Princess Over Time

Chapter 2

A Failed Apprenticeship 

North Dakota, USA, April 23, 2003

            “You idiot! You absolute moron! I might as well have gotten a pure-blood human as an apprentice. It’s been what? Eight years? In eight years you haven’t learned anything beyond nullification and haven’t once managed to make use of yourself!”

            Hayden stared at the burning hole in the floor. Noxious green fumes ascended from the unearthly glow at its bottom. “What was in that bottle?”

            “Vial, Hayden. Vial. And that was an acid I developed for eating through organic materials. Pour it on yourself next time and rid me of the bother of having to do it to you!”

            “You act as if you hate me but I haven’t been kicked out yet.”

            “Well…” Archimedes stirred a small pot of steaming and bubbling liquid. “…An enemy of the monarchy is a friend to me.”

            “Well the reason for my dislike for the three kings is pretty obvious. I still don’t quite understand what you’ve got against them.”

            “It’s not so much a hatred of the kings themselves but rather I detest the system of government we immortals have brought upon ourselves. I’m a Greek at heart, I love democracy. I love the freedom of thought, speech, and press. We should all have an equal voice to shape and form our world. How can I not be disgusted with a system that would accuse you of being a desecration based on nothing more than lineage?” Archimedes poured the contents of the pot down a funnel and into a small bottle and corked it when he was done. “There you have it. One invisibility potion. The more you drink the longer you’ll stay invisible. A single drop should be effective for two to three minutes.”

            Hayden wrapped the bottle in a large cloth and stuffed it into his pack. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

            Archimedes spoke from beneath his graying beard. “If I remember correctly eight years ago you said that you wanted to learn magic and would do odd jobs in return. Think of this as some repair since you didn’t manage to pick up a thing. Not that you dimwittedness was my fault.”

            Hayden laughed. “Hold on! You said I was a prodigy at nullification!”

            “Nullification is taught to immortal children five or six years after birth. Its hardly even magic!” Archimedes looked at him critically. “Admittedly you’re naturally gifted at nullifying magic…but you can’t cast a single spell. If you were to get into a duel of any sort you would perish from lack of offense.”

            Hayden couldn’t dispute. His spell-casting did leave much to be wanted.

            “So”, Archimedes switched tracks “where are you going?”

            Hayden scowled. “Well. I know who I want to go to. But I have no idea where she might be. Cass didn’t give me any hints as to where she was going when she left me behind. Do you have any magic that could help me?”

            Archimedes studied his wrinkled hands. “I may know of some magic that could help you…but nothing within my ability to perform comes to mind.”

            “Cass had a mirror she could look into and use to determine where and when an enemy was coming. Is there something like that I could use to find her?”

            “The Mirror of Onad? Your friend was capable of conjuring the far-seeing mirror? Should have had her teach you magic.”

            “Well…I never saw her conjure it. I guess its possible she did it all the time when I wasn’t looking though.”

            Archimedes shook his head. “Its more likely that she had one of the originals. The mirrors Onad crafted himself are physical and need no incantation.”

            “So if I got an original I could use it to find Cass?”

            “Hypothetically speaking I suppose the answer would be yes. But I’m quite sure the only surviving original resides in the golden castle. There were never many of them to begin with. I do wonder how your friend managed to…” He trailed off into thought.

            “The golden castle…” Hayden thought back to when he had gone there so many years back. He remembered the luscious garden that had left him full of so much awe and that peculiar little princess. “So I should be able to find the mirror in that castle?”

            “Don’t even think about going there. You’ll be dead before you ring the doorbell.”

            “Not necessarily. My energy signatures aren’t as easy to read now that my immortal blood has kicked in. I no longer smell so human, nor is my aura weak like a mortal. They won’t recognize that I’m a mongrel unless I do something dumb and give myself away.”

            “That’s the ending I’m most worried about the occurrence of honestly.” Archimedes told him to hold on for a moment and disappeared into the back room that Hayden had never been allowed to enter. After a few moments of loud rummaging Archimedes returned with an ornate box. He opened the lid and revealed a beautiful pair of white gloves. “These gloves will help you accomplish whatever it is you need to accomplish. The more they like you, the stronger the bond becomes, the harder it becomes to take them off--without their consent of course--, the more powerful and skillful you’ll become.” He snapped the box closed and handed it over. “Don’t lose them. They’re probably the most valuable things I’ve ever owned.”

            Hayden packed the box away. “Anything else?”

            Archimedes shook his head. “No, you’re as prepared as you can be for the world out there. Just don’t die alright?”

            Hayden slid on his coat. “I’m afraid I’m dying one way or another.”

            Archimedes waved away his reply. “Just don’t die in the next five, six hundred years. Okay?”

            “I’ll do my best old man.”

            Hayden headed for the door.

            “Oh and Hayden…”

            “Yeah?”

            “If you try to steal Onad’s mirror you’ll probably be killed. Say by some miracle you weren’t beheaded, hung, or stabbed to death…come back again some day.”

            Hayden turned and grinned. “I’ll mark my calendar.”