The Choice of Magic - Michael G. Manning Page 0,131

by man or woman. She claimed it was to prepare me for wizardry but that seems unlikely to me. Each morning I was put under a foul spell and forced to endure extreme pain for most of the day. Only at bedtime would she remove the spell and allow me to rest. I finally succeeded in escaping the pain only by twisting my soul into a perversely small knot. She claimed this was her goal all along, but I strongly suspect otherwise.

Feabhra 13

She refused to feed me today. What does cleaning floors have to do with magic? Answer, nothing. I already know she can clean them with a simple spell (which she refuses to teach me, along with anything else useful). Thus begins my slow starvation unto death.

Feabhra 14

After completing a hellish number of tasks, I was allowed food today, if what she prepared could credibly be called food. Once I had tasted it, I realized that deprivation might be a kindness.

“It’s his journal,” muttered Will. Year ninety-eight was nearly a hundred years after the War for Independence, which didn’t make sense if Arrogan had fought in that war.

His mother’s voice spoke from behind his shoulder, startling him. “I think the dates are in Darrowan years. Ninety-eight is around two hundred years before year one of the Terabinian calendar.”

Will looked at his mother. “Have you read this?”

She nodded. “Not all of it yet. I found it after you left. From what I’ve seen, he wrote in it almost daily near the beginning, but later he started to skip weeks and months. Toward the middle he begins to skip entire years. In the later portion he skips decades, until you show up.”

“Me?”

Erisa smiled. “You made a deep impression on him, I think.”

Will thumbed through the pages in the latter half of the journal. His mother put her finger on the page when he reached the right spot. “Here,” she told him.

Y770 Earrach, Marta 17

Erisa’s brat is just as stubborn as his mother. I’m still not certain why I agreed to help her. Maybe I’m starting to go senile. I can’t have too many more years ahead of me, so it makes little sense for me to ruin them with such a burden, yet here I am. If I can teach the kid to hide his differences and avoid doing anything stupid he might live a normal life.

Not sure why I care.

Marta 20

Will asked if he could call me Grandfather today and I didn’t know what to say. The boy is obviously looking for a father figure of some sort, and I suppose I can’t blame him since Mark Nerrow’s biggest contribution to his life is making sure his wife’s family didn’t murder him in infancy. His mother did the same years ago, and I never had the heart to tell her that I didn’t have a clue if we were related or not. After so many centuries it’s possible I’m related to half the people in Terabinia, or none of them. I lost touch with the world for so long it’s hard to say.

Why he would look to me is a mystery, I’ve certainly done him no favors. I definitely haven’t been nice to him. Sometimes his innocence makes me angry, though in all honesty I’m probably angry with myself for all the mistakes I made back in the day. Having him around has brought up all sorts of things I would rather forget.

Y770 Fomhar, Lunasa 3

I dreamt about her again and woke up in a cold sweat. It’s been decades since the nightmares bothered me. I was thinking about letting the boy sleep in my room during the winter, but if this continues it would only frighten him. Not sure why the dreams have returned. My first guess is that it’s his terrible cooking. He and Aislinn could have competed for worst dish if there were contests for such things. Or it might be because he reminds me of myself back when I was his age, stupid and stubborn.

Fortunately, one of the other village brats brought a cot for him. At least I don’t have to feel guilty about him sleeping on the floor anymore.

Lunasa 18

The little shit managed to get himself into serious trouble. Who eats strange plants? He claimed to be able to sense whether plants are edible or not, so he’s definitely more sensitive than I thought. I may have been wrong to choose not to teach him. Either way, it’s obvious the fae were hoping to