“Because they’re under my watch now. As long as you’ll do me a favor. Can you do me a favor, Sam?”
This sounded important. I wiped my eyes again (telling myself any wetness was left over from the pun). “Like, a mission or something? A quest? Whoa. Are you gonna send me on a secret quest where I’ll have to go undercover to infiltrate a base of bandits to steal a map that leads to treasure that’s bigger than my most wildest dreams?”
“No,” he said, but before I could be disappointed, he added, “it’s something greater.”
My young mind was blown, because I didn’t know what else in the world could be bigger than stealing a treasure map from a bandit’s base. “What is it?” I whispered.
“I need you and your parents to move to Castle Lockes, where you will become my apprentice and one day will become the King’s Wizard yourself, charged with protecting Verania. Is that something that you think you can do?”
“That’s… that’s… okay. Can I be honest? I like the idea of going undercover and stealing a treasure map from bandits better. Because there would be explosions and gold and rubies and junk.”
Morgan tilted his head back and laughed, and I decided right then it was my job to get him to do that again and again. “You are so much more than I ever hoped you would be.”
“You hoped for me?” I asked, confused.
There was a tightening around his eyes and mouth, but it was gone before I could be sure it was there. “When I thought of who my apprentice would be,” he said, “I never thought it would be someone like you. I should like it very much if you would do me the honor.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“A very good thing, Sam.”
“O… kay. And you promise my mom and dad can come too?”
“I promise,” Morgan said, and I believed him. “And they will never have to worry about money or food or clothes ever again. I will make sure they’re taken care of for the rest of their days. Much like I promise to watch over you for the rest of mine.”
And suddenly, the reality of what he was offering me felt like it was choking my heart. Here he was, this man, this powerful wizard who I had met only once before, telling me he could make my wishes upon the stars come true. That my mother would be cared for. That my father wouldn’t have to worry anymore. That I could do something great. That I could become someone special. That maybe, just maybe, people would remember my name because I would be good and kind.
“Why are you doing this?” I said, bottom lip wobbling and eyes stinging. “You don’t even know me. You don’t know us.”
He lifted his hand from my shoulder and moved it to the back of my neck, holding me tightly. And for the first time, I felt something coming from him, something that felt like safe and home. I didn’t recognize it for what it was then, his magic mingling with mine, but that was okay. It was enough that it was there.
“Because I see the magic that is in your heart, Sam,” he said softly. “The greatness of it. How vast it could be. You might not see it, and there will be others who underestimate you, but I know you’ll prove them wrong. And I’ll show you how. You have a gift, little one. You are brave. And strong. Please say yes. Please let me take you away from here.”
I cried then, as I threw myself at him. I knew that only babies shed tears, that I was eleven years old and almost a man. And maybe I was a little embarrassed at crying in front of my new friend. But he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly against his chest, his beard tickling my nose. He didn’t even seem to care that I was getting snot all over it. And since he didn’t, I didn’t either, and I let myself have this moment, this brief little moment when a weight was lifted off my shoulders for the first time since I could remember.
“You’ll see,” he whispered as I hiccupped against him. “You’ll see. I’ll show you the way, but the choices will be yours. There is a path, Sam, that all must follow, but there are many ways to move along it. And I promise you that I’ll help you find your own way. Not everything is set in stone.”
He rocked me back and forth, there in my little bedroom in our little shack in the middle of the slums, making promises that I knew, I just knew, he would keep.
EVENTUALLY WE
walked back into the kitchen hand in hand. I was smiling up at him with stars in my eyes. He winked at me and squeezed my hand.
My parents stood in the tiny kitchen, huddled close, Dad looking shell-shocked, Mom’s face wet, her hands trembling. Pete stood before them, looking rather pleased with himself.
I dropped Morgan’s hand and ran toward my parents. Dad was ready for me, arms open wide. I crawled up him until we were face-to-face. I reached up and squished cheeks with my hands and proclaimed, “I’m going to be a badass wizard!”
“Sam,” Mom admonished wetly. “You watch your language. We live in a civilized household. Act like it.”
“But I am badass,” I said. “Even Morgan said I was.”
“I don’t know that I said it like that—”
“Don’t front! You meant the same thing!”
Morgan sighed.
Pete laughed. “It’s going to be like this now. Forever. Ain’t nobody to blame but yourself.”