January 1070

Elfleda and Eva came by at noon, resuming the regular schedule. I had lunch prepared – technically dinner in this day and age, but I preferred the term lunch – by the time they arrived, a few months of this process having established a fairly consistent level of punctuality. Telling exact time by the positioning of the sun was still an iffy prospect for me, I was too used to analog clocks and watches, but it made sense that a society that didn't have such grand luxuries would have to get used to telling time another way.

Eva looked relieved to see me when I opened the door for them, and as they stepped inside I noticed that Elfleda was carrying the lute from yesterday. I didn't comment on it then, just stepping back so they could take their cloaks off before leading them into the main room.

The moment we all sat down, Eva immediately started talking. "What happened? Where did you go?"

I paused in the process of picking up fork and knife. I shouldn't have been surprised by the questions, Eva was curious and fascinated with all kinds of magic. And I had, essentially, up and left on something I had admitted to be highly risky and probably stupid, and had only now come back.

But the sheer… verve in her voice had still surprised me.

I started cutting into my meat and used that as an excuse to buy time and put my thoughts in order, wondering exactly how much I should reveal. "Have you come across the Nevernever in the books you've been reading?"

She shook her head. "They've been… hard to get through."

I grunted in understanding. I'd been juggling teaching her Latin and philosophy and magic, had plans to add in general education in there like math and the sciences, and Elfleda had her on Greek, and she had her own life, and so on and so forth. She had a lot of things to cover and try and I didn't have a lot of free time to spend on getting her proficient in Latin. Especially since I'd cheated to get to where I was now with the language, and my memories of the correspondence courses I took were hazy.

I guess I could guarantee John's help and silence now though, so maybe I could get him to help there.

"Well, in short, the Nevernever is a parallel mirror world to this one, to reality," I said in between bites. "Though that's not the best term since the Nevernever is also real, but…" I shook my head. "That's getting into magical theory that's not going to be relevant for a while. Just imagine it as a world alongside our own for now."

Eva nodded slowly, starting to pick at her food.

"Like our world there are a lot of regions to the Nevernever. Both in the simple geographical sense of having hills and plains and forests and deserts and all that- yes?"

"What's a desert?" Eva asked.

Right, young unread rural Saxon.

"Imagine a plain, and then replace all the grass and greenery with sand," I said. "Don't worry about that right now. The Nevernever is many, many times larger than our own world. Could be infinite for all I know. There are a lot of realms in there, places and areas of significance, but the main one for this discussion is Faerie. Faerie encompasses the majority of the parts of the Nevernever that touch on our world."

"Touch on how?" she asked.

"The Nevernever and our world are connected on an emotional, symbolic level," I said. "If there's a place in our world that is dark, spooky, and eerie, like a catacomb, then it connects to someplace dark, spooky, and eerie. But if you went ten feet up into the main body of a church, it would connect somewhere else, depending on the state of the church, where it was, and so on. So, if you can learn to navigate Faerie, you can cross large distances in the real world in a relatively short amount of time. Established, consistent routes through the Nevernever are called Ways."

"And you took one?" she asked.

"Sort of. More like I sort of half-blindly wandered to where I thought the king and the earl were," I said. "Which incidentally, you should generally avoid doing, even when you aren't being hunted."

"Hunted?" Eva asked, alarmed.

"Do you remember what Harry and I taught you about the Winter Court?" Elfleda asked.

Eva nodded. "The evil faeries."

Elfleda smiled faintly. "Hmph. Well, their Queen is pursuing Harry. In both the literal and metaphorical senses?"

Eva frowned slightly. "What metaphorical sense?" she asked.

"Hmm." Elfleda tapped a finger against her lips. "Courted would be an appropriate synonym, I think."

Eva's eyes grew wide.

"Doesn't that word carry connotations of marriage?" I asked. "Because I'm pretty sure that's not what she's looking for."

"Woo, then?"

"Enthrall and bewitch seem more appropriate," I replied.

"Uhm… why?" Eva asked. "Is she after you, I mean?"

"That's the million pound question right there," I sighed. "But those particular details about my personal life aren't relevant right now."

"Did you not just say you were being hunted for those reasons?" Elfleda asked.

"Not super relevant," I stressed. "I ran through the Nevernever, got intercepted by the Queen's handmaiden near the end, and had to get around her, which took some work. Which leads me to my first note: when you think you're going to be dealing with faeries, Eva, always pack iron. They hate the stuff, it's completely anathema to them. Won't make many friends doing that, but it's the fastest and most reliable way to overcome a faerie."

Elfleda furrowed her brow. "You employed iron against the handmaiden of the Queen of Winter?"

"Yeah."

"And you're not dead?" she asked, surprised.

"It was a bit close, but I got away. The next day I sort of bought her off."

Elfleda's furrow intensified. "How?"

"I sold her the right to ask three questions about my past in exchange for… overlooking a few things," I said.

Elfleda slowly blinked. Then again. Then again. "Truly?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Figured it was the best way to get her off my back. And it worked," I said.

While Elfleda worked through that revelation, I turned back to Eva. "When I came back out of the Nevernever, I was in York. There, I met up with a few friends, and together we set up a trap for the demon."

"The bear," Eva said, and I nodded. "Was it the same bear as the one you mentioned not using a sword against?"

I paused slightly. I'd forgotten I'd brought up Ursiel as an example before, even indirectly.

"Yes," I said. "But that time was just an example. This time at York was my first time actually encountering it."

Elfleda gave me a bit of an odd look at that, but I ignored it. If she could somehow detect lying, which I wasn't sure she could – was deception even an emotion? – then I'd just have to bank on wizardly vagueness. I really needed to get my story straight one of these days, figure out how I could fit in all of my knowledge and experiences while avoiding any provable contradictions and general impossibilities.

"The fight was… rough, it almost broke my ribs, but eventually we managed to subdue and slay the demon. After that, I made my way back here on horseback," I said.

I wasn't a hundred percent sure about leaving out the roles Lucille and Tim had played. But I figured that, while our relationship was still tenuous at best, drawing attention to them was probably not worth it – and, in turn, drawing their attention to Eva and Elfleda.

I cleaned off my plate, set it aside, and sighed. "Now, onto the main subject of today's lessons. I'm going to teach you how to make a shield."

Eva frowned in a combination of confusion and worry, while Elfleda gave me an interested look.

"It's a bit early in your curriculum, all things considered, but it's a valuable skill to learn and between that and the running routine I'll have you start, it'll serve you well if you run into any danger."

"Running?" Eva asked, alarmed.

"Running is exercise. Exercise is good for you, keeps you healthy, in shape," I said. "And if you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to run, particularly run away, you'll quickly come to value that exercise."

"But… don't I have magic for that?" she asked.

"Running is more consistent, and reliable. And if you combine magic with running, you'll go faster. Also, this is not a debate." I frowned slightly. "I really should have started you on some light physical regimen earlier, you're at the best age for it."

"Can I… not?" she asked.

"Not if you want to remain my apprentice," I said, and meant it.

I didn't plan or want to train her in combat tactics or magic, but if she stayed my apprentice that meant she'd attract interest just because of that. I wanted to make sure she knew enough to protect herself and get away, in that case.

She seemed to seriously consider that for a few moments, which made Elfleda laugh. "Does the notion of engaging in some light athleticism distress you so much?"

"Well, I mean, but… isn't it improper?" Eva asked.

"And so what if it is?" Elfleda asked, shrugging. "You're a witch, you have different standards of propriety."

"Do you do it?" Eva asked Elfleda. "'Engage in light athleticism', I mean?"

"I do not. But then, I am not a witch," she said, then glanced my way with an amused glint in her eyes. "Though perhaps I should start?"

It took me a few moments to figure out what she really meant, though it seemed like Eva beat me to the punch. She glanced between me and Elfleda, frowned, and asked, "Should I go to the lab now?"

I looked at her and asked, "Why?"

"You're flirting," she said slowly, as if not entirely sure.

I blinked slowly, then even more slowly turned to face Elfleda, who had started laughing.

"It seems, you have finally learned, to identify such things," Elfleda said in between guffaws.

I sighed deeply. "No. We're focusing on shields." Then I flicked my finger at Eva's forehead and added a tiny amount of magic to the motion.

"Ow!" she yelped, flinching back and rubbing at her head. "What was that for?"

"Light encouragement," I said dryly.

I walked her through the process of how to form a shield, how to wield and shape and force the magical energy into the proper shape, and by the end of the session she'd managed to form a rudimentary shield. It hadn't held up to even a single forceful flick, but for a start it was pretty good.

Though, I wonder if teaching her how to make a shield was really the best way of going about it, considering her talents. Maybe it would be more effective for her to learn how to reflexively Transfigure a physical shield? She'd probably grasp it easier, considering her natural talent.

It was something I'd have to ask Helga, or Rowena, see how feasible that really was.

An hour later, I sent her to the lab to do some reading and minor experimentation, since I knew from personal experience that spending long hours working on shields was a very boring experience. Pain had been the main thing motivating me after the first ten minutes in my own apprenticeship.

That left me and Elfleda alone in the main room as I finally set about cleaning and washing the plates and cutlery.

"Thank you for the lute, by the way," I said over my shoulder.

"It wasn't difficult," she replied. "Simply time-consuming to have one delivered."

"I figured. Did you ask one of the traders to bring it up?" I asked.

"After finding one that could do the job," she confirmed.

"I didn't know you played. Or that well, either."

"It has been… some years since I last played a lute. I'm more familiar with the lyre and the harp."

"Do you have one?" I asked. "Of either?"

"You phrased that awkwardly. And yes, a lyre. Harps are more troublesome to transport. Would you like to hear me play?" she asked.

"Please," I said. "I'm not really familiar with the standard songs, and it would be good therapy."

"Therapy?" she asked.

I raised my right hand and waggled my fingers. "To help my hand and fingers recover, get back the old dexterity. Playing an instrument demands fine control, so it's good practice and exercise."

"Hmm. Do you think Eva would benefit from learning to play?"

I paused in my scrubbing. "Practically, magically? Not really. Her hands and fingers work fine and I don't even know where to start with any kind of music-related magic. But as a hobby?" I shrugged. "You should ask her, get her opinion on it."

Elfleda's only response was a musing hum, and when the silence started to drag on, I focused completely on the cleaning. Once I was done and the plates and cutlery laid out to dry, I went back to the main table, sat down, and brought the lute over. Then I took off my right glove.

My hand was still gnarly. There had been a moment early on where the skin had been touch-and-go, at risk of sloughing off, but that critical moment had passed and now it was just thin, boney, and bruised. It was why I preferred gloves.

I gingerly tried to strum on the lute strings, then winced and pulled my fingers back. "Yeah, that's not going to work," I said, fighting through the pain. I slipped the glove back on and found Elfleda looking consideringly at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You are very peculiar," she said. "You risked your life just getting to York in a way that you admit is unwise even under normal circumstances. You took up iron, the Bane, and used it against one who I presume is a very powerful Sidhe. And all this, you did simply to avoid the Queen of Winter, when it would've been simpler and safer to deal with her. Why?"

"Because she's Mab," I said, and Elfleda blinked at my use of her name. "It's never just one thing with her." I shook my head. "Not being able to use the Nevernever is a pain, but it's one I can handle, one I have been working around." One I need to start working around a bit more. Maybe I should revisit my flying broom idea. The first attempt had been an abysmal failure, but I'd come a long way since that first attempt. "Getting involved with her is like willingly traipsing through quicksand. The harder you struggle to get out, the deeper you sink." I decided to start my therapy on a cover of Stairway to Heaven. "I trust her only as far as I can throw her, and I can't throw her."

"Hmm."