Triss wiped at her eyes, though there was nothing there right now.

Reginald looked at her, confused. "What are you doing?"

"Tears. I'm wiping away tears. You've hired me to the point of actual tears. When are we going to get to the magic?" She said.

"This is magic!" Reginald replied enthusiastically. "This is the best part of magic! Haven't you been listening?"

Triss stared again at the symbols floating in the air. They had decided to start the lessons in her bedroom right after breakfast. They had been at it for two hours now, and Triss had barely understood a word. "So far what I understand is that magic is like math." She gave the lizard a pointed look. "I failed math."

"It's not exactly math, as I explained. Math uses numbers. Magic is about creating links between sources and destinations, and applying the correct power to energize the link, creating a desired result. For example, if I link the tip of my wand with the elements of air around it, then link it to the currents of vibration in the air and apply magical force - there!"a small orange flame suddenly danced at the end of his wand.

Triss sat up straighter on the edge of her bed. "That! See, that's magic! Show me how to do that. Do I need a wand? Can I have a wand?"

Reginald sighed and the flame winked out. "You don't need a wand." He held up a finger, a small flame flaring into existence. "A wand is just a focusing tool. Some power for a spell must come from the caster, though how much depends on how the spell is linked." The fire disappeared. "A wand allows a wizard to minimize power loss, by focusing their power directly on the spell. A spell can be cast without a wand, but because the power is less focused more must be used, and a wizard can easily tire themselves out." He gave her a pointed look. "Or they can draw too much power and drain themselves completely."

"What would that do to them? Would they lose the ability to cast spells?"

"No. They would die. They would not have the energy for their heart to continue beating."

"Oh." Triss thought for a moment. "So you're saying I need a wand."

"That is absolutely not what I'm saying!" Reginald seemed to be getting quite exasperated. "In order to cast a spell you need to understand the links, which is what I've been trying to teach you."

"The links are the squiggly lines you kept drawing?"

Reginald sighed. "Maybe we need a new approach. "

Triss grinned. "An approach that requires a wand?"

"Eventually." He took his wand back out and flicked it. The symbols in the air disappeared. "Watch carefully." He began to draw a new symbol in the air. "This is the link for fire. This line represents air." He drew another curving line and connected it with the first. "This line represents vibration." He drew a final line, making a symbol that looked like a stylized combination of an 'h' and 't'. "This is the power line. Its shape and size determine the strength of the fire and how much energy will be drawn from you."

Triss looked at him suspiciously. "This is pretty much exactly what we did before."

"No." He said, shaking his head. "Before I was trying to teach you the theory behind the formation so that you could create any link you wanted. Now I'm teaching you a specific form for a specific spell. This form will create a small flame just like mine. Well, sort of. It will depend greatly on your own powers." He sighed. "This is why understanding formations is critical. Your own powers are a vital element and must be calculated to achieve the results you want. If you copy my form you might have no flame, or you might set the bedposts on fire."

"I don't think there's any chance of that." She thought for a moment. "Actually, I come from a world without magic. I doubt I have any power at all." She said sadly.

Reginald considered that for a moment. "That's a valid point. Everyone here has some level of power, though usually it's bound. It can be unbound quite easily, either by one of hundreds of spells, or even through simple meditation. If you have any power...yes. I believe you do have some level of power. Otherwise I don't believe the spirit would be able to exist in you. The power should be unbound already as the spirit is using it. At least, I think it should be."

"Real encouraging. Ok, so if the spell form you drew is what I need to use, how do I do that? You're drawing it in the air but you didn't draw anything to light the fire."

“You need to draw it in your mind. It’s very important that you follow the design exactly, and that you draw it in exactly the same order. A small variation can cause the spell to fail.”

“How in the world am I supposed to make sure I ‘draw’ this in my head correctly? And connect things? This seems needlessly complicated.”

“It’s magic. You’re playing with the very forces that hold the world together. Did you really expect it to be as easy as waving a wand and saying a magic word?”

“No, I suppose not.” She lied. “Ok. Draw the thingy again. Let me try to see if i can copy it.”

Reginald drew the symbol in the air, taking his time. “Draw it carefully in your mind in the same order. when you have it done, focus the symbol at the location you want the spell to form.”

“Do what now? That makes no sense.”

“Just try. If you can figure out the lights you should be able to figure this out. It’s similar. Sort of. Well, it’s not completely dissimilar.”

“Helpful.” Triss drew the symbol in her mind the way Reginald had showed. She tried to ‘focus’ the symbol at the end of her outstretched finger. Nothing happened. She tried again, and again. Nothing.

Reginald noticed her growing frustration, and spoke up. “There’s very little I can teach you about focusing the symbol. Sorry. That is really the best way to describe it, and it’s something you have to figure out on your own.”

Triss nodded. She would figure this out. She was determined, and she was going to figure this out.

Triss tried and tried to draw the symbol and cast the spell, but she wasn’t making any progress. She sighed and flopped back on the bed. “It’s no use. Nothing works.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Just keep trying Miss Triss. You’ll get it eventually. If you’ll excuse me though, I should go prepare lunch. Pervcival will be getting hungry soon.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want Percy getting any grumpier than he already is.” She said to the ceiling.

“Percival. Indeed not, miss.” He got up and left the room.

Triss stared at the ceiling. “This is stupid. I’m not going to be able to do magic. Why am I even wasting time?”

You are focusing incorrectly.

She sat up. “Nice of you to show up. And yeah, obviously I’m focusing incorrectly. Or else I don’t have magic to begin with.”

Focus like this.

She felt a way of thinking, unfamiliar, like when she was shown how to do the lights. She stuck out her finger, drew the symbol in her mind, and tried to focus the way the spirit showed her.

It took three attempts with the spirit showing her adjustments before at last a spark of flame lit at the end of her finger. It was far smaller than Reginald’s, barely even there, but still! She had cast a spell!

She jumped off the bed with excitement, then crashed hard as her leg gave out from under her. It was still stiff from last night’s misadventures, and didn’t quite keep up with her enthusiasm.

She grabbed onto the edge of the bed and pulled herself back up. It took a second for her to realized that not only was her finger still on fire but the bed sheets were beginning to blacken and smoke. She pulled her hand away and slapped at the hot spot on the bed with her non-flaming hand.

“Ok. How do I fix this.” She blew at the flame. Nothing happened. “Flame Off!” She said to the persistent fire. The flame danced joyously at the end of her finger, completely undeterred by her rebuke. “Oh for -“

Change the focus back. The voice said, interrupting a stream of curse words before they began. The words came with a different thought pattern.

She tried, and the flame winked out. “Yes! I’m a wizard baby!” She danced around the room, nearly falling twice more.

Hardly. Barely even an apprentice.

“I’ll take it! Beatrice Emily Lilian Mitchell, Dark Apprentice!”

The name is certainly long and pretentious enough for a wizard.

“Aw, thank you!” Triss said half-jokingly. “Shame I’m not going to be as powerful as Reginald or Percy.”

Why not.

“Did you see that flame? It was way smaller than Reginald’s, and I would assume that Percy wouldn’t have a helper who was stronger than him. Doesn’t seem the humble type.”

Innate strength is not as important as knowledge. You may have more innate strength, but you lack the knowledge. They are stronger because of knowledge.

“I’m not stronger than them. My fire was way smaller than Reginald’s.”

Your power line was crooked.

“Uhuh. Ok, maybe but that wouldn’t make that much of a difference.”

You are a fool.

“Really? Playground insults the best you got?” She retorted. The voice didn’t answer. She tried to get it talking again, but nothing seemed to work. Apparently she had upset it enough that it just didn’t want to talk anymore.

She lit and extinguished the flame a few more times before Reginald returned with lunch. “Hey Reginald, can you show me that form again?” She asked when he put down the silver lunch tray.

“I certainly can Miss Triss.” He drew the symbol in the air, and she studied it intently, comparing to the image she had drawn in her mind. It took a moment to find the difference. It was slight, the end of the line going straight instead of curving up slightly. She copied the correct line in her mind, held out a finger, and focused.

A line of fire six inches long jetted out the end of her finger. She gasped in delight, holding it up to show Reginald, who had to back up to keep the orange flame from hitting him in the face. “Sorry.” She said quickly, extinguishing the flame.

He smiled. “Excellent progress. Absolutely excellent!” He indicated the tray. “I would say its time for a break. After lunch we can discuss more theory.” He waited for her to stop groaning before continuing. “As I said before, the theory is more important than the links. With a good grounding in theory you will understand the implications of any spell before you cast it, and will be able to cast safely.”

“Why can’t I just learn a few spells so I can protect myself if I leave?”

“This flame spell is incredibly simple. There was almost no chance of you hurting yourself in an way. Other than a small burn of course. Other spells are a different story. If you don’t under the theory at least a bit you will definitely hurt yourself.”

“Ugh. Fine.” She responded. “I’m warning you though, there’s only so much of that my brain can take before it’ll turn to mush.”

“After your actions last night, I thought your brain was already mush.” He said with a mischievous grin.

Triss put on a mock horrified expression. “The nerve! I’ve never been so insulted in my life!” She said, unable to keep a grin off her face.

Reginald laughed. “Oh, I’m just getting started”

**********************

“I ain’t telling him.”

“It’s your turn to tell him. I told him last time.”

“And how’d that work out for ya? Two weeks muckin’ stables if I ‘member right.”

“Yeah, So’s its your turn this time.”

Drev muttered under his breath before turning to head inside. He was a large man, though only average height. His clothes were rough, but strong and serviceable. Perfect clothing for someone who worked with their hands. He much preferred to work with his hands, truth be told. The missus wanted a better life for their eventual kids though, and so he had accepted a promotion from simply unpacking carts to telling other men which carts to unpack and where to put the stuff once it was unpacked. It was worth a few extra coins a week though, and it kept the missus happy.

Days like this though, he didn’t think it was worth it. And days like this were coming more often. One cart every couple of months. Now a cart every couple of weeks. He thought. Might be easier convincin’ Betty the extra coin ain’t worth the hassle.

He tramped up the steep wooden steps, adding fresh muddy prints over all the old ones. He paused just before the top to gather his nerve, then took the final step. The treacherous step announced his presence with a loud creaking noise, and he was called into the office before he could even knock on the door.

“What are you bothering me with now, Drev.” The small man behind the large desk asked. He didn’t even look up from the ledger he was writing in.

“We, uh, gots a late shipment Mister Grostel.” The small man didn’t look up, but his quill stopped moving. Drev took that as the sign to continue. “It’s only three hours, an’ I know you wants us to wait at least six, on account of delays an’ stuff, but the thing is sir, there was another cart came down the same road, an’ it left an hour afore the missing one, but it jus’ arrived now sir.” Drev was wringing his hands as he spoke.

Mr Grostel looked up over his glasses at Drev. Grostel was young to have built a shipping business this size, only in his very late thirties. The years had not been easy, and his face already bore deep frown lines. His hair was thin, gently touched with grey, and he had a days stubble. “Where?” He asked coldly.

“Uh, I don’t know sir, it’s missin’”

Grostel rolled his eyes. “Where did the missing cart come from you idiot!”

“Oh, yes sir. Sorry sir. It’s one of the ones from Thalonia.”

Grostel jumped to his feet and rushed to a wall that was covered in maps. The maps themselves were festooned with pins and lines and notes and marks, making them look less like the route maps they were, and more like a conspiracy theorist’s basement. “Which one, Drev. Which one!” Grostel followed the route maps for Thalonia, tracing a line with a finger. There were a number of red pins at various points on the Thalonia route line.

Drev clomped over to the map, leaving muddy prints all over the clean floor. He pointed to a long blue line that snaked through an area marked ‘Thalonia’”. “It were this road sir.”

Grostel held a red pin against the blue line, right in the center. He paused, then moved the pin down closer to a large black pin near the beginning of the line. “You said the second cart left an hour after the first?”

When Drev nodded, Grostel began to smile. “Excellent.” He stabbed the pin in the map and rushed back over to his desk.

“Uh, sir? You lost a cart. Why is that ex’llent?”

“Drev, look at that map. You see all those long lines on it?”

Drev nodded. “The routes, sir.”

“Yes, exactly. The routes. The routes are all at least a full days travel between stops, and many are several days. So if a cart goes missing there is very little hope of finding exactly where the cart was ambushed, and it’s unlikely the perpetrators will still be in the area.” He stopped in his explanation to search through a drawer, shuffling papers and ink bottles until he finally came up triumphantly with a small brown bottle. “So, Drev, do you know why I’m happy about losing a cart?” He asked, taking a swig from the bottle.

Drev thought about it for a moment. “Cause if the cart was missin’ after an hour it had to be lost near the beginning?”

Grostel laughed. “Exactly! You know Drev, you are smarter than you think you are. That’s why I gave you this job. Now, if you can tell me what we should do about this I’ll give you a two copper bonus this week.”

Drev had never seen Grostel this happy. Or ever happy. It was unnerving, and Drev wanted to leave the room. But two coppers was two coppers. Drev thought hard about what he might do.

“Go get the cart back?”

Grostel smiled broadly, but there was no warmth in it. “Thats half right. One copper.” He turned to the window, looking out at the loading yard, carts still coming and going in the dimming light of sunset. “Getting the cart back is just a bonus. What I want is to crush whoever dared to steal from me. Fifty mercenaries should be enough to do that.” He turned to Drev. “Have Jolon send a runner to Captain Thrend. Tell him to come see me.”

Drev turned and strode from the room. Grostel walked back over to the map, and grinned again. The cart thieves had messed up. They might move from their spot near Castle Arcanus, but the army would be right on their tail.