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Before you disinherit your son, get another one!

– I'll curse you. I will disinherit. I’ll send you to a distant garrison. Brat. And this is my son!

Marius expected, of course, to face his father's anger, but did not think that it would be so strong. The hissing, barely audible whisper sounded more like the hiss of a snake than a human voice – a sure sign of extreme rage. Sieur Gaunt del Marre never raised his voice, considering it inappropriate for a relative of the royal family, and the more angry he became, the quieter he spoke. Whoever does not listen is to blame.

The words spread like a heavy poisonous gas, wrapped around and suffocated, Marius’s temples rang and he wanted to gasp for air, like a fish thrown out of water. And suddenly the father almost lost his temper, steel rang in his dispassionate voice:

– Shame of the family, the ancestors are turning over in their graves!

The obsession disappeared, it became easier to breathe, as if a gust of hurricane wind carried the poison away – but for how long?

“They don’t roll over, I know for sure,” Marius objected disrespectfully. – And you, father, better imagine what benefits it will have for the family if you have a heart-to-heart talk with your ancestors. One great-great-grandfather’s treasure is worth something! And those strange hints of royal gratitude in your second cousin’s diaries? What about your father’s secret techniques that he didn’t manage to teach you? And how many more did the ancestors take with them beyond the Border that could be useful to the clan? And you – “I’ll deprive you of your inheritance”! Yes, and deprive me, I’ll ask my grandfather on my mother’s side for protection!

In Marius's voice, resentment became clearer and louder, a nervous blush flared up on his cheeks, and magic flared and crackled in his dark, military-style, short hair like green swamp lights. But the proof of considerable magical power did not at all please the high-born Sieur Gaunt del Marre.

Why be happy? Because the heir and, alas, only son, with the connivance of higher powers, was born a magician? And it would be nice if he were also a combat magician, an elementalist, or at least an empath – such gifts can be easily combined with service to the crown and with the elevation of the clan. But a necromancer! Pah-pah, Great Power forbid! And if, as the father orders, forget about the damned gift, so he, you see, decided to study! And I even found a mentor without asking my father!

To be honest, it was with his mentor that the heir showed himself to be quite good: master Turvon was passing through their area, not everyone would have had time to make such a fuss. Go find a master necromancer who is ready to take on an apprentice. There are maybe a dozen of them in the whole world, or even less, but in the kingdom there is only one. And, to be honest, in the depths of his soul, Ser Gaunt understood this very well. As well as the possible benefits of finding grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s hiding places and secrets. But the son is a necromancer!

But, whatever one may say, son. The only one. One cannot expect continuation of the family line from daughters; they will go to their husbands’ families, and in general, abandoning the first-born, the blood successor of the family name, and accepting a son-in-law-consort is much worse than allowing a son to study in a way that is not entirely appropriate. It is “not quite”, and not “not at all…” – magic, after all, not some kind of chicanery or, Great God forbid, trade. And the wife, although she does not interfere in the upbringing of her son, loves him and will not allow him to be driven out. To fight with his wife and daughters who adore his brother – no, he is still sane! Peace in the family is worth more than indulging a kicking offspring.

“Okay,” Ser Gaunt said almost forcefully. – I won’t say that I think it’s appropriate, but…

“Acceptable” will be quite enough, suggested Marius.

But then the idea of procreation finally came to its logical conclusion, and Sieur Gaunt again fell into a hissing rage.

– "Acceptable"? How will you order you to look for a bride? What girl would agree to tie her heart to a necromancer? I will not allow the family to fade away. Neither. Behind. What.

For some time, father and son silently glared at each other. Marius was the first to break the silence: he, after all, could not help but understand how terrible the very thought that the del Marre branch could dry out was for his father. And even more so – through his fault.

– Is this the last reason? What if I give my word that I will find a suitable bride myself?

“When you find…,” Ser Gaunt began, cooling down, but his son interrupted disrespectfully:

– No, that would be wrong! I need a girl who won’t be afraid of my gift, which means she can’t hide it.

“You won’t find such a girl.”

– Would you like to make a bet?

In the dark eyes flashing with excitement, in the stubbornly upturned chin, Ser Gaunt suddenly saw himself, young, not yet really learning to restrain his hot temper. Son, flesh from flesh, blood from blood… an apple from an apple tree, as the common people say. And it’s true, how can one not admit it – it’s a bull’s eye!

“I haven’t spanked you enough,” grumbled the high-born sieur. – With ignoramuses like yourself, you bet on clicks. Here's my will for you. I allow you to study. But so that no later than the next harvest festival he introduces me to his chosen one. Of course, I will negotiate with her family myself, but the girl must agree.

– But there’s less than a year left!

– Did you hope to remain single until old age? This winter I intended to find a worthy match for you, so consider that I also received a reprieve.

Marius grunted with displeasure, but bowed, acknowledging his father’s will, and that was the end of the argument. And an hour later, having collected the necessary things, hugged his mother and sisters and accepted his father’s blessing, albeit reluctantly, the heir to the del Marre family clenched the portal amulet given by his future mentor in his fist and disappeared from the castle of his ancestors, as if it had never happened. And in the ancient tower in the middle of the reserved Deer Log, in the very one that people knew as the home of the master necromancer Turvon, a student appeared.

***

Oleniy Log, an ancient protected forest, is located very close to the capital – you can reach it on foot in half a day, and the horseman can quickly gallop there. But both on foot and on horseback took the tenth route around it, trade routes were bypassed, even though the convoys lost a few extra days on the long journey, and even poachers were afraid to go there, although everyone knew that the royal rangers were not guarding this forest.

Everyone knew that in the Deer Log, behind the windbreaks and swamps, among the ancient oaks and hazel thickets, the Altar and the Tower were hidden. Everyone knew that noticing them even from a distance was not good, and even meeting their owners was a completely disastrous thing. But no one could indicate exactly which path would lead you there; Well, how do you come across it by chance? It’s better not to set foot in the forest at all.

On the Altar they talked all sorts of tall tales. Whose is it, what powers did they bow to there, what sacrifices did they make? Nobody knew for certain; even in old chronicles there were no mentions of it. Make up whatever stories you want, one more terrible than the other, you still can’t check it!

The tower is a different matter. People did not know how old it was and who lived in it before, but for almost two hundred years it served as a dwelling for a necromancer magician. Master Turvon, tall and thin, as if withered, with a piercing gaze of eyes as black as hellish tar, and the same black hair tied in a ponytail at the back of his head, has not changed at all in two hundred years. That is, maybe a few wrinkles and gray hairs have increased, but who will notice such a trifle? What’s more important is that the way his great-grandfathers described him is how his great-grandchildren see him.

Although necromancers are distinguished by their nasty character, Master Turvon has not aroused any special fear in the residents of the surrounding villages and the not-so-distant capital – and, as a result, the entire kingdom – for a long time. Among the magicians you won’t find fluffy bunnies, they’re all wolves; Well, a hellish dog has wormed its way among the wolves, so what now? Do not touch unnecessarily, and he will not touch you; and when the need arises, don’t rush like crazy to the Tower, pounding on the door and yelling under the windows, leave a sign on a post near a withered oak tree at the edge, and the magician himself will find you. Moreover, Master Turvon did not raise cemeteries, did not summon evil spirits, preferring to question the dead or murdered for the benefit of their living relatives or the crown. And what he does in his tower is his business, which it is better for no one to meddle in. And they didn’t go in, and even for the most part not out of fear, but because it is clear to any sane person that where the necromancer casts spells, it’s better not to meddle there. Otherwise, how the Great Power forbid will enchant you by accident!

That's how we lived.

No one knew that the master had a student. The high-born Sieur Gaunt del Marre was in no hurry to tell everyone where the heir had disappeared. “Learns the knowledge necessary for a young man from a knowledgeable mentor,” and period. Those who were interested in the details received, instead of an answer, thoughtful reflections on the fact that service in the border garrisons, especially in the south, did not make people such idiots. And so it turned out that Sieur Gaunt did not seem to be lying, but he reliably hid the location of his son from everyone.

And the master, of course, did not take the undergrowth with him when he went to perform dark magic at the home of his next customer. Magic is not about weeding beds and allowing the untrained to practice. But even incompetent people don’t like garden beds; but it’s better to confuse weeds with cabbage than, instead of summoning a soul that is peaceful in a good afterlife, suddenly raise an evil corpse.

Marius did not dare to grumble, although every time his mentor went to work, he had difficulty suppressing the desire to ask to come with him. And master Turvon, you know, left the student with tasks that were dirtier and bigger for the time he was away, so that he wouldn’t sit idle, wouldn’t suffer from nonsense and wouldn’t climb into places where he shouldn’t climb without supervision.

So Marius sat in a black tower in the middle of the forest, like an enchanted princess from a fairy tale. He chewed on the intractable science of magic, dismantled ancient books, memorized rituals. Daily household chores – cleaning, a garden with herbs and a stable with the only inhabitant, the black hellish horse Garo – were also on him. You never know whose heir you are. You may brag about your high birth in the palaces, but in the tower of a magician, while you are a student, you are nobody and there is no way to call you. In addition, maintaining proper order in the home, and magical herbs, and even more so, the inhabitant of the stable is the same part of the training. You need to understand what to do with all this and why it is this way and not otherwise.

It was difficult at first. But the autumn poured down with dull rains, the winter swept through with snowstorms, the early timid spring snowdrops blossomed – and from the old Marius, who fiercely wanted to learn, but in the explanations of the master who understood well if one word out of ten, only the name remained. Now he could distinguish one herb from another by smell and touch, even in dried and mashed form. I discovered that thoroughly washing the floor before drawing a circle of invocation on it perfectly sets the mood for the ritual. And the mad creature Garo caressed, accepting the treat, allowed him to comb his mane and pat his terrible face and did not try to bite off his fingers right up to his shoulders. And the master moderated his sarcasm, making remarks about the dubious intelligence of some high-born blockheads.

And at night, through sleep, voices were heard at the very edge of consciousness. They whispered something incomprehensible, called, promised. In his dream, Marius thought that in the morning he should tell his mentor, ask what kind of strange dreams he had, who was calling him and whether this call was dangerous. But in the morning I forgot.