"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Ethshar 2 - With a Single Spell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

an odd smell that reminded Tobas of the air after a heavy thunderstorm filled
the room. "I didn't know it would do that!" he exclaimed.
"Now you know," Alderamon said, as he handed back the knife. "You are
indeed a wizard, beyond question, since you own a true athame. An athame has
many special properties, including that sensitivity to others of its kind;
even the experts don't know everything an athame will do."
"Roggit never told me that; he just said that I would need it for most of
my spells and that it was the mark and sign of a true wizard."
"It is that and rather more; did you know that so long as you touch its
hilt, you cannot be bound? No rope or chain can hold a wizard so long as he
has his athame. Touching the points, as I have just demonstrated, will tell
you whether another knife is an athame or just a dagger, and thereby whether
its owner is a wizard or a fraud; the intensity of the reaction varies with
the proximity of the rightful owner, so that, had you stolen the knife from
him who made it, the noise and sparks would have scarcely been noticeable."
Tobas was fascinated. "Really?"
"Really."
Tobas stared at the dagger in his hand for a long moment, then recalled
himself and returned the blade to its sheath.
"Now, you say your master died after teaching you only one combustion
spell?"
"Yes."
"When was this?"
"He died about three sixnights ago."
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen," Tobas admitted reluctantly.
"And in five years he taught you just one spell?"
"Ah... I was older than twelve when he took me on, and he was a very old
man, slow to teach me." He stared at the worn floorboards, wondering what
Alderamon would do about this confession of unforgivable irregularities in his
apprenticeship.
"Oh, well, it's none of my concern," Alderamon said. "What's done is
done, and you're a wizard now, however it happened. What do you want of me?"
"Well, I'm alone in the world now, my parents are dead, my master is
dead, my cousins have thrown me out. I was hoping that the Wizards' Guild
would take care of one of its own and help me out. I have no money, no place
to stay, and no prospects as a wizard with a single spell. Could it be
arranged that I be taught more spells, so that I can earn a living?"
Alderamon stared at him for a moment. "Why did you come to me?" he said
at last.
"You were the first wizard I found," Tobas replied.
Alderamon shook his head. "Boy, I am no Guildmaster, no member of the
inner circles, if there truly are any inner circles."
"But you're a wizard, a member of the Guild!"
"Well, yes..."
"Can't you help out a fellow wizard, then?"
"It's not my problem, lad; why should I burden myself? The Guild has done
little enough for me over the years, and you've done nothing for me at all."
"I'd do anything I can for you, in exchange for being taught more spells,
but what is there that I can do?"