38. WAZIRI
SUNDAY MORNING, Leesa slept late. Her sleep had been peaceful and relaxed, the result she guessed, of leftover feelings of contentment from Rave’s visit. He had departed late last night, but the chance to spend an entire day with him had been wonderful.
She got out of bed and slipped into a comfortable pair of sweats. Turning on her stereo, she fixed herself a breakfast of bran flakes and raisins and a big mug of hot chocolate. Part way into her meal, Semisonic’s “Closing Time” started up on the stereo. She stopped chewing and listened to her favorite line about new beginnings. She had experienced so many new beginnings in the last few months and most of them had been great. There was Rave, of course, but also Cali, and college, and Aunt Janet, Uncle Roger and Max. Some of the beginnings were not so good, like her troublesome dreams, but maybe even they would turn out to be positive eventually. There had been a number of “ends,” too. Good ones like the end of her mom’s affliction and the end of Bradley’s captivity. And most importantly, she had managed to avoid the most horrible end of all—the end of her humanity after she had agreed to become Stefan’s consort. She wondered whether this waziri thing she and Rave had discussed would turn out to be a beginning or an end….
Her breakfast finished, she washed the bowl and mug in the sink and then stretched out contentedly on her bed. She wondered if Dr. Clerval would be in his office today, and whether he knew anything about those waziri wizards. She was pretty sure he would have at least heard of them, and he might have some useful knowledge. A glance at the clock told her it was after ten. Might as well give his office a call, she thought.
Not surprisingly for a Sunday morning, she reached his voice mail. She left him a message telling him she had something important to talk to him about and to please call her back, especially if he was going to be in his office later today.
She ended the call and sat back down on the bed, not sure what to do with her morning. Homework was always an option, but Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest, so she wanted to keep that as a last resort. Maybe Cali would have some fun ideas.
Before she could even call Cali, her phone began playing “Rolling in the Deep.” She had made the Adele hit her generic ringtone, so she had no idea who was calling. Not Cali, though, and not her mom or Bradley, or Caitlin or Stacie. They all had their own special ringtones. And it’s certainly not Rave, she thought, grinning.
She picked up her cell and saw it was Professor Clerval, returning her call already. He said he would be in his office in an hour or so, and would be happy to see her anytime after. Leesa thanked him and said she would be there.
Yesterday’s sunny sky had transformed overnight into a gray, leaden one. The air was still cold, without even the meager benefit the winter sun had provided yesterday. Leesa didn’t have Rave to keep her warm, either. So she bundled up in her parka, gloves and ski hat, and even wrapped a dark blue woolen scarf around her neck before stepping out into the cold.
Even so, the frigid air stung her cheeks and her breath steamed out in front of her. Luckily, Dr. Clerval’s office was little more than a ten minute walk, so she tugged her scarf up over her chin and mouth and headed across campus.
She wondered if a storm might be on the way. The winter had been unusually dry—the meager dusting they had enjoyed on Christmas Eve had been the only snow so far. The benign winter surprised Leesa, especially after an early winter ice storm paralyzed the state way back in November. She had expected that massive storm to be a harbinger of lots more ice and snow to come, but she had been disappointed. Some real snow would be fun—she hadn’t played in the snow since she was seven years old and living in New Jersey.
She saw very few fellow students as she walked, not surprising for such an uninviting Sunday morning. Winter might be fun when there was snow to play in, but cold and windy provided little joy to most. A small pond on the other side of campus had been frozen for awhile, and Leesa guessed there would be some kids ice-skating there, but the section where she was walking was mostly deserted.
Inside the professor’s building, the air was warm and toasty. Leesa quickly unwrapped her scarf and took off her gloves and hat as she headed up the stairwell. By the time she reached the third floor, she had pulled off her parka as well.
Dr. Clerval’s door was open, so she knocked lightly and walked in. As usual, the air smelled of fruity pipe tobacco—cherry, she thought. The professor was sitting at his roll top desk, a book open on the desk in front of him, his old wooden pipe hanging from his lips. He twisted around at Leesa’s knock and smiled.
“Hello, Leesa,” he said, placing the pipe into the brass ashtray on the corner of his desk. “It’s always good to see you.”
“Hi, Professor. Thanks for letting me come by, especially on a Sunday.”
“Nonsense,” Dr. Clerval said, smiling again. “I’m always happy to see you. You bring me the most interesting questions.”
“Ha! That’s for sure, huh?” Leesa said, returning his smile. She took her usual place on his old cushioned wooden chair. “I hope that stops one of these days soon, though.”
Dr. Clerval chuckled. “I don’t blame you,” he said. “So, what do you have for me this time? Another dream? More objects moving about? Or are we perhaps back to vampires again?”
Leesa wasn’t sure how to reply. “I did have another dream—more zombies and much scarier this time. But that’s not why I’m here. At least not directly.”
Dr. Clerval leaned back on his chair and clasped his hands on his lap. His posture was one of relaxed ease, but his eyes sparkled with keen interest.
“Go on,” he said.
“Have you ever heard of a bunch of wizards called the waziri?”
Professor Clerval raised his eyebrows. “I have, yes. But I’m surprised that you have.” He smiled. “You never cease to amaze me, Leesa.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Leesa said wryly.
“May I ask where you heard of the waziri? They were always very secretive. Very few people know that name, especially nowadays.”
Leesa hesitated. She should have known he would ask her that, but she hadn’t thought it through. He knew so much about her and her family, but he didn’t know Rave was a volkaane. That secret was not hers to share.
“I’m sorry, Professor, but I can’t tell you that. It would mean betraying a very important trust.”
Dr. Clerval studied her from under his thick white eyebrows. With all she had already shared with him, he was clearly a bit surprised by her response. Leesa hoped she hadn’t offended him.
“I’ll respect that,” Dr. Clerval said after a moment. “What do you wish to know about the waziri?”
Leesa leaned forward. “Anything you can tell me. They were wizards of some kind, right?”
“Wizards, sorcerers, magicians… call them what you will. But yes, they were said to possess magical powers.”
“What kind of powers?”
Leesa watched the professor’s face as some of the pieces clicked into place.
“I see where this is going,” he said. “Precognition and telekinesis. Those were said to be among their powers.” He stared hard at Leesa. “The very same powers you and I just happened to be discussing just last week.”
“Yeah,” Leesa admitted. “That’s how this came up.”
“Tales of the waziri are most common from Eastern Europe. They were a small, very reclusive clan. It’s said they used their powers for good, against the forces of darkness, outside the view of humanity for the most part. The tales seem to have died out more than a hundred years ago.”
Leesa listened closely. So far, all this fit with what Rave had told her. The part about the waziri acting as a check against the forces of darkness was new, though, and very welcome.
“My friend said they disappeared after some kind of civil war,” she said. “Do you know anything about that?”
“That’s one of the stories—that some of them began to turn to the dark side.” Dr. Clerval smiled. “I don’t mean to sound like something from Star Wars. I’d like to meet this friend of yours some day. He or she seems to know a lot about a subject most people have never even heard of.”
“Maybe you will,” Leesa said. She looked forward to a day when everyone close to her knew about Rave’s true nature. She didn’t know if that day would ever come, however.
“Are you thinking the things that have been happening to you—the dreams and moving objects—might have something to do with the waziri?” Dr. Clerval asked.
Leesa stood up. She felt like pacing, but there was very little space to walk in the professor’s cramped office.
“I don’t know,” she said. “It was something that came up, so I thought I might as well try to learn what I could about them.”
“Well, apart from the question of how you suddenly acquired magical powers from a group that seems to have died out over a hundred years ago, there’s another problem. Every tale I’ve ever read or heard about them said the waziri were all men. I’ve never seen any mention of female waziri.”
Leesa nodded. “That’s what my friend said, too.”
She sat back down. “There’s one other thing. I don’t know if it’s related to any of this or not.”
She told Dr. Clerval about the call from the man claiming to be her father.
“I haven’t heard from him since I broke my phone,” she said at the end of her story. “At first, I was glad. I was hoping he’d never find me again. But now I’m wishing he would. Maybe he has some answers for me.”
“It sounds like a long shot, but you never know.”
“Yeah, I know it’s not much. But if nothing else, if he calls again, maybe I’ll be able to solve one mystery, at least.”
“I’m sorry I’m not able to be more help. I’ll do some research on the waziri and see if I can find anything more. I’m afraid there’s not a lot of information out there about them, though. Like I said, they were pretty reclusive.”
“Thank you, Professor. Every little bit helps, I guess.”
Dr. Clerval picked up a pencil and placed it in the center of his desktop.
“As long as you’re here, do you want to try one more time to move it?”
Leesa shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
She closed her eyes and tried to picture the pencil rolling slowly across the desk. When she opened her eyes, the pencil was right where it started. Not that she had expected anything different—but a tiny part of her had hoped there might be.
“Never hurts to try,” Dr. Clerval said, smiling.
“I guess not,” Leesa replied, wondering if she would ever be able to do anything more than try.