Guild Mage: Apprentice

28. A Game of Questions

"What do you mean?" Liv asked, her fork frozen in the air above her plate, a mouthful of venison forgotten. She had a sudden vision of Eldish riders coming south through the high passes, storming Castle Whitehill, throwing her over the back of a horse, and riding away.

Before Airis Ka Reimis could respond, however, the entire feast was disrupted by the scrape of Baron Henry’s chair. Liv had been so absorbed in her conversation with the first true Eld she’d ever met that she hadn’t noticed the baron calling for his guards. James, who’d been training her endurance since the snows melted, and another guard, who she didn’t know well, carefully lifted Henry between them.

At every table, the guests rose from their seats, and Liv was quick to follow them.

"Be seated," Henry said, waving a hand at the assemblage. "I will retire for the evening, but I leave you in good hands with my wife, and with Mayor Cooper. Master Reimis, I have no doubt that negotiations will proceed toward a fruitful agreement for us all."

The Eld bowed, his brown braids falling about his shoulders with the elegant movement. "I have no doubt at all, Baron Henry. You have my deepest gratitude for the hospitality you have shown me, and I wish you a pleasant evening." It was not until Henry Summerset had been carried from the hall that everyone was once again seated, and conversation resumed.

Lady Julianne, however, shifted over one seat to the side, taking up her husband’s former place at the northern merchant’s elbow. "Are you aware, Master Reimis," she said, "that we also mine Aluthet’Staia from the rift at Bald Peak?"

"I am well aware, indeed," Airis said, turning away from Liv to answer the baron’s wife. "Some of your stone occasionally makes it up to our markets at Al’Fenthia, but as I recall, most of it is always bought up by the mages’ guild."

"That is true," Julianne admitted. "Though I wonder if there might be room for negotiation, on that matter. I-"

Liv’s attention was broken by a sudden splash of something wet soaking through her skirt into her lap, and before she could think about what she was doing, she’d pushed her chair back and stood up. The entire lower half of her dress was stained dark, and soaked.

"Oh, I’m sorry," Mirabel said. "I’m so clumsy, sometimes." The girl’s goblet lay on its side, right next to Liv’s plate. A plate of venison and steamed vegetables that was now swimming in red wine.

"It’s fine," Liv said. Of course, it wasn’t. She only owned three nice dresses, and if she didn’t hurry downstairs this one would be ruined. And she was absolutely certain that the mayor’s daughter had spilled on purpose. Mirabel was as nasty a piece of work now as she’d ever been, even though it’d been months since they’d been put in the same place for lessons. "If you’ll please excuse me, m’lady, I need to go change."

"How clumsy," Airis Reimis commented, catching Liv by the arm. "Before you go, dear girl, I will be riding out to inspect the harvest as soon as the morning meal is done, tomorrow morning. I meant what I said: I insist that you serve as my guide for the inspection."

"Apprentice Brodbeck has lessons with Master Cushing, our Chirurgeon," Lady Julianne said. "And then in the afternoon with our Court Mage, Master Grenfell. She has a great deal to learn to prepare her for Coral Bay; I am reluctant to interrupt that."

The Eldish man regarded the lady of the castle carefully. "Than I shall make it worth her time," he said, and turned to Liv. "I will offer you an alternative to your regularly scheduled lessons, my dear. For the duration of the time you accompany me as my guide, you may play a game of questions with me. For every one of my questions you answer, I will answer one of yours. A rare opportunity, for our people only reluctantly cross the mountains and come south."

"I would consider that acceptable compensation for the apprentice," Lady Julianne said. "Though, of course it is Liv’s choice."

"I’ll do it," Liv said, without a moment’s hesitation. She already had so many questions itching at her tongue that she was going to have to write them all down before she forgot. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get this skirt off before it stains."

"Oh, don’t worry about that," Julianne said. "I’m certain that Mayor Cooper will buy you a new one, given that his daughter has ruined it. That’s only the polite thing to do. I’ll make sure I send your measurements over in the morning."

The mayor coughed, and glared at his daughter. "Of course," he said. "You’ll receive a replacement in a few days."

"Good. Now go get cleaned up, Liv, and good evening," Lady Julianne said. "Master Reimis and I have a good deal to discuss."

At that, Liv was finally able to escape the great hall. On her way out the door, she caught Tom, the second footman, as he was leaving with a platter of dirty dishes. "Could you ask one of the new girls to come up to my room?" she said, keeping her voice low so that those in the hall wouldn’t overhear. "Ask her to bring me a bucket, soap, and a washboard so I can try to get this stain out." Tom nodded, and she hurried off to her room.

Once she was safely away from the rest of the castle, with the door closed behind her, Liv leaned her staff against the wall and stripped out of the dress as quickly as she could. It was too late to save the shift: the wine had soaked through into that as well, leaving a great red stain on the white linen. She couldn’t help but let out a cry of frustration, and only just had time to change into a fresh shift before there was a knock at her door. Liv padded over, opened it a crack, and then the rest of the way when she recognized Joan, one of the two new maids.

"Your aunt used one in her hands," the Eldish merchant explained, "and another four that circled around her in the air, moving in accordance with her thoughts. There are many who thought she was the most talented swordswoman of her generation. You look just like her," he said, and there was a roughness in his voice. Airis Reimis coughed to clear his throat. "Your question," he said.

For a moment, she almost asked her father’s name. But Mama had promised to tell her. "What happened to my aunt?"

"She died in the depths of the Tomb of Celris," Master Reimis answered. "It is the most dangerous rift in the north, where the Vaedic Lord of Winter perished. Your great-grandfather. It is his power that sings in your veins. That is the other reason I knew who you must be - no one but a child with the blood of the old gods could stumble upon a word of power without training."

Liv only half heard him; at the name Celris, the word inside her woke. There was no gradual stirring, as she’d felt before: this time, it went directly from sleep, to a roaring, straining desire to be free. Hoarfrost crackled across the windows of the carriage, and Liv clenched her fists in an effort to pull the cold back. The quill in her hand snapped.

"There it is," Reimis said, with a smile on his lips. "Just like your aunt. Are you betrothed, Livara? Are you promised to one of these southern fireflies?"

"No," Liv gasped. She closed her eyes, and concentrated on the breathing exercises. In, hold, out. Again. Eventually, the power inside her returned to slumber. Only then did she ask her next question. "You said the Eld had a way to avoid mana-sickness," she said. "How?"

"Control," Master Reimis answered. "You need to learn control. It is not something I can teach you while we are in this carriage. You need to come north, and learn from your own people. Until you do that, every time you lose control of your magic, you are a danger to yourself, and to anyone around you."

"The mages’ guild can teach me control," Liv protested. "I’m going to college when I’m old enough."

"The humans have forgotten nearly everything they ever knew about magic," the merchant scoffed. "How many generations, in a thousand years? My grandfather saw the Lady of Thorns die with his own eyes. He taught my father the magic he learned from her, and they taught me. Forty generations? Fifty? You don’t understand how much knowledge the fireflies have lost, in their short lives. Come north to Al’Fenthia, and let me teach you. I have a son, just a bit older than you. You can learn with him."

Liv frowned. "Are you going to sell me?" she asked. "What I mean is, are you going to sell the knowledge of who I am? Where I am?"

"Of course," Airis said, with a broad smile. Liv felt sick; it was just as her mother had warned her. Perhaps she should have eaten in the kitchens, after all, and hidden her ears. "My question. Are you committed to the mages’ guild? Is that the life you are set on, or would you consider leaving to rejoin your own people?"

"Master Jurian saved me," Liv answered. "And Master Grenfell has taught me so much. They’ve set it up so that I can go without even paying. It would be ungrateful of me to put all that aside."

"But is that what you want?" the older Eld pressed her, leaning forward in his seat. "Do you want to learn from the humans, or from your own people."

"Why not both?" Liv replied. "Don’t answer that, that isn’t my question. You keep saying the Eld are my people. But I’m half-human. They’re my people, too, aren’t they?"

"I understand how you could think that, now," Master Reimis said. "You’re young. Wait, Livara. Just wait. You’ll see, when your mother ages and dies. Your Master Grenfell, the baron’s lovely young wife, even that infant of hers. They will all wither and pass, leaving only dust and memories. You will remain. Young, and alone. If you are not ready to come north yet, that is fine. In time, you will be. Ah, here we are. The vineyards first, then. You can consider your next question while I have a look at the grapes."

The carriage rolled to a halt, and the merchant opened the door and sprung out before Liv could even scoop up her staff. Leaving her book open on the seat of the carriage, so that the ink could dry, Liv closed the door behind her and scrambled to keep up.

Master Reimis clearly knew a great deal more than Liv did regarding grapes, vines, the soil, what wood to use for barrels, and all manner of other steps in the vinting process, and she quickly found herself lost. What made it even more difficult to focus was that she couldn’t stop the thoughts left swirling around in her head. Descended from a god? What did that even mean?

Mama had told Liv that she’d been named for her aunt, but that was very different from the way the Eldish merchant had spoken. It sounded like her aunt had been famous. She’d gone into the very depths of a rift - the tomb of one of the dead gods, nonetheless! Why? Everything was hints and fragments of a greater story. Liv’s fingers itched to turn to the back of her book, and see whether Master Jurian had left her the word for sword. She could understand how she might shoot them forward - just as she did with Frozen Shards. But control them? What magic could do that?

She was so focused on these questions, that Liv hardly paid any attention at all to the inspection of the vineyards, or even the orchards after that. It wasn’t until the carriage rumbled to a halt in front of an expensive manor on The Hill that she roused herself.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I told you that I had an appointment for the midday meal," Airis Ka Reimis reminded her. "Come along now, Livara. The mayor is expecting us."