A White Christmas

“…but it never snows here at Christmas.  It’s not fair!”  Suzie pouted.  “I want to build a snowman and ride my sledge down the hill.”  The five year old folded her arms and started sulking.  “It’s just not fair!”

“All the Christmas cards have snow on them!”  Alexander held up several cards that the family had received that morning.  “Miss, why do the cards show snowy pictures if we don’t get snow at Christmas?”

“Well, the cards represent what people think of at Christmas.  Call it wishful thinking, if you like.”  Madeline, their governess replied.  “But you’re right, it very rarely snows here until late February.  Do you know why that is?”

As she continued with the lesson, Madeline thought about the children’s question and resolved to ask her sister if there was anything that could be done.  Her sister was an apprentice mage, living and working with her mentor in a mansion on the outskirts of town.  If snow at Christmas was possible, she would know.

---

“Snow at Christmas?”  Selina thought for a moment.  “Yes, it would be easy enough to set up something over a small area.  Why do you ask?”

“The children asked me about snow today and I thought it would be a lovely surprise for them.”  Madeline replied.  “So, will you do it?”

“I would love to but I will have to get permission from Master Dillworth first.”  Selina smiled.  “Maybe if I tell him it’s a weather experiment, he will allow it.  Yes, I still have mastery over weather magic to demonstrate so this could be the perfect opportunity.”

Madeline grinned; she was sure Selina would find a way to help her surprise the children.  

---

“…and so, since I still need to demonstrate that I’ve mastered weather magic, I thought my sister’s request would be a good way to do this.”

Master Dillworth stared sternly at his apprentice as he considered her words.  A petite girl, her raven hair cascaded down to her waist in gentle curls.  She stood before him, wearing the official uniform of an apprentice mage; a purple robe edged with silver trim and he considered how far she had come since her took her on as an apprentice, five years previously.  At twenty-three, she had become a sensible and responsible young woman.

“It would only need to be over a small area, just the house and hill behind it.”  Selina took her mentor’s look to mean she needed to provide more details of her experiment.  “And it wouldn’t have to be for long.”

“Young lady, mages do not train for many years just to become entertainment for the masses.”  Master Dillworth said quietly.  “Your sister should not be coming to ask you for magical favours.”

“Yes, Master Dillworth.”  Selina hung her head in submission.  She wondered how to tell her sister that she couldn’t help her, but then a cough from her mentor made her look up and she caught a sly smile before he schooled his expression.

“However, as you stated, you are yet to demonstrate your mastery over the weather magic.  You have shown me rain and wind but not snow and ice.  You may run your experiment.”

“Oh, thank you!”  Selina beamed.  She turned to start work but Master Dillworth stopped her.

“Wait.  This cannot be seen to be a favour for your sister and if you produce a localised snowfall it will be obvious that it was a mage’s doing and we’ll be inundated with requests for magical assistance.  In any case, a localised weather change is much too easy and I mean to test your skill properly.  Therefore, you will produce snowfall on Christmas Eve night, the results of which will last for at least Christmas Day, over the whole town and surrounding countryside.”

“I…what?”  Selina’s mind raced with the possibilities.  “But what of the farms, the townsfolk.  How will they deal with an unexpected snowfall?”

“Good, you are thinking of the consequences of your actions, as I expect you to.”  Master Dillworth smiled in satisfaction.  “I will issue warnings that snow is to be expected over the Christmas period and people can prepare for it.  It is often cold, even icy at this time of year and the farmers know how to cope.  However, do not make the snowfall too heavy, a light snow, just a couple of inches will suffice.”

“Yes, Master Dillworth.”  Selina bowed to her mentor then headed to her rooms to begin her preparations.  Christmas Day was just a few days away.

---

“It’s Christmas Eve!”  Suzie screeched as Madeline tried to tuck her into bed.  “I’m too excited to sleep!”  

“Well, if you don’t go to sleep, you’ll be too tired to enjoy Christmas Day.”  Madeline replied.  She got Suzie settled and went to check on Alexander.  He was a few years older so was allowed to stay up a little later.   He was reading quietly so she left him in peace.  

Looking out of the window at the cloudy sky, Madeline crossed her fingers and hoped that Selina could grant her request.

---

“Look, I told you.  Master Dillworth always spends Christmas Eve with the Mayor and his apprentice is just some slip of a girl who we should have no trouble overpowering.  That mansion is filled with loot that will fetch a tidy sum on the black market.”  Horace drained his mug and signalled to the barmaid to bring another beer.  “He even gives his staff the night off so this will be easy!”

“Yeah, I know but…”  Slim sighed and glanced out of the window of the pub, seeing the moon rising above the town.  “I just think there’s easier, less risky prospects available.”

“Coward!  Don’t you want to be rich?”  Horace slurped at his beer as he scowled at his partner.  “We can hit the mansion and be away from this dump before anyone knows what’s happened and we’ll make enough to live like kings.”

“I…okay, Horace.  So how do you want to do this?”

“I already have everything we’ll need.  We just need to wait until the mage leaves his home.  Come on, we’d best be heading over there.”

---

Selina concentrated as she set up the apparatus for her snow experiment, as Master Dillworth watched silently.  She placed an ornate tripod on a table and carefully poured some water into the small bowl suspended within the frame.

“With the clouds already being present, this should be enough water to provide a couple of inches of snow.  I just have to set the spell.”  Selina murmured as she double checked everything.

“You are ready, Selina.”  Master Dillworth moved to inspect her work.  “Complete the spell.”

“Yes, Master Dillworth.” Selina took a deep breath and focused her thoughts on the task.  “Ldoc, zefree, flasnowke!”  

She breathed on the water and watched as the water began to swirl.  Both mage and apprentice looked outside and smiled as they saw the first flakes begin to fall.  Within a few minutes the flakes had become larger and more numerous and Selina could see it settling all over the town and fields beyond.

“Well done, Selina.”  Master Dillworth nodded his approval.  “Now, my carriage will be here in a few minutes.  I see no reason why your experiment should fail but I do expect you to monitor what is happening and be ready to stop the spell if necessary.  Are you confident you can do this alone?”

“Yes, Master Dillworth.”  Selina indicated her books.  “I have plenty of studying to do, I can work through these books while I watch the experiment.”

“Don’t work too hard, it is Christmas Eve after all.”  Master Dillworth smiled.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight!”  Selina waved goodbye from the window, watching the carriage leave a groove in the fresh snow.  A quick check told her that everything was going as planned and so she settled down to study.

---

“It’s snowing!”  Alexander ran to Madeline’s room.  “Can we go and play in it?”

“Not now, it’s bedtime for you.”  Madeline laughed.  “Don’t worry, by the looks of things there will be plenty of snow for you in the morning.”

“Brilliant!”  Alexander bounded back to the window.  “It’s actually snowing and at Christmas!”

“Bed!”  Madeline ordered, though she grinned as she made Alexander settle down.  “Come on, you’ll need a good night’s sleep if you want to enjoy tomorrow.  She left the room smiling, Selina had granted her wish and now she could plan some snow activities for the boisterous pair.

---

“Snow?  This isn’t normal.”  Slim shivered as he pulled his gloves on.  “We never get snow this early up here.”

“Yes you do, it happened about ten years ago.  Don’t you remember?  We were burgling that house in Mulbrey at the time.  Horace watched the mage’s carriage move away.

“Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that.”  Slim smiled at the memory.  “So, has his lordship gone?”

“Yup, right on schedule.  Let’s go.”  Horace led the way across the street.  “Just give me a minute and we we’re in.”

---

Intent on her studies, Selina didn’t hear the men entering the building, though she felt a cold draught briefly.  Putting down her book, she went over to the experiment and examined the tripod critically.

“Hmm, looks okay; the dish still has plenty of water and the spell seems to be stable.”  Selina went to the window, satisfied to see that the snow was still falling steadily, slowly accumulating.  A gentle breeze caused the snow to swirl around the buildings but there was nothing amiss.

“Maybe a window has blown open.”  Selina wondered.  She opened the door to be met by the sight of the two burglars.

“Ah, Apprentice Selina Deylande.  Thank you for saving us the trouble of knocking.”  Horace chuckled unpleasantly.  “Having a pleasant evening?”

“Who are you and how did you get in?”  Selina backed away, trying to reach her staff, but Slim was faster and snatched it away.

“Now, now, lady.  No need to blast us with magic.  We won’t be here for long; we just want to collect a few choice items and we’ll leave you in peace.”

“As for getting in, well your Master may have locked the door with magic but a bit of force can soon break the lock.  I guess he didn’t think anyone would dare to rob him.”

“Master Dillworth will ….”  

“Master Dillworth has left for the evening.  You’re all alone Selina and there’s no one coming to help you so you’d better do as we say, that way no one gets hurt.”  Horace pulled some rope from his pocket.  “Grab her!”

“What?  No!  Let me go this instant!”  Selina screamed as Slim grabbed her arms.  He pulled them behind her and held them in place while Horace bound them together.

“No point in screaming, lady; there’s no one to hear you.”  Slim pinned her arms as Horace began winding rope around Selina’s waist and chest.  “We’ll just get you comfortable, collect a few valuables and be on our way.”

“You are so going to pay for this!”  Selina growled as they pulled her over to a chair and made her sit down.  She racked her brain for a spell to get her out of this but couldn’t think of one.  

“Yeah, whatever!”  Horace shrugged and he wound rope around Selina and the chair, fixing her in place before turning his attention to her ankles.

Selina struggled against the two men but found she was no match for them.  It didn’t take long before she was firmly tied to the chair and, while comfortable, she knew getting free would be difficult, if not impossible.

“Now Selina, you have two choices.  You can tell us where the most valuable items are kept, or you can watch us trash this place.”  Horace stared at her defiant face, knowing her answer before she even opened her mouth.

“Go to hell!”  Selina spat.  “I’m not helping you.”

“Fair enough!”  Horace pulled open a cupboard began pulling various items out of it.  “Looks like potion ingredients.”  He read the labels, selecting a few of the rarer items and stowing them in his bag.  The rest he smashed at his feet, just for the fun of it.  “Oops!”

“Idiot!”  Selina breathed.  The mess would be horrendous, never mind having to explain it all to her mentor when he returned.

“Hey, what about these?”  Slim had found some precious stones.

“Perfect, we’ll take them all.” Horace beamed as he found some jewelled goblets.  “’Ere, what’s this thing?”

“Leave that alone!”  Selina cried out when she saw them take an interest in her snow experiment.  “It’s fragile and if you disturb the spell I’m running you could do untold damage.”

“You hear that?  She’s doing some magic with this.”  Horace tapped the tripod and watched the water ripple.  Selina glanced outside and saw the snow was falling faster.

“It doesn’t appear to be doing much.”  Slim swirled the water in the tripod, laughing as silver vapour rose from the little bowl.  “Kinda pretty though, should we take it?”

“Stop that!”  Selina yelled.  The gentle snow was fast turning into a blizzard and she could do nothing to stop it.  “Put that down and let me go before you do anymore damage.”

“Damage?”  Horace scowled.  “We’re only looking.  We haven’t hurt your precious spell.”  He reached into his pocket and found a long piece of cloth.  “I think it’s time to shut you up!”

“No, please, you must listen ……mpfff!”  Selina’s muffled protests went unheeded as the crook tied a knot in the cloth and pushed it into her mouth.  Tying it tightly behind her head, they went back to ransacking the room, laughing as they did so.

“You know, these knick-knacks will fetch a tidy price.”  Slim said as he collected some gold and silver figurines.  “Not sure there’s much else though.  Maybe there will be better pickings in the master’s rooms.”

“Good idea.”  Horace looked over at the struggling Selina, who was staring at her experiment.  “Still fretting about your spell, I see.  Maybe this will settle you.”  Turning to the tripod, Horace swiped it clean off the table and Selina heard a splash as landed inside a large water jug.  “There, that should end your little spell.”

“MPFFF!”  Selina screamed.  She stared out of the window as the men left her room, still laughing.  The blizzard streamed past her window; big and heavy flakes that would bury the town.  The spell would keep going until she stopped it or it ran out of fuel and that jug held enough water to support a blizzard for a week.  She struggled harder, trying to find some way to free herself.

---

“This is heavy but I can’t get it open.”  Slim dropped a small chest in front of Horace and went to look for other treasures.  Horace regarded for the box a moment then pulled a hammer from his bag.  A few blows later the chest was firewood.

“Jackpot!”  Horace held up a money pouch.  “There’s more like this, there must be thousands of gold coins here!”

“Have you seen this?”  Slim had found Master Dillworth’s jewellery; diamond cufflinks and several gold and silver rings embedded with gems.  “I wonder if he enchanted any of them.”

“Take them all, we can have them checked.”  Horace glanced up from the box full of money bags and caught sight of the snowstorm.  “Whoa, will you look at that!”

“At what?”  Slim followed Horace’s gaze and gasped when he saw how bad the snow was.  Rushing to the window, he stared out but couldn’t even see the town.  “We should get going, we’re going to have a hard time getting through that.”

“So will anyone trying to pursue us.  The snow will hid us.”  Horace carried on collecting the money bags.  “Start searching those chests, will you?”

---

“…and do you know, she’d completely misheard me and just went ahead and complained!”  Mayor Archibald Dukes laughed as he poured some more brandy for himself.  “You want another, Silas?  What about you, Anton?

“Why not!”  Silas Boroughton, master of the shopkeeper’s Guild passed his glass over.

“Why not indeed!”  Anton Dillworth passed his glass to the mayor.  “So, has the complaint been resolved?”

“Oh yes, a lot of fuss over nothing, dear boy!”  The mayor passed the glasses back.  “Silas, you have good news for me?”

“Yes, I’m pleased to report that most members of the guild have reported good profits this period, especially with the run up to Christmas, though a few are saying there is too much competition in some areas.”

“Hmm, we’ll take a look at the leases when the council reconvenes, make sure we haven’t got too many of the same kind of shops in one area.  Now, tell me Anton, how is your apprentice doing?”

“She is learning quickly; Selina very talented and is a responsible young woman.  She is the reason for your white Christmas this year.”  Anton frowned for a moment.  “I think she is a bit naive though; her sister requested snow to entertain the children she looks after and Selina should have had the sense to refuse her request outright, rather than ask me for permission.  Though I suppose it was time to assess this part of her education.”

“A white Christmas?  You mean she is making it snow?”  Silas crossed to the window to take a look.  

“Yes, just a light snowfall.”  Anton replied.

“You might want to take a look at this.”  Silas said quietly.

The three men stared out at the town, which was already under several inches.  Snow flew down the street almost horizontally, the wind was beginning to howl and the temperature was dropping.

“I must return home, it appears something is badly wrong.”  Anton called to a servant to bring his carriage.  “Why didn’t she stop the spell?”

---

“I think we’ve got enough.”  Slim ventured.  “Come on, the snow’s getting worse and the mage could come back early because of it.”

“Good point; just let me tie this flap in place…there!”  Right, my friend, let’s go make ourselves rich!”

Horace led the way to the door and pulled it open.  They were immediately enveloped in the blizzard, swirling flakes covering the furniture and the snow that had piled up against the door promptly fell into the room.  Both men attempted to leave but the wind pushed them back.

“What are we going to do?”  Slim was starting to panic.  “We can’t go out in that!”

“We’ll stay here, barricade ourselves in until it stops.  The mage probably won’t be coming back in this weather so we might as well wait this storm out in comfort.”  

The men forced the door closed and headed to the warm kitchen, enjoying some food and wine while watching the storm.

---

“Mpfff!”  Selina strained against the ropes, grunting in frustration and fear.  The blizzard was so bad she was concerned for the townsfolk and farms.  If only she could get to the jug, she could stop the spell but with the heavy chair preventing her from shuffling across the room, she could do nothing.

---

“It’s no good, master.  The horses can’t pull the carriage through this snow.”  The driver moaned.

“Then I will clear a path; follow me and say close.”  Master Dillworth commanded.  Stumbling out of the carriage, Anton concentrated on creating heat and pointed his staff at the snow.  Immediately it began to melt, allowing him to walk forward and the carriage follow behind.  They travelled back to the mansion as fast as they could manage.

“We’re here!”  Master Dillworth bellowed against the howling wind.  “Get the horses stabled and stay with them.  The carriage can wait.”  The driver rushed to comply, leading the horses to the stable yard at the side of the building, glad to be out of the biting cold.

“Selina?”  The mage rushed into the mansion, intent on finding his apprentice.  Hearing voices in the kitchen, he flung open the door, surprising the two thieves.  They jumped, Horace dropping the money bags on the floor.  Master Dillworth blasted power at them both, freezing them in position.  “What did you do to my apprentice?  If you’ve harmed her…”

“We didn’t hurt her, we just tied her up!”  Horace spluttered.  “She’s upstairs.”

Anton ran from the room and headed up to find Selina, who was still tied firmly to her chair despite her ongoing struggles.  He muttered several words, causing the ropes and gag to disintegrate.

“Selina, are you alright!”  He tried to check her over for injuries but she pushed her mentor away and ran to her experiment.

“Those idiots; they interfered with the spell and caused this blizzard!”  Selina grabbed the jug and fished out the tripod.  She drained the water and set it down on the table.  Abruptly, the roar of the wind stopped and the snow eased, stopping completely within a few minutes.

“I saw the blizzard and realised something had gone wrong, but I didn’t expect you to have been attacked.”  Master Dillworth growled.  “I’m sorry you had to go through this, are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine, just tired from struggling.”  Selina sat down and sighed.  “I’m sorry, master.  They were here to steal and I fear they took a lot of your treasures.”

“Those two crooks are currently frozen in place down in the kitchen, where they’ll remain until the mayor decides what to do with them.”  Master Dillworth sighed grimly.  “We best check what damage has been done, outside and in.”

---

“The children loved the snow!”  Madeline laughed.  “You should have seen their faces when they woke up.  But poor you, weren’t you scared?”

“Terrified, but more because of the experiment going wrong than what those men would do.”  Selina smile ruefully.  “I still passed the test though; Master Dillworth said that he was impressed with how I conducted the experiment.  It would have worked perfectly if those crooks hadn’t interfered but at least the snowfall wasn’t as bad as we feared.”

“What will happen to the men?”

“The mayor has them on community duties, helping people to clear the snow from the streets and making sure food and drink get through to those who need it.”

“Serve them right.  It seems most people enjoyed the snow though; there were as many adults sledging as there was children!”

---

One month later

“…so given your recent predicament, I think the next thing to teach you is how to release yourself if captured.  Mages do sometimes become a target for unscrupulous people who wish to gain a magical advantage.  So, first things first.”

Master Dillworth snapped his fingers and ropes materialised out of thin area and wrapped themselves around Selina, pinning her against a pillar.

“Now, you need to be quick with this as once you are gagged, you would have to rely on silent commands, which I won’t be able to teach you until you can do this properly.  Now, concentrate on the words and visualise the ropes disintegrating.”

Selina concentrated hard, repeating the phrase in her head before shouting out “Peros, gobene!”  The ropes vanished and she smiled triumphantly.

“Good.”  Master Dillworth snapped his fingers again, rebinding Selina.  “Now we need to do this until you can free yourself within a couple of seconds.  Let’s try this again!”