Detta är Nameless Magery av Delia Marshall Turner.
Magic kallas Hennes (inte Ler)
Everything I called "Her" was "magic" to these people. Have you any idea how blind, malicious, and dangerous the universe looks when everything is caused by a thing called magic?
Mages har obrutna ringar runt halsen
One dreary late winter day, with rain and wind spraying sidewise through his study window, I asked him, "Simon, what are those necklaces you and the other men wear? The students don't have them. Do they stand for something, or are they just decoration?"
His face fell, and his hair fell too, into his eyes as usual. "You don't know? Haven't I told you that?" he demanded.
I shook my head dumbly. He took a deep breath and shoved the books away from him. He leaned forward, hooking his thumbs under his brown neckring to show it to me.
"This is a badge of rank, and also a permanent warning. It was placed on me when I became a Magician, and it cannot be removed except at my death, even if I should acquire the rank of Sorcerer, when another would be added."