Free The Magician's Apprentice by Trudi Canavan Page B

to create friction.” He shrugged. “It is a strange idea, and one my father didn’t think much of.”
    “Nor of the theory of the stars,” Dakon said, smiling. ”
    Even less so,” Veran agreed, chuckling. “Which almost lost him his membership of the Healers’ Guild.”
    “How so?” Jayan asked, noticing that everyone wore the same knowing smile. Either losing membership of the Healers’ Guild wasn’t as grave a downfall as he’d thought, or there was more to this story.
    Dakon looked at Jayan. “Healer Berin declared that the timing of the stars and seasons had no bearing on health, illness and death, but was only useful as an excuse for healers to fall back on when incompetent.”
    “I can see how that might upset a few people,” Jayan said.
    “It did, and a few of them made life so difficult for Berin that when my father offered him a position here he was happy to take it.”
    “It also helped that they were friends,” Veran added.
    Lasia cleared her throat. “There is something I’d like to know.” Dakon turned to regard her. “What is that?”
    “Is there any difference between a natural magician and a normal one?”
    “Other than the natural’s power developing spontaneously, and that it is usually stronger than the average magician’s, there is no difference. Most magicians’ ability is discovered when they are tested at a young age, then developed with the help of another magician. If any of those magicians are naturals, we’d never know because their power never gets the chance to develop without assistance. For magical ability to surface with no intervention, it must be strong, but ultimately that strength will not matter much. Higher magic adds to a magician’s natural ability, so in the end it’s how many apprentices a magician has taken power from, and how many times, that dictates his strength, not his natural ability.”
    “So you don’t usually know a person has magical ability until you test them?” Veran asked.
    Dakon shook his head. “And magic does not favour rich or poor, powerful or humble. Anybody you pass on the road could be a latent magician.”
    “So why don’t you teach them?” Lasia asked. “Surely having more magicians would make Kyralia better able to defend itself.”
    “Who would teach them? There aren’t enough magicians to teach all the latent magicians among the rich, let alone commoners as well.”
    “You might not want to teach all of them, anyway,” Veran added, his expression thoughtful. “I’m sure you consider character when you select an apprentice, even if he or she is from a powerful family.” He glanced at Tessia. “When you have a choice, of course.”
    Dakon smiled. “You are right. Fortunately Tessia is of excellent character and I’m sure will be a pleasure to teach.”
    Everyone looked at Tessia. Jayan saw her face flush and she dropped her gaze.
    “I’m sure she will be,” Lasia said. “She has been a great help to her father.” She looked at Dakon. “What does being a source for a magician involve?”
    Watching Dakon, Jayan saw the humour in the magician’s eyes vanish, though he remained smiling.
    “I can’t give you details, of course, as higher magic is a secret shared only between magicians. I can tell you it is a quick, cooperative ritual. Magic is transferred from apprentice to magician, and stored by the magician.”
    “This giving of power is the only payment Tessia makes in exchange for apprenticeship?”
    “Yes, and as you can imagine it is more than payment enough. By the time an apprentice is ready to become a magician, he or she will have made their master many hundreds of times stronger than he would be without their help. Of course, we aren’t usually hundreds of times stronger by then, because we will have used that power in the meantime, but it does allow us to do many things.”
    “Why don’t magicians have several apprentices?” Tessia asked.
    “Then they would have even more