Tak

Sereena - Part 5

     "I've been thinking about Derrin," said Lirenna.

     She and Thomas were sitting across their living room table. Their stomachs full, the remains of their evening meal before them. She'd been waiting for the right moment to broach the subject, and this was it; the few minutes during which he sat still, letting the meal go down, before settling down in his armchair and getting his nose in a book or sitting at his desk. Scribbling notes for another book of his own. Once he was engrossed in something, it was hard to rouse him out of it. Oh, he would talk to her. He would put down his book or his pen and look up at her, but his eyes would keep flicking back to the task he'd left, eager to get back to it, and she could never be sure she had his full attention. This was the time to talk to him, therefore; during these precious few minutes when he wasn't doing anything at all.

     "I was talking to some of his teachers today," she added. "They're still worried he's learning too fast. They say he'll be casting spells within a year unless we do something."

     Thomas nodded seriously, sharing her concern. At first, both his parents had been delighted by their son's progress, but just lately they'd started to grow a little alarmed by the sheer rate at which he was learning, or rather, by what he was learning. They had brought him here merely to improve his mundane education. He was much too young to begin learning magic yet. His frail body was ill prepared to handle the stresses of actual magic use, but even in the carefully shielded environment of the pre-apprentice classes he was still somehow soaking up the important first principles like a sponge, as if by some strange telepathy. His body was absorbing magic from the environment as fast as a fully qualified wizard and he practised the finger movements of spell casting at every opportunity. Something his parents had at first encouraged, thinking it a harmless headstart that would stand him in good stead when he began his magical education.

     Now, though, they discouraged him, gently but firmly. He had agreed, at first, but now and again Lirenna had caught him practising furtively, the first time he'd ever actively disobeyed them. His teachers had begun speaking to them a few months before, telling them what was going on and warning them of the dangers. "He should wait until his body reaches puberty," Mistress Meska had said, his calligraphy tutor and one of Derrin's favourite teachers. "I know he has the mind of a teenager, but he still only has the body of an eight year old child and I'd hate to see such a promising lad burn himself out."

     The trouble was, no-one knew how much longer he'd have to wait before reaching puberty. No two demi shae folk were alike, each inheriting a different mix of human and shayen characteristics from their parents. He might put on a growth spurt at any time, or it might be another thirty years before his body began to mature. Could they reasonably expect him to sit on his hands for another three decades when, mentally, he was ready to start casting spells right now?

     "I've been thinking about it," said Lirenna. "I think we should take him back to Haven for a few years. He needs time to let his body catch up with his mind, and he can use the time to get in touch with his shayen heritage. There's so much grandfather can teach him about his people, his culture. I want him to grow up knowing who he is. Where he comes from."

     Thomas nodded reluctantly. "I see all that," he agreed, "but I don't like taking him away from his education during his formative years. Now is the time when he's absorbing information most efficiently. Right now he's like a dry sponge for knowledge and he has access to the best teachers in the world. They say he's never out of the library. He spends every spare moment reading everything he can get his hands on. Can we in all conscience take him away from all that?"

     "It's precisely because these are his formative years that he needs to be among his own people," countered Lirenna. "I don't want him to grow up thinking of his own people as strangers, and we have to stop him learning magic too soon. I don't want to see him hurt."