Half Magic | Book 2

Forty Nine: Study and Practice

Kalor's room was comfortable and quiet, the perfect place to study. The front room where he had a collection of books and a desk was a good place to spread out Lark's book, as well as my own for taking notes. Kalor himself was sitting in his favorite chair, reading a thick volume of his own while I quietly scoured Lark's words.

Schula was playing dress up with Nassir and his new elven outfit, and then they were going to be escorted to see the training fields. Schlua wanted some practice and Nassir wanted to get out of the keep. I stayed behind so I could continue to work toward my goals with the books.

Yawning, I plucked another honeyfruit from the bowl next to me and pulled out the stem. I looked at the pits I had set aside from the other fruit I had been eating while I studied. Considering I was supposed to make an appearance at dinner that night, I should probably have stopped two or three fruits ago. 

A knock at the door roused me and Kalor from our comfortable silence, and he set his book down to answer the door. Pulling it open, I watched him speak in hushed tones with a tall, slender male. His ears were prominent, definitely a recent generation of elven child. 

Kalor moved back a step and the visitor peered around him to get a look at me. 

"Wren," my father said. "This is Cedric. He is here to assist you with acclimating to the social structure of Eidelhein. You might remember Lord Halduin mentioning this."

"Yes, hello." I stood from the desk and walked over to shake Cedric's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine," Cedric answered with a smile. 

"Cedric here is a third generation elf. A descendant of Fandor's daughter Celestia. I should also mention he's a bit of a historian for the keep here, and he attends almost every ceremony or party we hold as well. He is a perfect choice to lend you his knowledge. Far better than someone who doesn't partake in public events very often, such as myself." Kalor winked. 

Cedric smirked. "You know, we would love for you to visit more often, Kalor. "

Kalor laughed and shook his head. "A very diplomatic lie, Cedric. There are plenty who would be glad if I just stayed in here with my books."

Instead of arguing further, Cedric turned to me and offered a hand. "Lady Wren, I'd love the opportunity to find out what you've learned of Eidelhein so far, and see what I could fill you in on."

"Er, well, I was actually in the middle of some study. I do have pressing matters here that I'm-"

"I'll only be a short time!" Cedric insisted. "I promise. I'm just trying to do the job that was given to me, and I hope you allow me to do it properly."

I sighed through my nose, already exhausted of the social structures of the elven city. All I wanted to do was to spend time with Kalor and study my books. Still, that wasn't Cedric's fault, and likely this job had been thrust upon him without asking how he felt about it. 

"Very well, Cedric," I said as I closed my book. "Let's go for a walk and you can show me around better. We can stretch our legs before the dinner bell."

"Thank you, Lady Wren. I promise to not take up more of your time than I need to." He nodded to Kalor. "We should be back in time for dinner, will you be joining the rest of us today?"

Kalor gave me a lopsided grin. "Yes, I suppose my daughter and I will both be at dinner tonight."

"Wonderful!" Cedric clapped his hands together. "We'll see you there. This way, Lady Wren. Let me show you the hall of portraits."

I grimaced. "Wonderful."

And Cedric wasted no time in whisking me off to a history lesson. 

Eyes followed me as we walked around the keep. Nothing I hadn't gotten used to. In Silver Lake. In Thanantholl. In Dwellonmar. In Sulls. In the desert. In the valley of the witches. The list kept growing, and the longer it got the more I realized what a solitary person I preferred to be. Maybe someday, if I dared to hope I could still settle down in the Autumn lands with my friends, maybe I could hope for a small cabin a bit away from everyone else.