busy moving the eggs from the pan to a waiting plate, and Will knew his timing was perfect. Feeling only the slightest guilt, Will turned the axe so it would be the flat that struck. He really wanted to kill the wretched man, but he knew his conscience would bother him later if he did. I’ll just knock him out and run for it.
He was just beginning his swing when his body froze in place. Unbalanced, he fell backward, crashing into the floor and nearly dashing his head against the floorboards. He stared upward at his grandfather with pure malice in his eyes.
The old man turned around and gave him an impish grin. “Next time, make some noise. The silence was far too suspicious.” Snapping his fingers, he released Will and held out a plate. “Still hungry for blood?”
Leaving the axe on the floor, Will got to his knees. “I’m on to you now, old man. I’ve taken the measure of your evil. Someday I’ll make you pay for your crimes.”
Arrogan chuckled. “Whatever motivates you. Holding a grudge might help you learn faster. Once you’re good enough to keep me from seizing control of your turyn, you’ll be a lot closer to getting your revenge.” He placed the plates on the table and nudged one of them. “You should eat them before they get cold. They’ll taste a lot better.”
They ate in silence, but after Will finished his food he felt he needed to give his grandfather a reminder. “I’ve learned your lesson, so you can take your weird spell off of me now.”
Arrogan ‘tsked’ at that. “Oh, it’s far from over. That spell will be on you for months yet.”
“But I can’t sleep!” cried Will, despair seeping into his voice.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” rebuked his grandfather. “You’re past the worst part. Once this becomes second nature, you’ll sleep just fine. Until that happens, you’ll just have to make do with a lot of short naps.”
“You’re insane,” said Will. “I can’t keep this up forever.”
“Just until you die,” said Arrogan dryly, “which, if you master this properly will be a very long time from now.” Leaning across the table, he took Will’s plate before fixing him with an intense stare. “Make no mistake, you vapid twat, I’m not training you to be one of those half-baked embarrassments that they produce in Wurthaven these days. I’m forging you into a true wizard, the likes of which brought humanity out of the dark ages of shamanism and obedience to alien gods. You’ll either learn or I’ll bury you in the garden out back to feed my plants. There is no middle way.”
Will could see madness in the old man’s eyes, and he shivered involuntarily before looking down at his plate to escape his grandfather’s gaze.
“Now, it’s time for you to start your reading practice,” added Arrogan.
“How can I read? It takes all my concentration just to keep my turyn clamped down,” he replied quietly.
“You’ll manage. You’ll learn to do everything like that. Reading is important. It’s the best way to cure you of your ignorance. It’s a pity it can’t cure your stupidity as well. You’re going to be a great wizard someday, skillful and well-educated.” Arrogan paused for a second. “But you’ll probably still be dumb as a stump.”
Despite his poor mood, Will laughed a little at the remark. There was a certain pattern to his grandfather’s insults and abuses that had grown on him over time. He still hated the crotchety bastard, but he couldn’t help but like the man a little.
Arrogan’s face remained still and serious. “That wasn’t a joke,” he stated, but after a second his eyes crinkled at the corners.
***
The next two weeks were a misery. The only thing good Will could find about them was that at least he wasn’t in a lot of pain. He couldn’t sleep more than thirty or forty minutes at a time at night before waking up with a burning sensation that told him his turyn was growing again. Consequently, he was constantly sleepy during the day and found himself nodding off at every opportunity, while reading, while cooking, and most especially while trying to learn math.
It came as a complete surprise to him the first night he slept eight hours without waking. He had thought it would happen gradually, but when his unconscious mind finally learned to maintain its grip on his turyn while he slept, it happened all at once. One day he was napping, the next he was