The Boy Who Stole Magic

Kael Arden had three rules about stealing. The first was simple: never steal from someone poorer than you. There was no skill in taking the last copper from a starving man, and Kael liked to believe that somewhere beneath the lies, trespassing, pickpocketing, and occasional breaking and entering, he still possessed something resembling a conscience. The second rule was practical: never steal from someone who knew your name. The third was the most important. Never steal from the Crown. At sixteen, Kael had broken more laws than he could count. He had picked locks, climbed through windows, slept in buildings that did not belong to him, and once accidentally knocked a city watchman unconscious with a cabbage. But he had always respected his three rules. Until today. "Stop!" The command echoed across the rooftops of Veycross. Kael risked a glance over his shoulder and immediately wished he hadn't. Four royal guards were scrambling onto the roof behind him, their polished silver armor shining brilliantly beneath the afternoon sun. A fifth guard appeared a moment later. Then a sixth. Six. They had sent six royal guards after him. Kael turned his attention back to the uneven rooftop ahead. His boots struck weathered shingles as he sprinted past chimneys and clotheslines, sending a flock of pigeons scattering into the sky. He had stolen plenty of things before. Bread. Jewelry. Money. Once, an entire wheel of cheese simply because someone had told him he couldn't. Nobody had ever sent six royal guards. "Kael Arden!" His stomach tightened. They knew his name. That was considerably worse. "You're making this far too personal!" he shouted back. Something whistled past his ear. Kael instinctively ducked. An arrow struck the chimney ahead of him and quivered in the wood. His eyes widened. Apparently the Crown had decided theft was punishable by immediate execution. Another arrow flew toward him. Kael threw himself sideways. The arrow passed close enough that he felt the air move beside his cheek before it vanished over the edge of the building. "Are you trying to kill me?" Nobody answered. That was probably an answer. The roof ended twenty feet ahead. Kael slowed. Beyond it was an alley and another building. Unfortunately, the alley was considerably wider than Kael remembered. He reached the edge and looked down. The street waited four stories below. People moved through the narrow lane with baskets beneath their arms, unaware that a teenage thief was contemplating falling to his death above them. Kael looked across at the next rooftop. Then back at the guards. They were getting closer. The nearest one drew his sword. Kael sighed. "Fine." He stepped backward. The guard seemed to understand what he intended. "Don't be stupid, boy." Kael almost laughed. If avoiding stupidity had ever been one of his talents, he probably wouldn't have six armed men chasing him across Veycross. He ran. His final step landed at the very edge of the roof. Then there was nothing beneath him. For an instant, the city opened around him. Kael saw the packed streets below, the distant towers of the Royal Quarter, the immense outer wall surrounding Veycross, and the silver magical conduits winding across rooftops like veins. Then gravity remembered him. Kael slammed against the opposite roof. Pain exploded through his chest. His hands scraped over the tiles as his body began sliding backward. "No, no, no—" His fingers caught the stone gutter. His legs swung over the edge. Kael looked down. A woman carrying vegetables happened to glance upward. Their eyes met. Kael gave her an awkward smile. "Hello." She screamed. "Fair enough." He tightened his grip and dragged himself upward until his chest cleared the edge. His elbows shook from the effort, but eventually he rolled onto the roof and lay there gasping. The guards had stopped on the opposite building. For one wonderful moment, Kael considered staying there simply to enjoy their frustration. Then one of them raised a crossbow. Kael got up. --- Veycross looked magnificent if you had the good sense to observe it from far away. Travelers approaching from the southern road first saw its enormous walls, built from pale stone and reinforced by towers that had survived centuries of war. Beyond them rose the Royal Quarter, where slender spires pierced the clouds and crimson banners bearing the golden Crown of Veycross fluttered above the palace. Visitors wrote poems about those towers. They painted the canals. They marveled at the magical lights that illuminated the wealthier streets after sunset. Kael suspected those visitors never stayed long enough to smell the lower districts. Inside the walls, Veycross was overcrowded and loud. Houses had been built upon houses until some streets spent most of the day trapped in shadow. Wooden bridges connected upper floors. Merchants fought for space below while laundry hung from windows overhead. And everywhere, silver conduits carried magic. They ran along buildings, disappeared beneath streets, crossed bridges and climbed towers. At night, the conduits glowed with soft blue light as energy flowed from the Crown's reservoirs into thousands of registered magical Seals. At least, they did in the districts wealthy enough to receive it. Kael's neighborhood had six working streetlamps. Four of them were usually broken. He descended from the rooftops the way he always did: dangerously. A drainpipe took him down two stories. A balcony railing took him another. He jumped from there onto the canvas roof of a fruit stall. The canvas sagged beneath him. The merchant underneath shouted something that Kael decided was better left unheard. He rolled off the side and landed beside a cart. An apple sat temptingly near the edge. Kael took it. "Thief!" Kael tossed a copper coin over his shoulder. He heard the merchant catch it. "Then why'd you pay?" Kael bit into the apple as he disappeared into the crowd. "Professional pride." The market swallowed him. This was where Kael was most comfortable. Crowds were protection. Guards had swords and armor, but neither helped much when three hundred people were arguing over fish, bread, fabric and questionable medicine. Kael slowed his pace. Running attracted attention. A thief who looked like he was escaping something was a thief about to be caught. A thief eating an apple while casually wandering through a market was simply another annoying teenager. He pulled his hood lower. His heart was still pounding. He needed somewhere to disappear for an hour. Maybe two. Then he'd figure out exactly why the Crown cared so much about a stolen purse. Kael turned a corner and walked directly into someone. Books crashed onto the street. His apple followed. "Oh, come on." Kael looked up. The girl standing before him was about his age, though the expression on her face suggested she'd aged several years simply from encountering him. Dark hair had escaped the loose tie behind her head, and the gray-green cloak she wore identified her as an apprentice from one of the city's healing houses. Mira Vale stared at the books scattered between them. Then she stared at Kael. "No." Kael blinked. "I haven't said anything." "You were going to." "You don't know that." "I know you." That was unfortunately true. Kael crouched and began collecting the books. Mira quickly grabbed one before he could touch it. "Careful." "It's a book." "It's a medical text." "So it's an expensive book." Mira narrowed her eyes. Kael held up both hands. "I wasn't going to steal it." "That you had to clarify that isn't helping." Despite herself, Mira accepted the remaining books from him. Kael had known her for nearly five years, which was long enough for her to become immune to most of his charm and suspicious of everything else. She studied him for a moment. Her expression changed. "Why are you sweating?" "It's warm." "It's autumn." "I've been exercising." "You don't exercise." "I run constantly." "You run from people." "Still counts." A whistle sounded somewhere behind them. The humor vanished from Kael's face. It was a sharp, descending note that cut through the noise of the market. Royal Guard. People began moving aside. Mira looked toward the sound and then slowly returned her gaze to Kael. "What did you do?" "Nothing." "Kael." "Nothing particularly terrible." Her eyes narrowed. "How terrible?" A second whistle sounded. Closer. Kael looked past her and saw flashes of silver armor through the crowd. He gently took Mira by the shoulders and turned her around. "Walk." "What?" "Walk." "Why?" "Because standing here is becoming inconvenient." She reluctantly moved beside him. "Did you steal something?" Kael remained silent. Mira stopped. He grabbed her sleeve and pulled her forward. "Not here." "You did." "Keep your voice down." "What did you steal?" "Money." "From whom?" Kael hesitated. Mira saw it. Her face went pale. "No." "It isn't as bad as you're thinking." "You robbed the Crown." "I didn't know he worked for the Crown." "He?" "A courier." Mira stared at him in disbelief. "Royal couriers wear red uniforms with a giant gold crown on the chest." "The market was crowded." "You put your hand inside his coat!" "I was focused on the pocket." Mira muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a prayer. Kael pulled her into a narrow alley between a tailor's shop and an abandoned bakery. The market noise became muffled behind them. Mira immediately turned on him. "Do you understand how serious this is?" "I understand that you're upset." "They imprison people for stealing from royal officials." "Only if they catch them." "They know your name!" Kael frowned. "That part is bothering me too." He reached inside his coat and removed the purse. It was small, made of dark red leather, with a golden clasp shaped like the Crown's crest. Looking at it now, Kael had to admit there had been several clues concerning its owner's occupation. Mira stared at him. "You stole a purse with the royal crest on it." "The crest was facing inward." "Kael." "I know." He opened it. Silver coins spilled into his palm. More than he'd expected. Mira's anger faltered. Twelve silver Crowns could feed someone in the lower district for weeks if spent carefully. Kael had never been particularly talented at spending carefully, but that was beside the point. "See?" he said. "Worth it." "No." "That's at least twelve." "I can count." "Apparently healers are taught everything." "Give it back." Kael laughed. Then something dropped from the purse. It struck the cobblestones with a metallic click. Neither of them moved. The object was roughly the size of Kael's palm, circular and surrounded by black metal. At its center was a surface so dark it seemed to absorb the daylight around it. Kael's smile slowly disappeared. Mira lowered her books. "What is that?" Kael crouched. "I don't know." "Don't touch it." Naturally, he touched it. Cold shot through his fingers. Kael inhaled sharply. For an instant, it felt as though he'd plunged his entire hand into winter water. He nearly dropped the object. Then the sensation vanished. Three circles appeared beneath its dark surface. One inside another. The smallest circle had been divided by a thin vertical line. Mira stepped closer. "That's a Seal." Kael turned it over. The back was completely smooth. "It can't be." Every child in Veycross knew what a Seal looked like. Magic did not exist freely in the kingdom. It was captured, refined and stored inside enchanted devices. A baker might possess a heat Seal. A healer might carry one capable of closing wounds. Wealthier citizens used them for everything from lighting rooms to heating baths. The Royal Guard possessed far more dangerous versions. Every legal Seal had three things engraved into its casing: the Crown's crest, a registration number and the symbol identifying the spell contained within it. This had none. "Maybe it's foreign," Kael said. Mira shook her head. "Foreign Seals still have markings." "Then maybe it's old." "Kael." "What?" "Put it down." He looked at her. She was genuinely frightened. That bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Mira had stitched his arm closed after he'd fallen through a window. She had once calmly removed an arrowhead from a man's shoulder while the man screamed loudly enough to terrify everyone else in the building. She wasn't easily frightened. "Why?" "Because royal guards are chasing you for it." "We don't know that." "They sent six guards after a pickpocket." Kael looked at the black Seal again. That was a good point. A faint red glow appeared beneath the surface. Both of them noticed. Kael's fingers tightened. "Mira?" "I see it." The magical lamp fixed to the wall above them flickered. Blue light danced inside its glass chamber. Then dimmed. Kael looked up. The lamp flickered again. At the same moment, the black Seal became warmer. The blue light vanished completely. A heartbeat later, the red glow inside Kael's Seal brightened. The alley became silent. Kael stared from the dead lamp to the object in his hand. He no longer felt like joking. "What did I steal?" Boots struck stone somewhere nearby. Mira reacted first. "Hide it." Kael shoved the Seal inside his coat. Two royal guards entered the alley. Their swords were already drawn. Kael slowly raised his hands. One of the guards was the same man who had chased him across the rooftops. "Kael Arden." Kael forced a smile. "I've been hearing that a lot today." "Return the courier's property." Kael pulled out the purse. He tossed it toward the guard. The man caught it with one hand and immediately opened it. His eyes moved over the coins. Then he searched the inside. His expression hardened. "Where is it?" Kael's heartbeat quickened. "Where's what?" The guard crossed the distance between them before Kael could react. A metal-covered hand seized the front of his coat and slammed him against the wall. Pain shot through his back. "The Seal." So that was it. Not the money. Not the theft. The Seal. Kael kept his face blank. "I don't know what you're talking about." The guard struck him in the stomach. Air vanished from Kael's lungs. He folded forward, but the man kept him pinned against the wall. Mira shouted. The second guard stepped between them. "Stay back." Kael coughed and tried to breathe. The first guard leaned closer. "You have no idea what you've taken." "Then explain it." The guard's grip tightened. "Where is it?" Something warmed against Kael's chest. The Seal. He froze. The second guard wore a magical device around his wrist. Blue light shone from its center. A Shield Seal. Kael had seen guards use them before. The black Seal pulsed beneath his coat. The guard's blue Seal flickered. Kael stared. Another pulse. Another flicker. The second guard noticed. He looked down at his wrist. "What—" The blue light stretched away from his Seal. Not metaphorically. Kael actually saw it. A thin strand of blue energy emerged from the guard's wrist and crossed the space between them. It disappeared beneath Kael's coat. The black Seal became unbearably hot. Then the world erupted. An invisible force blasted outward. The guard holding Kael flew backward and struck the opposite wall. The second smashed through a pile of wooden crates. Mira screamed. Kael hit the ground. For several seconds, he heard nothing except a high ringing in his ears. Dust filled the alley. He pushed himself upright. The guards weren't moving. "Mira?" "I'm here." He looked toward her. She stood near the entrance, unharmed but staring at him with an expression he'd never seen before. Fear. Not of the guards. Of him. Kael slowly reached into his coat. The black Seal rested against his palm. A new symbol glowed beneath its surface. Blue. He looked toward the second guard. The Shield Seal on his wrist had become dull gray. Dead. Kael understood. The realization settled over him slowly, each piece making the next one worse. The streetlamp. The guard's Seal. The blue symbol. Whatever this thing was, it didn't simply interfere with magic. It consumed it. And somehow, it kept what it took. A bell rang somewhere in the city. Kael looked up. Another bell joined it. Then another. Soon the sound rolled across Veycross from tower to tower. An alarm. Not the ordinary warning bells used for fires or escaped prisoners. Kael knew this pattern. Everyone did. The Crown was sealing the city. Mira grabbed his arm. "We have to leave." Kael didn't argue. For perhaps the first time in his life, he had absolutely nothing clever to say. They ran. Behind them, bells continued to thunder over Veycross. And in Kael's hand, hidden beneath his coat, the stolen Seal pulsed like a second heartbeat.