01- Half a Wizard by Stefon Mears

Author:Stefon Mears
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

12

Cavan always figured that if he returned home under armed guard, he had to be in some sort of trouble.

Then again, he never expected Jamse to be leading those guards. For that matter, he never expected to see Jamse in a guard uniform, much less with a diagonal sergeant’s stripe across the left breast of his chainmail. Jamse had been just as much a troublemaker of a kid as Cavan had been. Maybe more. Certainly the last person Cavan would have guessed would…

Then again, Jamse had none of his father’s talent for cobbling. Had to make his living some way…

Almost as odd to Cavan was that the town guards wore chainmail now. Cavan wondered when that had changed. When he was a kid, they’d worn leather that always looked well broken-in. Sometimes even in need of repairs. The guards had tended toward blunt weapons in those days, the kind that didn’t need much training. Maces, clubs, that sort of thing.

These days the town guard looked like soldiers. Chain mail from the neck down. Steel caps with nose guards. Tabards over the chainmail, the royal sigil on the right shoulder — twin rivers crossing at a heart, on a pale blue background — town’s seal on the left shoulder — three gold coins against a green background.

They all wore swords now, in addition to their clubs. Short swords, but still. And they had small, round shields on their backs, the kind with a jut in the middle that could pack a punch, if swung right.

Their armament didn’t stop there. Crossbows weren’t only for special units of the town guard anymore. Apparently every guard was expected to carry and use one, when the need arose.

Cavan wanted to ask about these things. Wanted to ask how Jamse ended up a guardsman, too. But this was not the time. And he knew, as he looked around, watching the rooftops for archers, that this was not the place either.

“I don’t see anyone,” Jamse said. He had even more freckles now than he did as a child. And though his red hair was trimmed short under that steel cap, he still apparently had just as much trouble keeping his face free of dirt. “You’re sure they’re there?”

“Positive,” Cavan said. “They hit us once on the road coming here. And they knew this was our destination.”

“Get inside then,” Jamse said, eyes still scanning for trouble. “We’ll take a look around.” He glanced at Cavan, and just for a moment Cavan saw the friend he remembered so well, underneath the sergeant. “If you need long in there, I can’t guarantee we’ll be here when you come out.”

“Of course,” Cavan said. “Thanks, Jamse. Believe me when I tell you you saved lives today. Maybe even ours.”

Jamse smiled, and Cavan would have sworn a quip made it as far as his old friend’s lips before fading out. Not the time or place. But reassuring.

With town guards watching their backs, Cavan looked over the back of the house where he grew up.

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