Chapter Four
In which the young master begins a beautiful friendship…
“Ahem, Lord Maslyn, sir…” Jori attempted to rouse the young master.
Soryn remained asleep despite the fact that the slight cough was the manservant’s third try at waking him. Jori sighed and went to the window, throwing the drapes aside. He had already opened the noble’s bed curtains. It was strange that the boy was not up with the dawn, but Jori thought little about it. As soon as he walked around the bed again to go for a fourth attempt, the young lord opened his eyes and yawned, stretching.
“Good morning, Lord Maslyn,” Jori greeted, bowing.
“Goo-hhhh (yawn) murnin…” Soryn replied.
“Late night, sir?”
Lord Maslyn felt dread sprinkle itself all over his skin. He sought in his mind for an excuse for the dark circles that no doubt rested beneath his eyes. Then, he remembered,
“I’ve been reading about horses and I was particularly interested in the chapter I read last night.”
“I wouldn’t imagine the red lanterns would give you much light,” Jori quipped.
“It seems I have relatively good eyesight.” Lord Maslyn hoped his excuse would be enough to get Jori to stop prying.
The manservant seemed content with that and continued about his business. He laid out the boy’s bathing amenities and then disappeared down the corridor, assumedly to see that Arna was getting Lord Maslyn’s breakfast ready. Once Jori left, Soryn exhaled heavily. “That was close,” he thought. He trudged sleepily over to the table.
Washing, eating, Jori helping him dress…all of it passed without the boy having to focus much on what he was doing. Throughout the day, the young lord paid little attention to anything except the shelf at the other end of the room. He stared at it in between visits from Jori and Arna. Those thirteen books on the bottom teased him and made him want to steal away to the study again. Already, Soryn’s curiosity about the Seidh and Ulla was beginning to get the better of him. Despite his urges, however, he avoided the shelf the entire day. Instead, he spent time on devising intricate excuses for the purple lids and sleepiness that would no doubt accompany him for many mornings to come.
That way, he reasoned, he would be confident when spouting his excuses. Perhaps he would get used to the late hours. By nightfall and the ringing of the Night Bells, Soryn was wide awake. Jori had left only moments before, but Soryn jumped out of bed and walked towards the shelf. “I only mean to look at the titles,” he told himself. He wondered about the reason for their presence in his tower room. Shouldn’t they be down in the study? His thoughts troubled him. Crouching, he gazed at the titles again. Many of them were more specific than the ones down the staircase. These were all about something called “yreth”.
Feeling sure that Jori and Arna were truly gone for the night, he pulled one of the books from the bookcase. The title read, Yreth: the Blessing and the Curse. He turned to the first page.
“By now, you are interested in the Seidh, its potential uses, and the mechanics of practicing magic. As I am sure you are aware, magic takes a toll on those who have been practicing for years, and even more so on an untrained mind. The reason behind this is not the Seidh itself, but the talent necessary to practice this art. Yreth is the term used to describe one’s latent ability to use magic. Scientists on Niflheim are unable to pinpoint the exact source of, or reasons behind yreth in the body, but it is a hormone within certain individuals that allows the practitioner to use the Seidh. Those who do not produce yreth within their own bodies cannot learn to use Seidh magic—all recorded attempts have proved fruitless. An overproduction of yreth within the body, however, can cause hyper-function of the body’s endocrine glands which results in the potentially fatal, but reversible disease called Yresses. Yreth overproduction is the result of a practitioner using more magic than their body can handle.
The only cure for Yresses is to temporarily cease the use of magic to allow the body’s production of the yreth hormone to normalize. Though curable, this disease is very painful, with symptoms including a high fever, hallucinations, and severe joint pain.”
Lord Maslyn put down the book. He thought that people who used magic were merely talented and gifted. It now seemed that in order to use it, he would have to find out whether or not he possessed this yreth hormone. His tutoring had taught him about human biology, but he had never heard of such a thing. “How will I know if I am someone who can even use the Seidh?” Soryn grumbled to himself. He carefully placed the book back exactly where he had found it on the shelf and changed into his dark clothing and shoes. Soryn did not want to waste the candles and felt sure that he would be able to feel his way down the stairs in the darkness. The light of the small sun would surely fill the tunnel once he reached a certain point.
Coming to see me? Ulla’s voice rang out in the boy’s mind.
Soryn paused in his walk to the hearth. The fact that Ulla’s words could reach him so far away was disconcerting.
Oh, don’t let it trouble you. I’m awake, if you wanted to know.
Irritation swelled Soryn’s nerves and he ignored the pig. He chose, instead, to open the false door and step gingerly into the pitch black passageway. Soryn felt that it took him less time to make it down the staircase, despite the fact that he couldn’t see his own hand before him. He was right about the light from the sun. When he was halfway down, the dim orange glow illuminated the stairs.
Yes, you’re very smart.
“I know you can hear me and you might as well know that I am not the least bit interested in these internal dialogues of yours,” Soryn barked.
That’s too bad. I was fully prepared to discuss that hormone with you, but if you’d rather I didn’t, then I can just as easily go back to sleep on my shelf.
“Ulla, don’t do that! I just don’t want you in my head all the time. I have questions for you and I want you to answer them, but I don’t want you reading my private thoughts!”
Very well. I’ll try not to intrude upon your…intriguing thoughts.
“Good.”
Soryn hit the bottom of the staircase and made his way into the study. He found Ulla sitting on his haunches near the warmth of the small sun. He looked less statue-like today, though the sun made the pig’s eyes appear more red than black due to the glittering reflections. In fact, everything about the way Ulla looked was a little upsetting.
Am I that intimidating? Ulla chuckled.
“You said you’d stay out of my head,” Soryn reminded him.
I lied. Your mind is far too amusing. I suppose you’ll have to deal with it if you want to know my secrets…
“Fine. I’ll just continue to ignore you.”
I imagine you’ll find that almost impossible to do, but I’ll leave you to your little resolutions.
Soryn ignored him and walked to the bookshelf in the corner. As he browsed the titles, looking for that same beginner’s book he picked up the night before, Soryn asked, “Ulla, what is yreth really? I never heard of it before reading about it upstairs.”
Ahhhh. Curiosity is forcing you to speak to me, eh?
“I am curious. The book in my room talks about it like it is almost a mystery to our scientists.”
It is a hormone that didn’t exist on Ancient Earth. They say one is blessed if they possess the natural ability to produce it. Why? Are you interested in using magic?
“I just want to know what all of this is, that’s all. I’m not saying I’m interested in anything.”
Soryn tried his best to keep his mind blank. It was most likely impossible to keep anything from Ulla, but he did not want the strange creature to know that he was deeply interested in the subject. Lord Maslyn kept his mind as clear as possible and pulled the book he had looked at previously off of the shelf again, intending to pick up where he left off.
You won’t find what you’re wondering about yreth in there. They didn’t want to scare away any new apprentices when
they wrote that one. It’s an old book. There’s probably not even that much information in that book upstairs. I suppose I’m your only hope for the real knowledge. It sounded as though Ulla sighed with his words.
“Scare them away? Just how dangerous is this stuff? If your own body produces it, how can it be that bad, even if you get that disease they were talking about? Why do you have to produce yreth to use the Seidh?” Lord Maslyn was frustrated.
The Seidh, magic, power, whatever anyone calls it, is very dangerous and humans on Ancient Earth only dreamed about using it. It takes a tremendous amount of mental energy to even focus enough to begin to harness it. Yreth, in some people a naturally occurring hormone, helps in that process. It successfully allows your mind to focus itself in an amplified manner on one thing—to the point of altering reality. No one can do that without its help. Some may try, but they will not succeed for very long before their own mind wears out. Yreth allows you do to it every time without that happening.
“But upstairs it said that it could make you ill if you use too much magic.”
Oh, it is dangerous. It is very easy to cause your body to overproduce yreth, and there are side effects.
“What kind of side effects? The hallucinations and joint pain?”
Probably not ones you want to talk about just yet. As you thought earlier, you don’t even know if your body makes it naturally. Why don’t you give that beginner’s book another shot and I might tell you more.
Soryn was suspicious of the pig’s knowledge and chose to remain quiet for a few moments.
If you are about to say how uncanny all this is, save your breath. I already know you don’t trust me and you are reluctant to delve too deeply into Seidh matters. However, I will say one thing…have you ever thought that it just might not be a coincidence that you discovered this place? That those thirteen books are nestled in your bookcase upstairs? Hmmm?
If Soryn was honest with himself, he had not thought too deeply about the reasons behind finding the staircase. He assumed that it was just chance, a bit of fortune from the universe.
Don’t go thinking you’re anything special because you found this place. What I am saying is this: how do you know that someone isn’t pulling the strings that allowed you to find this place? Perhaps for their own reasons?
“Someone like you?” Soryn quipped.
I’m a pig. There is no way I could haul thirteen books up the stairs. I don’t know why you’re here. I spend a good deal of my time asleep. Perhaps you should spend more time finding out about those closest to you rather than that hormone at present. In the meantime, you could accomplish quite a bit of reading.
Soryn considered Ulla’s words. Although he did not trust the pig, the reasoning made sense. Still, the entire matter was overwhelming. While Soryn was thinking, Ulla stared at him again with his unnerving eyes. Soryn grew frustrated with the direction his thoughts were taking him and decided to leave for the night.
Probably a good idea. You look tired. Maybe you should rest.
“Be quiet, Ulla.”
Soryn stalked out of the study and made his way back to his bedroom, sore and stiff from his earlier climb the night before. He was reluctant to think about anything specific, knowing Ulla would be able to hear his thoughts and comment on them whenever he liked. This both annoyed and worried him. It felt as though all his privacy had been stripped away.
Oh, it’s not like that. Most of the time, you won’t even know that I’m listening, Ulla commented.
Gooseflesh covered Soryn’s arms and sweat broke out on his face as he entered his icy room, closing the fireplace door behind him. All at once, he regretted discovering the study. A sense of foreboding settled over him. Quickly, he undressed and ran to his bed, forcing himself to sleep at once. That way, he wouldn’t have to think anymore about the pig or the Seidh for tonight.