“You hoped for me?” I asked, confused.
There was a tightening around his eyes and mouth, but it was gone before I could be sure it was there. “When I thought of who my apprentice would be,” he said, “I never thought it would be someone like you. I should like it very much if you would do me the honor.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“A very good thing, Sam.”
“O… kay. And you promise my mom and dad can come too?”
“I promise,” Morgan said, and I believed him. “And they will never have to worry about money or food or clothes ever again. I will make sure they’re taken care of for the rest of their days. Much like I promise to watch over you for the rest of mine.”
And suddenly, the reality of what he was offering me felt like it was choking my heart. Here he was, this man, this powerful wizard who I had met only once before, telling me he could make my wishes upon the stars come true. That my mother would be cared for. That my father wouldn’t have to worry anymore. That I could do something great. That I could become someone special. That maybe, just maybe, people would remember my name because I would be good and kind.
“Why are you doing this?” I said, bottom lip wobbling and eyes stinging. “You don’t even know me. You don’t know us.”
He lifted his hand from my shoulder and moved it to the back of my neck, holding me tightly. And for the first time, I felt something coming from him, something that felt like safe and home. I didn’t recognize it for what it was then, his magic mingling with mine, but that was okay. It was enough that it was there.
“Because I see the magic that is in your heart, Sam,” he said softly. “The greatness of it. How vast it could be. You might not see it, and there will be others who underestimate you, but I know you’ll prove them wrong. And I’ll show you how. You have a gift, little one. You are brave. And strong. Please say yes. Please let me take you away from here.”
I cried then, as I threw myself at him. I knew that only babies shed tears, that I was eleven years old and almost a man. And maybe I was a little embarrassed at crying in front of my new friend. But he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly against his chest, his beard tickling my nose. He didn’t even seem to care that I was getting snot all over it. And since he didn’t, I didn’t either, and I let myself have this moment, this brief little moment when a weight was lifted off my shoulders for the first time since I could remember.
“You’ll see,” he whispered as I hiccupped against him. “You’ll see. I’ll show you the way, but the choices will be yours. There is a path, Sam, that all must follow, but there are many ways to move along it. And I promise you that I’ll help you find your own way. Not everything is set in stone.”
He rocked me back and forth, there in my little bedroom in our little shack in the middle of the slums, making promises that I knew, I just knew, he would keep.
EVENTUALLY WE walked back into the kitchen hand in hand. I was smiling up at him with stars in my eyes. He winked at me and squeezed my hand.
My parents stood in the tiny kitchen, huddled close, Dad looking shell-shocked, Mom’s face wet, her hands trembling. Pete stood before them, looking rather pleased with himself.
I dropped Morgan’s hand and ran toward my parents. Dad was ready for me, arms open wide. I crawled up him until we were face-to-face. I reached up and squished cheeks with my hands and proclaimed, “I’m going to be a badass wizard!”
“Sam,” Mom admonished wetly. “You watch your language. We live in a civilized household. Act like it.”
“But I am badass,” I said. “Even Morgan said I was.”
“I don’t know that I said it like that—”
“Don’t front! You meant the same thing!”
Morgan sighed.
Pete laughed. “It’s going to be like this now. Forever. Ain’t nobody to blame but yourself.”
“We’re going to live in the castle!” I said excitedly, squishing my dad’s face even further. “And Morgan is going to teach me magic and I’m going to be so awesome and I’ll get to have friends and you get to go with me and we won’t be hungry and we’ll get to have baths every day—wait.” I turned in my dad’s arms to glare at Morgan. “I better not have to have a bath every day.”
“Every day,” he said solemnly. “You’ll be in the King’s Court, Sam. A requirement is not to smell like stinky little boy anymore. You might even have to comb your hair every now and then.”
“Good luck with that,” Mom muttered.
“Oh well,” I said slyly. “I guess we’ll just have to stay here. Darn. How disappointing.”
They all stared at me.
They were totally falling for it. Adults were so dumb.
They still stared at me.
They weren’t falling for it. Adults were so dumb.
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “I was kidding. We’re still going, even if I have to bathe every day. Gods. Whatever. It’s waste of water, especially when I’m just going to get dirty again.” And then another thought hit me. “Do I still have to do math?”
“A lot of it,” Morgan said, grinning widely.
“Ugh,” I mumbled. “Maybe I wasn’t kidding about staying here. Math is stupid.”
“Are you sure about this, my lord?” Dad asked, voice shaking in a way I had never heard before. I turned back toward him, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone look so hopeful. “About him? About us?”
“And that we’ll all be together?” Mom asked. She glanced at me and Dad before looking back at Morgan. “You won’t separate us from each other?”
“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life,” Morgan said. “You will all be together and in good hands. And Sam… well. He’ll be… extraordinary, I think.”
“That’s another word for amazing,” I whispered to my dad, just to make sure he understood. “He’s talking about me.”
“Can we have a moment?” Dad asked.
“Of course,” Morgan said, bowing his head. “We’ll wait outside to give you all the privacy you need.”
Dad moved me to one arm while reaching out with the other to shake Pete’s hand. They left, and we heard the rickety front door close behind them. Silence fell in the kitchen where less than an hour before, we’d been hunched around an old and outdated math book. How strange it was that things could change so quickly. It was usually for the worse. Today just happened to be for the better.
“What did he tell you?” Dad asked.
I told them everything as I remembered it. The promises made. Morgan’s faith in me. What I could become. That we could leave this place and never have to worry again. Fanciful, sure, and probably unrealistic, but I felt like a boy in a fairy tale, being plucked from his slovenly obscurity and handed his wishes on a silver platter.
“And this is what you want?” Mom asked when I finally ran out of words, my voice hoarse and cracked from the excitement.