The 13th Mage Read Online Free Page B

came to stay to get away from the heat of Madrid, but he had decided to stay there until autumn, long enough to work out a plan of action.
    He had been working on the clue the Keeper had given him, it seemed rather odd, a small pink shawl with ribbons all around. It had to be an important clue on how to pass his test. All he had to do now was to find out what it meant.
    He reached into his pocket and took out a little notepad and pen, “ Spain , Keeper, clue. What’s the puzzle?” he read the words over and over. If he passed the test he would be able to keep the promise to his adoptive mother, Aeoife, all those centuries before. He would practice the Way of the Witch for 100 years and at the same time he would become Staff Holder, as long as the elders didn’t find out about him becoming a witch, which they wouldn’t as no elder in their right mind would become lesser than they already were.
    The Way of the Witch was a craft unknown to Council Elders, it was alien, worked in a different sphere of reality, he couldn’t imagine any witch being more powerful than himself but if the Keeper said they were then he was sure they were.
    The Keeper had appeared at the allotted time, but why had she given him a shawl? In the middle of summer? He wrote, “Shawl is for number 1 3,” then put the note pad away. The writing was coded and no one would ever be able to break the code. He kept several of these notepads. It helped him keep tags on all the important events in his life, which would otherwise disappear on a flow of centuries.
    Looking in the mirror he noticed he looked much more respectable now, no more spots, probably due to all the sunbathing he had been doing at the local pool. He reached over to the girl who lay o n his bed and stroked her thigh. S he gave a little moan and smiled.
    Owen could stay with her forever if he so wished, but it was time to get some serious library visiting done.
    “You have to leave. Y our husband will be waking up any minute now.”
    “Is that the time? I have to go now darling,” she said jumping out of bed and pulling her clothes on.
    He thought it a pity to have to have to leave Santorcaz, but there were no good windows to the archives in the small town. The best access places were forgotten corners of old libraries, not quite archives, they were more like lines of thought which had been recorded into the common human database of wisdom.
    Mortals would shy away from these corners as it made them nervous, if they stayed too long near one they would get butterflies in their stomach and an uncontrollable urge to get away. If they persevered it was possible they would tap into the information, but other mortals would simply say they had gone quite mad.
    He sat back to watch the girl get dressed, her bikini had left her breasts and buttocks white, the rest of her was a beautiful golden brown.
    They kissed goodbye and promised each other eternal love, she then ran down the stairs and out of the old building .
    He watched her jog across the plaza and down the street. He wasn’t looking forward to this departure.
    “Forget.”
    The girl slowed her pace, jogging in the mornings had been the best idea she’d had all summer, it tired her out though, she felt exha usted. She’d have a little lie- in before her husband woke up.
Owen left Santorcaz later that day. F or the first two months he simply traveled the world having a whale of a time with the excuse of researching the meaning of shawls and their use in magic.
    One of his stops was Brazil . He had a house there and staff who took care that the jungle didn’ t take it over. He sent a letter of recommendation to his solicitors in London , introduc ing himself as his own grandson. He had given himself access to whatever was necessary for the next few months, which he planned to spend in London .
    The plan had originally been to pretend to be his own son, but Harry Johnson, his solicitor, knew Owen as a ninety year old man. It would be