Spellbound Pt. 03

"About one-thirty, why?" Skyler asked curiously.

"It was nine when I started, damn, means I missed lunch," Adam sighed.

"Don't you have a sausage roll on you?" Jill inquired, remembering what he said that night.

"Knew there had to be a reason you're my sister. Mind like a tack. Thought something like this might happen. Here, I stopped by Sweet Delights before I left Monday morning. Would have come back Sunday, but the Queen wanted to have dinner," Adam said, noting how they all froze. "Not like that you pervs, the Sage(s) and the crown have always had a close bond. She just wanted to wish me well on my return to school. Since I'll mostly be here for the foreseeable future unless the Princess must travel..." Leaving the rest unsaid as he held out the tin filled with cherry blast mini fritters, orange tarts, cinnamon swirls, and strawberry puffs. "Go on, have one," he offered.

"Oh my, I don't know, you have so many excellent choices," Skyler said, staring hungrily down at her delights...

"Just leave me one orange tart; I like those, just pops, you know?"

"Mmmhmm." They hummed as one.

"Did you bring more with you, or is this the last of it?" Ryann asked in a shy tone.

"Why?" Adam asked in a sinful tone, wearing a very charming smile.

"What if we just... who knows, hung out sometime, just talking and stuff," Ryann uttered, growing very bashful all of a sudden.

"Oh? And what is this 'stuff' we'll be doing?" Adam inquired, arching an eyebrow. "I do hope exploring forbidden places is on the list," he said in an alluring tone. Wondering why he saw that subtle look in Jill's eyes.

"Ah, hell, we're going to be late," Skyler cursed. "Thanks for the sugar rush; I'm going to need it," she cooed, winking at him as she took a swirl and a cherry blast.

"Seven o'clock?" Ryann asked; she really did like him, and she knew Skyler did too. She did hope waiting to see if anything was there to build something before offering another proposal was the right call.

"Sure, sounds good," Adam nodded.

"After we hang out, can we like talk?" Jill asked, trying to hide the pain of her father's loss. Noting how he was studying her eyes a bit before answering.

"Of course," Adam nodded once again. However, she was raised as a noble, so her talk... he would hate for that to happen.

"Thanks, you have to tell me more about this Fae tonight, okay," Jill said as she plucked her own treats from the tin.

"Jill?" Adam called out when they reached the bend in the path, seeing her turn to peer back at him.

"Yeah?"

"Still want me to teach you?" Adam asked as he unpacked the rest of his lunch.

"Of course," Jill responded, keeping the tremble from her voice.

"Tomorrow, five o'clock, Hornowl building, room 2E, we'll see what you can do, then we'll go from there. Is that agreeable to you, Countess Mortanhouse?"

"I'll be there," Jill nodded firmly. Smiling to herself, knowing her brother was letting her in. She didn't care why he was, just that he was letting her in. Waving to Adam before disappearing out of sight.

******

"I hope you ladies don't mind, but someone saw it upon themselves to invite themselves to this night's festivities," Adam said, welcoming Jill, Skyler, and Ryann into his room. All three stopped in their tracks as Roselyn and Selene were sitting and chatting like they always belonged there.

"You said you had the puffs I like, and you know how much I love those, plus you did say I could come visit anytime I wanted," Roselyn spoke in a warm tone... "Countess Mortanhouse, on behalf of the royal family, and me, I express our deepest regret for what happened that night."

"No, I understand, your highness. Thank you for your concern, I cannot deny my father committed that crime, yet I don't harbor those thoughts," Jill said with a small curtsy.

"Then please, come and join us; your brother has quite the eye for sweets, doesn't he?" Roselyn asked with a friendly tone

"True, I can't deny that, your grace."

"Please, call me Roselyn while within these walls," she said, offering her the seat beside her. "Lovely to see you again, ladies," Roselyn greeted as Skyler and Ryann took the only two remaining seats.

"As you, Princess, Duchess," They greeted.

"Adam, I have a question, if fairies are just part of the Fae, just how many kinds are there?" Ryann asked, kicking the night into warp drive.

"Eighty-six," Adam answered truthfully as he prepped his French press while the water came to a boil. "I see you have a whole host of questions; this conversation doesn't leave this room," he muttered, noting the scrolls in their hands.

"Of course, we do; you can't drop that kind of bombshell on us and not think we wouldn't" Skyler spoke with Jill and Ryann nodding along.

"I'm lost; what's this about?" Roselyn uttered, looking around the room.

"Princess, you remember those old, old fairytales?" Jill asked, seeing Roselyn and Selene nod. "Adam believes they're real."

"For f..." Adam sighed, pulling his staff out, returning it to its normal size, and holding it out over his coffee table. "Go on, touch it," he encouraged while asking his staff to go dormant for a moment.

"And what are we supposed to be doing?" Selene asked with a pointed look.

"You're a bright mage, Selene. You'll figure it out."

"This warmth, it isn't from your body heat, is it?" Skyler asked as her mind raced to piece together the puzzle before her.

"You could say that," Adam nodded.

"For the past five Wednesdays, you've been speaking about the..." A light dawned in her eyes, then widened as she felt a pulsating to the flow within his staff. "It's alive?!" Blushing hard under the pleased look in Adam's eyes. "But how?!"

"I told you where my staff was from; I never said it was just a piece of wood; you assumed it was. Every Sage has one, my Master, her Master, so on, so on. Mine's just black is the only difference," Adam stated, returning his staff to its holder. That wasn't necessarily all of it, yet they didn't need to know that the reason Mab had made a deal with him was because the Black Treant had deemed him worthy to aid, among other reasons he just didn't want to admit or believe was real.

"And where did your staff come from for us late to the party," Roselyn spoke, glancing at his wrist, wondering if all Sage's staffs were alive like his.

"It was a gift from a Black Treant," Adam answered truthfully as the kettle whistled. "They're a wood-imp class of Fae, very peaceful unless aroused," he said over his shoulder as he entered his kitchen. Slyly noting how Skyler, Ryann, and his sister were whispering as their fingers pointed at their scrolls.

"Then why can't we see these Fae?" Skyler asked, feeling her heart thump as those blue eyes peered over at her.

"Because they don't want you to."

"What? Why?" Selene asked, joining in.

"Because... you all know the desert, right?"

"Of course, father and I have been discussing ways we could reclaim the land the desert has encroached upon," Roselyn stated with a nod.

"Do you know what really lies beneath the sand?"

"Yes, the former Poui Empire," Jill answered.

"Do you know how they were destroyed and why there's a desert where once lush land now rest?" Adam asked in a teacherly voice as he pressed the beans through the water. "It's okay if you don't."

"Okay, Mr. Sage, tell us what happened," Ryann uttered in a teasing tone.

"The Fae are what happened," Adam stated as he lined a few small plates with the treats he had brought with him from the city.

"What do you mean?" Skyler asked, her interest pegged.

"As the Djinn tell it, humans from that era would lure them out and trap them, hence how they donned the name Djinn. So upon hearing this, Queen Mab of the Fae rallied the good Fae to rescue the trapped Wish-givers, that's what they call themselves, the rest of the Fae call them Djinn, and so a war ensued, resulting in the Poui Empire being destroyed and the Fae making it harder to find them," Adam said, setting out their cups, and pouring their coffee, setting the pot onto the tray and carefully carried it over to his coffee table.

"But how did you find them?" Roselyn asked, leaning forward, lightly tapping her finger on the rim of her cup, making it just how she liked her coffee.

"I didn't," gesturing for them to enjoy as he picked up his own cup, "Queen Mab found me."

"Wait, you sound like they still interact with this world?!" Roselyn uttered skeptically.

"They do; there's Fae in this dorm room as we speak," Adam stated, seeing how all five perked up at that and began to look around. "They're Brownies; they're harmless if you leave them alone, they'll do the same."

"And if we wish to see these Fae?" Selene asked with a pointed look.

"It's up to them if they want you to see them or not," Adam said with a shrug. "You don't believe a word of it, do you?" he asked, seeing how they didn't in their eyes. Sighing, leaning forward, placing his cup on the table and rose from his seat. "The Fae and their lands are real, I know it, I've been there, I traveled their land, I know how dangerous their world is," Adam uttered in a serious tone, hearing their gasps and their shocked eyes when he lifted up the left side of his tunic showing them the scar from the tusk of a Bastiker.

"Adam, where did you get that? That wasn't there a week ago?!" Skyler asked in a worried tone.

"From a Bastiker, it's a multihorned fairy-type beast that direct magic attacks won't work on. You need a Fairy blade for that," Adam said, pushing his tunic down before reaching into the right side of it and pulling it out. Hearing their gasps as the bladed morphed into a scimitar.

"Adam, where did you get such a thing?!" Roselyn asked in wonder.

"From Rhonnan," Adam replied as he returned the blade back to his tunic as he sat down. "Takes a lot of discipline to keep the blade in its morphed shape, especially when in battle with a Bastiker."

"Adam, that new grimoire of yours, its Fae magic, isn't it?" Jill asked with curious eyes.

"Yes."

"Please, Lord Sage, show us some of this Fae magic you possess," Roselyn spoke in a regal tone.

"What's your favorite extinct flower, Princess?"

"The Crimson Lotus, why?" Roselyn asked, turning in her seat when Adam got up from his seat.

"On this side, mana is too scarce to use naturally, so you have to crystalize it to use it in a complex spell," Adam said, looking for the jar he placed his first attempts in. "Unless you have some pixie dust on hand, but that's temporary. With this... well, you'll see."

Making sure they all were watching the shard as it stood on end once his finger left it. "Ireq toa clur," Adam chanted in Fae. Seeing how they scooted back when the shard began to glow. Sitting there rather stunned as the shard morphed and twisted and grew.

Roselyn's hand flew to her mouth as a Crimson Lotus, with its inner petals of red and green, its golden stamen stood in contrast to its surroundings. Her eyes ran along the middle pedals, noticing how the red was rich and dark.

"Is this real?" Roselyn asked, peering up at Adam, who was rubbing his temple.

"As real as you and me," Adam nodded.

"Adam, can anyone learn Fae magic?" Selene asked curiously as she felt how velvety the pedals were.

"Yes, but you need to have the focus and the discipline in order to work with it. Mana isn't like magjols, where magjols you can estimate the outcome of any spell relatively easily. With Fae magic, namely mana, you have to keep your mind focused on that one thing, holding that image in your mind for however long it takes, you hold it there. Any stray thought will ruin the spell and given the size of the spell you're doing, results could be disastrous," Adam warned as he retook his seat.

"Since you've learned how to use their magic, just how hard is it?" Roselyn asked, pulling the plant towards her so she could smell its fragrance.

"Have you started your group archmage spell for your midterms yet?"

"We have; why?" Roselyn answered, resting her hand on Selene's left thigh.

"So you'll understand when I say learning Fae magic is two steps above how hard that is. Just the mental tax it puts on your mind is enough to sap you for a few days. The stress on your body to build the tolerance needed to channel mana, well, sometimes I thought my limbs were going to explode from their sockets," Adam said, nodding at their disbelieving looks. "Yet to use magic, effective magic in the Fae lands, it is wise to know how to wield mana."

As the night wore on, the treats ran low; only two remained. "So you wanted to talk?" Adam stated once he returned after escorting Ryann and Skyler out of the dorm.

"Yes, Adam," Jill said; her image was hidden as Adam closed his door.

******

Outside the Hornowl building five till five, the next day....

Jill blew out a breath as she stared at the exterior of the building, where they demonstrated their spells during the midterms. Knowing Adam was expecting her best, she just hoped she could live up to it. Wondering how their mother would take the news that Adam was teaching her. She didn't have to think she knew what their mother would do. Jill couldn't blame their mother; she just likes to play the nobles game. Even she, too, has to play it, if one is against hundreds, greater odds of surviving together, Wondering if she was ready for the kind of courtly interplay she was about to experience being her brother's student.

Her heart grew as the sound of the hinges of the door resounded down the hall. The rubber soles of her shoes squeaked on the freshly waxed floor. Her hands fidgeted at her side. It didn't matter if it was her brother; he was a Sage; what her mother said was true; it's never been done. Her brown-green eyes glanced left to right, reading the door numbers as she sought her fate. Her hand rested on the door handle; her heart was loud in her ears. Her body felt flushed as Adam turned to greet her; her eyes followed the wave of his arm, telling her the room was hers. Praying that the feelings she felt wouldn't harm what was happening at that moment as the door closed behind her.

To Be Continued.