The Sorcerer of Wands: Azabar's Icicle Part 2 Read online

  “Where is he?” said Bliss in a whisper.

  Granddad Todd nodded to where a form which lay on the vegetable bed. A sack cloth covered the body.

  “It was quick. Out like a light I thought he was dozing, always was a sleepy beggar.”

  “How long’s he been lying there?”

  “A while; couldn’t tell anyone until you’d come back.”

  Bliss looked appalled.

  “Why not?”

  “Don’t you see? People would have known you possessed a working Disc-Artefact. You would have to have given it up!”

  “But….”

  “Look, if he was choking or some’at I’d have got help; but, he didn’t suffer, didn’t even have the cough: just keeled over. Telling the world ten minutes ago would have made no difference to telling the world now, except, everyone would have found out about your artefact. This is how he would have wanted it.”

  Bliss looked at Granddad Todd, then at the sack covered body, then back to Granddad Todd.

  “Can I see him?”

  Granddad Todd nodded and led the friends over. He lifted back the top of the sack to show Grandfather Eavis’s face. Aden thought the old man looked like he was in a restful sleep. The lines on his face had faded.

  “He had a good innings,” said Granddad Todd gently. He replaced the sack cloth over Grandfather Eavis.

  Chapter 35: Hamble’s Shack

  After telling the rest of the family the shocking and upsetting news, Bliss's mother insisted the friends go to their second work-shift of the day. She, she said, would deal with all the arrangements regarding Grandfather Eavis.

  Bliss was instructed, by Hacknor, to fetch flour from the mill for Ted’s bakery and Aden to help on Molly May’s flower stall because her assistant was ill.

  Molly May was a woman who wore dresses made from patches of cloth and had her grey hair set in a bun. She was often tired, as she was some sort of dancer in the evenings too.

  Aden helped cut the flowers and make arrangements, but his mind was back on the roof. He felt numb; like he’d lost an object and couldn’t remember where it was. A feeling of something missing, something lost.

  At different times of the day, memories of Bliss’s Grandfather came back to him. Like the times he took the friends fishing, or the times he used to kick a wooden ball with them when they were young. Aden smiled to himself; apparently, Grandfather Eavis kicked the ball with the friends because the exercise got his sluggish bowels working.

  Six O’ Clock in the evening, when the customers had dwindled and the stalls were starting to close, Molly May told Aden he could slope off early.

  “Go on Aden, Luv. I can finish off here. You shoot off. Hacknor’s at the opening of the enclosure for Saib’s ugly big snake. He won’t be back until the end of day. You go and do whatever you have to do; you’re miles away today, anyway.”

  The younger porters were obliged to sign off Hacknor’s register at the end of a shift and it was an age until then. Aden could have gone back to the Todd’s, but he didn’t want to. When Martha learnt the news she’d given out a gasp; Arthur Todd was pale when he’d come back from the roof. The priests would be there now, saying a blessing to Gabrien and the other saints. The smell of lavender too: pungent.

  No Aden couldn’t go back, not for now. By evening, the body would be in the Cathedral being prepared for burial; but, to go back now meant he would see Grandfather Eavis again. He couldn’t face it, not now.

  He’d been walking without aim and realized he was beside the giant shack of the wood golem, Hamble. The door to the shack was open.

  Aden popped his head around. Exotic smells hit his nose, Hamble was preparing food. The pigeons in their cages flapped and cooed, feathers swirled.

  Dotty, Hamble’s gray parrot, saw Aden. She squawked, ruffled her plumage and shuffled along her perch.

  “What do you want, tea or coffee? What do you want, tea or coffee,” she mimicked.

  Buster, Hamble’s Jack Russell, perked his ears and leapt along the cavernous interior of the shack, towards Aden. Without stopping, he barked and jumped to lick Aden’s chin.

  “Hello, Aden,” said Hamble, in his plodding manner. “I’m making casserole for Buster. It’s his favourite nowadays, casserole. Casserole or steak, but I’m making casserole today because he had steak yesterday.”

  Aden patted Buster on the head. “Hello boy, how are you?”

  Buster barked, turned away from Aden and ran round and round the inside of the shack for several laps, before calming in the middle of the room with his tongue lolling.

  “Good boy Buster, Good boy Buster,” said Dotty, from her perch.

  Not living, in the normal sense of the word, Hamble didn’t need to sleep, didn’t need to eat and didn’t get tired; he didn’t feel heat or cold and didn’t age. Having only a top half of a body meant he had a ready made stump to sit on at any moment.

  The golem’s attributes affected the interior of the shack less than one might imagine, thought Aden. No bed existed, but furniture was aplenty. A desk sat near Dotty’s perch, around which congregated stools. Cupboards and shelves swarmed near the table and a stove squatted in the corner, puffing smoke along a crooked pipe and into the market air.

  All this wasn’t for show: Hamble loved company and cooking.

  The shelves groaned with powders and herbs, smoked meat wafted flavours from where it hung from hooks, pickles squeezed into jars and vegetables sat succulent on a breadboard.

  Hamble indicated a chair.

  “Sit down, Aden. What do you want, tea or coffee? You had coffee two days ago and I can make tea if you would prefer. Then again, if you want to have the same, you can.”

  “I’ll have tea, please.”

  Aden went to the table at the end of the shack. Hamble broke off from preparing Buster’s lunch and in his slow, half speed way, made a cup of tea and placed it before his friend.

  Aden was always intrigued how Hamble made tea with a delicate normal kettle considering his fingers were almost as thick as Aden’s wrists. But, somehow, he did.

  “Busy day Aden?” asked Hamble. “Have you been busy carrying things on the market? Have you had lots to carry?”

  Aden thought about the new world and about Grandfather Eavis.

  “Delivered those paintings to the academy this morning when I saw you and Marti, loads more to do since then.”

  Aden couldn’t say anything about the alien world, it was a secret. He didn’t know how to talk about Grandfather Eavis.

  Hamble’s face creaked into a smile.

  “I like Marti. I like Marti even though he’s foreigner. I know he’s a foreigner because he talks a bit funny and I hear people say things about people who speak a bit funny. They call them foreigners and they say they’re not as good as them. But, even though he speaks funny and so can’t be as good as them, I still sort of like him.”

  Aden nodded absently, “If Marti gives you a skeleton to help with the street cleaning, I think you should try it out somewhere safe to begin with.”

  “I will, Aden, yes. That would make sense. Yes, I’ll try it somewhere very safe. How do you mean by safe, exactly?”

  “Not too much rubbish and not too many people about.”

  “Yes, I like that. We’ll start in a street which hasn’t got many of those things.”

  Aden looked at Hamble from the corner of his eye, and tried to keep his tone unchanged: “Hamble, Grandfather Eavis died today, of old age.”

  Buster barked and Hamble said: “Good dog Buster. I think he wants to have his meal, Aden. He gets impatient if he hasn’t eaten. I think that’s understandable, I’ve noticed most creatures which need to eat act funny if they don’t. Excuse me.”

  “Sure.”

  It seemed Hamble didn’t know how to react to the news. Aden felt a sense of relief, because it gave a sense of distance to the events. Aden sipped his tea. It tasted different, an unusual tang.

  “Have you been experimenting with the tea
again?”

  “I’ve put a pinch of Adventurine spiked leaf in the kettle, with the normal leaves. Adventurine leaves have a nuttier flavour, so I’m told. Not that I know a nutty flavour from a non nutty flavour.”

  “Ah,” said Aden.

  “Do you like it?”

  “It’s different.”

  Aden left the table and went to Dotty, he stroked her head, then put his finger near her beak; she ruffled her feathers and gave him a playful nip.

  “Hamble, like I said, Bliss’s dad’s dad died today. It’s making me feel a bit funny.”

  Hamble’s head swivelled to look at Aden. Hamble’s expression was one of puzzlement. His arms stopped moving midway into the process of turning a pepper grinder.

  “Four hundred and thirty three years ago, the Sorcerer Binzolick created me,” said the Golem matter-of-factly. “He was my father, almost, you could say, Binzolick. I wish I could have felt grief when he died. It would have been nice for him wouldn’t it, a bit of grief? People feel grief, when someone dies. Did you know? Even though I don’t, people do, most of them anyway. That’ll be the funny feeling you’re feeling now, grief.”

  Aden felt sad thoughts about Grandfather Eavis well up inside of him and nodded.

  “What was it like back then, in Binzolick’s time?”

  Hamble’s arms started turning the pepper grinders again.

  “In the age of sorcery, there were good magicians and bad ones. The good sorcerers made water in deserts and food for the starving. The good sorcerers healed people and made their swords bend before they could fight, and made the evening bright with lights and kept big monsters away.

  “The bad sorcerers made weapons and flames and monsters, they made themselves big and strong and nasty. Binzolick was a good sorcerer, even though his biggest spell was me. I mean, I know I don’t conjure food or heal people or do things like that, but, I do try to do good things, and I know I can’t do much more than sweep streets, but I do try to spend of lot of time doing that, because it’s a good thing.”

  Hamble said the last a bit hesitantly and looked at Aden for confirmation.

  “Course it is.”

  Hamble relaxed, a sound like a ship settling at berth.

  Aden took another sip of the tea.

  “I wonder if the Amari killed all the sorcerers, because there were too many bad ones.”

  “Don’t know.”

  “It makes me curious, why they did what they did, especially as they were sorcerers too.”

  “Curiosity killed the cat,” said Hamble. “But then they say things like ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ and I don’t understand that either. The Amari had a coloured mark on their head, they did, the Amari.”

  Aden suddenly remembered the water seller he’d met back in the Dazarian market, after the release from prison; he’d borne a mark on his forehead too.”

  “What mark?” Asked Aden.

  Hamble paused to think.

  “I can’t remember.”

  Aden left Dotty and went to look at the racing pigeons. A verdant suit hung near their cage; it was the size of a small tent.

  Hamble took a quart of rabbit casserole and eased it into Buster’s bowl. Buster rushed the meal and chewed on the meat before lapping the liquid. His tail wagged.

  “His reaction tells me if my latest recipe is good. If he wags his tail he’s happy. Some of my recipes in the past weren’t always so good, probably why I’ve owned a lot of dogs.”

  Aden tried not to think too much about the ramifications of what Hamble just said. He didn't mean that...

  “What do you want, tea or coffee?” squawked Dotty, interrupting Aden's thoughts.

  Aden's attention was caught by the giant verdant suit again, and he lifted one green arm.

  “What are you going to wear this too?”

  Hamble’s head swivelled away from Buster to stare at the suit.

  “The Ambassador’s garden party next week. I’m going with Molly May and Arble. You don’t know Arble, he’s a new friend of mine. It’ll be my first Ambassador’s party. Arble’s been down lately, we hope this will cheer him up. I think it will cheer him up because Ambassador’s parties are special, did you know? They’re special and full of important people, so Arble is bound to be cheered up. Isn’t he? Probably, we will help Saib Isbar in the food tent too.”

  Aden lowered the suit’s arm and let go.

  “Sardohan’s will be there. I’d be careful of him if I were you.”

  “Why?” Asked Hamble.

  “We think he’s smuggling drugs,” said Aden, before remembering he’d promised not to mention the drugs to anyone. He cursed himself silently.

  “Keep it to yourself though, there’s no proof, yet.”

  “Drugs? I hope he doesn’t smuggle them during the Ambassadors party. Ambassador’s parties are special, and it’s not nice to ruin them with drugs. Drugs are nasty, so I’m told, even though they don’t affect me. Do you know people who are on drugs keep losing their money? I don’t know how it works, but that’s why they’ve never got enough, because the drug makes them lose it again. Saib’s going to let everyone try a lovely new Dazarian recipe, on the day. We wouldn’t want it spoiled because everyone’s on drugs and they haven’t got enough money to afford Saib’s new dish.”

  Chapter 36: The Gold Coins

  Later, Aden left Hamble’s hut and made his way to Hacknor’s office, to sign off the work register for the day. He turned the corner to see Bliss, Weever, Munter, Charlotte Able, Pete Colby, Gary Broad and others, waiting at Hacknor’s door.

  “How’d it go with the flour fetching?” asked Aden.

  Dark circles lay around Bliss’s eyes.

  “Okay. It helped take my mind off my Grandfather.”

  “Did you tell Ted about it?”

  Bliss looked uncomfortable.

  “No. It’s not easy to talk about, is it?”

  “Where’s Hacknor?”

  “He’s still at the opening of the snake enclosure function. You know how he likes things like that; probably telling them his soldier stories.”

  “Sardohan will be there because the snake came from Dazarian,” said Garry Broad, a dark haired athletic looking lad, to Aden: “Hacknor really sucks up to him, haven’t you noticed? Sardohan must be up to something; he wouldn’t go out of his way to talk to a market foreman like he does, otherwise. He’s invited Hacknor to at least three posh dos since he’s returned on the Grey Hind with you two.”

  “I heard Hacknor practising his speech for the snake opening, earlier,” said the stocky Pete Colby. “He was saying he’d persuaded Saib nothing but the best food should be fed to the thing.”

  “He had nothing to do with feeding the snake on the Grey Hind,” said Aden.

  “Saib won’t say anything to embarrass Hacknor. It’d only make his life difficult,” said Gary.

  Bliss made a face. “Someone should; but, I bet it’s only him and Saib at the ceremony.”

  Colby, who’d been sucking a liquorice root, tore it out of his mouth and put his arms behind his back. “Look sharp. Here he comes, ‘bout time too. I want my supper, fecking famished.”

  Hacknor approached them with a rare smile on his face. Obviously, thought Aden, the opening ceremony of the snake enclosure had gone well.

  “Ah, my fine workers, have you all had a good day?”

  Mumbles came in reply.

  Neither Aden nor Bliss ventured to mention Grandfather Eavis.

  “So was mine,” said Hacknor as he put key to padlock at the door. He paused and Aden thought he saw a swift look on the man’s face.

  “Here Aden, I almost forgot. Mr. Sardohan was at the ceremony. He gave me this letter for you and Bliss.”

  Hacknor put his hand in his pocket and brought out an envelope, which he handed to Aden. The envelope felt unexpectedly heavy. He exchanged a puzzled look with Bliss, who shrugged. What would Sardohan want to write to them about, he wondered?

  Aden opened the envelope and a
s he pulled out a letter, two gold coins fell into his hand.

  Now, even more puzzled, he unfolded the letter and read it aloud.

  ‘My dear Aden and Bliss, I’m sure you know what this is for, best wishes, Sardohan.’

  Bliss frowned at the gold pieces in Aden's hand.

  “What are they for?” She said.

  “What indeed?” said Gary Broad, a suspicious look forming on his face.

  Aden glanced at the other porters and he couldn’t mistake the dark looks suddenly cast towards him and Bliss.

  Chapter 37: The Adventurine Cod

  The days that followed were tough.

  Grandfather Eavis’s funeral took place on Thursday. A sombre affair attended by many people. Bliss spent the service with her head in her hands. Aden found his eyes watering at the closing prayer by Hopily and had to use a handkerchief to dry them. Eavis’s death left a gloom about the Todd family which Aden couldn’t see lifting for a while.

  Sardohan’s gift a few days previous, added to their problems.

  Aden thought it’d be obvious to people that if he and Bliss were involved in secret deals with the Dazarians, Sardohan would give them money discreetly, not via a third party like Hacknor. However, a few days of funny looks and odd comments proved the Ambassador’s troublemaking had fooled some.

  A visit to the Wall confirmed the gossip that was circulating: ‘Just what arrangement does Sardohan have with Aden and Bliss?’ asked the writing. ‘Did they enter an arrangement with the Dazarian authorities in return for early release from prison? How does their owning of a Disc-Artefact tally with the payment of a gold coin each? Perhaps the Dazarian authorities are behind the so called ‘Threat’ to Haverland and have paid the friends to keep silent on the matter from now on?’

  There were articles that were more outrageous still. Aden realized most people would take the stories with a pinch of salt; what worried him was the type of people who believed them: the most ill tempered, nasty, bullying folk in Haverland.