Extract from The Rings of Salammis

     He woke several times in the night. He was used to feeling bedsheets against his bare skin, and the unfamiliar feel of his underclothes, which he wore in case of nighttime interruptions, worked against him. Eventually, though, after dreaming of the embryonic reptiles in their glass tanks again, he woke to see warm yellow sunlight streaming in through a gap in the curtains and he rose with a sigh of relief. Crossing to the window, he pulled the curtain aside and gasped in surprise at the sight of the Tower of Sorcery rising above the row of buildings opposite. From his vantage point on the second floor he could plainly see the path they would have to take to reach it. A little further down the road, turn right, turn right again... No more than a ten minute walk! They could have gotten there last night if it hadn't been too dark to see!

     He chuckled to himself as he pulled the bell cord to inform the landlady that he was up, and a couple of minutes later there was a knock on the door, which opened a moment later to admit a young woman. Not Tinna this time but a girl who looked enough like her that she might have been her sister. She kept her eyes firmly on the floor as she crossed the room, her frail body trembling nervously. She placed a bowl of hot, soapy water on the dressing table, placed a flannel and a towel next to it.

     “Are you okay?” asked Thomas gently. Tinna hadn't been scared of him. This girl must have had some kind of bad experience at the hands of a wizard. “It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you.”

     She just trembled harder, though, as she stood there, waiting to see whether he would have further need of her, until the wizard gestured for her to leave, whereupon she almost fled the room before the dreadful wizard could put a spell on her.

     Thomas cursed under his breath as the door slammed behind her. Did the wizards of this age think it was clever to be able to terrify young girls? Were they blind to the inevitable consequences? If the fears and grievances of the people he'd met so far were typical of the population as a whole, then it would only take one tiny spark to trigger the Massacre of the Mages right now!

     He washed and dressed quickly, anxious to get away from there. Collecting his belongings, he left the room and hurried down to the common room, where several conversations stopped instantly. None of his companions had risen yet, but several of the other guests had, all waiting for their breakfasts, and they all stared silently at him as he hesitated in the doorway. He almost fled back to his room, overwhelmed by the mingled curiosity, hostility and fear he felt directed at him, but he had an uncomfortable suspicion that things could get a lot worse if they sensed weakness in him. He remembered from his history lessons that there had been isolated lynchings of lone wizards for centuries before the massacre broke out in earnest, whenever a crowd of angry citizens found an opportunity to vent some of their long pent up anger. Matthew was right, he realised. Far better for him to act tough.

     Gathering his nerve, therefore, he entered the room fully and sat down in an empty chair separated a little from the room's other occupants. Most of the other guests relaxed immediately. He presumably wouldn't have sat if he was planning to turn them all into frogs. A couple of hesitant conversations started up again, the participants occasionally turning a nervous eye in his direction. To relax them further, he pulled his travelling spellbook out of a pocket and began to read.

     One of the other guests held his attention, though. A young man in his late teens sitting opposite a young woman. His girlfriend by the look of her. He'd been as scared as any of the others when Thomas had entered, but now he was looking ashamed and angry and Thomas's nerves jangled with alarm. A look of determination appeared on his face. His girlfriend saw it and shook her head in alarm, her eyes widening with fear. Listen to her, Thomas silently begged. Please listen to her!

     The young man turned in his chair to glare at the Wizard, who stared back, desperately hoping the young man would be too intimidated to try anything. The young man's eyes widened for a moment, but then he glanced back at the girl. Their eyes met, she shook her head again, but it just made the determination return to the young man's face. To Thomas's dismay, the girl's face lit up with hesitant admiration.

     The young man turned back to Thomas. "So you're a wizard," he said. "You don't look much."

     Thomas knew that he was in trouble. "Yes I'm a wizard," he said, trying to keep his face steady. Any show of weakness now would be disastrous, but maybe he could defuse the situation. He ventured a friendly smile but it just made the young man angrier. The other conversations in the room stopped again and the guests began fidgeting anxiously.

     "I suppose you think you're better than us," spat the young man viciously. His face was pale with fear, but genuine anger was beginning to rise within him. His girlfriend tugged frantically on his arm but he just shook her off.

     Thomas felt the words of defensive spells crowding into the forefront of his mind of their own volition and he forced them back again. His body was full of magic again, but if he was forced to cast a spell, even in self defence, he would be making things ten times worse for himself.

     "No, I don't think that," he said, keeping his voice calm. "I'm just a man, just like you. I was born, I need to eat and drink. One day I will grow old and die..." He knew it was the wrong thing to say the moment the words were out of his mouth and fear clutched at his heart with a fist of ice.

     "Oh, so you're not one of the immortal ones then." The young man rose from his chair, his hands clenched into tight fists. "Not yet, anyway, but maybe one day, eh? Good, decent folk like us grow old and die, but you just go on and on. You think that's fair? Eh? Do you?"

     Every instinct screamed at Thomas to stand and defend himself. It took a real effort of will to remain seated, to try to appear harmless. He had no way of knowing how it really made him look. Aloof and indifferent. Confident and secure in his power. Some of the other guests were hurrying towards the door, while the others simply sat, hypnotised with morbid fascination. What would the wizard do to the brave but foolish youngster?

     "I have no wish to become immortal, even if the opportunity presented itself," Thomas added. "I am content to die when my time comes, to leave my wife and son to make a new life without me."

     He hoped that the mention of his family would make the other guests see him as an ordinary man, no different from them. Maybe it did to some of them, but apparently not the young man. "Your time might come a lot sooner than you think," he spat. "You've got a lesson coming, you and your kind. You're gonna be put in your place!"

     "I know," said the wizard sadly. "I know."

     The answer seemed to confuse the young man, because the fight abruptly went out of him and he backed away to his own chair, still glaring but now with an element of doubt and uncertainty. His girlfriend grabbed his arm again and beamed adoringly up at him. "Oh Joss! You were wonderful!"

     Matthew and the two junior soldiers chose that moment to enter the room. Better late than never, the wizard thought ruefully. He jumped out of his chair and steered them back out into the corridor. "Come on, we're leaving."

     "But we haven't eaten yet!" protested Matthew in confusion. "What's the hurry?"

     Thomas jabbed a thumb back at the common room. "They don't like wizards. I almost got caught up in a fist fight. If we hang around much longer, we could end up starting a riot."

     Bakklin and Stone looked distraught. They had clearly been looking forward to a breakfast as hot and filling as last night's dinner had been, and Thomas was upset by the turn of circumstances himself. "Trust me," he said to Matthew imploringly. "We have to go. Now."

     Matthew nodded. "Has anyone left anything in their rooms?" They all shook their heads. "Let's go then. Maybe we'll find something to eat in the tower." They followed the corridor to the front door, slipped quietly through it and out into the street.

     They passed the alley they'd wandered into the night before. In the daylight it seemed harmless, just a narrow passage between buildings littered with junk and rubbish, but thirty feet along it a pair of large rats were lapping at a pool of dark liquid. Blood. Someone must have died there the night before. They paused for a moment, thanking the Gods for the stroke of good luck that had brought them back to a big street, then hurried on.