I scrunched up my face, unsure of what he meant. “Yes? Yes. I think so. I’ve got it pretty good, you know? Some people don’t get to have all that I do. I’m very lucky.”
He took a step into the room, and he needed to crouch slightly so his head didn’t hit the ceiling. I thought it was funny because Dad had to do the same thing. It was like they were giants. He trailed his fingers along the walls and scuffed his pointy pink shoes through the dirt. It only took him three or four steps to reach my bed. He stared down at it just for a moment, shoulders slumped. But before I could ask if something was wrong, he turned and sat down on the bed, the end of his beard in his lap.
“Sam,” he said. “There’s a reason for my visit.”
“You’re not gonna make me go to the dungeons and poop in buckets, are you?” I asked him suspiciously. “Because you already said you wouldn’t, and it’s the law that you can’t change your mind.”
“I’m not going to make you go to the dungeons and poop in buckets,” he said. “You have my word.”
“Whoa,” I whispered. “I have the word of a wizard. I am amazing.”
“That you are,” he agreed. “Which is part of the reason why I’m here.”
I squinted up at him. “You’re here because I’m amazing?”
“Yes.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s always good to have validation. Thank you.”
He coughed, like he was trying stay serious but needed to cover up a laugh. Pete did that to me all the time. “Sam, what do you know about magic?”
“I haven’t done any more,” I said quickly. “You made me promise not to try, and I always keep my promises.” I frowned. “Most of the time. And if I can’t keep my promise, I usually have a really good reason for it. Sometimes.”
He shook his head. “I know you haven’t. I’d be able to— It doesn’t matter, little one. I’m just curious about what you know.”
That made me feel better. “Oh! Well. Honestly? Not a whole lot. Like… there are magic words. And stuff. And you told me there are colors. Sometimes I see them, but I don’t touch them because you told me not to.” Then an idea hit me. “Can I turn things to turkey legs? Because I swear to the gods, if I can turn things to turkey legs, I would do that all the time. I’m sorry, but I would. I would do it all the time, and then I would eat every single one.”
He coughed again. It sounded a little forced. “That’s… maybe a lesson for another day.”
“So I can change things to turkey legs,” I whispered to myself. “Best. Day. Ever.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t not.”
“Do you know where magic comes from?”
That sufficiently distracted me from thoughts of turkey legs. “No,” I said slowly since I’d never really given it much thought. If I was being honest, as soon as I’d gotten my own pair of pink shoes, I hadn’t even thought about magic again.
He tapped the side of his head. “It starts here. With thought and decision.” Then he lowered his hand and tapped his chest, right over his heart. “But it’s controlled here. Because the heart controls emotion.”
“Actually, medical science has shown that the brain also controls emotion—”
“I’m trying to make a point.”
“Oh. Right. Metaphors. I know what those are. Do you? What’s a metaphor?”
“They’re—”
“To keep cows in,” I said, bursting out laughing. “Get it? ‘What’s a metaphor’ sounds like ‘what’s a meadow for’? It’s for cows.” I wiped my eyes. “I love smart humor.”
Morgan of Shadows stared at me wordlessly.
“It’s okay if you need me to explain it,” I told him. “Sometimes my jokes go over everyone’s heads. Actually, they pretty much do all the time. See, it’s called a pun, and everyone knows puns are the highest form of—”
“I know what a pun is. And meadows. And metaphors.”
“Oh. Right. I suppose you would. Because you’re the King’s Wizard. You’re supposed to know that kind of stuff so you can entertain the King when called upon to do so.”
“That might have something to do with it,” he said wryly. “But that’s not what I meant. Sam, magic is a thing of the head and the heart. It can be controlled by careful thought, by meticulous planning. Or it can be unleashed in a state of heightened emotion. Like fear when being chased into an alley by a group of older boys.”
I glared at him. “I wasn’t afraid. I’m not afraid of anything.”
“You’re not?”
“No.” I shook my head furiously. “I’m brave. I promise.”
“I believe you,” he said, a small smile on his face. “Do you think I’m brave?”
“Yeah,” I said, because of course he was. He was Morgan of Shadows. “Like, the bravest, even. I don’t know if there is anyone braver than you. Well, my dad is, because he’s awesome like that. But other than that, dude, so brave.”
“But even I get scared sometimes.”
“You do?” I asked, incredulous. “Of what?”
“Spiders.”
“Oh yeah,” I agreed. “That’s a good one. Spiders are gross. All those legs and eyes and they lay eggs in your ears while you’re asleep if you disobey your parents. My mom told me that.”
“Jesters.”
“Right? What are they even doing? Do they need to wear face makeup like that? They’re already freaky enough when they cackle and stuff. I got you, dude. Same page.”
He was quieter when he said, “Losing the ones I care about.”
I nodded solemnly. “Like your mom and dad?”
“Something like that.”
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Always.”
“I get scared of that too. Sometimes. They’re all I got, you know? And people in the slums, they don’t… they don’t always live so long. What would happen to me if they… if they….” I couldn’t even bear to finish the thought. I felt a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.
“Nothing will happen to them,” Morgan said. “I know it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they’re under my watch now. As long as you’ll do me a favor. Can you do me a favor, Sam?”
This sounded important. I wiped my eyes again (telling myself any wetness was left over from the pun). “Like, a mission or something? A quest? Whoa. Are you gonna send me on a secret quest where I’ll have to go undercover to infiltrate a base of bandits to steal a map that leads to treasure that’s bigger than my most wildest dreams?”
“No,” he said, but before I could be disappointed, he added, “it’s something greater.”
My young mind was blown, because I didn’t know what else in the world could be bigger than stealing a treasure map from a bandit’s base. “What is it?” I whispered.
“I need you and your parents to move to Castle Lockes, where you will become my apprentice and one day will become the King’s Wizard yourself, charged with protecting Verania. Is that something that you think you can do?”
“That’s… that’s… okay. Can I be honest? I like the idea of going undercover and stealing a treasure map from bandits better. Because there would be explosions and gold and rubies and junk.”
Morgan tilted his head back and laughed, and I decided right then it was my job to get him to do that again and again. “You are so much more than I ever hoped you would be.”