The Accidental Apprentice by Anika Arrington

Author:Anika Arrington [Arrington, Anika]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2020-06-12T22:00:00+00:00

Rezdin

I awoke to the reek of old fish and regret. Crispin's face, furious with my indifference, stared from behind my eyelids. I sat with my back against a wall in an alley, surrounded by rotting crates and rubbish bins, my head on my knees. The morning was damp and chill, and the stones beneath my feet greedily consumed my heat.

Only once before had I felt so wretched. But I was not a boy anymore, and this time I was not destitute. This time I had skills and knowledge, and perhaps the company of a demon turned house pet.

"Marco," I rasped without raising my head. There was no reply. Perhaps he was combing the walks of Upper Havensgate, looking for a new wizard. I couldn't blame him, but the loneliness ate at my chest all the same.

My stomach rumbled. Moving as little as possible, I reached for my bag. I fiddled until I got the strings undone and summoned a small lump of dense clay into my hand. I rolled it around my palm, sensing its makeup. I moved energy, rearranging its structure, texture, nature, until I had a steaming meat pie.

I lifted my head, my neck muscles objecting. I started to pop the kinks out and paused. Two eyes peered at me from across the alley. The dim light of early morning didn't penetrate the shadows, but they were bright and clear and human. I fought the urge to blow the alley apart and run. Or bring in a fog and disappear with it. Instead, I stared, waiting to see who would emerge.

The slight figure stood. I slowly righted my head as I took him in. No light glinted off his dingy hair, his clothes were still tattered and insufficient to keep out the cold, but this time he had shoes. The daylight made him smaller somehow.

"Tommy?"

A great white smile banished the darkness of the street filth on his face for a moment. Then it was gone again and he looked about warily before crossing the alley to sit next to me.

"I hoped you might know me again," he said, eyeing my breakfast. "Certain everyone in Havensgate knows you now."

"The wanted posters are up already, then?"

"And they've made announcements in every square of Upper and Lower Havensgate," Tommy confirmed. I enlarged the pocket pie and then broke it in half. The boy snatched the proffered piece from my hand and gobbled ravenously.

I took one bite and remembered why I didn't prepare my own meals. I could still taste remnants of the clay and the gravy was too thin.

Tommy was licking his fingers—heaven only knew where they had been—by the time I swallowed that first bite. I offered him the other half. Rather than devouring it like the first, Tommy tucked it into the same threadbare pocket that had held a silver spoon and then two silver farthings.

Looking down at the cobbles, Tommy chewed his lower lip. "It's near a king's ransom what they're offering for you."

I raised an eyebrow. "And

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