The (sort of) Dark Mage (Waldo Rabbit) Read Online Free PDF Page A

he preferred certain slaves and teachers. Within the family there was a strict hierarchy, and how you were treated depended on just where you ranked within it. Some family members could be more gentle (Gwen) some more harsh (Walter) but it was always understood who was more important and who was less.
     
    For almost his entire life Waldo had been at the very bottom. He had been the youngest, and as a child had had no power. When he was thirteen he was allowed to wear the black robes as an apprentice, but was still the weakest. At each meal mother sat at the head of the table and the children sat in order of who was strongest. The stronger you were the closer you sat to mother, with the one sitting to her right being the heir.
     
    The order was not set, and he could remember it changing many times. His older brothers and sisters competed and fought with each other to prove themselves. Mother would reward or punish them by changing their seat at the table. It was not love or favoritism that decided the order; it was just a reflection of who was the strongest.
     
    Waldo was always the one seated furthest away and he was always seated on the left side of the table. He was never really angry about that. He accepted that he was the weakest, and it was enough that there was a place for him. Growing up all that he wanted was to be worthy of his family.
     
    Then one by one they began to die.
     
    Dark Mages were expected to go out into the world and take . The strong took from the weak; that was the way things worked. Every member of the ruling family was expected to add to its wealth and fearsome reputation. A Dark Mage’s worth was reflected in the amount of gold and slaves you could acquire, and by how many enemies you could kill. These were the true measures of a Dark Mage’s power, and each of his brothers and sisters were determined to prove themselves the strongest. That meant facing constant danger, and the usual consequences.
     
    There were never any funerals.
     
    If a body could be recovered it was given a pyre as the family bore witness, but there were no prayers, no ceremony. If the body could not be recovered mother would just make an announcement. ‘Karl is dead.’ That was all. There were no prolonged mourning periods . Mother would be sad but she would never say much. There would be one less place at the dinner table; one less competitor for the title of heir. No one would ask how they died or want to remember them. Bit by bit they were simply forgotten.
     
    There were the living and the dead and the mostly dead. Going from one to the other was just accepted. If you were strong enough you would survive no matter the dangers. If you were not it didn’t matter what became of you.
     
    When Gwen died Waldo had cried for her at the table. His mother had gotten up and slapped him. “If you have to do that then at least do it where no one can see you!”
     
    It was just one of the many hard lessons he had been forced to learn.
     
    As a child Waldo had moved up the table, as one brother or sister after another disappeared. By the time he put on the robes there was only Walter left ahead of him. The two of them were seated next to mother, with him on her left. When Walter died they switched places. Waldo found himself on mother’s right; in the seat reserved for the heir.
     
    “The dead cannot rule the living,” his mother had said after raising Walter. “The heir must provide children and must be able to make contracts and work the greater magics. You are heir now Waldo.”
     
    That was how he had come to his current position, he hadn’t done anything to earn it; he was just the last one breathing.
     
    As he approached the head of the table mother silently watched him. She looked tired, she’d had her robes on when she had suddenly left but wasn’t wearing them anymore. She had a comfortable loose fitting brown shift on and some slippers. Though she was at home, Waldo noted her wand was still tucked