Totentanz

Book 1 Chapter VIII: Aus Den Augen, Aus Dem Sinn

Warning: contains eye-related trauma and Karandren generally being horrible.

AUS DEN AUGEN, AUS DEM SINN
German, "out of sight, out of mind"

She got on with her education. In her opinion, school kept on trying to interfere with it. -- Terry Pratchett, Soul Music

The problem with being over ninety years old and pretending to be fourteen was that Karandren no longer remembered what it was like to actually be fourteen. Getting used to his new -- or should that be old? -- height was just the start of his problems. Next he had to get through classes that were interminably boring.

He was sure they'd been boring the first time. This time they were even worse because he already knew everything the teacher was saying. It was hard to keep a straight face while he listened to someone talking about sight-enhancing charms as if they were explaining a complicated subject to toddlers.

"The benefits of this charm are--" Professor Maholt broke off. She gave Karandren a very hard stare. "Karandren Hriaþansson! Why are you laughing?"

It had been well over seventy years since Karandren last felt the need to explain himself to an adult. He could invent an excuse, like his lie about the shoe-laces. But why should he bother going to so much effort?

He looked Professor Maholt dead in the eye. "I'm laughing because I already know all of this."

Until now his classmates had been surreptitiously passing notes and yawning behind their hands. Professor Maholt's method of teaching was to give endless lectures and little practical experience. Naturally none of the students paid much attention in her class. This was the most interesting thing to happen in the entire term. They all sat up straight and stared curiously at Karandren.

The professor turned white while the tip of her nose turned red. From past experience Karandren knew that meant she was getting angry. Everyone else knew it too. The students in the front rows tried to shuffle away without drawing her attention. When he was fourteen Karandren had found the professor intimidating. Now he was a dark magician, the once and future conqueror of Miavain, and most importantly had been Diarnlan's student. Maholt's fury couldn't hold a candle to Diarnlan's icy looks and cutting remarks.

"All right, Mr. Smart-aleck," Maholt said pompously, drawing herself up to her full height. She probably thought she was frightening him. Karandren just thought that when he reached his full height, her head would barely be level with his elbow. "Tell us all what the benefits of this charm are."

She might as well have asked him to give a lecture on the benefits of drinking water regularly. Karandren gave her a smile that showed just the points of his teeth. In Miavain it had terrified people out of their wits. Now, on the face of a relatively powerless fourteen-year-old, it only made her glare harder at him.

Karandren stood up and looked around with his best air of "I'm about to say something very important so you'd all better listen", like a politician about to give a speech full of more lies than usual. "The benefits of the sight-enhancing charm are right there in its name. It makes a person's eyesight temporarily better. Short-sighted people use it to get a break from glasses. Night-watchmen use it to see better in the dark. A person who's looking for something might use it to spot whatever they lost. It must not be used too often or for too long or it can damage your eyes."

Maholt looked increasingly angry with every word he said. When he finished she growled, "You copied that from the textbook."

Instead of answering that -- of course he hadn't copied it from the textbook; he already knew all this information off by heart from sitting through this class before -- Karandren smiled brightly at his gawking classmates. "Now I'll demonstrate the charm."