v1: Hello thanks for giving this story a shot! Please vote and comment cause I always love to hear what people have to say. And if you like this perhaps you'd like my other story, Clouded Vision, so give that a shot too if ur interested.
Thank you tianajade for the awesome cover :)
v2 note: I am currently uploading the most current version of Magic Weaver. If the chapter is labelled v2, then that means it is updated. If not, than it is the outdated version. If this is your first time reading, I would recommend waiting until I update because the two have about a 50 page difference. Also please don't read Clouded Vision because it's horrid.
Chapter One
Jack
Cedric roamed the beds of flowers, sweat coating is palms as he looked out for guards that strode past, pistols illuminated in the bright sun at their sides. Cedric cringed, his face buried in a bright pink rose, his eyes fixed upon the ferocious weapon. He crawled through the king’s courtyard, flowers by his side, their faces fixed upon the golden sun, eagerly eating up its brilliant warm sunshine. Cedric knelt to the ground once again as a guard sauntered past with a strict solemn face. As all the other guards, this one wore a purple uniform on his back, with the king’s mark stamped over the front. Although his eyes scanned the area, they didn’t bother to really search, and for this reason Cedric was never caught.
At the center of the King's Courtyard stood a massive gazebo, enclosed in wandering ivy. Flowers spotted the ivy, flaring out like the bottom of a deep purple trumpet, tipped with a royal blue. The king spent much of his time here; it was his place and his place only. Cedric slipped inside, ears perked for anyone approaching. Inside the circular arc was a soft white, lit where the sun could filter through the leaves. It was cooler in here than in the sun, the ivy acting as an umbrella. The small area, closed off from the world, seemed as though it was the only thing that truly existed. As though the rest of the world disappeared, which was a welcome change from castle life. Although this was the king’s place, it was the only place Cedric didn’t feel like a servant, as he knew this was the only place he was safe from Rafe. The guards in that nonexistent world would never check here, for this was a forbidden place. The only way he would be caught was if the king himself entered. If the king did actually catch him, however, that would lead to disastrous consequences. Cedric had never actually met the king, never even seen him, but he could only imagine the horror he would face, for the king was surely even worse than Rafe. In the middle of the gazebo was a single bench, soft white and speckled with light. Cedric sat down, his breathing soft and quick. His hand curled into a nervous fist, yet he made himself stay where he was. To leave now and let his fear get the better of him would let them win. If he didn’t break this rule and stay here, it would be accepting their twisted leadership and bow down before their will. He wouldn’t be the obedient slave, wouldn’t play that role, no matter what the consequences were. This was his way of rebelling against them. Besides, Cedric had incredible instincts. He could always sense when someone was approaching. Cedric forced himself to stay for several minutes, before the crunching of leaves and a snapping twig startled him away. Cedric ducked out of the ivy gazebo and looked around cautiously on his hands and knees. On the edge of the courtyard, observing Cedric with a disapproving stare, was a broad man, with a bit of a gut, but kind eyes and a certain smile to his lips. Cedric, rather than running away, moved through the foliage towards him, for he knew this man as the cook, his teacher caregiver, and the king’s personal cook. When he was a few feet away, the cook strolled into the castle, and Cedric ran to catch up.
Only when Cedric was walking in stride with the cook did he speak. "The duke was looking for you. I looked like quite the fool when I couldn't produce what he wanted."
"You could have." Cedric retorted somewhat sourly, upset that the cook had caught him and was now lecturing him. He knew where this talk was headed, as he had heard these words many times.
"And what do you think the duke would have done if he found out where you were." His tone was condescending, also genuinely concerned.
Cedric made a face. "He would have told Rafe."
"And?"
Cedric shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
The cook chuckled in an almost frustrated way. "You can't run around doing whatever you want." The cook explained softly."You're a servant, not a prince."
"I never get caught." Cedric muttered.
"Almost." The cook corrected gently. "You almost never get caught. But one day you will, and I won't be able to save you because you'll be in Rafe's clutches."
"I know." Cedric reluctantly agreed after a moment.
The cook smiled, content, and opened the kitchen door. Cedric entered, and the cook followed.
Remembering the reason why the cook had come to find him, he asked, "Wait, so what did the duke want with me?"
"He wants a companion for his son, and remembered when you delivered that letter for him last week."
"Why would he want me?" Cedric asked, eyebrows raised.
"Well, clearly he has not discussed his idea with Rafe, or he would be aware of a quarter of the stunts you have pulled."
"Does the duke want me now?"
The cook nodded silently, and then turned to an open book on the counter to prepare dinner.
Assuming the cook had dismissed him, Cedric wheeled around and leisurely strolled through into the hallway. The colors were rich, and the hallways were filled with enormous, graceful windows. Elegant art hung on the walls, and on top of mammoth dark wooden boudoirs, were exquisite and priceless articles, placed just high enough to deter the servants from stealing them away. Cedric stopped to stare at the offending objects, grinding his teeth. Swiftly peeking to the left and right on him, he suddenly scrambled up the front of the boudoir, snatched a golden vase and jumped back to the ground. With a triumphant smirk he placed the vase, studded with stunning emeralds, on the floor next to the boudoir and walked on. Cedric wandered through the mazing labyrinth, feeling a bit lost, until he finally found the stairs.
Since the duke was part of the royal family, he was on the fourth floor. Cedric was on the second, in the servant's quarters. He began to climb quickly and effortlessly, nodding grudgingly as nobles and ladies passed him, as required. Once on the fourth floor, it was an easy matter to find the duke's room. He knocked tentively, and leaned backward.
"Come." The voice inside told him.
Cedric entered casually. The duke was at his desk, scribbling frantically, merely glancing up as Cedric shut the door.
"Duke Christopher." Cedric greeted, bowing low and rolling his eyes at the floor, hating the degrading motion.
The duke didn't bother to look up. "You're the boy I called for?"
"Yes Sir." Cedric replied. "I delivered a letter for you."
Only now did the duke actually pay attention to Cedric. "Ah, yes. You did well with that. Errand boys tend to lag and they never follow orders to my satisfaction."
"Thank you Sir." Cedric responded in surprise. Uppers never gave servants any positive regard for what they did, especially an errand boy such as himself. An errand boy was more likely to be beaten than praised.
"Now," the duke continued. "I imagine you know why you're here."
"I'm to keep your son company?"
"Correct. You are to stay by Sir Jack's side. His orders are your priority unless, of course, they're my orders."
Cedric was taken aback by the weight of the command the duke was giving him. Apparently this was going to be a full time job, and a burden on him. The thought of babysitting a bratty upper boy made Cedric scowl in annoyance. But there was nothing he could do. "Where is your son?"
"Jack is in there." He said, waving in a general direction, absorbed back into his work. Since the duke was too busy to see, Cedric left without bowing once again, and went into 'Sir' Jack's room.
In the corner of his room, a boy who could only be Jack had his concentration was on a flat board with a dizzying, alien design of black and white. Jack was moving little statues on the board, frowning intensely, and pushing black hair that constantly fell in his face.
"Sir Jack?"
Jack looked up, scrutinizing Cedric with a shade of dull blue eyes. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Cedric. Your father-"
"Yes, yes I know why you’re here, which is why I didn’t ask." Jack stated impatiently, and then returned his eyes back to the board. Cedric glared at the back of the boy’s head, offended by his rudeness. There was no reason to speak to him like that, as if he was ill in the head. A dread for what would be waiting for him in the future with the duke’s son settled in the pit of his stomach. And there was no way to escape this chore, as he had done so often in the past. Cedric stood at attention, unsure what his instructions were. After a moment of standing, Cedric decided to move next to Jack. When Jack had no reaction to the offense, Cedric spoke.
"What are you doing?"
Jack rolled his eyes dramatically. "Chess."
"What's the point?" it looked confusing.
Jack, with an effort, looked up and met Cedric's eyes. "Look," Jack explained with a sigh. "My father’s intention by giving you to me was for you to act as a spy for him, and gain my favor so that I would be more open up to his suggestions about my future career." After a pause and a glance away from Cedric's face, he continued. "But I have no intention of following my father's hopes, so do what you wish. You don't have to follow me around like a dog. You're unneeded here."
Cedric quickly hid his surprise, and cocked his head, confused by these new developments. He wasn’t sure what to think. This was such different behavior than he was used to. The temptation to abandon Jack, as he wanted, was strong, but the duke made it clear to follow his orders first, not Jack's. The fastest way to Rafe's ears was to directly disobey an order, especially from royalty.
Cedric rubbed his neck with a torn expression, and reluctantly said, "I'm sorry, but I have orders from your father that I can't refuse."
Jack snorted, clearly disgusted by the answer, and replied, "Then don't think I'm going to humor my father."
Cedric shrugged; it didn't matter to him. While Jack did his 'chess' Cedric studied his surroundings. In the corner Jack's bed was large, yet surprisingly austere; just a bland white with a tattered book next to the pillows. A map was spread over the right wall of the room, filled with symbols and polite scribble. Cedric moved to Jack's bed and picked up the book, flipping through it without much interest. Jack glanced up, his eyes on the book with a concerned look, a frown cracked upon his face. The crack opened to speak, then Jack changed his mind and turned his head.
"Sir Jack? What is this?" Cedric asked.
"Don't call me 'Sir'." Jack growled.
Cedric furrowed his brows in shock. What kind of upper was this? "That's what you're father wants." Cedric said, trying to push this interesting situation to see what would happen.
"I don't care. Don't call me Sir."
"But I'm a servant."
Jack shook his head, stood from the table and walked to Cedric. "If you can I simply switched clothes, I would be the servant and you would be the king's nephew. We're really no different."
Once again Jack had shocked Cedric with his tongue, but quickly recovering from the surprise, Cedric smirked. This boy, this brat, didn’t understand, and Cedric was eager to impose that understanding on him."We are different." He argued. "Because regardless of similarities I still have to obey all who wear your clothes or fear punishment."
A smile crossed Jack's face. "You'd be surprised. You and I share the same cage."
Cedric snorted. "You don't know what oppression is."
Jack waved a hand. "Enlighten me then."
Cedric threw up his hand, its back toward Jack to reveal the king's mark, a black swirling line, an arrow on top, and spiny wings protruding from the side. "A sign of my slaveship." Cedric spat. He knew he was going too far now, that if he pushed this Jack would recoil, promising punishment, but he couldn’t seem to close his mouth. He had to say it. "A sign of ownership burned into my flesh when I was nine. No, we are not similar, because if we truly switched clothes your kind would see my mark and kill me for trying to be you. Perhaps we could be equal, but your kind forces ours to the ground." Cedric bared his teeth in blind rage.
Jack seemed started by Cedric's unexpected outburst. His eyes were focused on Cedric's hand, and suddenly ashamed of it Cedric let it fall to his side.
"They all have that mark?" Jack whispered, his voice hushed.
Cedric looked at Jack's pale slender hand that had not a trace of ink. "Yeah. They do."
"I...I never noticed."
Cedric sat on the ground, his expression distant. "I'm sorry." He apologized, abruptly aware how out of place his behavior was. Jake may be different but he was still an upper. "Please don't tell the duke."
Jack could see the subtle yet obvious fear in Cedric's face, and something flashed behind Jack’s own eyes. "Don't worry about it. I don't care what you do, and that's not going to change just because you show some audacity."
Cedric sighed in evident relief. "Thank you."
Jack's eyes shifted around the room with a touch of embarrassment. An uncomfortable silence occupied the room, until Jack spoke again.
"Would you really be killed for wearing my clothes?" Jack asked. His voice was no longer surprised, simply curious.
"Probably." Cedric answered. "Apprentice servants are disposed of if they become a hassle. If I were a master servant, the punishment would depend upon the trade."
Cedric could see Jack gain an inquisitive nature. "What do you do?" Jack questioned. "What is your job?"
"I'm training to be a cook, but for now my main duty is an errand boy. I complete any simple task anyone wants me to, like fetching groceries or making a delivery."
"Is it difficult?"
"Not particularly. In fact, it's sometimes enjoyable. I can have the opportunity to travel all over the castle, and often outside of it. Sometimes I even do exciting tasks, like spying for others. There's a chance I have more freedom than any servant in the castle." The bitterness returned to his attitude, but it was subtle this time. "Still, in social class I am the lowest of any in the castle. Anyone, servant or upper, can do whatever they wish with me, and I have to obey their every command quickly and fully." Cedric fell quiet, deep in thought. He wondered what it would be like if Jack and he really did switch roles. If people served him day and night, if he didn’t have to lift a finger, day after day. He wasn’t sure what to think of the mental image. It made him pity the servants serving him, as he could empathize with their situation. Perhaps if the uppers took the servant’s roles for but a day they would free Cedric and his people. Cedric scoffed at his own impossible thoughts. He would never gain his freedom, and neither would the cook, Emily, or anyone else.
"Your life sounds interesting." His voice was fashioned to be darkly humorous, but there was an underlying longing to it. We share the same cage. Could it be possible that Cedric had more freedom than the duke's own son? The idea seemed ridiculous. Yet it would explain his sympathetic behavior toward Cedric. While Cedric thought, Jack's head twisted back toward the chess board. Couldn't he stay away from that thing?
"What are you doing?"
Jack looked up with a blank yet confused expression. "Chess." He replied.
"I know, but why? It looks boring." Cedric's voice was disgusted.
Jack smiled. "I use it to work on my strategic skills. I want to be a general someday."
"At your status you could become a general regardless how much or little you study." As the king’s nephew, he held an incredibly high position of power. And with that power, he could do anything.
"Perhaps. But I don't want to just be a general; I want to be a good one. One that actually makes a difference."
"So you study all the time?"
Jack shrugged. "I need to. The only other way to learn is by experience, but if I join the army's ranks as a soldier and climb upward, my father will ensure the king never promotes me to a general." The curve of Jack's frown made Cedric believe that was how Jack truly wanted to reach his goal. And the way Jack rolled his eyes when he mentioned his father made Cedric begin to like Jack immensely. Any hint of Cedric's polite façade vanished. He began to wander around the room, grabbing books and flipping through them, searching for pictures since the words were meaningless to him. A particular book, large with gold edging on the sides caught his attention. On the front was a picture of some grand mind, smiling with great pride.
"Are you interested in King Henry?"
Cedric's eyes lit up. Of course; how could he not have recognized him? His portrait, the largest one in the castle, was on the fifth floor.
"Shining King Henry? I don't really know that much about him."
Jack frowned. "He's one of the greatest kings in history. He started the Machine Age about 150 years ago."
Cedric shrugged. "I wouldn't know; Rafe doesn't allow servants to read."
"Who is Rafe?"
"He looks after the servants, to be sure we are doing our jobs and following the rules." Rafe. The name rolled off the tongue like a slug, and hung unwanted on his lips. He knew of no-one he hated more.
The door cracked open and Emily, to Cedric's surprise, came in with her red hair flaming around her slender plain face. She looked at Cedric, smiled, then spoke to Jack."Sorry to bother. May I interrupt?"
"Emily!" Cedric exclaimed happily. "What are you doing here?" It was always a joy to see her.
"Ah, hello Cedric." Emily replied, her eyes on Jack. Her stance was stiffer than normal, afraid that this person of such social standing would become angry for talking with Cedric. It was impossible to predict how uppers would react to anything.
"Oh, Jack, this is Emily. Emily, this is Jack."
"Hello...Sir Jack.” Cedric noticed her addition of the title sir, and apparently Jack did as well.
Jack smiled. "I insist you call me Jack," he replied, "or I shall be forced to call you Lady Emily."
Emily had trouble hiding her shocked expression. "Jack?" it left her mouth as though she didn't want it to, clicking her tongue at the end. Jack nodded, as if to assure her it was fine.
Emily's attention abruptly turned to Cedric. "May speak to you outside?"
Cedric nodded and together they stepped into the hallway. "What manner of man is he?" she asked, sounding frustratedly confused.
"Why, you know him. He's the duke's son."
"Are you sure? He couldn't possibly be royalty with that attitude."
Cedric beamed. "I know; isn't he great? To think he's an upper."
Emily rolled her eyes. "'Upper'. What a slur. Someday someone will catch you using that and take it personally. But I don't trust him. You could be walking into a dangerous situation."
"How so?"
"Rafe wants to catch you doing something horrible so that he can be rid of you. You know how much he hates you. What if Jack is working with Rafe?"
Cedric laughed. "Rafe's just a servant like us-remember? What bratty upper boy would care enough to work with a servant?"
"A very bored one with a nasty sense of humor." There were plenty of those around. Far too many, in fact. But Cedric still shook his head. "They have too much pride to be used like that. You're being unrealistic. Jack is good. I can tell."
"I don't trust him. He's royalty."
Cedric sighed. Emily didn’t understand like Cedric did. She didn’t hear what Jack had said to him, the words that convinced Cedric that this one was different than all the others. It was her cautious nature that kept her from trusting him, a trait that often saved Cedric, but in this case was obviously wrong. "I know you don't. But you'll see that he's nothing to worry about."
Emily looked thoughtful for a moment, and then she suddenly remembered something. "Joseph wants you. He says it's time to practice."
A sigh sailed from Cedric's lungs. "The cook? Tell him I have direct orders from the duke that staying with Jack is now my priority." Practice was desperately uninteresting. Cedric, for the most part, didn't mind learning how to cook, but it was often dull to learn, and Cedric had little interest in the skill. He knew that his food would only fill the bellies of those he hated, a thought that displeased him. He was only learning this for their benefit, and nothing else.
Emily, without a word, marched past him and briskly walked back into Jack's room. "...Jack...could you give Cedric a bit of time so he could attend his lesson?"
"Of course."
Emily flashed a devious smile to Cedric. "Well, that's all cleared up then. Have fun with Joseph."
Cedric glared at Emily's wicked, triumphant grin. "You evil sneak!" he hissed playfully, reluctantly walking to the door to leave.
"Oh, hush you. I have to deal with Katherine."
That was true. Although Emily was a maid and didn't have a teacher, Katherine watched Emily like a hawk and saw to it that Emily always behaved herself. She was a shrewd, strict woman, who disliked Cedric immensely, a hate they shared against each other. Katherine was someone Cedric was happy he didn't see her too often, though when he did see her, she always made him laugh. Her strict personality rendered her vulnerable to mess with.
As Cedric strolled lazily through the halls, he thought of Jack. There was no way he could be working with Rafe. Besides, Jack could be an extremely valuable asset. Jack, as an upper, could go anywhere he wished without being hassled. He could do anything and it wouldn't be taken as suspicious. In fact, if anything did go wrong-which of course it wouldn't-Jack could take the blame without consequence. Jack could open up doors that Cedric never had the key to before, he could help Cedric break every rule in the castle, cast revenge against every noble that had wronged him. Cedric smirked, thinking of all the possibilities.
"Cedric! It's about time."
Cedric blinked to realize he had in fact found his way back into the kitchen.
"Are you ready to show me that new recipe?" The cook's eyebrows were raised.
Cedric smiled. "Well, it's not quite done. It lacks a certain flavor. I can't seem to decide what it's missing."
"Come here then, and we'll work on it. Perhaps some nutmeg?"