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For parents in the kingdom of Danville, there is one great fear that can overshadow the early years of even the healthiest, most seemingly perfect of babies.
“Always watch out for signs,” The local priest warns, before even blessing the child’s birth, “the most obvious signs come when they are older. But even at this age, there are signs. Watch for them. And have no hesitance in what you must do. A mage baby isn’t your child, not really. A mage baby is a demon sent to trick you with big eyes and a sweet laugh.”
Mr and Mrs Underwood exchange a look. Sure, the warnings are necessary, but do they have to be done at the naming ceremony?
But after that warning, the rest of the ceremony continues without incident. And the new parents relax. Because yes, mage babies happen. A mage child born to normal human parents, it can happen. But they both look into the big brown eyes of their son, and they know that he can’t be a mage.
And at first, they have no reason to worry. Zack doesn’t sneeze fire, or make his toys glow, he doesn’t protect himself when he falls over. He grows from a baby to a toddler, and they see nothing. Just a happy, smiling little boy. A caring boy.
One day, his father watches him play in their tiny scrap of a garden with a little niggle of concern. “Have you noticed that Zack doesn’t get hurt anymore? He used to, but these days I hardly see a bruise or scrape on him.”
“He’s careful.” His mother brushes her husband off with a smile. “Most parents are happy when their child doesn’t get hurt! You worry too much.”
So he ignores that little twinge of unease. That he does see Zack fall, but never sees him injured.
Zack starts school, and his parents watch him go for the first day with twin smiles. Partly because he grew up happy and healthy. But partly because Zack seems to have left the ‘danger zone’. If he was a mage child, they would have seen something by now. They haven’t. So they can be certain that Zack is really their son.
Not that they ever weren’t certain. Surely, if a child was a mage child, that could be seen even without the typical signs? Surely you would know that the child isn’t yours.
One day, Zack’s dad is cooking. Zack is playing on the ground nearby, talking happily about his day.
“Ow!” Mr Underwood yanks his hand back, stifling a swear. Zack looks up to see his father clutching his hand, which is badly burned. Sure to scar.
Zack gets up and walks over, as if pulled by a string. He doesn’t look upset or panicked, the way most children would by a badly hurt parent. He just reaches out to touch his father’s hand. And his eyes change. They change from that dark brown, that warm, familiar colour. They change to a golden yellow.
Mr Underwood is so shocked that he can only stare into those eyes, those eyes that can’t belong to his son. And then he notices the pain fading. He looks down to see the burn on his hand fading and twisting, getting smaller and weaker.
Before the unnatural process can finish, he yanks his hand away as if Zack’s tiny hand burned it again, instead of… instead of…
Zack looks up at him, blinking away the yellow until only familiar brown remains. He looks normal. Like he always does. If his hand wasn’t nearly ok, rather than seriously damaged, Mr Underwood could dismiss the entire incident as a fit of paranoia. “Are you ok, daddy?”
He opens his mouth, and nothing comes out. It takes a few tries before he manages something. “Zack, what did you do?!” The words come out harsh, frightened. Zack flinches back from them, made nervous by his father’s strange behaviour.
“I made you better.” He says, as if there is nothing terrible going on. “You were hurt.”
“Yes, I know that, but how? What did you do?” He steps backwards a little, panic rushing through him. This can’t be happening. Not to them. Not Zack.
Zack really does look frightened now. “I dunno, I just… when you burned yourself, something pulled me. And I knew that I could make it better.” He looks up with wide brown eyes. Brown, like they always are. Not yellow. “Daddy, what’s wrong?”
He runs his hand over his face. An urge hits him, to run into the streets screaming for help. But equally, he wants to grab Zack and hide him away, hide him away from what he knows he should do, but can’t do.
“Zack, go to your room. Now.” It comes out harshly.
“But-“
“Now.”
Zack looks shocked. He scrambles out the room and upstairs, stumbling on the stairs in his haste.
Mr Underwood sits down at the wooden table and rests his face in his hands. He can’t even begin to comprehend what is happening. Zack can’t be a mage child. Not his Zack. He knows that Zack is truly his child, he can feel it. But the evidence is right in front of his face.
When Mrs Underwood comes home from work, she finds her husband utterly distraught, face blotchy from tears. “Marcus?! What’s wrong?” She rushes over.
He shows her a light burn on his hand. It is tiny, barely worth mentioning. It can’t be what has upset him so much. “Did you burn yourself?”
“I touched the pot. I burned myself badly.” His voice is choked, strained. “It was worse before. Before…”
“Before what?”
“Zack touched it. He healed it.” He blurts it out like the words are burning his mouth. More tears burn in his eyes. “Eileen, Zack’s a mage child.”
She stares at him. “He can’t be.”
“He is. I saw.”
“Marcus, this isn’t funny!” Her voice cracks. Mages, mage children, they aren’t something to laugh about. Too many families have been ruined by a baby given to them by the evil gods. But her husband doesn’t look like he is joking, even with inappropriate gallows humour. He looks serious. Really, truly distressed. “Marcus, please tell me that you’re joking. Please.”
He meets her eyes. “I’m not.”
And she knows that he isn’t lying.
She sits in silence for a while, taking it in. Running it over in her head. Then she stands. “I know who to go to.”
“I can’t… I don’t want to give him up to the mage hunters.” Marcus admits. Even saying it out loud is treason. But he can’t ignore his feelings. “Even if he is a mage child, he’s ours. I can’t… can’t…” His voice breaks.
“Me neither.” A sort of determination has come over her. “But I have an idea. I met some people through work who know a lot about mages. They could help us.”
Marcus nods. Even if they did try to hide Zack, it wouldn’t work forever. They do tests at school, they have mage sensing swords that Zack will likely start setting off now that his magic is developing. If they want to help him, they need to find another way.
So even though darkness has fallen outside, Eileen goes out. Meanwhile, Marcus takes a bowl of the forgotten stew up to Zack’s room. Zack has been sitting in his small room since the incident, ignoring his growling stomach. He is young, and small, and he doesn’t understand. Zack knows what mages are, of course. Everyone learns that, before they learn anything else. But he must not have realised that what he can do is the same as the evil mages he learns about.
He looks nervous when his dad enters. Marcus feels a pang of fear almost overshadowed by the pang of guilt. From Zack’s perspective, he helped his dad, and was yelled at and sent to his room. But on the other hand, Zack is a mage. And mages are innately evil. Affronts to the gods.
But Zack is also his child. Looking up at him from the floor, his big brown eyes filled with fear. Zack can’t be evil. Not his son.
“Hey, buddy.” He crouches next to him, carefully placing down the bowl of stew. “I’m sorry for scaring you. I got scared.”
“Did I do something bad?” Zack mumbles.
Marcus sighs, heart aching. “You were trying to do something good and help me. I know that.” He tries to keep his voice even, to not let his fear break through. But it must do anyway, because he is so, so scared. For his son. Of his son. “But you shouldn’t do what you did today. Not ever, you understand? No matter what.”
“Why?” Zack presses.
“You know what they speak about in church? About magic?” Mr Underwood tries to explain. “And you know that magic isn’t allowed?”
The fear that settles on his son’s face chills him to the core. “Magic? Is that what I did?” He lowers his voice, looking around in fright. “I… I didn’t…”
“Shh. I know. I know that you didn’t know.” He pats his knee, trying to soothe the now terrified child. “And we’re going to help you. Your mommy is going to get someone to help you.”
Zack shakes his head. “Are you gonna take me to the mage hunters?” He stutters. “I don’t… I don’t want to die, daddy. Please don’t take me to the mage hunters, please…” Tears leak from his eyes, as he trembles like a leaf. Marcus’ heart shatters.
“We won’t. I promise we won’t.” He pulls his son into a hug, one which he sits limply in. “It’ll all be ok, Zack. I promise.”
———
“You’re lucky.” The woman in their kitchen doesn’t bother with any introductions. She is tall, with greying hair. She looks neat and professional in her long red skirts. “You caught it young. Magic corrupts the mind, if he had been older then we couldn’t do much. It’s a grave situation, but not helpless.”
The other woman is less stern. She has curly brown hair, and her blue dress is more haphazard and casual. “Besides, he’s a healer. They’re rare, but they tend to be less monstrous than other types. Sally Redford, by the way. And this is my partner Penny-“
“Penelope.” Penelope interrupts. “I’m glad that you contacted us. Some parents try to simply hide their mage child, and generally that ends with them dying. If you don’t work to suppress his innate wickedness, no matter how much you love him, he will be like any other mage in the end. And you will simply be his easiest targets.”
The two parents stand together, squeezing each other’s hands. They can still hardly accept this, and the harsh words of Penelope just make their pain and fear worse.
“Now, Penny, you’re frightening the poor dears. They did the right thing! And now we can help the boy.” Sally puts a hand on her partner’s arm. “Because it can be suppressed! Both the magic and the evilness.”
“Thank the gods.” Eileen makes a sign with her hand. “I can’t begin to thank you enough.”
“We’re just doing our jobs, Mrs Underwood.” Sally brushes her off. “Now, can we meet the little kiddo? It’s important for us to really understand what we’re dealing with here.”
“I put him to bed.” Marcus says.
“Nonsense, this is more important. Upstairs I presume?” Penelope doesn’t even wait for an answer, immediately marching off to find him.
Sally stops his mother following with a light hand on her arm. “Now, you need to let us do what we need to do, ok? It’s difficult for you, I understand that. But we know what we’re doing. And if you want to keep your son safe, you need to let us do it.”
They look at each other. This feels wrong. Every instinct in their bodies is suddenly telling them not to let this happen.
But if they need to trust these women to keep Zack safe, then they will.
———
Zack is woken by rough shaking. “Up! Get up, right now!”
He immediately knows that it isn’t his mother or father. Not those rough hands, not that cold voice. He scramble to sit up, staring at the woman standing over his bed. He might have seen her somewhere, but he doesn’t know her. And she’s in his bedroom, glaring at him. “Daddy! Mo-“
A hand shoots out to grab his wrist. He squeaks and falls silent as she squeezes tightly. “Your parents know I’m here.”
“Who are you?” Zack asks, trying to pull his hand away. He doesn’t manage. And it hurts. “You’re hurting me!”
“I know.” She keeps holding onto him, and yanks him out of bed. “You can call me Teacher Penelope. I’m here to help you.”
She finally releases him. He rubs his now sore and bruising wrist. Like always, the bruising starts to fade away.
“Stop that!” The harsh order is accompanied by a harsh sting of pain. He stumbles into the hard wooden frame of the bed, crying out. “None of that. Ever again.”
Zack whimpers. Tears sting in his eyes as he looks up in fear at this strange, mean woman.
“Are you upset? Do you think that hurt?” His teacher glares at him, her cold blue eyes glinting. He nods. “Every time you use magic, you get hurt. And if you think that hurt, you are really not going to like what happens if you disobey me. Understand?”
Zack nods again. But he can still feel the tug towards the bruises on his wrist and face. It’s almost impossible to resist.
But this woman is very scary, so he resists.
“You are a mage. And all mages are evil, all mages are bad. You aren’t an exception. There is something very, very wrong with you.” Zack flinches. That can’t be right. His parents say that he is good, and he doesn’t feel bad. But he also knows that all mages are bad. And he is one.
“I don’t hurt people.” Zack mumbles nervously. “I would never.”
“When you healed your father, you hurt him.” The woman is calm and cold as she walks around, studying him from every angle. “Maybe you didn’t mean to. But magic is unholy, an affront of all things good. Healing someone with magic is just as bad as hurting them with it. You really are lucky. If you had done that to anyone aside from your own father, you would be in a cell right now.”
Zack is trembling, his legs shaking so much he can hardly stay standing. “I’m… I’m not…”
“You’re not what?” She turns a little to glare at him.
He swallows. “Nothing.”
“You’re bad. You’re evil. It’s just what you are.” She ignores the wince, the tears. “It’s my job to make you be good.”
———
“Good morning, Zack.” His father’s hand ruffles his hair. He doesn’t show his son his worry. The night before, the taller woman stayed upstairs for a long time. Her smaller partner joined her around halfway through. And then they left, only saying that they would return the next day. They didn’t give a time. “How are you this morning?”
He flinches, the lessons of the night before ringing in his ears. “I’m sorry, daddy. For hurting you.” He mumbles, shuffling his feet. “I won’t do it again.”
“What? Oh, buddy.” His dad hugs him. “You were trying to help me.”
Zack can feel something tugging him to heal the leftovers of the burn. He ignores it, even though it feels wrong. It would be so easy, and his dad wouldn’t be sore anymore. But now he knows better. “I’m sorry.”
The two ‘teachers’ come to visit their son every day after that. They are never allowed to be in the room. Zack barely tells them what happens. They don’t ask many questions. Whatever his teachers are doing, it’s working. Zack isn’t caught. Their son is safe.
But he isn’t the same happy, smiling boy anymore.