Vanessa was completely engrossed in what I was doing, even with my chin almost resting on her shoulder. She watched intensely as my hands used her hands expertly to prepare half of the ingredients for the potion. Surprisingly, she didn't object to how I had pressed my body against the back of hers or how I was manipulating her appendages for her.

As I finished each half of an ingredient, I stayed where I was and would let her hands go. She took the cue and did exactly what I showed her to the other half of the ingredient. I didn't even have to provide any additional instruction as she copied my actions.

“How can you tell what to do with each ingredient?” Vanessa breathed the question out.

“It depends on the ingredient. If it's really leafy or frilly, it needs to be nearly minced to dissolve properly. If it's more like a stalk...” I picked up one and put it down. “You need to cut with the grain to let the most amount of liquid out and to allow the thicker fibres to absorb properly into the boiling water. If it's a more equal combination, say half leafy and some stalk, a cross grain cut is preferred, to get the most out of the entire ingredient and not just one part or the other.”

“What if it's mostly stalk and is only leafy or grainy on the end?” Vanessa asked in a whisper and pointed to the uncommon ingredient.

“That you have to pluck the grains off and add them first, because they need time to boil before you can cut up the stalk along the length to add the juices and fibres.” I said. “We have to wait twenty minutes before I can show you how.”

“You really do know all about this stuff.” Vanessa whispered, sounding quite pleased.

“Like the teacher said, I've been brewing for nearly ten years. I could make a potion this simple with my eyes closed and half asleep.”

Vanessa laughed softly and the girls at the tables next to us looked over in surprise.

“Eyes on your potions, please.” Mage Marks said, a bit sternly. The girls averted their gazes and went back to their work.

“Are we going to stand here doing nothing for the next fifteen minutes?” Vanessa asked, her voice so low that she barely had to open her mouth to speak. We had just added the last of the common ingredients and the potion needed to simmer for the next stage when the grainy part of the uncommon ingredient would be added.

It was then that I realized that I was still pressed up against her. “My apologies. I'll retreat to my side of the table and...”

Vanessa caught my hands before I moved. “I wasn't telling you to go.” She whispered and her face flushed completely red. “I was asking if you are going to... stay like this... with me.”

“You don't want me to let you go?” I asked and she shook her head.

“I've never... I mean, I'm...” Vanessa took a small breath and let it out. “You're the first boy that's ever talked to me and didn't get upset that I can't speak normally.”

“Why would they get upset?”

“They couldn't really hear me, and... and they kept asking me to speak up...”

“...and that made you even quieter, because of their demanding voices.” I whispered and she nodded. “I'm sorry they were too dumb to understand.”

Vanessa turned her head to look at me with raised eyebrows.

“You would make a great scout. Being quiet and learning to talk low and listen to your environment is a tremendous asset when out in the wilderness. You could prove to be extremely useful to whatever team you joined.” I whispered and her face went red again. “I bet you already studied the hand signal manual for the army, too.”

Vanessa took in a sharp breath. “How did you know that?”

“It was the smartest thing you could do.” I said and she ducked her head a little. It pressed her forehead to the side of my head and she looked like tears were coming to her eyes. “Please don't cry. It was meant as a compliment.”

“I... I know.” Vanessa whispered and dabbed her eyes with a cloth before anyone saw. “That's why...” She lifted her head from mine and glanced around to make sure that no one was looking, then she pressed her lips to my cheek. “Thank you.”

“I have a fiance.” I whispered back.

“You don't know how sorry I am that you do.” Vanessa breathed. “I'd propose right this second.”

“Even knowing some of what my life has been like, especially here?” I asked.

“My family doesn't have a stupid requirement of becoming a mage first.” Vanessa responded.

“I didn't know it was a requirement until I had already agreed to marry Helena and met her parents.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“They shouldn't make things so hard for you. It's not right.” Vanessa whispered. “I wish... I wish that my family was more influential. Maybe I could have...”

I turned my head towards hers and kissed her cheek back. “Thank you, Vanessa.”

Her face flushed red again. “D-David.”

“It's almost time for the grains.” I whispered.

Vanessa took a breath, then nodded and faced forward again. I used her hands to pluck half of the grains, careful of damaging the rest of the plant, and told her the best way to harvest the more common varieties as she did the rest for herself. We added the grains at the right time and then we had to wait another ten minutes before we could add the rest.

Neither of us spoke and just stood there, with me holding her from behind and her slowly taking deep breaths and letting them out. When the time came for the stalk to be added, we split the work like we had with everything else and added the fibres and the juice. In only a few minutes, it would be time to add the catalyst.

Vanessa took out something like a paring knife from her pocket and held it in her hands. I moved my hands to hold hers and used Sense Magic. She caught her breath as my magic passed through her hands and went into the knife. The blade glowed slightly, showing that it had some kind of enchantment on it. The whole class stopped what they were doing and looked over at us.

“Mr. Drake, what are you doing?” Mage Marks asked.

“I was seeing if the knife was enchanted. It is.” I said and stopped using my magic. The glow faded and Vanessa stared at the knife as if she had never seen it before. “You didn't know?” I asked her and she shook her head.

“My grandfather used this in school and passed it down to my father, and from him to me. They said it was tradition to use it.” Vanessa whispered. “They didn't tell me it was a magic blade.”

“Her family passed it down to her.” I said in a normal voice.

“Most noble families have at least one magic blade.” Mage Marks said. “I've read about knives that small holding some enchantments.” She walked over to us. “I don't suppose you'll let me borrow...”

“No!” Vanessa gasped in a normal voice as she held it tightly to her chest, which pressed my hands to her chest as well.

Mage Marks looked shocked at her reaction and held her hands up in surrender. “I was only asking for curiosity's sake to see what the enchantment is. I won't make you hand it over.”

“Her family might not know it's enchanted, or didn't tell her to see if she would try to power it herself.” I said, which were the two most logical explanations of handing over a magical blade without telling her why.

“You'll need to guard it and protect it.” One of the girls said. “If anyone knows you brought a magic knife to the school...”

“I won't let anyone take it from her.” I said. “Vanessa, hold it in your hand as if you were going to use it.”

She moved our hands out from her chest and held the knife only in her right hand.

“This is your life.” I said and gripped my right hand tightly over hers. “You will live or you will die with this blade in your hand.” I repeated what the Hag had said to me when she gave me my knife and poured my magic through her hands and into the knife.

“DAVID! NO!” Mage Marks yelled and tried to grab our hands, I assumed to pull them apart. Her hands hit an invisible barrier around our hands and bounced off. “You can't...”

The knife glowed brightly and Vanessa stared at it. The blade seemed to extend slightly, from a paring knife into a steak knife, and looked about a hundred times sharper.

“My hand hurts.” Vanessa whispered.

“It's supposed to. The handle's forming to your hand.” I whispered back and she nodded. “Always have this on you and you will always have something to depend on.”

A moment later, the glow faded and I let her hand go. She opened her hand and the handle had formed to fit her hand only. I took a Healing potion out of my bandoleer and asked her to hold the knife in her other hand. She did and I put several drops of potion on her hand and then rubbed my hands over her right one.

“It's not sore anymore.” Vanessa whispered.

“Apparently you also know a binding spell.” Mage Marks said with a sigh. “What potion is that?”

“It's a healing potion.” I said and tucked it away.

“I don't recognize the color.”

“That's because I made it and it's more powerful than any others for sale on the market.”

“I doubt it's more powerful if you have to rub it on to get it to work.” Lorna said.

“Lorna, remember my warning.” Mage Marks said.

“I wasn't being mean.” Lorna responded. “It's obvious, isn't it? A topical...”

“That's just for small outside injuries. It's meant to be drunk, except that would take too long to heal something so close to the surface.” I said. “If one of her fingers was broken, I would have rubbed it on for the soreness and then had her drink a quarter of it to heal the bone.”

Everyone just stared at me with wide eyes.

“Your potion has multiple uses?” Mage Marks asked, surprised. “Did you combine other healing potions to combine the effects?”

I shook my head. “It's a completely different recipe and uses different ingredients.”

“What? How did...” Mage Marks stopped herself before she derailed her class even more. “Everyone, get back to work. If you all followed the recipe somewhat close to properly, you all should be nearing the infusion stage.”

Vanessa put her knife in her right hand, smiled at the perfect fit of the handle, and moved to nick the tip of her index finger.

I grabbed both of her hands to stop her. “You can't do that anymore. Wounds from magical weapons don't heal properly.”

Vanessa's mouth dropped open in surprise. “R-r-really?”

“I'll make you a temporary sheath until you can send for one. You need to keep the knife on you at all times and a hidden sheath works the best. You'll need to be careful where you put it, until you practice drawing it safely.”

Vanessa blinked her eyes at me for several seconds. “I'll be fighting with it?” She asked, surprised.

“Not if you're lucky. If you're unlucky, it's best to have a weapon you can depend on.”

“Do you have one?” Vanessa asked and I nodded. “Can I see it?”

“After we infuse the potion.” I whispered and took out a vial of black liquid. I poured in a quarter of the vial of my gland extract and tucked it back into my bandoleer. I had switched to using vials, because carrying around a large water skin for potion classes was a bit too conspicuous. “We can use our magic together.”

Vanessa nodded and held a hand over the potion. I put my hand over hers, then folded my fingers between hers to hold on. Vanessa chanted under her breath as she performed the infusion spell and I just let my magic out to flow into her hand. Our magics swirled together and plunged into the potion. The whole pot glowed for almost ten seconds and then the glow faded.

The entire class stared at us, as did the teacher, with looks of disbelief on their faces.

“It's almost like you've never seen a potion infused before.” I said in a normal voice and that woke the other students up. They went back to working on their own potion infusions and Mage Marks kept staring at me.