Free The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas Page A

so.”
    â€œGood,” Nevery said. He looked down at me.“Behave yourself, boy, and see if you can learn a thing or two.” He turned to leave.
    Brumbee reached out and grabbed his sleeve as he turned away. “Nevery!”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œIt’s just…” The fat wizard lowered his voice. “We need you here. Thank you for returning to Wellmet.”
    At that, Nevery looked surprised. Then he grasped Brumbee’s pudgy hand and gave it a brisk shake, and strode off down the steps and away.
    Brumbee watched him go, then turned to me. “Well, well. Nevery’s apprentice, are you?”
    I nodded.
    â€œCome with me, please.”
    I followed him into a high-ceilinged, echoing gallery. A double stair led down from a second floor balcony, and the floors were paved with slippery black stone. We crossed the wide hall, reaching a door, which stood open. Brumbee led the way through.
    â€œMy chambers,” he said. “My office is here, and a workshop and study. Very convenient.” He shut the door. “So we won’t be disturbed.”
    The room was decorated in a darker yellow than Brumbee’s robes, and contained a gleaming, carved wooden desk with a comfortable chair behind it, a few benches and bookshelves against the walls, a dark blue rug spangled with stars on the floor, and a few other chairs. A fat black cat was curled on a chair, and a tabby looked up from its perch on the windowsill. I stood just inside the door, and Brumbee crossed to sit behind his desk.
    â€œWell then,” he said, folding his fat hands and looking at me. “I believe we have met before. Despite the fact that the embero spell is highly illegal, Nevery used it, I think. You were the cat, were you not?”
    Drats. He was going to throw me out for spying on the magisters. I thought about lying to him, but there was no point. I nodded.
    â€œHmmm.” He pointed at one of the chairs.“Would you like to sit down?”
    The chair looked comfortable, but I felt like staying by the door. I knew— knew down in my bones—that I was supposed to be Nevery’s apprentice. But I was afraid that Brumbee was going to punish me for spying on the magisters by sending me away or telling me I was too stupid to come to his school.
    Brumbee was looking through his desk drawers, pulling out paper and pen and ink. He slipped a metal nib onto a pen. “What is your name?”
    â€œConn,” I said. That wasn’t my whole name, my true name, but it was enough to start with.
    â€œAll right.” Brumbee dipped his pen in the ink and wrote something down on the paper. Then he looked up at me. “And your age?”
    I didn’t actually know the answer to that question. I shrugged.
    â€œHmmm,” Brumbee said. “How many years of schooling have you already had?”
    I didn’t say anything. This was a big mistake.I’d be better off going back to Heartsease and trying to persuade Benet to teach me how to read.
    Brumbee put down the pen. “Are you going to answer my questions, Conn?”
    I took a deep breath. Nevery wanted me to do this, so I would do it. “If I can,” I said.
    Brumbee looked at me, where I stood by the door. “Hmmm.” He nodded. “I think I understand.” He was silent for a moment, thinking. “Ah, I’ve got it,” he said to himself, then spoke to me. “How did you meet your master?”
    Now there was a question I could answer. “I tried to steal his locus magicalicus.”
    Brumbee’s eyes widened. “You did what ?”
    â€œI did steal it, actually,” I said.
    â€œAnd it didn’t kill you?”
    I shook my head and stepped closer to the desk. “It tried to, after a while, but I stopped it. Nevery thought that was interesting, so after he took the locus stone off me, he made me his apprentice.”
    â€œReally!” Brumbee said.
    â€œWell, not