to each other, and putting it down.
«Tell me, Nymus, can anyone become a mailmage?»
«Green Monogram, of course not! Mailmages are a special species born for one reason – to achieve the honour of serving the Post Office one day. We have our own schools and training. You, wizards, are taught magical arts, we are taught to know each corner of the world and to be able to get there at any cost. It is one of the many reasons why wizards cannot do without us. We honour our traditions and pass them from generation to generation. Our motto is: „From Kin to Kin, Kin for the good of Kin!“.»
«I understand,» said William, «that I don’t understand any of that!»
William noticed that mailmages were different from each other in appearance. Their only similarity, apart from the blue mailmage uniform, were giant hands. The young man looked at Nymus. He was practically glowing with happiness and his expressions made it clear that this was his home. Fourteen years spent away from the Magic Post Office were gone and he was happy to be at home again.
Suddenly William saw that a mailmage, having found the letter he needed, placed it right inside his palm. Then another and another.
«That’s why you have such big hands! You put letters in there!» William said.
«Yes!» Nymus nodded. «Our hands are our everything! Without them we would not have been who we are! They are a defining feature of any Mailmage. We use our hands to store and transport correspondence to the addressees!» He stretched out his hand and showed William a compartment on his palm for storing letters.
William had seen something similar on kangaroos at the zoo. He didn’t pay attention to this during their first meeting with Nymus and he was quite impressed now.
«And why can’t you use ordinary bags for delivering post, Nymus?»
«Ordinary bags? Demits use those, not mailmages. Being a mailmage is a very dangerous job, Master Calhoun. Bags are a very unsafe place for keeping letters.»
«Why is it dangerous?»
«Over several dozen mailmages go missing from the Magic Post Office in a year, because they are hunted down by enemy intelligence.»
«Wizards have an intelligence service, too?»
«Of course! Like everywhere else.»
«Why do they want to steal other wizards’ letters?»
«To read them! Wizarding world is just like the demit one in this, Master Calhoun! Each wizard kin has mailmages. The higher is the status of a wizard in the community, the more dangerous it is for his mailmage to move around. There will always be those who will want to know more about his master’s business and plans. Especially if he has enemies. That is why many high-ranking wizards unregister their mailmages to keep their correspondence safe and mailmages work undercover.»
«Does Fafner have a mailmage?» William asked suddenly.
«Of course he does! But everyone has been trying to find out who he is for centuries. Only Fafner and the Postmaster know that!»
«You haven’t told me why you keep letters in your palms. Is it safer?»
«That is right! When someone or something puts the life of a mailmage in danger, the inner pocket on the palm instinctively shuts tight and then not even the most ancient and powerful magic can help the evildoer get the letter. It is very old mailmagic! Even though we are not a warlike people, no wizard can make us open the correspondence we are delivering with their magic!»
«So mailmages aren’t wizards?»
«Wizards?! We are a separate species that has existed for as long as wizards and demits themselves! We do not submit to the general laws, but the Post Office Code. Beyond the Magic Post Office, we obey nobody but our masters. We are created to help the wizard kin which we give the oath to serve loyally with each new generation.»
«I’m sorry if I’ve hurt your feelings, Nymus. I had no idea!»
«Master Calhoun should not apologize to his mailmage! We have the only type of magic – mailmagic. It serves the only goal – to deliver letters to their addressees. We have no need in other abilities. Mailmages have existed since the appearance of writing. Back then, if you believe Mailmage History, messages were passed orally and mailmages wrote letters themselves, leaving them on the walls of addresses.»
«Do mailmages have their own history?»
«But of course! Mailmages have all kinds of their own things – Post Office hospitals, Post Office rights, a special pass to all corners of the world. We even have a special article in the Wizard Constitution, which says that any wizard, except for his Master, who dares to threaten personal immunity of a mailmage will be stripped of the feather from two to five years. Depending on which mailmage rights violation the wizards commits. You see, mailmages are a kind of ambassadors. Not only from one country to another, but also from one wizard to another. And all ambassadors, as it is well known, have personal immunity.»
«Can mailmages themselves betray their wizards?»
«They can. But it is a severe violation of the Post Office Code, as well as the Celestine Oath, which we give during the Mailmage Initiation Ceremony. If a mailmage breaks the oath, he will be separated from the Central Magic Post Office once and till the last line! After which he will be stripped of his right to take part in exchanging any kind of correspondence in any way and his further Mail Activity will be persecuted and punished by Law.»
«Why is it so important to have a mailmage? Can’t we just use mobile phones or the internet? There are so many ways of exchanging information instantly and, more importantly, safely.»
«Master Calhoun has yet so much to learn about the wizarding word. He still does not know that wizards and other representatives of the International Federation of Wizards do not use digital and electronic devices.»
«What? Why not?!»
«Magic Feathers have ancient magic in them that has bad influence on digital and electronic devices when it is near them, they stop working because of the interferences the feather causes.»
«No way! Here’s one advantage demits have compared to wizards,» William noted. «Wizards can use the latest digital achievements.»
«On the contrary!» Nymus objected. «Wizards do have similar achievements! Only in more convenient ways. But Master Calhoun will have time to learn about all that.»
The amount of new information made William fall silent for a while, then he looked around and asked:
«Why are we standing, not moving ahead?»
«Because we havenot been summoned yet and we are waiting for a messenger from the Postmaster to see us there.»
The moment Nymus finished his sentence, someone very heavy nearly knocked William off his feet.
The boy looked down and saw a grey-haired old man, short and with a crooked nose.
«Young Wizard, could you move away for a bit and allow me to keep searching for letters?» the old man said grumpily.
«I’m sorry, sir! I haven’t noti…»
«Vulpik!» Nymus cried out. «I can’t believe my letters!» He knelt down and hugged the grey-haired old man he’d just called Vulpik. «Why you, Tattered Parcel, still growling at everyone in the morning, as I can see!»
«Nymus!» the old man with the crooked nose recognized him. «Celestine’s Monogram! May I Lose My Letters! Which winds have brought your envelopes here? Are you with us again?»
«Yes! With a wizard again!» Nymus told him.
Then the eyes of mailmage Vulpik stared at William’s shoes meaningfully and then slowly went up until they reached his face.
«A Calhoun?» he said with distrust, turning back to Nymus.
«Yes!»