The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 14

"Ummm," Cora said biting her lip. "Thanks. Uh, are you sure about him teaching me?"

Selena waved one hand dismissively. "He has a strong sense of responsibility, which is part of his current problem. He won't allow you to remain untaught even if he doesn't wish to teach you himself. This slowdown will be good for him. It will give him something else to focus on, something positive."

Cora frowned and opened her mouth but Selena shook her head before she could get the words out. "That's Warren's story to tell Ask him if you would like to hear it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I see a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird."

As she watched, Selena reached over the side of her chair and pulled up a big pair of binoculars by their strap. All of her attention was on the window opposite her as she held the binoculars up to her eyes. After a moment, Cora shrugged and retraced her steps back to the front door.

Warren's shoes were still there so she turned her attention to the staircase. She let her fingers trail along the polished wood of the banister as she climbed up, enjoying the smoothness of the true craftsmanship that had been put into the wood. The five year old inside of her wanted to slide right back down when she reached the top of the stairs but she squashed that inclination almost as soon as she had it. She was too old for that now. Much too old. Even if it did look fun...

Cora shook her head and turned her attention to the door at her right. Like the rest of the doors up here, it was made of walnut, the wood aged but well cared for. A small window at the end of the hall kept the area light, even with the dark red floral wallpaper that covered the walls.

She took a deep breath, hoped Warren wasn't as prone to throwing stuff as her brother was, and knocked on the door. She could hear the sound of cloth rustling against something and a moment later, the door opened. Warren eyed her for a moment before he sighed. He moved out of the way and waved her inside the room, shutting the door behind her.

The room Cora found herself in as larger than her own, the walls covered with cream coloured wallpaper with navy blue diamonds in neat lines covering it. A large window was pushed open and held up with a plank of wood, allowing a bit of breeze to roll in a keep the place from being stifling. The door to the closet was open; revealing a mix of clothes dominated by blue, red, black and white.

Warren ignored her darting gaze and dropped back down onto the rumpled mass of navy blankets that lay in the middle of his bed. "Looks like we're stuck with each other," he said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. "The old hag is too stubborn to change her mind."

Cora turned to look at him, eyebrows up. "Where'd Mr. Sunshine go?"

He snorted and laid his arm over his eyes. "Mr. Sunshine is so I fit in at school. I fake the smiles and interest in the stupid shit so I don't draw attention to myself. And because it seems my mind spell caused everyone to think I have that personality and if I suddenly change, everyone will notice."

"Huh. And here I was thinking you were just that happy-go-lucky. So, you want to talk about why you got pissy back there?"

"No. It's none of your business anyway."

"Well, I can see this is going to be fun," Cora said sarcastically as she slipped her backpack off. The thud of it hitting the ground did draw Warren's gaze which she ignored in favour of grabbing the chair in the corner and dragging it over so it faced his bed. "Since you're clearly in no mood to teach me anything right now, would you mind answering some of my questions?"

Warren shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Right, so these basics of magic you're going to be teaching me, what are they?"

He grimaced. "I almost wish you were a Line mage. The first set of basics you'll need to learn are those related to spell casting. They're feeling your power, moving it outside your body, visualizing the effect, keeping your mind focused, keeping your magic within the effect area, releasing the power, and lastly pulling your magic back in after. Basically every spell uses all seven aspects and you have to master them to actually be able to do magic properly."

Warren's attitude and obvious disinterest was beginning to annoy Cora. She narrowed her eyes briefly then smiled thinly. "So which aspect are you struggling with?"

He glared at her. "I don't struggle with any. And while I have a weakness for communication, it doesn't affect my spell casting ability."

Cora's smile was acidly sweet. "Remind me why you have to teach me the basics."

"You're not a nice person, you know that?"

"Neither are you, so we're even. I'm not particularly happy about all this magic crap and having extra lessons on top of my usual schoolwork, so having you sulk and be all around pissy is going to make the whole situation even more irritating. I'd like to have us work through this on as friendly terms as we can. Especially since you're pretty much the only person I can talk to about all this weirdness."

Warren's lips quirked up at that. "It's not really weird. Not if you've grown up with it."

"Well I haven't, so it's messed up and like I'm living in some kind of dream. Except it's real and it looks like I can't escape it. I'm just going to have to make the best of things and that includes learning from you. So can we agree to at least be civil with one another, if not friends? Unless you guys have some sort of weird other relationship I don't know about."

He hid a smile behind his hand. "No, we don't. Alright, I think I can manage that. I have to say that some of the things you say are pretty funny. Not intentionally funny on your part, but funny for me."

"Oh you're just hilarious," Cora replied sarcastically.

"So are you."

"Why do I feel like our relationship is going to be built on a lot of sarcasm and snark?"

"Because you have a combination speciality for visualization and communication and can see the future," Warren replied, grinning.

Cora stared at him for a moment then smiled herself. Maybe learning magic wouldn't be all bad.