William Calhoun and the Black Feather. Book I. Aik Iskandaryan

giving William an intent look from head to toe, he said slowly:

      «So here you are…»

      «This’ll be enough! Go back to your letters, you Tattered Parcel!» Nymus shooed him off. «I’ll pay you a visit after lunch if I’m free. So get ready, set a table. Let’s Seal some Envelopes!»

      «I’m so glad to see you again, Nymus! Celestine’s Monogram! Years away haven’t changed you a bit!»

      And Vulpik disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.

      «Nymus,» William dared to break the silence, «who’s Celestine?»

      «Marcus Celestine is the founder of the Magic Post Office and the whole system of mailmages that has been working all over the world for many centuries. When we take the oath to our master, we do it by placing our hand on the Post Office Code signed by Marcus Celestine.»

      «Wow…» William drawled, «you have your own world in here, as I can see!»

      In a few minutes, a young black-haired curly mailmage in glasses approached them and addressed Nymus:

      «Nymus House Representative?»

      «Yes! I came to get my Mailmage license back!»

      «The Postmaster is absent today. His deputy is ready to see you! Follow me!»

      And the young secretary headed towards one of the numerous doors. It lead to a narrow corridor with a marble floor. The corridor was rather dark and gloomy and was a great contrast to the bright hall they’d just left. There were numerous offices along the corridor, on both sides. Each door had a sign shaped like an upturned open envelope with the name of the department on it and the second sign sticking out, shaped like a piece of paper. That one stated issues and tasks each Magic Post Office Department handled. William noticed that one of the envelope signs on the door said «Magic Post Office Archive’, and the piece of paper added «Authorized personnel only’.

      Finally, the young secretary stopped by the door, the envelope sign on which said: «Postmaster Deputy, Thomas Hill’. The bottom part of the sign, instead of the customary piece of paper, was decorated with a large Post Office emblem – a yellow envelope with a green MPO monogram and a white magic feather inside, which symbolized how inseparable the kins of wizards and mailmages were. Below there was the motto of the Magic Post Office, already familiar to William from Nymus, in large red letters: «From Kin to Kin, Kin for the good of Kin’.

      The curly mailmage told them to wait and entered the room, then came out a minute later to say:

      «The Postmaster Deputy is expecting you!»

      With that, he disappeared in the dark corridor.

      Nymus entered the door, William following him closely. The office of the deputy of the Magic Post Office Master turned out to be surprisingly bright and spacious. William looked around. The first thing that he noticed was a statue, the height of a fourteen-year-old boy, depicting a big-handed figure in a uniform, running somewhere. On the inside of his palm there was an envelope corner. Behind this figure, there was a second one – in robes, with a long feather in his hand. There was a sign in golden letters on the bottom part of this statue: «Kin for Kin, from Kin to Kin!»

      «Please, sit down,» said an old mailmage wearing red robes. His face was adorned with a long beard. «I am Thomas Hill, deputy to the Magic Post Office Master.»

      The massive table before the Postmaster deputy had a few dozen papers, with the same number of red feathers over them writing something fast and without a break. These feathers were different from William’s. They were smaller and, as William guessed, used only for writing. There were two massive armchairs with soft seats next to this massive table.

      That was where Nymus and he sat down. The low armchair made it hard for William to make out the face of Thomas Hill. Besides, the fluttering of feathers over the table made it even more difficult. But William made an attempt to focus his eyes on Mr. Hill’s face.

      The deputy of the Magic Post Office Master addressed Nymus:

      «Your letter says that you desire to get reinstated as a mailmage.»

      «Yes, that is correct!» Nymus replied with a slight tremble in his voice.

      «Your letter also says that you have somehow managed to find an offspring of the kin your kin has served loyally for many centuries,» Thomas Hill continued.

      «Yes, that is true!» Nymus’s voice sounded more confident with every question.

      «Your letter also mentions that fourteen years ago the abovementioned wizard kin YOUR kin used to serve was killed in a mass murder and that since then the Calhouns were considered a dead kin.»

      «Yes, that is correct!»

      «And you state that this young man,» he pointed at William, «you have arrived with is that representative of the Calhoun kin?»

      Nymus glanced at William and replied:

      «Yes, Your Mailness!»

      William could barely keep himself from laughing when Nymus address the Postmaster’s deputy this way.

      «Please, young man,» he turned to William, «allow me to look at your magic feather.»

      William looked over at Nymus and he gave him a nod. William took the box with the magic feather from his backpack. This puzzled Thomas Hills.

      «May I ask you,» he addressed William, «what are you doing?»

      «Er… I’m taking my magic feather out, sir,» he replied politely.

      «From a box in your backpack?»

      «Yes,» William said unsurely and looked over at Nymus again.

      «You see, Your Mailness, Master Calhoun grew up without knowing that he…»

      «What?» Thomas Hill asked dryly.

      «That he is a wizard.»

      «By the Post Office, how is that possible?» Thomas Hill look surprised.

      «You see…» Nymus started.

      «I was brought up by demits, and I’ve been living with them all this time,» William came to help.

      «A Calhoun among demits?» the Postmaster deputy exclaimed. «We are really witnessing a historical moment, gentlemen,» he said with sarcasm that remained unclear to William. Then, seeing that William was still holding the box, added with a smile: «Don’t be shy, young man, take your feather out!»

      William set the box down on the table and opened it. The magic feather sensed freedom again and stretched out its hairs, then slowly moved them from side to side.

      Thomas Hills didn’t look so smug anymore. The next moment his smile was gone completely. He was looking at the magic feather and its size, which was large even by magic feather standards, with great attention and with a bit of distrust. Then he told William:

      «Try picking it up, young man…» he said in such a tone that suggested that until now he was quite sure that he was being tricked with this newly-found offspring of the Calhoun kin.

      William took his magic feather without any problems and gave Thomas Hill a questioning look. Seeing the feather in William’s hand made him speechless. The pause was so long that William couldn’t help glancing at Nymus again. But the mailmage didn’t need to intervene this time. The deputy of the Magic Post Office Master came back to his senses and started talking again:

      «May I take a look at the name on the magic feather?»

      William held the feather out for him, but the Postmaster deputy waved his enormous hands:

      «No, no, please! Just hold your feather closer to me, it’ll be enough!»

      Even though this request seemed strange to William, he wasn’t surprised