design, cross-gartered at the top and tied above the anklebone, but with soft soles of what looked to be doubly reinforced leather. His hair was the palest blond, and flowed to his shoulders.
They went to the side of the village opposite the small lake, and he looked over his shoulder, once, regarded them for a moment with pale blue eyes, then said, ‘Don’t fall behind.’
The boys found themselves climbing a path up a ridge, and by the time they reached the crest, they were almost breathless. The man who led them didn’t pause, simply saying, ‘No time to rest now, boys.’
Tad and Zane as one took a deep breath and followed after, heading down a steep path that led to the seashore. Off to the left they could see a black edifice rising from a promontory. ‘What’s that?’ wondered Zane.
‘The castle of the Black Sorcerer,’ answered the man.
‘Who’s the Black Sorcerer?’ asked Tad.
The man looked over his shoulder, grinning. His face looked young, perhaps only a few years older than the boys, but his blond hair was shot through with grey. ‘Pug’s the Black Sorcerer when he’s here. If he’s not, then sometimes Nakor, or Magnus, or Miranda, or someone else. It’s whoever’s handy.’
Tad said, ‘I don’t understand,’ and he stopped, to catch his breath. ‘Can you wait a minute?’
The man stopped and said, ‘Winded? At your age?’
Zane also stopped. ‘That was a long climb.’
‘That was nothing,’ said the man. ‘Wait until I get done with you; you’ll be running up and down those paths without thought.’
‘The Black Sorcerer,’ said Tad between breaths, pointing at the castle.
‘Well, you boys know about the Black Sorcerer, of course …’
‘No,’ interrupted Zane. ‘We don’t. That’s why we’re asking.’
‘I thought everyone on the Bitter Sea knew about the Black Sorcerer,’ said the man.
‘We’re not from the Bitter Sea,’ said Tad. ‘We’re from Stardock.’
‘Ah,’ said the man, nodding as if he understood. ‘Stardock.’ He turned. ‘Come along; rest is over.’
The boys took deep breaths and hurried after the rapidly walking man. ‘There used to be a man who lived up there,’ he said, ‘by name Macros. He started the legend of the Black Sorcerer so people would leave him alone. He left this island to Pug, who continues the legend, so that ships are not likely to put in here. It keeps things relatively quiet.’
As they headed down towards the beach, they came to a path leading from the castle that intercepted their own. ‘If you go that way,’ said the man, ‘you’ll go straight to the castle. It’s empty. It’s a pretty drab and uninviting place, though we brighten up the windows with some interesting lights if we think someone’s spying on us.’ He looked back grinning. ‘Good show.’ Turning his attention downhill, he said, ‘Now, here’s what I want you two to do,’ as they reached the sand. He pointed to a distant point on the beach where large rocks hid the curving shoreline. ‘Run that way, very fast. Go to that rock. Then run back here.’
Tad could barely stand. ‘Who are you?’
The man put his hands on his hips. ‘Tilenbrook, Farsez Tilenbrook. I am to be your tutor in all things physical for a while. You two have grown lazy and are unfit for the rigours you may face as Caleb’s apprentices.’
The boys exchanged glances. ‘We’re to be his apprentices?’ asked Zane.
‘Perhaps you are. Now run!’
The boys set off at a
