Reply To: The Tale of Catani Daller, The Lefthanded wizard . . .

[Aelswith]

Luck was with her. Whatever spell she’d invoked that made her tiny and squeezed her inside the bottle had shattered along with the flask. Catani now stood before him, disheveled, but thankfully, as large as life.

Fortunately, her familiar had gone but the dreadful stink from the cat remained. Nevin quickly wove a modified, more directional version of the ‘Gust of wind’ spell which wafted the odor and shards from the broken flask out the door.

“Thank you uncle! She said, grinning at him, one hand fidgeting with her hair, the other attempting to smooth out the wrinkles in her robe. “I’ve been trapped in that bottle almost three hours! Now I’m behind on my chores! I need fresh eggs and must run to the market!” She paused for a moment eying the old man, than choosing her words carefully, she took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry uncle but we’ll have to cancel today’s lesson!”

“Sit girl!” Nevin said, gesturing to one of the chairs surrounding the little table.
“I’ve not come all this way to have you tell me you’ve no time for a lesson! The eggs can wait!”
“But uncle, my robe is a mess! It must be washed and hung out to dry while there is still sun! It‘s already dropping low in the sky!”

“SIT!!” he commanded, now using a much stronger voice.
Her shoulders sagged; she looked away and mumbled something under her breath. Nevin couldn’t quite catch all the words she spoke but was sure from the two or three he managed to hear, the girl had uttered a curse.

Catani spun around, reached for the one remaining chair at the table, forcefully yanked it out and plopped down hard, hands in her lap, fists tightly clenched. She glared across at him.

Hmm, the girl is quite upset, he thought. He’d have to remember to pick up a pamphlet for her on Anger Management from the Stonemark Library. Bad enough she was a left-handed wizard, even worse if she became an angry left-handed one! Nevin righted the chair he’d tipped over a few moments before and sat down, facing the girl. He reached under his robe, pulled out a package and placed it on the table.

“I’ve found another book for you Cat. Not that it matters, seeing as you’ve hardly touched the ones you already have.”

She sat, impassive, still eying him, making no motion to unwrap the package. Nevin cleared his throat. “Well, ahem, I’m so glad you’ve responded in such a positive way to my gift! Here, let me open it for you lass!” He un-tied the parcel, picked up the book and read the title aloud.

“The Modern Wizard’s Official Dress Code, published and up-dated annually by the Markshire Mages Guild! And a wonderful source of knowledge it is, Cat. I know most of those who’ve compiled the information. You’ll find much in it that will be of great value to you. I hope you’ll thumb through it at least.

They’ve added a chapter on the care and proper use of the wizard staff. I insist you read that chapter! I’ll quiz you on it at our next lesson! Some folks have told me they’ve seen you wandering around with a cross-bow! The old man sighed, rolled his eyes in frustration and shook his head. That will not do lass. You must always carry your staff when out and about!”

“The staff is useless to me uncle” she said. “I’m more comfortable with the cross-bow, and every day my aim improves!”

“Nonsense child!” he scolded her “The staff must be your weapon of choice if you expect to be accepted into the Mages guild. For sure they’ll turn you away if you’ve not learned to be proficient with your staff. You’ll be a mage without a guild! You’ll be known to all as an outsider, a wilder!”

He shook his head. “In time the guild will search you out and it’s possible they’ll strip you of your powers! It’s a rare thing, but I’ve seen it done! And when they’re through with you, you’ll be a shell, useless to anyone. Useless to yourself! The only job left to you will be cleaning out stables! Is that your desire? You wish to be a stable maid?”

“I killed a Cyclops with my cross-bow. “ She said, still glaring at him.
“Oh dear child!” he exclaimed, placing his hands on the table and rising half way out of the chair. “Has it come to this? Now you invent falsehoods to placate me! You did NOT kill a Cyclops with a cross-bow! It would be impossible for you to accomplish that!”

Catani rose from her chair, hands on her hips and stared defiantly across the table at him.
“It is not a fib, uncle. As sure as I am standing here facing you, I downed a Cyclops with my cross-bow. It is the truth and I swear it!”
“And where may I ask, did you achieve this feat?”
“Just outside the east gate of Foothold.” She replied.
“Than the guards saw . . . and of course Captain Hillar has a record of the encounter?” he asked.
“Well, the guards were on a lunch break, uncle. So . . .” she shrugged. “There is no record of the battle. I was alone. Well the Cyclops was there also, but of course he’s dead now so he’ll not be able to authenticate my story. But I swear to you uncle, I felled the beast with a bolt to the heart. You can believe me, or not. I don’t really care.”

Nevin sat back down and wrung his hands and sighed deeply. “Well, I can see no useful place this conversation will be bringing us to. Mayhap its best, as you suggested earlier, we cancel the lesson. It is getting late and with the forest not safe I’ll not want to be making the better part of my trip home after dark.

But Catani, promise me you’ll thumb through at least a page or two of the tome I’ve brought you today.”
“I will uncle. I promise.” As the old man stood and turned to leave she nodded a good bye to him. Nevin smiled in return.
“Uncle?”

Nevin stopped his march toward the door. “Yes child?”
“You may borrow it if you wish.” She said.
“Borrow what child?”
“The book you were reading.” She motioned to the Lurid Tales of the Duke and his Bluestockinged Mistress. It was still lying on the floor where Nevin had dropped it.
“You see uncle, while I was trapped in the bottle I could hear you comment aloud from time to time if you read a passage that, well, a passage you thought interesting! It did not take me long to discover just which book it was you were um, so enthralled with!”

She smiled sweetly at the old man. Nevin looked at her a moment, his mouth opened and he began to make a comment but could think of nothing to say. Instead, the old man turned and stalked out the door, slamming it behind him.

“He’s such a darling old man!” she said, smiling to herself. “How on earth could I ever manage without him?”