Read Online A Wizard of the White Council by Jonathan Moeller - Free Book Online

tear at the stiff meat with his teeth. 
    Robert reappeared a few minutes later, a brown paper bag marked with the arch sigil in hand. In his other hand he carried a tray containing a pair of paper cups, each adorned with the same arch sigil. “Here we go. Fast food is kind of gross, but it’s definitely better than that stuff you’re eating.” He handed Arran the bag. 
    Arran frowned. “Fast?” Robert reached inside the bag and handed him a cardboard cup holding some kind of fried potatoes and a warm paper-wrapped lump. “The food is...prepared quickly, I take it?”
    “Yup.” Robert unwrapped his own paper-wrapped lump. Inside was a sandwich. 
    “Fast food?” said Arran. He unwrapped his own sandwich. “Well, I suppose you did return rather quickly.” He gave the sandwich a dubious glance, shrugged, and took a bite. Warm, greasy meat filled his mouth. “Not bad.”
    “Better than the jerky stuff?”
    Arran nodded. “Far better than the jerky stuff.” 
    “Here.” Robert handed him one of the paper cups. A straw stuck through the top. “I didn’t know what you wanted to drink, so I got you a Coke.” 
    “I’d prefer about a gallon of wine,” said Arran, “but this will do.” He frowned. “Coke? You…mean coal? You drink coal?”
    “Huh?” said Robert. “That’s not coal! That’s soda.” 
    “Oh,” said Arran. “How I am I supposed to drink this?”
    Robert gestured. “Well, suck through the straw. Or you could take off the lid.” 
    Arran grunted, lifted the straw to his lips, and took a long drink. Cold, sweet liquid sloshed through his mouth. He coughed and almost dropped the cup. “Gods.”
    “What?” said Robert, grinning. “You don’t like Coke?”
    “What is this?” said Arran. “Sugar water?”
    Robert thought for a minute. “Basically. And some caffeine. That makes you hyper.” 
    Arran took another drink. Some of the weariness faded from his limbs. “This is like…the horsemen of Antarese used to have a drink they called kaffa. It gave them energy. It was black and tasted foul.” 
    “Oh, you mean coffee,” said Robert. “My mom and dad drink that stuff all the time. It really stinks. And my mom, she’ll get these fancy coffees beans from some place downtown…actually, I think it’s just over that way.” 
    Arran sat back and chewed on the beef sandwich, listening to Robert prattle. He felt a pang of regret. Had he married, his own children would have been only a few years younger than the boy. 
    Had Marugon not returned from Earth, much would have been different. 
    “You okay?” Robert spoke around a mouthful of the fried potatoes. “You looked like you were going to fall in the street for a minute there.”
    “I’m fine,” said Arran. He ate some of his own fried potatoes. “Just thinking.”
    Robert took a drink from his paper cup. “I guess you have a lot to think about, huh?”
    “What do you mean?”
    Robert waved his hand at the skyscrapers. “Well, you said you came from a foreign country, and it sounds like a lot of bad stuff happened to you there. And now you’ve come here to look for your friends, and you’ve seen all this stuff that you’ve never seen before. If I were you, I would have quite a lot to think about.” 
    Arran laughed. “Quite right. I suppose I do, do I not?” 
    They ate in silence. When they had finished, Robert took the papers, wadded them up, and tossed them into a nearby green-painted metal can. “I should really be getting home. My parents are going to start wondering what happened to me, sooner or later.” He made a face. “Probably later.” 
    The sun had started to go down. “It has been a long day.”
    They got up and walked to the elevated train’s platform.

    ###

    “Well, this is my stop.” Robert hesitated. “Do you know…um…how to get where you want to go?”
    Arran nodded. “I shall ride the bus until it reaches the corner where we first met. I can walk the rest of the