“A magic tutor?!” Timu asked.

My father stared at me incredulously as he and my mother drank at the dining table. It had been a year from the incident with the pharaoh, and I had learned all I could from Hesti. She taught me the basic syllabic structure of how to cast a spell. That night I had gone home to study Elvish until I passed out. I fell asleep by candlelight after reading the scroll Hesti had gotten me. Hesti was there to carry me to bed most nights. If not her than my father or mother. Once I became fluent, I asked her to teach me magic. She told me that my background in elvish was necessary, as elvish magic used an older language that was used to channel our magic energy. It was called Sylvan and it was the language that older elves and naturefolk spoke.

“Most elven magic uses words that have been spoken since the beginning and the little elven magic inside of them to conjure things,” she held out a cup of water. “So, if you wanted to turn water ice,” She placed a cup of water on the table, “how would you do it?”

“I would say ‘ka’ (water) ‘mabu’ (become) ‘shiti’ (ice)”

Hesti stared at the glass of water in the bowl. She held onto it and said those words, “Kamabushiti.” As soon as she said the words, the water’s temperature became cooler. Frost started to form. I was blown away, thinking this would be easier than I thought to master.

I heard a crack coming from the pitcher that laid on the table. I peered inside. The lychee juice we’d left out had also turned to ice.

I looked at my hands. They stiffened. I could feel it become harder and harder to move my fingers. They cracked as I curled them. I looked at Hesti as she held onto the spell.

“Hesti?” I saw her skin begin to turn blue.”

She dropped her concentration. Redness flooded her cheeks. The lychee fruit leaked through the pitcher. The ice had become water again and my fingers could curl like normal.

‘What do you think went wrong, little master?” Hestiana asked me.

I thought for a second, “I didn’t specify what water?” I asked.

“Very good! And?”

My eyes went to the lychee that Hesti had begun wiping up, “It turned back. Once the spell ended.”

Hestiana nodded her head, “The water was becoming ice as a result of the spell. As soon as the spell went away, so did the magic.”

“So… I can only change things for as long as I concentrate?” I asked.

“What if you had said in Sylvan, ‘glass I touch, become ice cold?’ If you had concentrated on it long enough, the water would have turned to ice. Then when you released the spell, the ice would still be there.”

I shook my head, taking notes in a combination of elvish and Tethran. This was all very interesting. I had to learn this lexicon, then use a system of logic to most effectively execute it. Then it clicked, this was programming.

“Now, for fire…”

“What if there is no ancient word for the thing I’m looking for?” I asked before she could finish.

Hesti looked at me, caught off guard by my interruption, “I’m not sure, little master. I will try to find an answer for you.

“And, Hesti… if it takes a long time for things to happen and some effects are reversible, how do you use these in battle?”

“The truth is that while elven magic is great for many uses including the aid of other people in battle, most of the spells take too long to cast for something that moves quickly. It is not likely to be helpful directly.”

“Oh,” I said, “I see.”

Hesti saw that I was disheartened. She picked my chin up with her finger and said, “There is more to life than battle, little master. And trust me, elven magic is difficult but learning it will help you use other types of magic. But I know what a little boy wants more than anything. I shall show you how to make fire.”

I lit up. She was right, fire was awesome. Hesti showed me how to make fire in my hand. She had strips of aloe vera ready in case I made a mistake. I would conjure the word ‘fire’ and hold it in my hand. Hesti was impressed with how quickly I was able to adapt. My mind rushed with what magic I had already seen. What caused that old man to float? How did Lady Archetta summon those shadow men? Did that little fucker Peyat use magic or was he just that fast? My mind came back to my hand when the fire burned my finger. I cried out in pain and Hestiana wrapped my finger in the strip of aloe vera. Then just for good measure I asked her to kiss the boo boo. Worked like a charm.

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We spent the next few months practicing lessons she had learned as a child. I was learning faster than Hestiana could teach. I could successfully hold fire. I could even shoot it as a ball, although I basically had to hold concentration the whole time. I thought about how there had to be a better way. While she was kind enough to teach me, there were limits. She was taught sylvan as a part of her curriculum by her parents but she was a maid from early on. Hestiana could not teach me everything and within a few months I had already outgrown her. That brought us back to me asking my father for a tutor.

“Trust me, father!” I said, “If you got me a tutor for magic, I could become a great magician and make so much money! You and Mother could live in the Silver Ring in a year’s time!”

My dad was scratching his head, sitting with a glass of wine at our kitchen table with my mother. Hestiana covered her mouth as she giggled, stoking the fire she’d lit in our chimney.

“A tutor’s kind of expensive,” He said.

“I know,” I said, “But there’s only so much I could learn from Hesti, and I can already conjure fire! I’ll show you!”

I stuck up one finger. In honor of showing what Hesti had taught me, I did it her way. I conjured fire on one finger, exerting just enough magical force to produce a flame without it burning me. Then, I did it with all ten fingers. My mom and dad clapped their hands.

Hesti came up to my parents and said, “That is very impressive that he doesn't burn his finger tips off. Most elves twice his age can’t do that!” I nodded enthusiastically.

“I just don’t see what magic has to do with being a porter,” My dad said. There it was. Another cruel reminder of the reality I had been placed in. My mom finished her drink and said, “We can hire a tutor, Timu.”

He looked at her, “We can?”

“We can.”

“An elven magic tutor. Are your parents going to pay for it?”

They exchanged a kind of silent argument that only parents can do when they don’t want to argue in front of the children. They both were exchanging blows with glances before my father finally relented.

Letting out a breath, he said, “I guess we can.”

“Yes!” I said, hugging my mom and dad, “Thank you ma. Thank you, pa!” I jumped up and hugged Hestiana as well.

My mother turned to Hestaina and said, “This boy is positively covered in dirt. Why don’t you take him for a wash?”

Hestiana nodded. We had a shared courtyard between a few of the households and there was a segmented area where a rudimentary bath was constructed by one of the stone mason who lived here. Not many people got to bathe in the Copper Ring and we knew we were lucky. Hestiana placed some hot stones from the fire into the water, warming it up. She undressed me and we both got in the tub as it heated up.

I kept rambling on and on about how exciting this tutor would be as she scrubbed the dirt off my body. Hesti was beaming, happy for me. She would nervously glance at the house as she did. That was when I heard the sharp sound of a pitcher breaking from inside the house. I could see my mother and father’s silhouette from outside as they argued.

Hesti’s smile dropped and she kept scrubbing, “Don’t let it bother you, little master. Both your parents want to give you the world. Sometimes they have issues on how best to do that.”

I told her I understood, but I was still desperate to know what they were saying. I couldn't make out what they were saying. I needed to know what was going on. Instead of getting out of the tub, I decided to use some spellwork. I covered my mouth under the water so Hestiana couldn’t hear the words I would say. How would I do this? I thought about the Sylvan words I’d learned. I knew the word pitcher. And I knew the word for bath. Through a series of sentences. I ducked my head under the water, reciting the words that roughly translated to ‘The water in the bath and in the pitcher inside the house belong to the same pool.’ That didn’t do anything. Error prompt, I guess. I tried again, ‘The water is in the same location as the pitcher.’ That started to change things, the water was becoming a purple color. I could feel my head blaring because the spell drained too much of my mana. That made me think the reality I constructed was too volatile and I dropped it. I eventually came to ‘The sounds from the water in the pitcher emerge from the sounds of the water I am in.’

As long as my head was submerged, it was like I was just inside the wine they were sharing.

“Where exactly are we going to find them money?” My dad asked.

“We’ll find it.” she said.

“Where? I can’t ask for anymore work. You’re tired every time you get off your shift.”

“We’ll find it.” She repeated, calmly.

“Where!? Where?!” He said, “We’re barely saving money as is for our house. Are you going to ask your parents?”

“You know I can’t do that,” She said. I could hear her get up and walk to the other room.

I came back up for air, taking a breath. Hestiana looked at me and wondered what I was doing, “I’m seeing how long I can hold my breath!” Then I went back inside.

“You can’t sell that,” He said.

“It’s fine. It’s not important to me.” She said,

“Your parents gave it to you.”

“To do with it what I would like. This will fetch a high price. We can use that money.”

“Mala…” My dad begged.

“It’s alright Timu. The boy should learn magic. He’s half elf after all.”

“Mala.. with this money, we could put him in school. We can put him into a different skill altogether. Magic is not worth its salt unless he gets really good at it.

Timu, our son will be amazing. I will not let our station stop him.”

“Our station? Mala, you knew who I was when you married me.”

“And you knew who I was. Which means you know I will get my way.”

They had settled a bit. I was running out of breath and running out of magic to hold onto the spell.

“Fine.” My dad said.

That was it. I had gotten the okay? They were going to get a tutor for me. I was about to drop the spell when my dad came back with this: “But that’s just not going to cover an elven magic tutor for long. But I know how we can help him.”

I faded to black. Losing mana made my body feel strange and tied with the lack of oxygen, I came to when I felt Hestiana giving me light slaps, worriedly trying to bring me back from consciousness.

“You were using magic, weren’t you, little master?” She asked, affronted.

Between breaths I said, “Sorry, Hesti.”

Hestiana tutted at me but then said, “What did you do?”

Through bated breaths, I broke out a smile, “My parents are getting me a tutor.”