Song of the Piper

::4:: Medium

Music is Auriel's Ascension from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion soundtrack. Play it!

******

We went back and forth like that for a whole month: Elise pushing me to learn a new spell; me fumbling and stumbling until I got it right. There was no mention of my Drinking ceremony, a ritual in which I would become officially bound to Heidelberg's Fountain, thus sealing my status as a citizen here. According to law, my status as Lord Himmel's fiancee should have been enough to grant me the right. I oftentimes wondered what I'd have to do in order to earn it.

So far, Elise didn't trust me to deal with higher workings, healing being one of them. She'd said that I was incredibly lucky the other day to not have somehow damaged myself while mending my back, and that although her act of inflicting pain was an effective tool for teaching, she didn't want to let it be the driving force behind my magic.

That was fine with me. I didn't want to have her digging her nails into my wounds every time as motivation.

We didn't interact much with each other outside our lessons, as Elise clearly had other business to attend to. For the life of me, I still couldn't figure out her position in the castle. She was definitely very close to Lord Himmel, and she was a Magus, but she didn't have a title. It was a mystery on how Elise ever came to be under Lord Himmel's service. Magi were already rare; having two under the same grounds was a phenomenon not unlike a red moon.

These thoughts occupied my mind as I hobbled to the music room. The sun had barely crested over the land, but the castle was already buzzing with activity. Maidservants, courtiers, sorcerers and the like all bowed or curtsied to me as I passed by. Initially, I had been uneasy—I was more used to jeers and spits than signs of respect. As the weeks went by though, I tolerated it. Tolerated—I still wasn't accustomed to the treatment.

Meanwhile, ever since my first—or technically, third night in Hamelin, I never heard those moans, and I never saw that man again. Which made me contemplate if the incident was just a fabrication of my mind.

To my surprise, Elise was standing outside the double doors leading into the music room. Normally, she would wait inside, chide me for arriving later than her, then start the lesson without another idle word. Her violet eyes glittered at me; she was fairly bouncing with excitement.

For a second, I thought that she had been possessed.

"I thought you'd never arrive," she said, her tone frosty. That was more like her.

"My apologies, Mistress Elise." Mistress was the best word I could find in place of 'lady'.

She waved a hand in dismissal. "No matter. Come with me. I think it's about time you had a proper Medium made for you."

She turned down the hallway as soon as she finished talking. She measured her strides carefully, considering my disability. Unlike Lord Himmel whenever we walked around the castle gardens every evening.

"A proper what?" I asked.

"A Medium. A tool for you to use your magic."

My brows drew together in confusion. "I already have a tool, no? Music."

"True. But above all instruments, you will have something you're most attached to. And Mediums are not regular items—they are specially crafted by the Tinkers for all sorcerers. Once you're bonded to it, you can perform greater feats of magic."

"Oh." I looked at the violin case Elise was carrying. "And is that your Medium?"

"Yes," she replied briefly.