The Last Wizard of Eneri Clare by April Leonie Lindevald Page B

image appears upon it.”
    “That is not possible, for he is long dead.”
    “You are mistaken, as I have spoken with him this very evening, and he asked to be commended to you.”
    “If you have spoken with him, then you must take me to him, that I might plead for his return, since there has never been a time that this realm needed his good guidance more.”
    “That, I regret, cannot be, as he is not in a place we may come to.”
    “But you just said you spoke to him this very evening.”
    “I did.”
    “You speak in riddles, sir. Is it your intention to confuse me, or try my temper?”
    “No, Jorelial Rey. It is my intention to tell you nothing but the truth, and if you will hear me out, all will be made plain.”
    There was a pause. She found it interesting that he called her by name without any of the respectful titles that everyone else used. She tried a new tactic.
    “Who are you?”
    “I am Tvrdik.”
    “That’s an odd name. What kind of a name is that?”
    He shrugged, “It is my name.”
    Another pause. How to come to the meat of the matter with this odd stranger? And what had he to do with Xaarus? At that moment, the man shrugged and took a step to shift all his packs about and redistribute their weight. Jorelial realized he must be weary of them. She stood. “Sir, will you lay down your burdens for the moment, and then try to start from the beginning?”
    Grateful, Tvrdik divested himself of all his parcels and packs, laying them in a careful pile on the floor. Only a single water skin he kept close to his chest, a detail that did not escape Lady Rey’s trained eye. He seemed at first uncertain as to how to begin, and then made a decision.
    “Jorelial Rey, if you search the recesses of your memory, you might find that you know me, or at least have met me before. Long ago, I lived near this palace, and was an eager student of Master Wizard Xaarus. There were three of us apprenticed to him at the time. Perhaps I did not stand out to you from among the group. But I remember you, coming and going on the great green dragon. You were barely fifteen when I last saw you, I would guess, and something of a lone wolf. No disrespect intended…” He paused as she came down the stairs and walked right up to him, circling once, and then staring directly into his face while he held very still…
    “Tvrdik!” she shouted, making him flinch, “The Wizard School. Of course…I do remember you. Not that we’d ever really spoken to each other back then, mind you, but I do remember the three of you hanging around Xaarus all the time. The hair…the glasses…why, you were only a teenager yourself when I last saw you.” The flooding back of memories seemed to re-energize her, wipe away the aura of suspicion and weariness that had clung to her a moment before. “You know my father was very close to Xaarus; they were often together. And you three seemed always to be sort of slouching around in the background, waiting for something, or following him off somewhere in a little train.” A chuckle escaped her at the recollection.
    Tvrdik’s throat tightened, and he could feel his ears getting hot. “Xaarus was a very great teacher,” he stammered, “we all felt so fortunate to be learning from him…we would have followed him into the depths of the underworld…”
    But Jorelial Rey was lost in her own memories. Her face changed. “And then, suddenly you were all gone. All of you. Overnight, it seemed. No more wizards. What happened?” The blond man closed his eyes at that, and sighed in a way that nearly broke her heart. Clearly, this was not going to be an easy or brief story to relate. She made a snap decision. “Tvrdik, come sit down here at this table. If I am at last to hear the resolution of the greatest mystery in the entire history of our kingdom, we ought to make ourselves comfortable and do it right. Warlowe!” She sprang back toward the door, summoning the doorman once again, as Tvrdik sank into a