Two days after his meeting with Uncle Andy, Damien stood in a short hall that led to a balcony where the king would place a gold trinket around his neck. The voices of the gathering crowd reached Damien despite the distance.

He tugged at the collar of his formal robes. A shrill, wrinkled woman had spent an hour yesterday evening measuring him and attempting to poke him with needles. If not for his personal shield he’d look like a pin cushion. He’d never met the woman before, but he felt certain she hated him on sight. When she left an hour later he returned the feeling.

Why couldn’t they just get it over with already? He couldn’t see the sun from where he stood, but he figured he had at least another half hour of waiting. Damien never imagined wishing for a demon attack, but it might be a welcome change right about now. He conjured a chair and slumped down in it.

“Damien St. Cloud?” A slender, older woman with blond hair, a mess of fine wrinkles around her sharp green eyes, and a crimson robe appeared as if out of nowhere. He saw no soul force so she must be a sorcerer, probably a member of the Crimson Legion.

Damien blinked in surprise. “Yes, ma’am, can I help you?”

“I’m Lidia Thorn, archmage of the kingdom.”

Damien scrambled to his feet, reabsorbed the speck of power he used to form the chair, and licked his lips. The archmage! What was he supposed to do, bow, salute, no one ever told him. “Nice to meet you.” That was almost certainly not the proper reply.

She smiled at his unease. “Please relax or you’ll make me nervous. I’ve been reading about you. You completed your training in the minimum required time, killed a demon a few days later, and now you almost killed a dragon. An impressive start to your career.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I haven’t had much luck finding a mentor despite my efforts. If I can’t find one soon I don’t know what sort of career I might have.”

She waved her hand as though that was of no concern. “Show me your power.”

“Ma’am?”

“Channel half your power into your shield and make it visible. Reading reports isn’t the same as seeing for myself.”

Damien saw no reason to refuse, and even if he did he wouldn’t dare object to her order. He made his shield visible and suddenly the world took on a golden tint. Half his power went flowing down the channels he’d made. All around him stones vibrated, and cracks ran along the floor as the power he didn’t fully contain spilled over. The archmage’s hair and robe blew back from the breeze his power whipped up.

“That’s enough.” She waved her arms like he couldn’t hear her.

He drew his power back in and returned his shield to its original state. “Was that okay, ma’am?”

She smiled and straightened her hair. “Better than okay. You’re stronger than me. I suspect you could take any three of my Crimson Legion in a duel. How about you come work for me?”

“Ma’am?” He had to have heard wrong. There was no way the archmage would want a kid six months out of the tower to serve in her legion.

“I want you to come work for me. The others are too gutless to take you as an apprentice. Well, that’s their loss. You’re far too valuable to waste sitting in The Tower waiting for a mentor. I’ll be your mentor and you’ll answer directly to me. You’ve certainly proven yourself a capable field agent. What do you say?”

Damien didn’t have to think long. “I’d be honored, Master.”

She nodded once. “Excellent. I’ve arranged a room for you in the castle. When I have something I’ll summon you. In the meantime keep practicing and make yourself useful around the grounds. I’m sure you can find something to do.”

Damien blinked and she vanished. He squinted, trying and failing to penetrate her invisibility screen. What an odd woman. He’d assumed the archmage would be more intimidating, but she reminded Damien of a kindly aunt.

Oh well, at least he didn’t have to go around begging for a master anymore. He was working with the archmage. He restrained himself from jumping for joy. After this even the award ceremony would be bearable.