Posted December 31st, 2018.

I'm keeping my promise for once with another new chapter! A three-year gap was a wide leap to cover, so I'll do my best to make up for it with as many updates as I can. I also went back and cleaned up every chapter to this point, so it should read a little better if you're new or coming back. Thanks so much for reading! Happy New Year!

XIII

Gale reluctantly snapped the thin shards of pasta, unsure if he was doing so correctly. They split with little give, and he dropped his fistfuls into the pot of boiling water. He watched them sink and swirl, and he looked to his cookbook for further guidance. But no, it was really that simple. Finally. Something was.

He could hear the dice scatter across the table, and then the scratch of the quill soon after. Kasey had demonstrated an enthusiasm for rolling a handful of dice he'd found amongst the Wizard's trinkets, and it was put to use. The Wizard had the child rolling the four dice and adding together the numbers that appeared there for practice. Kasey was quite good at it. Enough so that Gale was eager to jump to multiplication, but he knew he needed to exercise patience. Kasey was just a boy. He had plenty of time for such things. He must exercise his mind and master the basics first.

The chair squeaked, and the dice rolls ceased. His cloak was too warm over the heat of the flame, but he felt more alert with it on. Gale stirred the noodles that were yet to soften, and he wondered if he had the right temperature or if he added too much salt to the water. Vivi's voice scolded him in his memory. "Cooking isn't potion making – it's not an exact science. Be as anal as you are with every meal, and you'll both starve." The Wizard hummed in thought. She could do with being kinder on her phrasing.

Turning around in curiosity at the quiet, Gale spotted Kasey over by one of his bookshelves. He ran his hand along the bindings as if the game was to touch as many forbidden items as possible. The boy chose a yellow journal and pulled it out. He gave it a sniff and wrinkled his nose, sneezing at the dust that was no doubt upon it.

"Kasey," the Wizard spoke up. He had told Kasey to fill the page with his summations. It would be forty combinations at least. "Have you… completed your lines?"

"Uh-huh," Kasey easily replied. He rapidly flipped through the pages, grinning at the sound it made. He turned the book over and did it again.

It was an obvious lie. With a glance to the paper, it was clear he had gotten bored after just a few rolls. The Wizard focused on the saucepan, stirring the tomato puree that had been simmering there for the better part of the afternoon. Over his shoulder, he quietly spoke. "You know that… those books are not for you. Replace it."

His monotone was not threatening, but Kasey still acquiesced. With a groan of annoyance, he pushed the book back and threw his shoulders dramatically as he pouted.

"Finish your lines, Kasey," Gale said, squinting at the cookbook. Wait, how much garlic? The Wizard reread the amount to be sure. He blinked. That's a lot of garlic…

Kasey kicked the leg of the chair behind him. His voice rose. "I don't wanna!"

The shout distracted the Wizard long enough for him to find it strange. Kasey hadn't been a particularly temperamental boy. Thus far. Perhaps he was more comfortable now around the Wizard? Which appeared to have pleasant and rather unpleasant results.

"Your lessons… are important…" Gale rationalized. He blew on the burner to command the fire go down to a low rumble as the sauce bubbled. He looked over his work in the kitchen with satisfaction, now ready to give Kasey his full attention. "Diligence is key."

Kasey clearly didn't understand what that word meant and retaliated by rudely sticking his tongue out. He crossed his arms, taking this very personally. He repeated his mantra. "I don't wanna!"

Gale knew the child was overtired from missing his nap, and he was hungry for dinner. This wasn't the usual happy Kasey he was arguing with. But his eyes still widened in surprise at the boy's obstinance. It made little sense to him for Kasey to be so stubborn, but there was no debating it. He wondered at that.

Leaving the stove, Gale approached him. Kasey had a trace of fear as the Wizard took him by the arm, but his grasp wasn't harsh. It was firm enough to pull him but not enough to make him think he was in trouble. Yet. He led Kasey to his seat and had him sit. He slid the paper towards him. "The dice…"

Kasey watched the Wizard leave, his warning evident but his patience mystifying. Angela wasn't mean, but she certainly wouldn't have had him talking to her like that. He had in his mind to test the Wizard's limits with him, scooting his chair back out.

"Do not… force my hand…" the Wizard said, not turning around. He stirred the sweet-smelling sauce without a hint of anger in his tone.

He glared in rebellion and did so anyways, hopping down from his seat. With the beginnings of a mischievous smirk of victory, Kasey returned to the book shelf and opened up an aqua colored volume near the bottom. He plopped down and skimmed the pages, smiling in fascination at the weird words and symbols pictured there.

When the Wizard turned back around, he found Kasey gone from his seat yet again. He was sitting on the floor with one of his spell books. The pasta actively roiled in the pot behind him, almost ready to drain and serve, but Gale's mind was running blank as he stared at the boy. He didn't know what to do with this.

A voice nagged at the back of his mind. Discipline… It was the voice of his master. He associated that word with him. An often merciless mage who held Gale's nose to the grindstone. He had learned much about studying and what it meant to harden one's will from his teachings. It was an important lesson to be sure. But the Wizard wasn't too keen on teaching Kasey the same way he had been taught, in an almost militaristic way. No, he understood the ramifications of that method. The distrust and insecurity and reclusive tendencies that budded like thorns on a successful education.

No, he will learn, Gale thought with more confidence in his decision. He would show Kasey discipline in his own way. The only way he could think of that made the most sense to him.

Most would have shrunken at the idea of disciplining a child that was not born to them. To feel as if they did not have a right to do so. Not an old wizard though. Kasey screeched in surprise when the cuff of his shirt was grabbed, and he was lifted from the floor. He dropped the book and grabbed at the Wizard, but he was already being carted back to the chair he dreaded. He could only watch in wonder as Gale swept his hand in a circle over the seat like he was clearing it off. But the instant he plopped Kasey down upon it, the boy realized in horror that it was magic he used. A bonding spell, to be precise. Kasey's pants were stuck fast to the chair, trapping him there.

Kasey bawled, screaming and kicking and rocking as he went through his emotions of defeat, anger, and fear at his imprisonment. The chair clattered about but refused to release the boy as he wailed and squirmed. Gale just silently watched as the child threw his tantrum and pounded his fists against the table until his energy was about spent. He threw his forehead down and cried.

"I warned you…" he attempted to explain, but the boy was quite out of reach by this point. The Wizard went to the stove and snuffed out the flame with another turn of his wrist. With a sigh at the knowledge their hard earned supper would get cold, he couldn't very well leave it unattended. He returned to the table, and Kasey was surprised to see him pull up the chair across from him and take a seat. He slid the paper again beneath his fingers. "I will… finish these with you."

Kasey turned his head, so his cheek was resting against the table. He flipped to the other cheek when Gale attempted to show him the dice. "I don't wannaaaa!"

The Wizard did not have a keen intuition. He could read the hearts of others and know them, but he did not understand them. He did know why a little boy would cry over math problems. He could only use the logic at his disposal. "Why?"

This was an odd question to be sure. There was no explaining a fit. No reasoning for the foul mood of an empty stomach and no nap. Kasey hid his face to the table again. "Stupid!"

The Wizard looked at the dice Kasey had rolled before he started making this task such an issue. They were all sixes. He began to formulate a guess. "Do not… say that…"

In truth, that made him feel guilty. Kasey didn't like calling him names. They tasted bad on his tongue and sank deep in the pit of his stomach. The noise above him triggered his curiosity, and Kasey took a shy peek. Gale had laid out the dice neatly before him, and he used the quill as a pointer. He lifted his chin, more intrigued with what the Wizard was doing.

"Instead of… counting six, four times…" Gale separated the dice into groups of two, making it easier. He scratched the inked quill tip against the page. His scrawl was uniform and well-practiced next to Kasey's big, messy numbers. "Add twelve and twelve. Two plus two is four… one plus one is two… the answer is twenty-four. The same as six, four times. This way, you don't lose track… if you are just counting the dots… on the face of the dice… that is not addition but simply… counting…"

There was a long silence. Gale began to wonder if he had misread the boy's outburst. He thought Kasey had been calling himself stupid after hitting a road block with this mathematics problem. He could understand the frustration of being confused by a new concept. If he could be at his side and walk him through it though, perhaps Kasey would not be so mad? He could see reason, and the arithmetic would become easier. It was much more difficult to explain spelling… His language lessons were going to be quite the test for them both.

Kasey began to chuckle, and it grew into a mirthful laugh. He laughed much too hard and even more so when the Wizard only stared blankly at him. His peals echoed in the little house with the rich scents of incense and cooked spaghetti. Gale waited for him to finish, marveling at the mood swings of young humans.

The quill was passed to him, and Kasey took it this time, sitting up a little straighter. He rubbed his nose on his sleeve, much to Gale's chagrin. He thought they were past that habit. The boy redid the Wizard's work in his own sloppy penmanship to prove he understood. "I can do it…"

"Very good…" Gale said after another minute passed, and Kasey had rolled a new combination of the dice and completed that problem without issue. It appeared he understood. And he had calmed down at least.

The Wizard rose from his seat and noticed the book left on the floor. He retrieved it and put it back in its place on the shelf, noting with some interest it was a book of runes. Kasey seemed to have a particular interest in runes and symbols. That gave the Wizard pause.

He went back to the kitchen and returned heat to the stove, noting the pasta was a little sticky from being overdone but hoping it would taste fine all the same. He was still learning, too. Not an… exact science…

Not two math problems later, Kasey whined, shifting in his seat: "I gotta pee."

The Wizard plated the spaghetti, ladling the tomato sauce over the noodles with careful precision. He didn't bother turning around again. "Not until you finish… your lines…"

Kasey pouted, puffing out a cheek in disappointment at that. But he supposed he had lost this round. His childish fibs wouldn't work on an age-old wizard.