Daughter of Magic - Wizard of Yurt - 5 by C. Dale Brittain, Brittain Page B

deficiencies in my own magic to get the help of another skiled wizard.
    I thought briefly of Elerius, generaly considered the best student the school had ever produced. He had learned or guessed quite a bit about Theodora and me, and he might even feel he owed me a favor since I had never told anyone several secrets I had learned or guessed about him. But on the other hand I had never quite trusted him, and when we last met our relationship could hardly have been caled cordial.
    This was my problem. Zahlfast didn’t want other wizards investigating purported miracles in Joachim’s cathedral city any more than the bishop did. As long as the man didn’t return—and as long as nothing touched Antonia— I could act as though I was on top of the situation.
    In the meantime I intended to learn more about the plots against the Lady Justinia and how the decision had been made to send her to Yurt After al, the mage had sent her specificaly to me.
    Out in the courtyard I was startled to see a smal blue-clad figure, carrying a dol, walking purposefuly toward my chambers. I ran out to meet her
    “There you are, Wizard,” Antonia said, looking up at me with pleased sapphire eyes. “I was just looking for you.”
    I had to smile back, although al the dangers a child could get into wandering around a castle by herself flashed through my mind. “I thought you were with Hildegarde and Celia.” Theodora, I thought, must have to be constantly alert to what our daughter was doing; maybe having her away in Yurt was a welcome respite.
    “I like them,” said Antonia as I hoisted her onto my shoulder. “But they wanted me to take a nap, and I didn’t want to. I came here to see you, Wizard, not some ladies.” So she had been regretting not spending more time with me while I was regretting the same thing! “Celia is sad,” she added as I walked toward the south tower. “She wants to be a priest and the bishop won’t let her.” And Hildegarde wanted to be a knight and Gwennie the queen of Yurt, and it didn’t look as though any of them stood a chance. “What do you want to be, Antonia?”
    “A wizard. I already told you that. Do you think,” she added thoughtfuly, “that it would help if I talked to the bishop about Celia? He’s my friend.” I gave her a bounce, tickled to hear such adult concern in a child’s high voice. “He’s my friend too, but I don’t think it wil help for anyone to talk to him.” A cold thought struck me. “You aren’t by any chance also friends with—with someone they cal Dog-Man?”
    “No,” she said regretfuly. “Mother said I couldn’t play with him anymore. But my friend Jen got her dol burned al up,” she added with enthusiasm, “and he fixed it. That’s what I’l do when I’m a wizard: fix toys for people.”
    This was certainly a novel motivation for becoming a wizard. But I did not respond because we were now at the Lady Justinia’s door. Gwennie had put her in the finest rooms the castle had to offer guests, the suite where the king of Caelrhon stayed when he visited.
    Her automaton answered the door, stared at me with its flat metalic eyes for a moment, then motioned us inside. Antonia, staring, squeezed me around the neck until it was hard to breathe.
    Justinia rose from the couch and came to meet me. I managed to loosen Antonia’s arms from around my neck and gave a reasonable approximation of the formal half-bow. “I trust you are finding everything satisfactory, my lady?” I said. From what Gwennie had said, she had better be. “Now that I hope you’ve had a chance to settle in, I’d like to learn more of why you had to leave Xantium.” She waved me to a chair and reseated herself but did not seem immediately interested in talking about her affairs. Antonia perched on my knee. “That cold meat at luncheon, O Wizard,” Justinia asked,
    “prepared in a most bland style: was it perhaps beef?”
    “Of course it was,” Antonia provided, with an air of showing off