July is here already, and with it the GT July Prompt Challenge! Day one is "Enchanted", and I had a hard time deciding what to do with this one. I landed on the tiniest court wizard Adrian has ever had in his employ, Colfax! From there, the story really came together.
Takes place sometime after the Trust AU "A Little Bit of Magic", cowritten with @creatorofuniverses!
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“Wizard! You’ve been summoned to the council room.”
Colfax didn’t turn right away. He had his focus on the blackboard, where he had a complex spell circle taking form and several scribbled notes around it. His criss-crossed rope bridges swayed a bit from the back and forth pacing he’d been doing, and he probably had smudges of chalk on his face from absently tapping his chin.
He was close to figuring it out. He’d been studying these runes and their possible applications for a few days now. If he could get things tuned properly, he’d have a brand new spell.
“Wizard!” The gruff voice was louder this time. This time, he turned to face the door of his lab just to be safe.
Most of the people who lived in the royal castle knew not to enter the court wizard’s lab without invitation. For one thing, they ran the risk of getting caught in some spellwork while he experimented. For another, there wasn’t a lot of room for the standard human-sized person to move around in the lab.
At around six inches tall, Colfax required some extra walkways and bridges to access the different sections of the lab. The chalkboards alone sported a grid of walkways and ladders so he could make use of their full spans. Bridges and stairs extended between the large middle table and the shelves and counters along the wall, spaced out well but definitely creating a web for the bigger folk to navigate.
That was fine. They didn’t need to be able to get around the lab as much as he did.
The man in the doorway was some council representative or something. Colfax would probably remember his name and title if he tried, but the man had broken his concentration and refused to use his name. So he’d meet that energy in kind.
“Yes?” Colfax asked, already making his way to one of the bridges that’d take him to the central lab table. “What am I summoned for?”
The man huffed. “You are summoned by the Prince and his council. What does it matter what for?”
Colfax paused on the bridge to fix the man with a scathing look. As if he was just some performer that could be called upon at any time and not someone with his own job to do in the castle. The man frowned back, but eventually relented. “An artifact has been discovered by one of the royal research teams. They want to know if it’s enchanted.”
Colfax continued down his bridge. At least that sounded like an interesting interruption. “Acceptable. You can expect me in the council chambers shortly.”
He stepped onto the broad lab table, covered in a maze of potion implements, open books, and more walkways for Colfax’s use. Most of the things he’d realistically need for a task like this would be tucked away in the bag he carried at his side, but it wouldn’t hurt to grab a few extra items.
Not that he had a chance to go get any of them.
A shadow fell over the table, and Colfax could only whirl around before a gloved hand descended on him, long fingers wrapping inexorably around him and forcing him against a palm. He grimaced as the man hoisted him off the table far too quickly and then turned to exit the lab with him in tow.
“This is an urgent matter,” the man explained as he walked, carrying Colfax in front of his chest in an uncomfortably-tight grasp. “I will bring you to the council chambers.”
Colfax narrowed his eyes and squirmed a bit, at least enough to free one of his arms and settle it on the man’s knuckles. “You do not have the right to carry me like this,” he warned, keeping his voice remarkably calm considering the seething annoyance that built in him with every step the man took. “I have my own ways of navigating this castle. Put me down.”
He was used to this. All too used to people disregarding his ability to do things on his own. It hadn’t happened in a while, since getting himself really established as the court wizard. The prince had made it clear that people were to respect Colfax’s autonomy. If it meant waiting a little more time for him to respond to a summons, so be it.
This council representative, or attendant, or whatever the hell his actual title was, hadn’t gotten that memo. “This will be much faster. This could be an urgent discovery.”
“Could be?” Colfax echoed. “So you’re manhandling me and you’re not even sure it’s worth it.”
The man had the gall to roll his eyes. At least, by the directions he took through the halls, he was telling the truth about where he was bringing him. Colfax settled in to wait for them to arrive at the council chambers.
He’d been to the room where the royals held council with their various lords and representatives and such many times. He’d had to give and hear dull reports once or twice as part of his office as Court Wizard. It wasn’t as ostentatious as it could be, at least. The tall ceilings and large round table gave a certain official feeling to the place. The high backed chairs all seating very important people added to that.
The conversation in the room faltered as Colfax’s would-be escort stepped forward and deposited unceremoniously in the middle of the table, near a sealed wooden box. He stumbled, barely managing to catch himself as all eyes fell to him.
Adrian, seated in the seat with the highest back and with more papers and folders in front of him than anyone else, looked appalled on top of the shock everyone else wore. “What‒”
“I’m told I was summoned, Your Highness,” Colfax interrupted, not offering a bow. After a moment fishing in his bag, he retrieved his wizard’s staff. “To verify any enchantments on an artifact. It could even be urgent. Hence why I was brought straight here.” He knocked the end of his staff on the wooden box and got a resounding thunk in return.
Adrian’s cheeks turned a bit pink and he took a slow breath before turning his attention to the man who’d brought Colfax to the council room. “My apologies, Wizard Colfax. This summons was not meant to be handled in this way.”
Colfax glanced over his shoulder and was pleased to find the man who’d brought him looking rather sheepish. “Understood, O Prince,” Colfax replied, ignoring the few offended looks he got from the other dignitaries at the table. “I forgive you.”
That got a wry chuckle out of Adrian, if not anybody else at the council. “Very magnanimous of you, O Wizard. As this council has interrupted your work, we could cede the floor to you as long as you should need. If you like.”
Adrian was giving Colfax a chance to make this room full of lords listen to him for as long as he’d like. By the looks on the faces arrayed all around him, they knew it too, and couldn’t go against the prince’s words. Colfax was so, so tempted to take his sweet time testing the artifact there and then for possible enchantments rather than the basic checks they probably expected when they sent for him.
Luckily, he didn’t actually want to spend more time in a stuffy meeting than he absolutely had to. He shook his head. “No need. I feel residual magic coming out of this box, so there are enchantments on the artifact. If you need a full assessment and report, you know where to send it.”
Adrian smiled again. “Much appreciated, Wizard Colfax. You have dismissed yourself.”
Colfax nodded and turned, waving a hand at the others in a flippant goodbye. “Councilors.”
The great thing about being a wizard was that he didn’t need help to make a grand exit no matter how small he was. Already he was preparing a spell to get to the door without anyone laying a hand on him. “I will see myself back to my lab.”
Today for GT July the prompt is "Royalty", and I could think of none other than the prince himself, Adrian Kennet. Of course, the prince is incomplete without the wizard. This story takes place sometime after the conclusion to A Little Bit of Magic, a Trust AU written with the wonderful @creatorofuniverses!
~~~
Colfax shouldn’t be surprised, but the lab in the castle was much fancier than the lab he kept back home. At home, he had a small awning over a single workbench cluttered with herbs and trinkets and other various pieces he’d collected for his magical studies. It had moderate protection from the elements and from the constant botherations of the crows, and it kept him outside just in case a spell went wrong while he was still developing it (he’d only burned the wall inside the house once, but once was enough).
The lab reserved for the Court Wizard, however, was ridiculously posh by comparison. Counters lined two of the walls, shelves filled a third one, and the others bore slate and narrow ledges for chalk. A large circular table took up the middle of the room loaded with bottles and beakers and heating implements and one midsized cauldron bigger than Colfax’s room back home.
He was a wizard, but admittedly a very compact one. He definitely didn’t need all this space.
He stood on the large center table, eyeing the various potion implements that had been left behind. His predecessor hadn’t left much in the lab on their exit. The shelves had a few clay jars shoved to one corner, likely empty under the layers of dust covering them. Colfax had inherited a cavernous room with frosted windows, more shelving than he’d ever need, and a handful of containers that could easily fit him inside of them.
“What do you think?”
The voice from the doorway between the two slate-board walls was polite and gentle, but Colfax jolted all the same. He turned to face it, somewhat sheepish but trying to convey all the confidence befitting a Wizard of the royal court.
He found Adrian standing there, dressed in more casual attire than his usual; the Prince must have found himself a rare day without meetings or briefings or anything that would require some level of regalia. Though a petite human, Adrian still towered over Colfax’s small frame even from up on the table. Standing a little over six inches tall, the wizard was outmatched by even the smallest of humans.
Adrian approached the table, and Colfax drew himself up anyway. He’d never bowed to the prince, and he didn’t think he’d start. He wasn’t very formal with his greetings, either. “Adrian. It will take some work, I think, but this workspace will do. That aside - you know it can be dangerous to walk into a magic lab without an announcement or invitation, don’t you?”
Adrian grinned as he came to a stop before the table; he always tried not to loom too much, and Colfax appreciated it even if he’d never admit it out loud. The prince stood back a step, which made quite a difference. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t have gotten started on anything too troublesome just yet,” he admitted, rolling with Colfax’s teasing. “I’ve sent for some of the most basic supplies that you can use here, but you’ll have to provide a list later for more specifics. I’ve also arranged for a builder to come and make some adjustments for you so you can get to whatever you need in the room.”
Colfax glanced around again. He would indeed benefit from having some easier methods of traversing the room. If it was truly meant to be for him, it was a bit too spacious for the time being. But there would be walkways for him, ways to easily get to any of the surfaces or storage he might want to reach.
Adrian was a good friend. Prince or not, he’d always considered Colfax’s size, but not in a way that felt demeaning or embarrassing. It was simply a fact about the small wizard that could be accommodated.
“You spoil me,” Colfax said flatly, hiding his thoughts with snark. “I suppose you’ll want all that done quickly so you can put me to work for whatever it is a prince needs a wizard to do.”
Adrian grinned. “It’s true, you’ll be earning your keep, wizard. No shirking responsibilities here, no sir. I’ve even got my first request for you already. It’s lunchtime; what say we find Charlie and rescue him from the head historian for a break?”
