CHAPTER14
CONRAD
Conrad’s workwith Roger and Wyndham had shifted slightly in his time at the house.He had gone from simply showing his most frequently used spells, to observing each councilmember in turn, and now he was moving on to more advanced spellwork.
“I should warn you,” he said, as the other two prepared the space for work, “I am proficient in the spells I need to do, but I wouldn’t consider myself any great talent at magic.My interest in this position has more to do with the planning and problem-solving part of it.”
Roger gave him a kind smile.“Magical prowess is certainly beneficial to working on the Council, but it is not a requirement.”
“This isn’t a test,” Wyndham went on, picking up a long willow leaf from the table and running his thumb across the length of it.“It is more about acquainting you with our projects.”
Conrad took off his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.“That is good to hear.And I suppose if this project were to be expanded to the general populace, we would do well to know how it interacts with plainer magic.”
Wyndham frowned a little.“I wouldn’t describe your magic as plain.”
“Not at all,” Roger said.“The spell you showed us for keeping shoes warm was remarkable.”
Conrad chuckled.“I’m glad you think so.”Then he watched as Roger and Wyndham performed a breeze spell with the willow leaf, and listened as Roger talked through his notes on the subject.He got a little lost when Wyndham described how the magic felt.But when they were done showing him, he gamely stepped forward to give the experiment a try.
“Now, since you cannot feel magic,” Wyndham said, “just focus on your spell.I’ll tell you if anything needs to be adjusted.”
Conrad took the fresh piece of spellpaper that Roger handed him, arranged the leaf according to his instructions, and copied over the sigils and calculations.He paused at one.“Would the Bokemann Modulation work for this one?”he asked.“I’ve never used this sigil before, so I’m not sure what adjustments would be needed.”
Roger’s expression turned thoughtful as he plucked a book off his shelf and leafed through it.“Ibelieveso,” he said at last.“It has most of the same directives.I’m a little worried about this bit about temperature though.”
“That shouldn’t be an issue,” Conrad assured him.“I can use a sigil to cancel it out.”
“Oh!Excellent!Do you need the book for reference?”
Conrad shook his head and wrote down the sigils.He cocked his head to look over his work.“That should do the trick.Yes?”
Roger pushed his spectacles up his nose and leaned forward to peer over the paper.“Very good.I think that will do nicely.”
Conrad glanced at Wyndham, who nodded, and then cast his spell.The handkerchief that was being used as a focus fluttered around the room.Wyndham’s expression turned inward and focused.“It’s strong,” he muttered.“But not overly chaotic.Try reducing the power a bit.”
Conrad hastily wrote in an adjustment.The handkerchief slowed its pace.
Wyndham made an approving noise.“Efficient.Can you change the direction?”
“Not without looking it up first,” Conrad admitted.
“No matter,” Wyndham said as he caught the handkerchief before it fell.“That was quite good.”
Conrad bounced on the balls of his feet, pleased by the praise.
Wyndham carefully moved the leaf and picked up the paper.“What was that new sigil you were discussing?”
Conrad pointed at it.
“What is the difference between this one and the one Roger uses?”
Conrad shrugged.“It’s a sort of multi-purpose modulation sigil.It can adjust power, temperature, and speed of a spell.It’s less…nuanced, I suppose, than the ones Roger was using.It does everything all at once.That’s why I needed to add that temperature bit, so the kerchief didn’t catch on fire or something.”
“Fascinating,” Wyndham murmured.
Conrad felt a little uneasy by the interest.The Bokemann Modulation was a common spell for his line of work, something people threw together when they needed to boost a spell quickly.He rubbed at the back of his neck.“It might be a little too…I don’t know…rough for this type of thing.”
Wyndham visibly appraised the spellpaper in his hand.“I wouldn’t say that.The spell felt different than how it has in the past.Part of that is because your magic feels different than Roger’s, Torquil’s, and Silas’.But the…flavor of the spell changed slightly.Not in a bad way.But I would like to see it some more.Perhaps with a different spell, something you don’t need to adjust the temperature for.”
