Chapter 41

“Adel, if you had a magical ability, what would you want the most if I could boost it for you?”

Adel frowned at the question, then looked thoughtful. “Adelia always said I should be at least a Nature Novice with the way I cook. I also like to tend to my garden.”

“So be it. Mind you, you might find the magic will flow over into other activities you also like to do,” Boyd replied.

Adel shuddered and looked at Boyd with shock. “You did something to me, didn’t you?”

“Indeed, I did. You should find this little gift will also assist you,” Boyd replied.

He then had his satchel appear and removed a finely made, lacquered, wooden box from it. The lid was bowed over along the length and 2cm at its highest from the sides. The lid only had a thin lip of 5mm once open.

The box looked like a small jewellery box, 20cm x 12cm x 8cm high. It wasn’t decorated beyond having a small Opal and a Ruby with the symbols for their disciplines on the front-facing curve of the lid.

“Why Energy?” Adel asked as she took the box more on reflex than desire.

“A good cook has to control the energies to heat or chill the food correctly,” Boyd replied. “It will also help you boost your vegetables and herbs to grow healthy.”

He watched as Adel removed the ring, medallion and spellbook from the box. He suspected the diadem and wand weren’t included as she would never be a strong magician.

Her fingers and mind would distribute her magic as she worked. Still, she would find plenty of uses for what she could do with the novice’s set. He hoped she had a lot of fun with her new abilities.

It didn’t hurt that it would also double her life expectancy as he wasn’t in a hurry to lose his cook.

Boyd looked at Daniel, “Do you want it?”

Daniel chuckled and put out his hand. He was a little surprised when Boyd hesitated to hand it to him.

“You have to take the pledge,” Boyd explained. “You have to promise to serve the One People for as long as you wear the magical items.”

Adel intervened, “Why didn’t I have to take the pledge?”

Boyd smiled at her, “Adel, you promised to do that a very long time ago.”

“True,” she chuckled and put her items on. She sighed with delight and tuned the men out as she got to know her entity.

Daniel shook his head and said, “I, Daniel Marcus, do solemnly swear to serve and protect the One People to the best of my ability for as long as I live.”

“Very nicely said, Daniel. Very nice,” Boyd replied and handed him the box of items.

While Daniel opened the box, Boyd added, “There is also a box of books for you to study. I’ll give it to you when you are ready to leave. I also think I should make some magical satchels for you and Adel.”

“If you keep your magical box, extra crystals and some food in them, it helps a lot. You can also put a lot more things in them like spare clothes or items you like to have handy.”

“Yeah, I noticed your satchel and loved the idea,” Daniel commented as he slid the ring over his left middle finger.

“Left dominant like me,” Boyd commented.

Daniels shuddered, and once he collected his senses, he commented, “Most of us males are for some odd reason. Why?”

“Oh, just an observation,” Boyd replied as he watched his second High Wizard claim his birthright.

He did wonder if Catia would be pleased for her son or not.

Adel wasn’t sure what Boyd did for the rest of the week other than turn up on time for meals.

Boyd seemed to be everywhere. She knew he spent lots of time downstairs in the workshop, and she knew he had visited some if not all of the people in the stasis boxes. She could only guess he was trying to place them.

Daniel had spent one day with him taking him around town to meet many of the male-born. He had even organised several meetings at the church for the men to attend.

Daniel was delighted when he told Adel that quite a few of the men already had magical abilities but didn’t know it. Boyd also fixed anyone he came in contact with. He had even handed out several magical boxes like the one he gave Adel.

It was a poorly kept secret that Rocksville was hosting the Regent Wizard. It caused a lot of excitement in town when the knowledge that he was fixing the male-born and removing the star’s stigma from their foreheads did the rounds.

Some thought they should keep it as a badge to remind others that they had condemned them, but the Regent hadn’t. When asked, however, they all let Boyd remove it. Social conformity is a hard nut to crack.

By the end of the week, twelve pregnancies had been reported to Adel, and she knew the excitement of having children had the city in a buzz. She was amused to learn that two of them were male-born who had been experimenting with their other side.

Adel also knew that Boyd had made many trips to the other islands, and more than half of the stasis boxes had disappeared or were now open and empty. She had to ask him that night what he was doing.

“Oh, well, the High Mages have continued to collect petitions to host my people, and I’ve been perusing them. If I found a good match, I have been transporting the people to their new homes.”

“So, are they going as indentured servants?” Adel asked.

Boyd grinned, “No. I have simply been asking the new hosts to guarantee the safety of the people for a year and help them integrate into this society. If they can find them a job, then that would be great.”