Kaitlyn hardly had time to herself any more. She refused to serve anyone breakfast directly. For any who slept in the yard she would bring out some bread, vegetables, and tea. Then she took the morning to do chores around the hut.

This included infusing the rocks which protected and warmed her garden. Cilvic would ask her to make decisions on which plants they would cultivate or whether they might need to move some. Cilvic often gave her his opinion, but he refused to simply make the decision.

When Kaitlyn offered to let him simply manage the garden, he shook his head and said, “It’s in my nature to assist, but when I begin to become the master my magic will weaken. I must ask you to direct me, but then I may apply all my skills to achieve your goal.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

Mornings were also the only time she regularly was able to practice the things she learned from her magic lessons. Brewing simple potions to sell to her patrons allowed her to practice manipulating the power. She routinely kept a stock of general antidote potions, rejuvenation potions, and a few more cosmetic but also which proved to be much more profitable.

Working the clay as the dwarves were teaching her was a challenge. Kaitlyn wasn’t particularly patient with the medium. Her cups often deformed, and her plates were of uneven thickness. The dwarves however continued to bring her clay, and Kaitlyn could tell the practice helped her focus.

Master Garthis gave Kaitlyn a book on basic item enchantment. In the book it explained that the greatest enchanted items were crafted with the magic at the same time. Kaitlyn used this clay to practice fusing magic with creation.

Adding simple glyphs and designs to hold magic was one way to enchant an item. These were usually added after the shape had been created, and although Kaitlyn had only learned a few magical symbols, she added some to the cups and plates she tried to make.

One of the challenges her dwarven teacher gave her was to enchant a plate to keep food warm without burning the hands of the holder. Kaitlyn made a dozen attempts before she was able to infuse her flame spell into just the upper layer of the plate.

Item enchantment was exhausting, but Kaitlyn could see where it was a useful tool. She also couldn’t deny, it gave her a greater appreciation for the complexity of the spells which were woven together in the hut itself. Adding a single spell, and a simple spell at that, was difficult enough.

Some of her plates that she enchanted were great, but most either did not heat enough or were too warm. That wasn’t even the initial plates which had be crushed down because they would burn any surface they were set on. Kaitlyn was improving.

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The morning was also the rare time Kaitlyn was able to spend away from the hut. She and Javorora went into the woods on a regular basis to look for herbs, mushrooms, or to meet some of the local inhabitants. There were a family of menninkainen, short and stout like the red cap. Fortunately when Javorora introduced Kaitlyn the couple and their four children all greeted the pair.

The echidna, a half-woman-half-snake became a regular visitor to the hut after meeting Kaitlyn. Vitodora was young for her kind, only about ten feet long, with long black hair she generally kept in tight braids down her back. Once she met Kaitlyn, she began to come to the hut just to be social with others. Many men didn’t trust echidna, the myths said they used the male’s body to host their eggs. However, the presence of a female with venom in her claws and fangs helped to keep some of the more rowdy characters behaved.

The ogres were farmers. They came to the hut about once a month for a meal. They were not bright, but they were surprisingly kind unless someone threatened them. Kaitlyn even hired them to help Cilvic to expand the garden.

Afternoons were always busy. The hut was turning into a busy location in the forest and a meeting place. Elves arrived every two or three days, the silver elves had patrols staying every two, three, or four days, while the dark elves were sticklers for every five days. Still, it was nice to see Haytham and Hyacinth twice a month.

Every day there would be between three and fifteen or so creatures. The days when there were more than ten were difficult. Kaitlyn could develop quite the headache just trying to concentrate on her spells to carry out food and drink to people. The little window would have to be left open just so people could come up and ask for things and then the magical hands carried them to the customer.

Kaitlyn enjoyed the lively atmosphere when it was about eight. She now had four tables, two could seat three people, one could seat four or five, and the latest table added could seat eight human-sized people. Or four ogres.

Fortunately, it was only elves and dwarves who ever slept in her yard. Everyone else would come, eat or drink, and then leave again. This meant that as it grew dark, the yard would quiet again. Kaitlyn would get a chance to meditate or read a little before she also went to bed.

Thus her days in the forest hut were not lonely, except in those quiet minutes as she lay down. This was the only time she could remember home. Several times she tried to write to her family, but she inevitably threw the attempts into the fire. On some nights, this was the time she found tears trickling down her cheeks.

She missed laying in bed and listening to her older brothers argue or study. She missed her younger sister coming in to snuggle when Adeliz had nightmares. Mostly, Kaitlyn missed her parents.

Kaitlyn had known leaving her parents would be hard. She had always known that communication would be scarce. Even when she had left with Claus, she had known she would miss them. She had not expected to feel randomly a desire to go find her mother and tell her something. Kaitlyn wished desperately she could show her father how hard she was working.

Those tears always dried by morning, and Kaitlyn forced herself to get up with the sun. This was the only time she had to try to meditate and explore the threads of the house.