Anna awoke the next day sprawled out in a bed at least twice as big as the one she had so often awoken in at the orphanage. There was no spring poking her throughout the night and interrupting her sleep. There was no itchy blanket that scratched and irritated her skin. As a matter of fact, the bed she now found herself in, along with the warm, soft blanket draped over her made her reluctant to even wake up at all. She decided to go back to sleep. She did not get to snooze for much longer though.

A noise interrupted her sleep daze, coming from the old wooden door leading to her room. It sounded as if something sharp was tapping against the door. For a moment, Anna felt a bit of fear, but the voice that followed the tapping put her at ease.

“Anna, please open up if you can. I don’t do so well with door handles,” Misaada’s voice spoke from behind the door.

Anna sat up and stretched her arms far into the air, yawning as she did so. The window in her room was covered by a thick, crimson curtain. It did well to block the unending light from the Sol Regnum, but some of it still managed to bleed through at the curtain’s edges. The orangish-red light emanated into her room in thin columns. One of the thin beams ran across where her hand laid and she could feel the warmth it carried with it. Anna blinked sleepily at the door, wanting to get up and open it for Misaada, but not yet able to summon the motivation to leave the warmth and safety of her new bed. She heard a screeching noise as the handle to her door began to jiggle.

“Darn these claws, if only I had been blessed with thumbs,” Misaada seemed to mutter to herself.

Anna giggled before deciding she should probably help the bird out. She pushed the blanket to the side and tossed her legs over the bed and onto the floor. As she stood up, the bottom of the white gown she had worn to bed danced over the tops of her feet, tickling her a bit. It was quite possibly the most comfortable garment she had ever worn. Broderick had sent Nelson out the day before to acquire her clothes from the market. Nelson had stuck to relatively simple articles, mostly white sleeping gowns for bedtime and black robes for daywear. Anna did not mind the simplicity however. She was just happy to have clothes on that weren’t littered with holes or two sizes too small. At first Anna had asked Broderick if she could go with Nelson, but he indicated that it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to be wandering about town so soon. He did not give her an exact reason, but she had gotten the impression that her arrival with Broderick had caught the attention of at least a few citizens.

A part of Anna felt a bit of irritation at the fact that Broderick had told her no. Ms. Whitney had often barred her from doing things she wanted, but Anna usually didn’t let the absence of permission stop her from doing it anyways. But she felt like she owed Broderick a bit more respect than she had given Ms. Whitney. For one, he had stood up for her, against his own people. Ms. Whitney would never have done anything of the sort. So she stayed put, chatting with Broderick and Misaada and assisting them in cleaning up the mess of books in the front room. She had felt a sense of wonder and amazement upon reading many of their titles, and had acquired about them so many times that she began to feel like she might become a nuisance. Broderick had patiently explained as much as he could but had also told her that much of their content would not make sense until after she had started her training. And today was the day that it began.

The thought of this sent a shiver of excitement down her spine and Anna hustled to the door a little more quickly. She opened it to find Misaada on the other side, her claw still up in the air where she had been trying in vain to operate the door handle. Anna grinned at her.

“Oh, don’t look so smug,” Misaada said smartly, “I’d like to see you grip a metal door handle with nothing but your claws.”

“Luckily, I’ve got thumbs,” Anna said with a wink.

She felt a certain sense of giddiness inside her. All of her time at the orphanage, she had always felt so empty, like she had no purpose. The thought of training, of learning something new instilled in her a drive like she had never felt before. She could not exactly describe what she was feeling, but she knew she liked it.

“Oh, aren’t you a smart one,” Misaada replied sarcastically, “get dressed and then come join us in the kitchen for breakfast. Broderick wants you well fed before your informal education commences.”

She made a noise that sounded like ‘harumph’ before turning and waddling away. Anna watched her march down the hall towards the stairs. Rather than walking down them, Misaada jumped over the banister and glided down to the lower floor. Anna shut the door, grinning as she did so, and quickly changed into the jet black robes Nelson had purchased for her. She carefully tucked her pendant away beneath her collar and was surprised that the metal felt almost warm against her skin. While he had been in town, Nelson had also had the foresight to purchase her a hairbrush. She gladly used it to straighten her bed-ridden mess of brown hair. Glancing at herself in the mirror that hung in her new bathroom, Anna was astonished at how different she looked compared to only a few days ago. It wasn’t just the new clothes or the fixed hair either; there was something in her expression and in her heart that she couldn’t remember feeling in a very long time.

She felt hope.

Satisfied with her appearance, she marched out of the room and down the stairs, making her way to the kitchen that she had eaten dinner in the night before. Before she had even reached the stairs, she was able to smell the wonderful scent of sizzling sausage and biscuits being baked. Her mouth salivated at the aromas that were in the air and she arrived in the kitchen with her stomach ready to be filled. Broderick was sitting at the large wooden dining table. He had a newspaper sprawled open in front of him and looked to be deep into whatever he was reading. Nelson was frying eggs in a pan on the stove.

“Pass me the salt, will you Misaada,” Nelson asked.

Misaada, who was giving Nelson a rather dirty look, picked up a salt shaker from the counter with in her beak and brought it over to him.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Must you cook those vile things in front of me?” Misaada asked in a disapproving manner.

She eyed the eggs with a look of disgust.

“Yup,” Nelson said unapologetically, “they’re packed with protein, and you know we need a lot of it. Besides, you know these eggs were made with duplication magic. They probably came from an egg that was laid years ago.”

Misaada still looked annoyed. She marched away from Nelson and joined Broderick at the table. Rather than sitting in a chair, though, there seemed to be a special perch at the table built just for her. It was shaped much like a tree branch and was bolted tightly to the floor to keep from tipping over under her weight.

“Why do you need a lot of protein?” Anna asked curiously.

She had noticed the night before, during dinner, that both Broderick and Nelson had eaten an unordinary amount of meat. For that matter, they had eaten more food of all kinds than she would have thought any two people could ingest. She had wondered about it then, but had felt silly asking about it. Perhaps they had just been extremely hungry. But now Nelson had mentioned it explicitly and she saw an opening to get answers.

“Magic,” Nelson said simply.

“I don’t understand,” Anna replied.

At this, Broderick finally looked up from the paper he had been reading.

“Lesson one Anna, magic is an energy just like any other. Just like running, or doing any physical task, magic requires you to exert energy. For this reason, sorcerers and sorceresses must intake an abnormally high amount of calories. Otherwise you risk fatigue and injury when casting spells. Not to mention your spellcraft is far less effective if you don’t have the energy to feed it,” Broderick explained.

“I haven’t felt any hungrier than usual,” Anna said, wondering if this wasn’t all a big mistake and she did not actually have magic at all.

This was not the first, or probably even the hundredth time she had thought this since arriving at Broderick’s home the previous day. Broderick, however, chuckled light-heartedly and waved a dismissive hand.

“Well, you haven’t exactly been doing much spellcasting, have you?” He said jovially, “Now come and sit, eat. You will need the energy for when you do begin to use your newfound abilities.”

He gestured to the seat across from him at the table before folding his paper and getting up himself to help Nelson begin carrying food over. Anna took a seat and finally took notice of all the food that was available to her. Between what was already on the table, and the food that Broderick and Nelson were now placing upon it, there was a cornucopia of deliciousness: strips of fat-covered bacon, eggs fried sunny side up so that the yolk glowed and glistened, blueberry muffins and pieces of french toast coated in some kind of fine white powder. There were links of sausage, dishes filled with gravy, and jars of honey, syrup, and jelly. Fresh fruit of different sorts, apples, oranges, and even watermelon, had been cut into neat slices and placed upon a serving tray. In front of Misaada sat a rather different assortment of food. She had a tray that seemed to include an array of dead insects and a roasted snake. Anna did her best to not let the sight of Misaada's meal ruin her appetite for the rest of the buffet that now sat before her.

After carrying the last of the food over, Broderick sat an empty plate in front of Anna, along with a cloth napkin wrapped fancifully around ornate looking silverware.

“Dig in,” he said cheerfully.

Broderick and Nelson both filled up their plates with far more food than the dishes were built to carry, bits of egg and fruit hanging over the edges in a dangerous manner. Broderick sat back down in his cushioned chair and again opened his paper, shoveling food in his mouth as he continued to read. Nelson was sticking three sausage links and an entire egg on a single fork before placing it all in his mouth in a single bite. Anna stood up and, feeling a bit sheepish, placed a single piece of bacon, a single egg, and one piece of toast on her plate. She sat back down and began to nibble at the toast.

“Wha’re yo’ doin’,” Nelson said with a mouth full of food.

“Eating, same as you,” Anna replied in a slightly sarcastic manner.

Nelson gulped down his truck-full of food before responding.

“What are you, a field mouse? That’s not a plate,” he said, throwing a few more pieces of bacon and fruit on his own platter before continuing, “this is a plate,” he finished, lifting the plate-full of food up towards her.

“At the orphanage, we were only allowed-” Anna started, but Broderick interrupted her.

“You aren’t at the orphanage anymore, dear. This is your home and you can eat to your heart’s content. You will need the sustenance soon enough,” he said.

Anna hesitated for a moment, her eyes moving back and forth between Broderick and Nelson. They were both eyeing her expectantly.

“All right, then,” she said finally.

She began loading up her plate in a similar manner as the other two, until food was hanging over the edges. It was a strange feeling, being able to eat whatever she wanted, but it was definitely a good kind of strange.

As Anna ate, Broderick continued to flip through the newspaper that he was engrossed in. The front page had a headline that read ‘A Clueless Council; Magic Thief and Murderer Still Marauding’. That piqued Anna’s interest, but it wasn’t until Broderick had flipped through a few pages that something in the paper caught Anna’s attention enough for her to inquire about it. Staring back at her from the black and white page was a picture of herself; a rather unflattering picture if she was being completely honest.

"Why am I in that paper?!" She blurted out incredulously.

Now that she was looking at it more closely, she realized there were actually two pictures of her printed on the page. The first one, the one that had caught her eye, was of the first night she had arrived in Monsadasia. Even in black and white, it was easy to tell how dirty and soot-covered her face was. She had just been ripped away from Broderick and was being marched away by the same Captain who had escorted her to her trial. Anna was making a rather ugly face in the picture, with her mouth half open and her eyes in the middle of blinking. She hadn't realized she was in the second picture originally because it was a shot further away so that her face wasn't as in focus as it was in the first photo. She really only realized it was her in that one as well when she took notice of the room the picture was taken in. It was a picture of her locked in her cell. Anna was a bit confused as to how either of the pictures had been taken; she certainly did not remember any flashes or photographers in that clearing or in her prison.

Broderick sighed, setting down his paper and looking Anna in the eye before answering, “Your presence in our kingdom has caused quite a stir, unfortunately. It’s not often that a tribeless person joins our community. It is actually quite a unique occurence to tell you the truth.”

“It was all anyone was talking about when I went to the market yesterday,” Nelson added, “you wouldn’t believe the number of people that stopped me to ask about you. And the things they were saying and postulating. Crazy, I tell ya.”

Anna felt her cheeks getting warm. Broderick was casting her a wary gaze and Misaada looked at her with a look of concern. Nelson kept shoveling down heaps of food, apparently unaware that what he had said had bothered Anna. She took a few more bites of food, trying her best not to worry about what Nelson had just said. After a moment, her concern got the best of her.

“What were they saying?” she blurted out.

“Oh, just the wildest things,” Nelson replied nonchalantly, “that you were a murderer, that the council was crazy to let you go into our community, that you were some kind of demon come to wreak havoc on our way of life. All a bunch of nonsense really. They asked me if Broderick had finally gone insane and if I was afraid that you’d take me out next. A bunch of nonsense.”

At this point, Nelson finally stopped focusing on his plate and began looking at Anna. She knew that she must look absolutely miserable, for now even he had a look of uneasiness about him.

“Hey now, don’t worry about what the townsfolk say. They’ll be occupied by the next silly drama or rumor that comes along by this time next week,” he said encouragingly.

Broderick cleared his throat before adding, “our kingdom is small, Anna. Naturally, something that has never occurred before is going to draw a lot of attention. But as Nelson said, it will all blow over soon enough and people will be on to the next affair. In the meantime, you just have to lay low and keep your head down. A perfect excuse to stay in the house and learn,” he added with a smile.

“That’s why you didn’t want me to go into the marketplace,” Anna said, understanding now why Broderick had been so adamant about her staying in the house.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Yes,” he admitted, looking slightly ashamed.

Silence fell across the table, apart from the slurping sounds coming from Nelson. Anna picked at her plate, moving things around with her fork, but her appetite had almost completely dissipated. She had been in trouble before. There had even been instances where it had seemed like the whole orphanage was mad at her, such as when Ms. Whitney had banned everyone from using the washer for two weeks because Anna had swapped out the laundry detergent for dish soap. Most of the first floor had been flooded with bubbles and Ms. Whitney was so angry that she decided to punish everyone, not just Anna. But even that did not compare to what she was feeling now. She had never had an entire kingdom full of people be unanimously angry and suspicious of her. For the first time since arriving at Broderick’s, she almost wished she was back at the orphanage.

For the rest of breakfast, Anna didn’t really say much. She half listened as Broderick and Nelson made small talk, but her mind was elsewhere, distracted by negative thoughts. She caught snippets of Nelson asking more questions about his pearl plumbs and of Broderick talking about the council’s shortcomings, but she couldn’t bring herself to pay much attention. After half an hour and three full plates of food, Broderick stood up and put his plate in the sink.

“Nelson, would you mind cleaning up while I go prepare the workshop for Anna?” he asked.

“Not at all,” Nelson replied before standing up and carrying his own plate to the sink.

“As soon as you finish eating, meet me downstairs Anna. Nelson and Misaada, you’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” Broderick said.

He picked up his paper from the table and rolled it up, stuffing it into a pocket in his robes. He smiled at Anna and departed from the kitchen, disappearing through a door down the hall. Anna could briefly hear his footsteps fading away down a long flight of stairs. She looked down at her plate again and sighed.

“Oh, cheer up,” Nelson said to her.

“Yes, don’t let the simpletons around town get you down,” Misaada added.

Misaada departed from her synthetic tree branch, flapping her wings a bit as she did so. She picked up her own plate with her beak and carried it over to Nelson. He had mostly cleared the table so that the sink was now full of dirty dishes, bits of egg and grease still slathered on top the wooden dining table. Anna did her best to finish her own meal, but the knot that still lingered in her stomach was making it hard. She watched Nelson, expecting him to begin running water for the dishes. Instead, he began looking around on the floor as if he had dropped something.

“Would you like some help washing the dishe?” Anna asked after a moment, picking her own plate up and carrying it over to the sink.

“Nah, I’m just looking for… Ah, there it is,” he exclaimed, apparently finding whatever it was he was looking for underneath the stove.

He tried to reach his arm underneath it, but his thick wrists were clearly preventing him from reaching whatever he was trying to get to. He gave Misaada a pleading look.

“Oh, move out of the way,” she said impatiently before sticking her claw into the space that Nelson had been unable to reach, “I keep telling you to exercise more.”

Nelson chuckled at this but didn’t seem to take the suggestion very seriously.

“Why would I do that when I’ve got you around to help me get into tiny spaces?” he asked her.

“One of these days I’ll tell you no. What’ll you do then?” Misaada replied.

She made a noise of triumph before withdrawing her claw from underneath the stove. Grasped in her talons was a long stick of wood, with several gemstones embedded along its shaft.

“My wand!” Nelson said happily.

Anna observed with a curious fascination as Nelson pointed the wand at the dishes in the sink. He muttered words that Anna had never heard before and the crystals on the wand began to glow one by one. A shimmering beam of light erupted from the end of the wand and spread over the pile of plates and bowls. The mess and grease that adorned them seemed to disappear almost instantly as the light touched them, but that wasn’t all. As each plate was magically cleaned, it floated into the air and came to a rest in a dish strainer next to the sink. After a few moments, the strainer was full and the sink was empty. Nelson did a fancy twirl with his body like some kind of ballerina before pointing his wand at the table. In a matter of seconds, it was shining spotless and polished without a trace of food on it. If Anna had not seen food on it moments before, she wouldn’t have believed that any food had been consumed in the kitchen at all. It occurred to her that she hadn’t seen this display of magic the previous evening, but she remembered that Broderick had sent her upstairs with the suggestion that she get some rest for her vigorous training before he or Nelson had finished eating.

“That was amazing!” Anna said excitedly.

“That was nothing,” Nelson said with a wave of his hand, “one of the first spells I learned. Broderick might not care about dust in the study, but he’s a stickler for a clean kitchen. ” he finished with a chuckle.

He moved around the kitchen, picking up ingredients and spices and putting them up into various cabinets above the counter top. At one point, he opened up a rather strange looking stone fridge and Anna felt a blast of cold air spread over her skin. She wondered how it worked and then briefly questioned whether or not they had electricity in Monsadasia.

“Nelson, can I ask you something?” she said to him.

“You ask a lot of questions. I like that about you,” Nelson said, snorting.

Anna took that as a yes and asked, “what powers everything around here. Is it electric or gas or something else? The lights seem to glow, but I haven’t seen a lightbulb or switch anywhere.”

He gave her a funny look, as if trying to figure out if she was being serious. Anna felt a bit stupid even having asked.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she snapped, “this place is completely different than where I’m from. You can’t expect me to just know these things ya know.”

“It’s powered by magic,” he answered, still looking at her in an amused way.

“What a cop out of an answer,” Anna replied sarcastically.

Nelson laughed before continuing, “well, you heard Broderick. Magic is an energy just like any other. Different forms of magical energy have been harnessed and utilized here to make life more comfortable for everyone. You tribeless people aren’t the only ones who care about having a civilized society.”

“I have another question for you,” Anna said, not bothering to ask permission this time.

“If you want to know how our toilets work, it’s not magic, it’s just gravity,” Nelson responded with a bit of sarcasm himself.

“Nelson, don’t be a jerk,” Misaada said to him.

“Well, she didn’t have to have an attitude, I was just answering her question,” he said defensively.

“The poor girl is in a strange new world, of course she’s brimming with questions. With as many questions as you ask Broderick, one would think you’d be a little more sympathetic to her plight,” Misaada shot back, staring daggers at Nelson.

Anna was grateful that Misaada had come to her defense, and for his part, Nelson looked a bit ashamed at his own condescending attitude.

“What’s a tribeless?” Anna cut in before their argument could continue.

Nelson and Misaada both stopped staring at each other and turned to Anna. Nelson seemed to shuffle his feet in a nervous sort of way and in an almost comical fashion, Misaada mirrored him by shuffling her claws. The scratching of her talons on the wooden floor seemed to vibrate through the kitchen and Anna could tell from the uncomfortable silence that they had not expected her to ask this particular question.

“Well, tribeless... Um, you see… It means,” Nelson stuttered, wringing his hands nervously.

“I’ve never seen you lost for words before,” Misaada said wryly.

“Fine then, you tell her you cranky old bird,” Nelson spat.

“Ok, I will,” Misaada said defiantly, “Anna, you see, a tribeless is… Well it’s a word for… You know, someone who…”

“I’ve never seen you lost for words before,” Nelson said in a tone that was clearly meant to mock Misaada’s voice.

“Oh shut up and finish cleaning the kitchen. A tribeless is someone without magic. A person who isn’t a part of the five kingdoms,” Misaada said finally.

Anna ignored the uncomfortable looks that Nelson and Misaada now wore on their faces and pressed onwards, “and a nontribus?”

“Same thing,” Nelson said before Misaada could answer, “it’s an old word, from before the time that the five tribes grew to be kingdoms. Some of the old folks still use it, I think they believe it carries more weight and malice. But most of the younger people of the kingdoms just use tribeless instead. It feels more modern I guess,” he finished.

Anna’s mouth cocked to the side as she contemplated this. It was apparent that, even though she now apparently had magic, that she wasn’t really a part of this world that she now found herself in. This shouldn’t have bothered her. She was used to being an outcast, after all, but it hurt more than she wanted to admit. The hope she had felt while staring in the mirror seemed to have dissipated some.

“I won’t use that word anymore,” Nelson said, cutting into her thoughts.

“It’s fine,” Anna replied, quieter than she had meant to.

“No, it’s not. You’re one of us now. This is your kingdom as much as it is mine,” Nelson replied, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Anna looked at him to see a big grin on his face. A little bit of her hope seemed to return at the sight of it.

“Now get going, Broderick is waiting for you,” he said.

“Aren’t you coming?” Anna asked.

“Of course, but I’ll be in the research library mostly. Clearly I have more studying to do to complete my pearl plumbs. I think they should probably be a little less lethal,” he replied.

He finished putting the rest of the food up, Anna assisting under his guidance, and all three of them made their way down the hall to the door that Broderick had said led down to the magical workshop. Nelson opened it and gestured for Anna to go first.

“Prepare to be amazed,” he said.

Before her, Anna could see a spiral staircase leading downwards, leading heavily to the left. The top of the stairs were dark, but she could see a warm glow coming from the lower floor. With a bit of apprehension, she began to descend down into the workshop. As she began to come into the light from downstairs, the first thing that she noticed was the tree. It was hard not to, seeing as how the staircase wrapped around the whole thing. The tree seemed to be planted directly in the middle of the workshop. Anna took notice of the large yellow flowers that adorned the tree. As the stairs spiraled around it, they seemed to move inward so that the whole structure took on a tornado-like shape. Halfway down, she noticed a mess of branches and feathers that she assumed were Misaada’s nest. As if to confirm her suspicions, she heard the flapping of wings behind her as Misaada glided over to the nest.

“Ah, home sweet home,” she said, settling into the tangled clump.

Upon reaching the bottom, Anna finally saw Broderick. He was sitting in a fine chair that looked to be covered in some kind of leather. There was a small table in front of him as well as an identical chair on the other side of the table.

“Welcome, welcome, to the magical workshop,” Broderick said enthusiastically, standing up and throwing his hands into the air in a grand fashion, “our first lesson will take place over here, but please feel free to look around.”

“I’m going to the library, let me know if you need me,” Nelson said.

“And likewise, if you need assistance from me, don't hesitate to call,” Broderick said as Nelson passed him.

He walked around Anna, past Broderick, and through a doorless entryway into a room on the wall opposite where Anna now stood. Now that she was in the workshop proper, she noticed that the walls formed a sort of pentagon, with entryways leading through each of the five walls. The walls looked to be made of fine wood paneling on the upper half which met with intricate brickwork on the bottom half.

Anna was looking around the room now. There were so many things that caught her eye that she didn’t know where to start.

“Please, have a look around,” Broderick said encouragingly.

And so she did. Broderick sat back down and watched patiently as she wandered around the room. Next to one entryway was a rack with a set of staves set on to it. They were each intricately carved with different colored gemstones set into the wood that formed them. There were multiple glass cases filled with amulets and bracelets. Anna could have been imagining it, but she would have sworn that she could see a glow coming from the various assortment of jewelry. A tabletop in one corner had a vice attached to it, along with several different colored gemstones. Some were cut but others were perfectly round in a way that Anna had never seen gemstones shaped in before. She briefly glanced through some of the doorways along the five walls. One seemed to lead to a room with some sort of mannequin, and Anna noticed several weapons set into racks along the wall of that room. Another area had a circle etched onto the ground, with five smaller circles lining the inside of it. The entire design appeared to be made of some kind of metal set into the floor. She glanced into another room to see some kind of strange device that she had never seen before. On one end of it was a thin metal cone, while the other end sported a rather large screw. Below the whole thing was some kind of foot pedal.

There was a shelf on one wall with a label on it that said ‘Elementals’. This was perhaps the most fascinating thing in the entire workshop to Anna. On the shelf sat several glass jars, each with something different inside. One jar seemed to have some kind of hurricane raging inside of it. A miniature tornado swirled around the inside as tiny clouds and streaks of lightning adorned the top of it. The label on the jar read “Storm Elemental’. Another jar had a light burning in it that was so bright, Anna almost couldn’t bear to look at it. Through squinted eyes, she was able to read the label ‘Celestial Elemental’. Next to that one was a jar seemingly filled with sand. But the sand was not just sitting in the bottom of the jar, lifeless and inanimate. It was moving in waves along the glass, occasionally playing with the lid on the jar as if trying to escape. This label read ‘Silica Elemental’.

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Broderick asked from right behind her.

Anna jumped. In her state of wonder and excitement, she hadn’t realized that Broderick had gotten up from his chair to join her.

“They’re beautiful,” she said in awe.

“And dangerous,” Broderick added, “they are rather rare specimens and each of them could wreak havoc upon our kingdom were they to be released. Now, are you ready to begin?” he asked.

Anna stared at the jars, transfixed, for a moment more before turning to him.

“I am,” she said, her tone overflowing with determination.

She followed him back over to the set of chairs and the small table. Upon being seated, she noticed that there were several small, round objects sitting haphazardly on the table. At first Anna thought they might be pebbles, but upon picking one up and inspecting it, she realized they were actually some kind of seeds. Broderick watched her curiously as she inspected one of the seeds.

“What are these for?” Anna asked him.

“We shall get to those in just a moment,” he replied patiently, “but your first unofficial lesson will first require some context.”

Anna nodded in reply and waited for him to keep going.

“Usually, your training and learning would have started when you were around five years of age,” Broderick continued, “so we have a lot of ground to cover. Since you are going to be receiving a condensed crash-course, it’s hard to determine where exactly we should begin. But I believe the basic tenets of magic and how it works would be as good a place as any. You see, Anna, there are many different schools of magic that exist. Each of them has a different set of purposes and uses, and some spells don’t really fall into any single school. Or perhaps it would be better to say that certain spells are a mixture of the different curriculums.”

“Like using a word problem in math?” Anna asked.

“Very much so,” Broderick replied excitedly, “a multitude of simple spells work by manipulating the four cardinal elements: earth, wind, fire and water. Every sorcerer will learn spells from different branches of magic, but some choose to excel or specialize in one specific branch. Those whom choose this path are typically referred to as acolytes.”

Broderick was interrupted by a loud crashing noise from the library.

“I’m okay,” came Nelson’s voice.

It sounded as though he were speaking from under a pile of books.

“Anyways,” Broderick started, but Anna interrupted him.

“Are you an acolyte?” she asked.

“Oh no, I prefer to be a jack of all trades while a master of none,” Broderick replied with a smile, “but I am rather good at illusory magic.”

He picked up his staff, which was leaning against his chair, and tapped it against the floor. Instantly, he vanished into thin air. Anna began looking around in surprise, wondering where he had gone.

“Don’t worry, I’m still here,” came Broderick’s voice from the chair he had seemingly vacated.

Anna heard the sound of his staff hitting the floor again and he instantly reappeared in front of her.

“I thought you teleported somewhere,” Anna said excitedly.

“Oh no, teleportation magic is extremely advanced and dangerously taxing on the body. I nearly killed myself teleporting you away from our little friend the other night at the orphanage. We rely on gatestones to get from place to place quickly. Otherwise, sorcerers are very good at walking,” he said wryly.

“That was the little piece of chalk we used,” Anna realized.

“Precisely,” Broderick confirmed, “now it is also important for you to know that magic is based on intent. Your will matters in spellcasting.”

“I will what?” Anna asked, feeling rather stupid.

“Not ‘you will,’ your will. Your spirit, the faculty upon which you initiate your desires with. You want something to happen, and so you make it happen. Most practitioners of magic use a wand or staff,” he waved his hand at his own staff, “to better channel their magic and control it. But in order to do that, you must first learn to summon forth and control the innate magic inside and around you. Which brings us to our first practical lesson.”

Broderick picked up one of the seeds sitting on the table between them. He closed his fingers around it tightly. After a moment, a faint light began to emanate between the cracks in his fingers. He opened them slowly and Anna watched in amazement as the seed in his hand glowed brightly. It sprouted a root, followed by several more, and then began to grow into a full fledged plant in his palm. The whole show culminated in a flower blooming atop the plant as Broderick closed his fingers around the stem. He handed the flower to Anna. She took it in one hand. Her gaze moved back and forth between the newly grown flower she now held in one hand and the seed she had been absentmindedly playing with in the other.

“Now, your turn,” Broderick told her.

“Uhhh, I don’t think I can do that,” Anna replied nervously.

“Self-doubt is the father of failure my dear,” Broderick said back, “belief is what you need in this moment. Now, listen closely. I want you to hold that seed tightly in your closed hand, just as I did.”

Anna hesitated, looking at Broderick in what she was sure was a crazy sort of expression.

“You can do it Anna,” Misaada called encouragingly from up in her nest.

Anna looked up at her and noticed that Misaada was watching them intently. She looked over to the doorway that Nelson had disappeared through and noticed his head poking out to watch as well. As her eyes fell upon him, he quickly lifted a book he had been holding up to his face and pretended to be reading its pages intently. The fact that he kept peeking up at Anna, as well as that he was holding the book upside down, told Anna that he had not quite stopped watching. Her nerves increased quite a bit under the scrutiny. She tried to ignore them and did as she was told. As her fingers closed, she could feel the indention of the small seed against her skin.

“Good, now try to clear your mind of errant thoughts,” Broderick told her, “I want you to picture a light in your midsection. Imagine it swirling, living, breathing. Think of it as a part of you, no different from your brain or your heart. It is a muscle, one that you will exert control over and use to do your bidding.”

Anna tried her best to picture what Broderick was telling her. She was slightly distracted by the sound of Misaada’s claws scratching against a tree branch in anticipation. She attempted to block out the distraction and picture the ball of light inside her like Broderick said.

“Now, in your mind’s eye, think about a branch, a stream, breaking off from that ball. View it moving up through your body, traveling in your chest, down your arm, and into your palm. Force it to exit you and enter the seed, granting it energy and nourishment. Want the seed to grow,” Broderick continued.

Anna felt a slight pang of annoyance at his expectations and the vagueness of his instructions, but she did as she was told. This is stupid, she thought to herself, this is never going to…

Before she could finish the thought, however, she began to feel a warmth in her palm, followed by what she could have sworn was the seed wriggling and moving. She began to get excited. Perhaps it was working after all. The warmth grew and grew and became hot. Now it was unbearably hot and she felt like her palm was burning. She opened both her eyes and her fingers. Immediately upon doing so, the seed burst into flames and popped, leaving a burn mark in the center of her hand. Broderick looked extremely surprised.

“I don’t understand,” Anna said in frustration, “I thought it was working.”

“It was,” Broderick said, trailing off into silence for a moment, before finally continuing, “you called forth your magic with ease.”

“I’ve never seen someone get a reaction from a seed on their first try,” Nelson added from the doorway.

As Anna suspected, he had been watching the whole ordeal. Broderick reached out to her and took her injured hand in his. He sat his free hand atop her burn. The pain she felt vanished and as he removed his hand from hers, the injury had disappeared as well.

“Intent matters,” Broderick reiterated, “you called forth your magic excellently, but you did not exert your will enough to control it. And the only way to remedy that is to practice.”

He picked up another seed from the table and placed it in Anna’s hand.

“Now, try again.”