Summoner: Rory (Book 0.5)

Chapter 1

Rory squeezed his sister's hand, wondering if she could feel the cold sweat on his palm. The queue they stood in edged incessantly towards the tent entrance, where the Inquisitors waited for them. 

He tried to avoid the eyes of the curious villagers who watched from the sidelines, descending into hushed whispers each time a child walked in and cheering when they walked out unscathed. 

"Can we go play now?" Daisy asked, popping her thumb out of her mouth. "This is so boring." 

Rory forced a smile and gripped her hand more tightly. Her baby blue eyes stared up at him, tinged with childish impatience. He stroked her tangled blonde hair and teased out the knots with his fingers.

"Of course we can, we just need to do a quick test and then we can do whatever you like."

Daisy grinned and returned to sucking her thumb, her favourite pastime. No matter how often their mother scolded her, she always had her thumb in her mouth. Rory loved that about her - nothing fazed her, not even the threat of a spanking. Not even a testing with the Inquisitors.

Daisy was far too young to be considered, but this was the first time the Inquisitors had visited the village of Robur. They had requested every child attend, no matter what their age, so that they would be able to send for them when they were old enough to fight.

As for Rory, he had just turned fifteen. If he tested positive as an adept, the Inquisition could take him away from his home, even if he didn't want to leave. They would send him to fight as a battlemage in the jungle trenches, with the hard, rough soldiers of the South. Even if he was injured, they could chaff him to the elven front, to rot with the cripples, the addled and the sick.

Somehow, the latter seemed better. Robur was only a few miles from the elven front lines, in the far north east of Hominum. There were barely a smattering of troops on this end of the frontier, just an old fort and a small platoon of ten men. The generals had decided Beartooth Mountains to the west were of far greater strategic importance. Perhaps if he managed to get chaffed, he would be stationed nearby. 

"Rory," Daisy whined, tugging on his hand. "I don't want to do the test, it's taking agesssss." 

Rory kneeled and gave her a hug.

"If we don't go in, mum will get in trouble. Can you wait a little while longer? I'll give you a piggyback ride home if you do."

"Okay, but I want a piggy back ride now too, my legs are tired." 

Rory smiled at her request, pushing aside his worries. Daisy could run for hours without tiring, but he was happy to lift her onto his shoulders and give her a good view. 

"Rory, put her down!" came a voice from the crowd nearby.

It was his mother, returning from picking flowers on the edge of Beartooth. Her basket was overflowing with blue petals, ready for the perfumeries of Boreas and Corcillum. 

"It's okay mum, she likes it!" Rory replied, jiggling Daisy up and down. He winced as she laughed and gripped his shock of spiky blond hair for purchase. 

"Just get it over with and come back home. I need your help packing these flowers."

Rory nodded obediently, the reminder of the imminent test dampening his mood. He felt sorry for his mother. She had a hard life, raising both he and Daisy alone on the meagre income a flower picker could earn. Rory could still remember her from when he was just a toddler. She had been beautiful then, with long hazel tresses and sparkling eyes. These days her face was pinched with worry, the hair at her temples tinged with grey. 

Rory reminded himself that she would be tired from her long morning on the mountainside. He would be a good son tonight and let her rest. She deserved a break.

"Rory, move!" a boy hissed behind him. He was shoved forward, stumbling to the tent entrance. A guard in the red uniform of the King's army nodded at Daisy pointedly. Rory let her clamber down and gripped her hand. 

The soldier must have noticed his expression, for he gave Rory an encouraging smile. 

"Don't worry kiddo, it doesn't hurt. You'll be in and out in no time." 

With that, he shoved them through the tent and closed the parting behind them. 

The inside of the tent was shrouded with gloom, the only source of light coming from smouldering candles on a single chandelier in the centre of the room. The air seemed sticky and heavy, giving Rory the sudden desire to wash himself. 

Two men stood just ahead of him, their faces full of ill humour and impatience. Their uniforms were well tailored, made from black cloth with gold trimmings and buttons. Rory's eyes could not help but stray to their sides, where filigreed swords hung in their scabbards. 

The closest man stepped forward and clicked his fingers impatiently. 

"The girl first. Hold out your hand." 

The Inquisitor had strangely sunken eyes and an unhealthy complexion. His frame was skinny, bordering on the malnourished. Daisy took a hesitant step forward, then backed away again as the man gave her a thin lipped smile.

"You're scaring the poor girl, Charles. Just get on with it, we've been in this backwater town for long enough," the other man said. 

He was a grim looking man, with pale skin and small black eyes that glittered dangerously. He carried his hair in a ponytail, scraped back to tightly that his skin seemed to stretch over his skull like a drum.

"Careful, Rook. You forget that I have been doing most of the tests today. Would you prefer to take over?" Charles interjected, baring his teeth into an even wider smile and beckoning Daisy towards him.

"No, I think not. Who knows what diseases these filthy children have, I won't touch another as long as I'm here. Oh, to be in Corcillum again."

Daisy took another step back, and suddenly Rory realised that his brave little sister was scared. He moved forward and gripped her gently by the wrist. The sooner they were out of there the better.

"Come on, Daisy. Shake hands with the nice man so we can go and play," Rory said, nodding to Charles respectfully.

"I don't think he's so nice, Rory," Daisy said warily, earning a curt laugh from Rook. 

Charles tutted impatiently and stretched out his thin white fingers, resting them on Daisy's bare wrist. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, as if he were concentrating deeply. 

Rory's eyes widened as he saw the tips of Charles's fingers light up with a dull blue pulse of light, his heart jumping at the thought that Daisy might be an adept. But then Charles took his hand back, shaking his head with disappointment. 

"Another dud," he said, waving Daisy away, who hid behind Rory and hugged at his waist. "Boy, you know the drill." 

Rory held out his hand, already looking forward to the fresh air and sunlight. The first thing he and Daisy would do when they got out was to go for a paddle in the village creek. He pictured the crystal clear water, trying to ignore the clammy finger pads as they stroked the skin of his palm. 

The man's hand throbbed with blue light once again and Rory's heart soared. It was the same as Daisy. He was safe. The relief seeped through him like fire. His blood seethed, pulsing feverishly with each beat of his heart.

"I don't believe it," Charles whispered. "I told you it was worth coming here, Rook."

Rory snatched his hand away, for it felt like it was both burning at freezing at the same time. With a gasp of horror, he saw that his hand was glowing with the same blue light, so bright that it hurt to look at it in the tent's darkness. He tried to back out of the tent, but somehow Rook was already beside him, gripping him firmly around the shoulders with an arm like an iron bar. 

 "Well, well. It looks like we have an adept on our hands." 

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