Sorcerer's Luck by Katharine Kerr Read Free Book Online

as everything else that had happened: not much.
    â€œAnyway,” Tor continued, “I didn’t see any more illusions, either. I’m really surprised.
Last month the damn things paraded back and forth all night.”
    â€œDo you think they might have showed up downstairs?”
    â€œI doubt it. Before I started dinner last night, I set a lot of heavy wards. I can’t set
them up here, unfortunately, not and expect either of us to be able to think
straight.”
    The way he was smiling at me made me uneasy. Did he suspect that I had a secret? Maybe
only people who had strange powers and stranger secrets could be affected by
wards.
    Â â€œDo wards have that effect on everyone?” I said.
    â€œOh yeah, or else why set them? A really powerful sorcerer could banish them, but most
people would feel confused and uncomfortable. They wouldn’t know why.”
    So I’d only been paranoid about it.
    Tor yawned. “Speaking of confusion, I should take a nap. I stayed up till five. Once it was
light, he couldn’t send any more. Major illusions like that, they’re too
delicate to stand the sunlight and the—well, I guess we could call them the
daytime energies. I don’t suppose you care about the technical details.”
    Thanks to that word, energies, I did care. “This is interesting,” I said. “You mean like
sunlight?”
    â€œThat, too. The world’s full of different kinds of energy. Some of them everyone knows
about: light, electricity, x-rays, forces like that. But some are hidden. Those
are the ones sorcery depends on. You learn to manipulate the hidden energies
and use them.”
    â€œIs it hard to learn?” Hope flared. “Does it take a long time?”
    â€œYears. My father started teaching me when I was four.”
    â€œThat early?”
    â€œWell, only fifteen minutes a day at first. By the time I was ten, it was up to six hours a
day. Studying. Practicing. It’s like becoming a concert pianist. You’ve got to
start real young, and you’ve got to work your ass off.”
    Hope faded. I’d probably die before I could learn how to save my life. “Your father was
another sorcerer, huh?”
    â€œNo, not really. He didn’t have much talent for it. He drank too much, aquavit, mostly,
because he was so frustrated.” He paused for a heavy sigh. “It probably had
something to do with his getting leukemia, all that drinking.”
    â€œThat’s really sad.”
    â€œIt was, yeah. His father, my Grandfather Halvar, was always disappointed in him. Still,
my father knew how to teach. Those who can’t do, teach. Dad used to say that a
lot.” Tor smiled faintly, then let the smile fade. “I don’t understand it.
Usually the oldest son inherits the family talent, but my dad didn’t.”
    â€œYou’re the oldest?”
    â€œYeah, there’s just me and my sister.” He paused to yawn again. “I don’t know where
     she gets her talent from. It’s pretty strange stuff, what she can do.”
    Judging from the decoupage on the writing desk, I could agree with that. Their family
magic differed widely and wildly from the system my father had studied.
    â€œI’ve really got to go get some sleep,” Tor said. “I set the timer on the oven. You
can take that out when you hear the bell go off.”
    â€œWon’t you want some of it?”
    â€œI never eat breakfast.” He smiled at me. “But I thought you’d like some.”
    I did. The coffee cake was wonderful. After I ate, I took a real bath, the first one I’d
had in a long time, and soaked the last of the grease smell away in the black
marble tub. Once my hair was dry, I took a nap myself in my room, to get ready
for the night ahead. Both Tor and I woke up late in the afternoon. After dinner
we sat in the living room and waited for illusions.
    About a hour after sunset the first