Chapter 19: Lunch

Jane was correct; I liked her uncle on sight.

He was a jovial man, and I could see why Jane loved her uncle, they were twin spirits. Compassion sat around them both like a friendly cloud, and they soon cheered anyone who came near them.

Hugo’s two friends were interesting people. Lord Will Young looked like his name at barely twenty but was in fact twice that. Lord Penny Gold was petite and had a mass of curly golden hair. They all had very strong auras, and I knew they each had good control of several disciplines.

We invited the druids upstairs, and while Lindell led the way, I blinked away. Lindell got them settled at the table, and I popped back with three boxes. Hugo looked at the boxes in my arms. “Will they help us defeat him?” he said straight out.

I was amused that he hadn’t asked why I had them or what was in them. “I’m good friends with John Wright. We had a lovely chat about you yesterday,” he told me answering my unasked question.

I smiled at the man, “I don’t know at this point, but they will help you be better leaders and teachers.”

“John also informed me of your Care Centre and the changes in this neighbourhood. I applaud your good works,” he told me. I thanked him politely. I didn’t think of it as good works, it just felt right to help the kids and their families if they had any.

I gave them the spiel, and all three grasped that these boxes came with greater responsibilities. They all looked at each other and agreed as one to accept. I could feel their desire to claim the boxes as well as the boxes desire to go to them.

It was an odd feeling when the box expressed this desire to me. I’d made them, but somehow I hadn’t, either. They seem to take on a life of their own once I placed the bling in the boxes and closed the lids.

Some of the spells I put on the boxes I didn’t really understand. The manual simply said they wouldn’t work as intended unless I added the phases as written once the box was filled.

When I’d put these spells on the first box I made, it was if the room had been filled with happiness and joy. The box also had a very different feel. It went from an inanimate object to an entity.

When I added the extra protection spells to the boxes, they seemed to be happy to have them added. I soon decided to do what felt right to the box and me. The box would let me know if any extra spells suited its personality, for want of a better word, or not.

Every druid’s ring or medallion that I encountered that was owned by an honourable person, had no qualms accepting the special spells I added. I often noticed the wearer seemed more content and happier afterwards, as well.

Tyus had been a good example. I had felt the medallions joy of being given to him and his in return. I felt they would both be very happy together as long as Tyus lived. It was as if two souls had come together as one.

I’d felt something similar when the mage box accepted me. The mage box seemed to know that we wouldn’t be together long but it was happy to be mine while it was.

When I had passed it on to Walter, it was more than content to go to him, and I had felt them join strongly as I had with the Lord Wizard’s box. I felt they would be together a long time like the others who received my boxes and adapted druid’s bling.

I believed the joining made the bling and the user stronger and in better control of their abilities. They also seemed to suppress the user’s desire to use them for the wrong reasons. I felt that the main thing the bling didn’t like being used for was inflicting harm on other people.

Those that had been subverted, I had to retrieve and fix first. I’d been studying the spells used to twist or suppress the nature of the items and had found they were all the same design, which is why I believed it was one person doing the evil to them.

I felt the spell that encouraged the wearer to do the right thing had been twisted to allow them to do as they wished. I had no problem with free will, but in this case, the bling and the user were no longer able to differentiate between right and wrong, in accordance with the values of this culture.

They now allowed the user to control or harm others. I felt that this was not what how they were supposed to be used. I believe the phrase I asked them to repeat as an oath said it all.

After swapping my boxes for their medallions, I explained this to my guests. Apparently, I was preaching to the converted. Hugo said he liked the oath and they agreed that in the future it would be added to their ceremonies.

I re-spelled the medallions and gave them to Hugo. He held them and smiled. “We currently have about fifty of each in the vault would you agree to re-spell them for us?” he asked.

I agreed, “Yes, I believe I can teach you three these spells so you can fix them when they come back. By the way, how do you get them back if the wearer dies?”

“The families frequently return the item in the hope that one of their members can claim it. What have you been doing with the ones I have heard that you have been redistributing?”

I looked at the new mages sheepishly, “I put a return spell on them to return to a specific location.” I didn’t say where I sent the items as I had decided that until I sorted Lord Gazan out, I didn’t want them coming back here where he could possibly get his hands on them.

I asked them how Gazan got his hands on the devices. Penny said, “They aren’t all returned to us. The family member or a thief takes them to him to alter. I can’t stand being in the same room with an altered device. Those that go into the vault, he can’t touch.”

I asked if I could see this vault. Hugo grinned and said that if I were going to fix the others, then I’d have to go to the vault. I grinned at him at my thickness, and Kim and Lindell chuckled at my desire to set things right.

I said I’d teach them the return spell as it came in handy for other items as well. We all had to chuckle when Will and Penny looked at Hugo with raised eyebrows. I guessed that was a story for another day.

I asked about how long Lord Gazan had been changing the devices.

Hugo replied, “About thirty years ago he inherited a mine that was up near Weston. The rumour was he had found two boxes. He was able to access one box, and it held a lot of books that he could read. It is said the other box opened for him about two years later.”

“He had always had strong powers, and this box made him invincible. About five years later, he had met a young woman whom he desired, but she didn’t return his feelings.”

“He had told my father that he was having trouble controlling the items. They were still friends at that time. The items apparently kept hurting him. My father believed his frustrations of being thwarted from achieving his desires were twisting his thinking and the box was responding to his change of heart.”

“He didn’t know what Gazan did, but about six months after the conversation, he noticed the changes in Gazan. He also noticed the young woman Gavin had been pursuing had been moved into his home.”

“She was rarely seen after that, and after about five years she had not been seen for some time, and Gavin had moved in a new woman. When my father asked Gazan where she was, he said she had gone south for her health.”

“Over the intervening years several people, both male and female in their mid-teens, had been reported as going missing. Rumours have circulated that he had developed some unhealthy tastes.”

“About fifteen years ago, he was removed from the guild. It was just before I gained my father’s position. I still believe my father’s death was related to his removal. My father and the guild had added extra protections to the school.”

“Gazan found he couldn’t enter any of the other wings and most specifically the vault. He had thrown a real tantrum and told my father he would pay for thwarting him.”

Will then added, “We all know Gazan runs the Thief’s Guild, even though he denies it. I’ve heard that if they can acquire a medallion or ring, then they are paid handsomely to give the items to Gazan.”

“If the person doesn’t do a lot wrong, it is not always easy to tell if a ring has been changed unless you touch it or the wearer acts in a way we believe is wrong. I’ve also heard many of the medallions he gets stop working when he tries to alter them.”

“I believe the Guild in my father’s time, sought to modify the medallions they had to stop him. He seems to have more success with the rings. It at least stops his Guild of Thieves from getting too powerful.”