Living Words

Savoring the wine and the quiet kitchen, Macati reluctantly turned his thoughts to the biggest problem he  had with Guylian's apprenticeship. It really was unfair—his first three apprentices hadn't inspired the same  feelings in him that Guylian did.

Josli, the would-be scribe, had been lazy and spent so little time working on magic that Macati had mostly  just been frustrated and annoyed with him. It had been something of a relief when Josli had run off to the  city for an apprenticeship with a scribe in spite of his parents' wishes for him to become a mage.

Haelis had been a good apprentice—a bit pushy, but she'd liked magic when she wasn't desperately  homesick. Macati had taken pity on her three months into the apprenticeship and sent her home to  apprentice with a mage who had formerly worked at the palace and had moved to her hometown for peace  and quiet.

Tlory had seemed like he was going to be a repeat of Haelis, without the homesickness, since he lived in  town. Except after a few weeks it had become obvious that Tlory's interest hadn't been with magic, but in  what magic could do for him.

Guylian wasn't like any of them. He was painfully shy, extremely interested in magic—especially the most  impractical magic, like the pixie construct. He wasn't Macati's prettiest apprentice either—Haelis had had  half the town pining after her.

Guylian wasn't ugly though—he had beautiful dark hair and bright, intelligent blue-gray eyes, and Macati  didn't care that his nose was slightly crooked or that his jaw as a little too wide for his face. None of that  kept him from getting the urge to pull Guylian close, to sink his fingers into the tangled waves of Guylian's  hair and kiss him senseless—and worse.

Only that it was completely wrong kept Macati behaving, and he didn't know how long that would prove  an impediment. He was Guylian's teacher—he couldn't take advantage of Guylian like that, but it was  damnably hard to keep that in his head.

Neither could he say that making any move on Guylian wouldn't completely destroy the bit of trust he'd  cultivated with Guylian in the weeks since Justain had shown up on his doorstep.

He would just have to ignore it and not give in to anything more than casual, normal touches. Sighing,
Macati set down his glass of wine and headed back to the pantry to fetch the bread and loose greens to go  with dinner.

He couldn't stifle his curiosity about Guylian, though. Even if he was resolved to keep his hands off until  after Guylian earned his mage's license, he wanted to know more. Why was Guylian so skittish and shy?
From the way Guylian had spoken of his aunt, Macati couldn't believe it had anything to do with her.

From what Macati knew, however, she'd died nearly a decade ago.

Which left Guylian where for the last ten years? And how in the world had Justain managed to pick him  up?

Setting the bread and greens on the table, Macati moved to the counter, collecting a cutting board and  knife for the bread.

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He could write Justain—Justain was considerably less annoyed about receiving correspondence than he  was by dealing with people in person. He might have all the answers, and Macati sighed, wishing he'd  pressed Justain for answers when he'd dropped off Guylian.

At least if he phrased the questions as things he needed to know to handle Guylian, Justain would answer.
If only to try and head off any attempts on Macati's end to send Guylian back to apprentice with him.

Not that Macati had any intentions of letting go of Guylian, not until he had to. Which would be  depressingly soon, if Guylian kept up his rate of learning.

Traditional apprenticeships took two or three years, depending on how smart the apprentice was and how  quickly they learned. Guylian might complete his studies within a year, taking only that long to get the  practical experience he'd need before Macati unleashed him into the world.

Where Guylian would go after his apprenticeship was another good question. He wondered if Guylian had  thought about that yet, but that wasn't a subject to bring up until Guylian was either more comfortable  here or was closer to the end of his apprenticeship.

Taking another swallow of his wine, Macati pushed thoughts of Guylian away and set the table. He'd take  the night off from worrying and work out as much as he could tomorrow. Sitting down at the table, he  pulled his wine glass closer and instead focused on the spell whose energy fluctuations were currently  baffling him.

*\^/*

Guylian had finished his diagram and was trying to determine what to try out on Kysera later when Macati  reappeared. Kysera wasn't being helpful; the pixie had been enthusiastic about getting teeth and having his  leg fixed, but nearly every suggestion Guylian had come up with today had been shot down with an  affronted or disgusted look.

So far he'd suggested hair, new clothing that wasn't his hair ribbons, and changing Kysera's eye color. And  when he'd asked about giving Kysera new clothes, slightly exasperated—he was sick of losing his hair  ribbons—Kysera had just looked at him smugly before flitting over to curl up on his shoulder.

"Dinner's ready," Macati said quietly from behind him, and Guylian jumped. Despite knowing Macati was  coming back, he never paid enough attention and always missed it when Macati climbed the stairs. "Did  you finish the diagram?"

"Yes," Guylian said, steadying Kysera before the pixie could tumble off his shoulder or dig into his shirt.
He had a number of stretched out shirt collars from when he'd startled abruptly and nearly dislodged
Kysera.

"May I see?" Macati asked, giving him a teasing smile as he climbed the rest of the way into the work  room.

Guylian nodded, shrugging a little. Why Macati thought he needed to ask was beyond him, but Macati  always asked. Macati crossed the room to the work table and gingerly picked up the diagram of spell circles
Guylian had spent the day constructing.

"Excellent," Macati praised, giving him another smile and setting him to blushing. It wasn't that impressive;
Guylian had practically copied it from the book, with a few minor changes to make it work better.

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"Actually," Macati said thoughtfully, still studying the diagram. Guylian valiantly resisted the urge to  fidget—of course he'd done something wrong. He really should just leave established spells alone, since  they worked; they didn't need modifications to make them better. "This would be an excellent start to your  first grimoire."

"My first grimoire?" Guylian repeated faintly. Macati wanted him to write a grimoire?

"Yes," Macati confirmed, flashing him a smile. "I can show you mine, if you like. It's much more  rudimentary than this, but the first few are practice really. If any of yours turn out well, you can send them  off to the Guild for the Supervision and Dissemination of Magic and Spells and they might publish your  work."

Guylian stared, wide-eyed. His spell work, published? Perhaps Macati was thinking of the far, far-away  future. Macati laughed, interpreting the look on his face correctly.

"I'll show you some of the crap they publish as well. One of my grimoires is public, and a number of
Justain's are as well," Macati said, peering around the room thoughtfully. "They're in here somewhere. I'll  find them for you tomorrow."

Guylian nodded, a little confused. Macati set the diagram down, gesturing vaguely towards the stairs as he  turned around.

"Come on, dinner," he directed, and Guylian obligingly headed downstairs. The kitchen smelled wonderful,  and Guylian felt a little guilty as he sat down at the small kitchen table. He should be able to cook like this  for Macati, since Macati cooked like this for the two of them.

"Oh, you haven't even tasted it yet," Macati chided cheerfully, clapping him on the shoulder as he pushed
Guylian into the kitchen.

"It smells good," Guylian said, unsurprised to find the table set nicely, food laid out and wine already  poured.

"Then why the sad look?" Macati asked, his hand sliding away as he moved to take his usual seat. "Try the  wine, it's delicious."

"I can't cook like this," Guylian admitted quietly, sitting down and making sure Kysera wasn't going to fall.
Macati laughed quietly, not mockingly, and served himself some of the chicken set in the center of the  table.

"You'll learn," Macati said confidently, despite that Guylian had nearly burnt the house down a handful of  times and had made astounding messes most of the time. "And if not, then I'll handle the cooking and you  can handle the cleanup. It's not really a big deal."

"All right," Guylian said quietly, resolving to work harder at cooking. It shouldn't be that difficult—  thousands of other people did it without mishap every day.

"Have you decided what you're going to do with Kysera tonight?" Macati asked as Guylian helped himself  to the chicken and roasted vegetables.

"No," Guylian said, smiling a little. "He doesn't like any of my ideas."

"And what were your ideas?" Macati asked curiously, cutting into his chicken and taking a small bite.
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"Oh, um." Guylian shrugged, dropping his gaze to his plate. "I wanted to try the hair." Which was  presumptuous since Macati hadn't figure out hair for the original spell.

"You'll have to let me know how you planned to do that," Macati said without any trace of annoyance or  anger.

Guylian nodded and then made himself keep going because Macati would press. Macati was excellent at  being pushy without being rude and Guylian couldn't figure out how he did it. "Then I suggested clothes."

Macati laughed delightedly. "Missing your hair ties?"

Guylian nodded, eating one of the carrots on his plate. It was delicious, spiced with things he'd never be  able to name or use.

"And then I offered to change the color of his eyes," Guylian finished the list, reaching for his wine glass.
"He said no to all of them."

"You could try giving him a voice," Macati suggested. "I don't know that he'd be able to speak, but then he  could at least make noise."

That… was a good idea, actually. Guylian set down his wine glass untouched, reaching up and scooping  the sleeping pixie off his shoulder. Kysera blinked at him wearily, yawning as Guylian set him down on the  table.

"Would you like a voice?" Guylian asked, feeling a little silly. Kysera was a construct, and it was one thing  to talk to him when he was alone, but another altogether to do it with an audience.

Kysera perked up, nodding a few times. He tugged at Guylian's index finger before turning to stare  curiously at the cooked chicken. Kysera didn't eat—either he sustained himself with sunlight like Macati  had first theorized or the hold spell kept him from needing sustenance.

"Can you do that spell?" Macati asked curiously. Not doubtfully—he never asked that question  doubtfully—which was nice, if a little unnerving.

"I think so," Guylian muttered. It wouldn't be too difficult—a spell with a plant and ash base, include  songbird references in the Civomic… he'd have to write it out to be sure, but he could give Kysera a voice  without too much trouble.

"Well, if you need my help, don't hesitate to ask," Macati offered, smiling encouragingly. "And save  whatever spell you use, I'd like to see if it could be incorporated into the original spell."

Guylian nodded, flushing a little. If Macati was going to be looking at the spell… he'd have to be more  careful with it.

"Thank you," Guylian said belatedly, distracted as Kysera began to unstealthily make his way towards the  chicken, still obviously fascinated. Guylian reached out and scooped him up before he could get too close;  he wasn't sure how hot the pan was or how fireproof Kysera was.

Kysera pouted at him, eyeing the chicken unsubtly as Macati snickered.

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"It's hot," Guylian said, lifting Kysera to his shoulder again. Kysera shook his head at Guylian sadly, but  clambered over, settling in familiarly.

"Tomorrow I think we'll go into town again," Macati said, sipping at his wine. Guylian nodded, fighting the  urge to fidget. He liked apprenticing with Macati, even if he was still too pretty for Guylian's peace of  mind. The trips to town were his least favorite part, however. Everyone wanted to talk to him or talk to
Macati, and he'd much rather spend his apprenticeship squirreled away in Macati's work room.

"We can get you the material you need to begin a grimoire and check for new jobs," Macati continued  thoughtfully. Guylian nodded, working on eating his dinner as Macati talked. "I think you're ready to start  handling some of the smaller jobs on your own."

Guylian choked on a swallow of wine—which was excellent, light and sweet with a crisp edge—coughing  and making his eyes water. Macati laughed quietly, looking far too amused by Guylian's reaction. Guylian  set down his wine glass before he spilled it. Macati wanted to have him interact with people without him  playing buffer?

"You're far enough in your studies that you can handle a few small spells on your own," Macati said, still  smiling. "But that's not to say—if I give you anything you don't think you can handle, let me know and I'll  help."

Guylian nodded, suddenly not very hungry anymore. But… this was a good thing, right? A step towards  earning his mage license, even if he'd only been officially apprenticed to Macati for less than a month.
Justain hadn't even let him cast spells under supervision after two months of studying with him.

"What do we need for a grimoire?" Guylian asked, trying to distract himself before he thought too hard  about dealing with the townsfolk on his own.

"A blank book and some nice ink," Macati said, cutting himself a chunk of bread. "My teacher bought me a  nice set when I started my first grimoire. We'll stop at the book shop and I'll let you pick something out."

Guylian nearly protested, but Macati raised his eyebrows challengingly, obviously expecting it, so Guylian  just nodded. He'd just pick out the cheapest book and ink set he could get away with tomorrow. Pushing  his hair out of his face, Guylian focused on his food. Maybe there wouldn't be any jobs Macati thought he  could handle when they went into town.

Somehow he doubted that, though. His luck was never that good.

*\^/*

Macati woke before Guylian, as usual. Puttering around the kitchen slowly, he made a pot of tea and  contemplated leaving Guylian to sleep for a while longer. He would probably need all the sleep he could  get, since Macati was dragging him into town today.

He'd let Guylian sleep until he finished his breakfast, and then he'd get the unfinished spell set up for later.
It probably wasn't fair to set Guylian up after the unpleasant day he'd have in town, but Macati would just  as soon have done with it. Perhaps it would sink in better if Guylian was already off-balance from a day in  town.

Brewing a fresh pot of tea didn't take long, and Macati made a quick breakfast of fruit and more of Werin's  delicious bread before heading upstairs to wake Guylian.

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