The Rossem Project

Settling In - Part 5

     The room was the largest he'd seen so far, consisting of six cells that had been knocked together, but it was still rather small according to the standards he'd come to expect. One long bench ran along the outer wall, beneath the six small, barred windows, and two tables stood at opposite ends of the long room. The rest of the room was a single long, open space. Books, bottles and equipment of every conceivable kind covered every available horizontal space, except for the table at the far end of the room that contained only a large glass globe that shone brightly with its own inner light. An elderly man with a hunched back and spindly legs was bent over this globe, his face lit from below like something out of a cheap horror film.

     The man straightened as much as his back would allow as Thomas entered, pausing just within the open door, and the younger man saw that the older man was almost bald, with just a few straggly wisps of hair clinging on above his ears. He had a long, hooked nose and a pointed chin, features possessed by many older wizards and caused by years of exposure to high levels of magic. If Thomas lived long enough, he might look like that himself one day.

     The man scowled at him as if he'd been interrupted in the middle of something very important, and Thomas felt himself quailing with apprehension. First impressions, he thought. Got to make a good first impression. He quelled his nervousness, therefore, and tried to give an impression of confidence and professionalism as he looked the older man squarely in the face. "Excuse me, sir," he said, "but are you the wizard Pondar Walton?"

     "Indeed I am," replied the elderly man, taking a few limping steps towards him. "And you, I presume, are one Thomas Gown, who graduated twenty five years ago and now fancies a spell in research. Hmm?"

     "Yes, master," said Thomas, falling effortlessly back into his apprentice humility and servility, essential when handling such a dangerous and capricious force as magic. When a number of wizards are working together, it is essential for one of them to take charge and for the others to follow his lead with unquestioning obedience. Any conflict, no matter how minor, could cause the subtle and delicate energies to slip out of control, with potentially disastrous consequences. "I see you've already got people working for you, though. Do you need more assistants?"

     "I can always find a use for a competent wizard, someone not afraid of a bit of hard work." His tone of voice, and the look in his eyes as he studied him, suggested that he strongly doubted Thomas would possess these qualities. "Even those incompetents I do get landed with are constantly being poached off me. That bloody fool Saturn's the biggest culprit. You stay away from that one, you hear me?"

     He jabbed a knobbly finger at him and Thomas stared at it as if it were a loaded crossbow. Pondar was already angry with him, and he'd only just walked in through the door! He nodded dumbly and Pondar relaxed, nodding in satisfaction.

     "Good. You'll watch who you associate with if you want to work for me. If I take you on, I'll expect you to stay with me. I won't take you back if your new master lays you off. Understand?"

     Thomas nodded again and hurriedly dropped his eyes. He wanted this position, wanted it badly. He wasn't going to risk it by offending his new master.

     Pondar took a few more hobbling steps until he was standing right in front of Thomas. He drew himself up to his full height, and the younger wizard was astounded to see that, even with his stooped back, the older wizard was a good three inches taller than him. He must have been a giant of a man in the days of his youth! He reached out to cup Thomas’s face in his hands, and the younger wizard flinched at the touch of the cold, bony fingers, but he forced himself to relax and let his arms hang loosely at his sides as the older wizard looked him closely in the eyes. "Blue eyes," he muttered. "You don't look the type to have blue eyes."