Chapter Seven
There was a great deal of discussion over who would be Mat's teacher. Lark suggested several dedicates that were stone mages, but Mat refused each one. He stubbornly insisted on wanting the stone mage Evvy Dingzai to be his teacher. "She's the only one that will really understand me. She told me that her parents didn't appreciate her, and never would except as a mage. My parents were the same. They only started acting as if they really loved me when it was discovered that I had magic. The only other person I know who understands completely is the mage Trisana, and she's a weather mage, not a stone mage."
Rosethorn rolled her eyes. "Stone mages," she muttered. "Always so stubborn." In the end, it was decided that Evyy could be Mat's teacher, and every afternoon, he took his lessons with her. He quickly began learning the properties of various stones, and could bring light into crystal-like rocks and heat into non-crystal ones.
Cordy spent every afternoon in the Hub, helping Dedicate Gorse with the cooking and learning how to use her magic in the process. She learned several new recipes, figured out how to smooth out a sauce she had accidentally made lumpy, and one day, created a new variation of a cake involving a great deal of berries and whipped cream. She reveled in it all and jokingly said that if she had to eat all her creations, she'd end being as fat as a ball of pudding.
Kira spent afternoons weeding the garden and in the process learned about plants from Rosethorn. Her head quickly became stuffed with information like valerian was good for helping people sleep and willowbark combated headaches and fevers. She was a bright student, and Rosethorn remarked once, "You're learning as quickly as Briar did. I wouldn't be suprised if you got your medallion early like he did." Kira stared in shock, for Rosethorn was not the type to give out praise.
Pris's lessons consisted mostly of her magic, since she could already spin, weave, sew, and embroider. She learned the spell that removed bits of wool and fluff from her clothes, and she stopped wearing mourning. Black was impractical with all the work with undyed wool, and anyway, her mother hadn't like mourning. Lark guided Pris through weaving with magic, and taught her a spell that would allow cloth to resist dirt and wrinkles. Pris learned how to weave with magic fairly quickly, but she had difficulties with the latter spell. Parts of the cloth resisted her, and the portions that didn't only resisted dirt or only wrinkles, not both.
"This is so frustrating!" she snapped. "Why can't I master this properly?"
"Everyone can't all be great mages like Sandry or me," said Lark, sounding a trifle amused. "And you will master this in time, Pris."
"I'd better," muttered Pris.
A few days later, Cordy's parents showed up, not looking pleased at all. Actually, Lady Drusilla fa Maren looked outraged, while Lord Cedric fer Maren merely looked displeased. "Cordeline fa Maren, what is this I've heard about you being a cook mage?" demanded Lady Drusilla angrily. "You are a noble lady! Cooking is an unseemly occupation for some like you!"
"Mother, I like cooking, and I can't give up my magic," said Cordy patiently. "Would you rather that I wasn't trained at all? If that happened, I could cause things to happen with the food at a dinner party. You wouldn't like that, would you?'
"No," admitted Lady Drusilla. "But still, cooking! You're a noble lady, not a commoner! Why couldn't you have thread magic like Lady Sandrilene? Not that weaving and spinning is a seemly occupation for noble ladies, either, but it's better than cooking. And nobody would raise eyebrows over it precisely because another noble has the same magic."
"Well, the gods saw fit to give me cook magic, so there's nothing I can do," snapped Cordy. "Would you rather that my magic was in carpentry or metal-working?"
Lady Drusilla looked horrified. "Fine, your magic isn't as bad as some. But I still don't approve of it, Cordeline."
Lord Cedric nodded. "And just why are you living in Discipline cottage, Cordeline?"
"Because that's traditionally where mage-gifted students stay if they don't fit well in a dormatory or don't plan to become a novice."
"Not fit in?" asked Lord Cedric. "You were around other noble girls of your age, Cordeline! You would fit in better with them than with the three who-knows-what children that are living here with you."
Cordy's eyes flashed angrily. "Do not insult my friends, Father! Nobles are supposed to be behave properly and not go around insulting others. I get along better with Kira and Pris than I do with some silly noble girls. I even get along better with Mat, and he's a boy!"
"You shouldn't be spending so much time with people that are inferior to you, Cordeline," said Lady Drusilla coldly.
"They're not inferior!" shouted Cordy. "A mage, or anyone that's going to be a mage, is not inferior to a noble. We're all equal. That's how the gods made us. It's the people that came up with titles and decided that some were more superior than others."
"Do not talk back to me, Cordeline," snapped Lady Drusilla, looking angry. "I am your mother, and you will obey me."
"Fine!" snapped Cordeline. "But you're not taking me away from Discipline! I like it here, and Dedicates Lark and Rosethorn are nice."
Lady Drusilla opened her mouth, but Lord Cedric placed a hand on her arm and whispered in her ear. "All right, you may continue living at Discipline, Cordeline. However, you are to spend as little time as possible with the other three children here. Good day." The two left, not bothering to make Cordy promise to obey them.
Cordy, of course, didn't obey her parents. She continued to be friends with Pris and Kira. Mat was still a little distant, but he was gradually opening up each day, and around the girls, he wasn't so stubborn and prickly. He got along best with Kira, who enjoyed reading as much as him.
A week before Midsummer, Kira's aunt showed up at Winding Circle. She stopped at Discipline to visit with Lark, and was very surprised to find Kira there. "Kira! What are you doing here?"
"Aunt Ariane, I'm so glad to see you again!" exclaimed Kira, hugging her aunt. "I'm here because it was discovered that I have magic with plants."
"So you have ambient magic, dear? No wonder I didn't see any magic in you. Now, what happened to you since your parents' deaths? I showed up at the inn, and that uncle of yours said your parents died a month ago. I asked about you, and he said you'd run off a week after he took over. I looked for you, but I'm not any good with locator spells, so I never found you."
"I lived on the streets," responded Kira. "I couldn't stand to be living under my uncle's thumb. He treated me like a slave, and tried to take me to his bed. I ran away right after I fought him off, Aunt Ariane."
"You poor dear," said Aunt Ariane. "If I'd arrived in Summersea a month earlier, I'd have been able to help you. I'd have taken you with me on my travels, and once we finally discovered you had magic, I would have brought you to Winding Circle or Lightsbridge."
"It's all right, Aunt Ariane," replied Kira. "We can't change the past. Besides, I survived, and I'm at Winding Circle now."
Ariane hugged her niece again, and then they chatted for awhile. Finally she got up and left for the guesthouse, with the promise to return tomorrow and that she would be staying for a month.
