The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 38

The sun was warm on Cora's skin where it broke through the leaves, the day pleasant not hot. She sat underneath the same tree Warren had first shown her magic under. The leaves at had already started changing to a bright yellow giving the whole maple an almost gilded look. Warren and Zoe sat to either side of her with their lunches, the three of them having eschewed the lunchroom given where their conversation was likely to go.

The other two exchanged a look before Zoe spoke. "So how are you doing?"

Cora had to smile at that. "I should be the one asking you. You not about to run screaming for the hills or commit yourself?"

Zoe snorted. "I won't deny that this shit's weird and I'm still getting used to the idea of magic being an actual thing, but it's answered a whole bunch of questions of mine. And I can't really pretend I didn't see you going all Gandalf on that chick."

Warren grimaced. "What is with you two and referencing fictional wizards when talking about real magic and mages?"

They both looked at him with identical scathing expressions. "Because the only thing we know about magic is from fiction. Or at least it was," Cora said.

Zoe crossed her arms over her chest. "We're not used to this magic insanity so we're going with stuff that at least makes sense to us. If you have a problem with it, then you can just screw off."

He held his hands up. "Okay, okay. I surrender! I'm not going against both of you at once. I like breathing."

"Oh good, you're learning," Cora said, smirking.

"Now if we can just housebreak him, everything'll be fine," Zoe added.

Warren was smart enough not to take the bait and stayed quiet. "So you're okay with this? You haven't told anyone, have you? I really don't think you should even tell Moira," Cora said.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "No, I haven't told anyone. I really don't feel like looking like a complete crazy person."

Cora had barely opened her mouth before her friend beat her to it. "Well, crazier than I normally am. You haven't talked to Philippe about any of this, have you?"

She shook her head and leaned back on her palms. "No. I told Selena I'd let her do it first. But if he shows up after school today, then it'll be hard not to."

Warren made a face but didn't say anything. Zoe twirled her finger into the leather string of her necklace for a few seconds before speaking. "You need to be careful with him."

Cora frowned. "What do you mean?"

Zoe met her eyes squarely. "Philippe's always been more interested in you than is really normal. I mean, yeah, we were friends as kids, but you were the only one he really paid attention to you. He tried to lose me half the time when we were all together. And I didn't really notice it at the time, but if you think about it, a boy three years older than her isn't likely to hang out with a girl unless he's forced to. Or they're related."

"We had fun together. All of us. And he didn't really seem to get along with the other boys," Cora replied, sitting up straight.

"Yeah, but that's kind of weird too. I mean most kids get along best with kids their age or within a year of two. The ones that don't... most of the time there's something well, different about them."

"There is something different about Philippe. He's a mage."

"That wouldn't make that much difference, not before puberty," Warren said quietly.

Zoe sighed. "See? It's more than that. Besides, you said he was as surprised as you to find out you had magic, so it's not like he started hanging out with you because you were the only other magic kid in town."

Cora shook her head. "Sometimes people of different ages just get along well and there's nothing weird about it, just common interests. You guys are just reading too much into this. I'm sure Philippe will explain the whole spell thing in a way that even you two will accept." At least, Cora hoped he could. The more she listened to Zoe and Warren the more doubts started cropping up. It was getting harder and harder to believe in the Philippe she knew and not the one that the other two kept describing.

Warren and Zoe exchanged another glance which didn't make Cora feel any better. "Look, can we just drop it for now? We can talk about it after Selena talks to Philippe. Until then, we're just making stuff up without knowing anything."

Zoe hesitated then nodded. "Fine. And it's not like I don't have questions about all this magicness."

Cora looked at Warren who met her gaze for a few moments, a frown on his face. Finally he too nodded. Cora sighed and happily steered the conversation back to lighter topics.