This is the content from 2002, the year I actually completed NaNoWriMo.
Bonus Material: The Unrelated Short Story and Part 2
Excerpt Special: The Interview
(If this seems like a longer-than-normal excerpt, that's because it is. Count your lucky stars, folks, because tonight I'm posting an entire working chapter. Young Gerard was an inspiration that came to me right after I finished writing a scene involving his father, the Baron Everard. I'm probably going to have to bring him back in some way by the end of the novel... but for now, here's his entire appearance in the story.)
As dungeons go, these weren't too terribly unpleasant. Cold, damp, and oppressively gloomy they were indeed. We were allowed to dress warmly, and we were also the only "guests" currently staying in these accomodations.
Thom and I were shown to brick-walled cells flanking that of the Princess. We couldn't see each other, and the guards were under orders to keep us from speaking. For the time being we had nothing to say to one another, so it worked out all right.
Several hours had passed, and I had dozed off when voices from down the passageway alerted me to a visitor. Thom and Angelique were still awake, whispering to each other via Thom's talents. I told them to hush up and pay attention.
Before long a poised young man of about thirteen stood before Thom's cell. At first I thought he wasn't going to say anything, preferring just to gawk at the strange prisoners, but eventually he spoke. "My father says you are to face the headsman's axe tomorrow. He says you are the ones the Prophecy speaks of. Is this true?"
Thom answered quietly, "We are under orders to remain silent, young man. We shall not break that commandment to satisfy idle curiosity."
The boy giggled. "That's alright. The guards won't tell Dad. I will rule here some day, and I have a very good memory. My teachers all say so."
"You're a naughty boy to sneak around behind your father's back, are you not?"
"My father didn't order me not to come here, did he? I won't tell him if you don't."
Thom chuckled and answered, "I wouldn't dream of it. To answer your original question, young man, we are indeed the instruments of Prophecy."
"That makes you a mighty wizard, doesn't it?"
I stifled a laugh as Thom replied, "Perhaps." He silently awaited the next question.
"You can escape any time you want to. Why are you still here?"
"Curiosity. We wish to meet Count Osric, see what kind of man he really is. It will help us decide how best to resolve this mess Devar is in."
Another giggle. "I wasn't aware of a mess, unless you're going to cause one. I hope you plan to clean up afterward."
Thom sighed and said, "The mess started many years ago, and both the Princess and the Count are in it up to their shoulders. Not to mention your father."
"Oh yeah, the Princess. Sorry, Mr. Mighty Wizard, but I really want to see her now. Maybe we'll talk later, okay?" Thom bowed politely and the future Baron moved on to the bars of the next cell. "Hullo, Princess Angelique."
"Good day, young Master. Would you do me the honor of telling me your name, please?"
"Certainly! Where are my manners? I am Gerard, son of Everard, heir to the Barony of Emerald Valley." The lad capped this off with a bow and a flourish.
Angelique curtsied in return. "I am Angelique Marie, daughter of Martin and Monique, of the royal Hern family. You may call me Anna if you prefer."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Anna." Gerard giggled again. He was putting on a good show, but I think he was just as nervous to be among us as he was interested in getting to know us. The potential of bringing down his father's wrath might have had something to do with that, no matter his seeming bravado when describing the arrangement with the guards.
"How may I be of service, Master Gerard?"
The lad paused, then asked, "If you were to ascend the throne, what would your first act be?"
It was a surpringly cogent question, and one I was curious to hear the answer to myself. Angelique thought about that for a while, and Gerard waited patiently for her reply. Eventually she took a deep breath and said, "My very first act, and probably a great many acts to follow, would be to do everything in my power to assure the people of this land that I am not a tyrant like so many people believe my predecessors to have been. I want only to guide, protect and preserve our lands and our people. Count Osric," and this audibly pained her to admit, "has done admirable work in restoring peace and prosperity to the land. On my life I swear that I would not return us to the violent, wasteful ways of the past. Were he of legitimate royal blood I might possibly stand aside and let him or his heir rule Devar, but the truth remains that he seized power that does not belong to him."
"The histories of other lands tell us that dynasties change from time to time, and it usually isn't done peacefully. Why should our land be any different? What if this is the time for change in Devar's ruling family?"
Angelique didn't have an answer for that, and after a few silent minutes Gerard moved on to stand before my cell. "Hullo, mighty wizard."
"Hi."
"What would your name be?"
"If what?"
Gerard blinked. "Huh?"
"You asked what would my name be, and I'm wondering 'what would my name be if'... what?"
"Ha ha, that's very clever. May I have your name, please?"
"Andrew Wolfe. It's a pleasure to meet you, Master Gerard."
"Likewise, Wizard Andrew. May I ask you a question?"
"Certainly. I warn you, though, that my answer may seem strange."
He nodded, then asked, "What's it like? Being a wizard, that is."
"Ahhh. Good question, and one that's hard to answer. Before I do, have you asked this of many other wizards before?"
"Only one other, a teacher of mine who passed away last spring."
"I'm sorry to hear of his passing." I bowed politely, as did Gerard in return. "How did he describe it, if I may ask?"
"He... spoke of the weight of many years, much power and great responsibility. It seemed quite a burden. Then again, I think he was feeling old. Only a few months after that conversation he... passed on."
I thought about my answer for a moment. "Well, Gerard, I am not technically a wizard. At least, that's not how I define myself. Just as there are different kinds of woodworking artisans, there are different styles of wizardry. The men who usually are titled Wizard, and incidentally women tend not to go this route, are bearded old men in solitary towers. They live alone, study the physical sciences and use magic devices. They also usually make great tutors in science and history for young noblemen, by the way."
"He was that, sir."
"Good for you, and probably good for him. Anyway, you also come across druids, who practice spiritualist magics. Clerics are much like druids except that they believe it is the power of the gods that they channel. Both types usually live very close to the land and its people. I probably don't need to explain the necromancer to you, do I?"
"No, sir, I'd rather you didn't."
"Works for me. Okay then, on some worlds you get what some call espers. These are folks with one or more specific abilities that are used in a purely elemental fashion. Which is to say, it is by will alone that they use their power, where wizards, clerics, druids and necromancers often rely on devices, potions and incantations."
"I've never heard of an esper before, Mr. Wolfe."
"They usually appear under conditions quite different from the society you have on this world, Gerard. I only mention them along the way to telling you about the sorcerer, which is what I usually call myself when asked. We are unlike the espers in that we can call upon the raw energies of the cosmos, and we can do almost anything our minds can dream up. We are like them in that no external devices are needed, only our willpower and imagination."
The young man absorbed my lecture for several long minutes. He then asked, "How old are you?"
"In a few months I'll be seven hundred forty six years old. And since you're probably going to ask, yes I do feel a heavy burden of years and responsibility. It's not too heavy to bear, and my time is a long way off yet. I have a lot to do between now and then."
Gerard paused before asking, "What do you do, if you're not studying the sciences like a wizard or teaching like a wizard?"
I smiled. "This is going to sound awfully prosaic, but I do what I'm told. Most of the time, anyway." I heard Thom chortling. "I have a bit of a reputation, I'm afraid, as a rogue agent who'll break the rules as I see fit to."
"Are you?"
"Well, yes, when you get right down to it. I have good reasons, though, and my long record of outstanding results makes up for a lot of rulebending."
He giggled and accused, "You're evading the question. What do you do?"
"Heh. Well, I help people. It sounds silly, but that's pretty much what I do for a living. Sometimes I'm defending a village from evil creatures. Sometimes I'm helping one army, or navy, defeat another. Sometimes I'm just a teacher, or a soldier, or a deckhand, or a craftsman. On some of my assignments I don't even reveal my true power, for there are worlds without wizards or magic as you know of it. To attempt," I paused for emphasis, "to answer your question, I do whatever I have to do to get the job done."
"You make it sound so... normal."
"When it's what you do every day of your life, it is normal. Think about the life of a young nobleman versus the life of a farmer or craftsman or soldier. What seems exotic to one is mundane to the other."
Gerard mused some more. "I think I understand. Thank you, Mister Wolfe, for your time. I believe I should go now. If God wills it, I pray we shall all meet again and that we may talk longer. Good night!" And with that he left the dungeons.
I went back to sleep and waited for morning to bring the famous Count Osric to Emerald Valley.
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