A Necessary Evil (Book 1)

Chapter 25

I had figured out what the theme of the third set of libraries in the manor was: magic. After Andreas had given me the magic book weeks ago, I had gone back and started paging through books that had made no sense to me before. It was as if something had clicked inside my mind and words that had only seemed like scribbles before now became comprehensive.

Most of my afternoons after my discovery had been spent in those libraries reading. I was determined to learn magic, with or without Andreas’ help. But, while I was able to memorize words on pages, practicing those words was a whole different matter in of itself.

I was sitting in the library, paging through one of the books I think translated to “beginner” when Kalen walked in. “You can read Latin? I’m impressed.”

My eyes didn’t leave the page. I didn’t quite feel like being distracted by him yet. “I couldn’t, but somehow now I can,” I replied, turning a page.

“Ah, so that must be one of your gifts. The fast learner.” I snorted. If only he knew how long it took me to learn things.

I lifted my eyes to him. “I’m anything but a quick learner. I know how to do a total of three spells, and that’s it.”

“For someone who has just started learning, that is quite impressive actually,” Kalen said as he paced around the room, dragging his fingers over the spines of the books.

“Then why does Andreas act like it’s taking me so long to learn simple spells?” I asked, eyebrows raised.

“Because he has absolutely zero experience teaching anyone anything. He is impatient. He sees you as the lovely young lady you are, and not as a beginner. For some reason, his mind does not associate you with someone who has never learned how to harness your magic. It is a wonder you’ve learned anything from him at all,” Kalen explained and came to a standstill. He pulled a book from the shelf, my eyes still on him.

“You have never learned Latin before, right? Yet now you can read it?” I nodded. “Many magic users, although they can learn the language easily, cannot learn it without instruction. You see, Latin is the language of magic, something you have a natural inclination for, and therefore its language comes to you naturally as well.” He sat down across from me and pushed the book in my direction.

He closed the book I was reading and took it from me. “You aren’t ready for this book yet. You need the basics first.” He gestured to the book he had placed before me. “Try that book instead. It starts from the very beginning and will speed up your learning process. I will even assist you should you wish it.”

I studied the cover of the book; it was plain black except for thin strips of gold spelling out the words Praeter Humanus, more than human. “Why the title?” I asked Kalen.

“It was assembled at a time in which magic was persecuted even more strongly than now and the title made it easy to explain the book away as a work of fiction.”

I opened the book and started paging through it. The paper felt old and fragile and I took care not to rip the pages. “Why didn’t Andreas give me this book first?” I asked, curious why he wouldn’t have thought of it as the book was in one of his libraries.

“Like I said, he has had no experience instructing anyone,” Kalen answered simply, standing up to return the other book to the shelf.

“And you had?”

“I had, but for a short time only,” Kalen’s whole body tensed for a second, be he forced himself to relax and slid the book into an empty slot.

“Who?” I asked, suddenly very curious to what had put him so on edge.

Kalen looked rattled for the first time since I’ve met him. He pulled his long fingers through his hair and started pacing again. Finally, he stopped and looked at me, a sad expression on his face. “A young boy… Andreas’ brother. I taught him before he was murdered.” Kalen sank into his chair again.