Chapter Text
In the library, Kurt sat with his back ramrod-straight while staring intently at the wall in front of him, as if tried hard enough, he could see directly through the well-crafted shelves and into the meeting room where his father and Master Niko were conversing.
It's not every day that Master Niklaren Goldeye comes to call on them.
He barely paid attention to the pair of trousers in his lap (Finn’s, a large tear at the knee) any mind - fixing something as simple as a hole was child’s play.
Finn sat at the end of the table and for once, he didn’t make a comment about Kurt’s work - needlepoint, sewing, mending, embroidering - as “girls’ work”.
Curled up in his chair, Kurt thought that his stepbrother looked mildly ridiculous. At thirteen, Finn was a gangly giant. At 6’4, Kurt could only hoped that Finn had finally reached his final adult height because he and Carole were growing weary of letting down the hems of all of Finn’s clothing.
Normally, Finn would be cracking terrible jokes or egging Kurt for his interests - “girls’ stuff”, but Finn was oddly silent. Finn’s posture and body language suggested that he was worried - he was chewing on his lower lip and he was obviously not absorbing any of the material of his book.
“What do you think they’re saying in there?” Finn asked, voice barely above a whisper. He glanced at Kurt, concerned. “Do you think it’s about your mom?”
“Maybe.” Kurt wasn’t sure if that was the case; but it wasn’t entirely out of the question. His mother had been a mage, a healer. She had been trained by the Dedicates of Winding Circle and she had been very close to becoming a Dedicate herself before meeting his father. “My mother was quite good.” Perhaps they were looking for her old notes.
If hadn’t been for the pneumonia after the cholera outbreak, she would have been fine. But she hadn’t, Kurt remembered that his mother had used up too much of her powers helping the sick; it had weakened her body.
To this day, Kurt resented temple mages and healers and avoided them whenever possible.
“I know.” When Kurt looked up, Finn was staring at him with a strange expression. “My mom told me. My mom really looked up to your mom. They worked together at a sick house during the epidemic before the epidemic.”
Kurt blinked. “Oh, she never told me that.”
Finn shrugged. “She told me that one day. Said it was important for me to know.”
Carole was the only exception to Kurt’s distaste for mages - she was kind to him and never tried to replace his mother, a fact that Kurt was most grateful. Furthermore, Carole made his father happy - and clearly, his father had a type and they were healer-mages.
Finn sighed, shutting his book. He was restless and Kurt was under the impression that Finn wanted nothing more than to be running about outside or playing a game, not sitting inside in a stuffy room filled with books while their father was having mysterious meetings with a world-renown Seer.
“You don’t know anything at all?” Finn pressed.
“I told you I didn’t,” Kurt replied tartly. “And if you keep insisting that I do, I’m going to do a bad job on these breeches on purpose. They’ll split when you’re out trying to impress girls.”
“Just asking,” Finn grumbled. “Sheesh.”
Kurt had finished with Finn’s torn clothing. He had started onto embroidering a hanging for the guest room; a golden bird in a cage (the silk thread felt soothing, comforting after the roughness of the sturdy thread he used before, Kurt had always been quite fond of silk) when his father and the Master Niklaren Goldeeye appeared at the doorway of the library.
“Master Niko had an interesting idea,” Kurt’s father said, tone mild, after the redundant greetings and pointless introductions. “He suggested that the two of you study at Winding Circle since there have been some… problems with the local schools.”
“I’m not a mage,” Kurt responded immediately, narrowing his eyes. He looked at Master Niko, “Not to be disrespectful, Master Niko, but I’ve been tested for magic when I was young.”
“Same with me,” Finn added, looking perplexed. “I couldn’t make objects move unless I was throwing them and I didn’t see images in the fires.”
“Winding Circle also serves as a school for ordinary children,” Master Niko said smoothly. “The dedicates there will not tolerate any bullying behavior.” He didn’t look at Kurt when he said those words, but it was clear he had been informed of the previous incidences that resulted in his father pulling both him and Finn out of school.
Private tutors had been expensive, Kurt thought with a sinking heart. Very expensive.
“Winding Circle is only a day’s journey away by ship,” his father said, looking at him pointedly. “It’s where your mother went; I met her at Summersea. You’ll have an excellent education.”
“There will be no fees,” Master Niko added. “In honor of your mother’s memory and dedication for helping the sick. Your room and board would be paid for until you and your brother turn sixteen.”
Kurt hesitated. Beside him, he knew that Finn was holding his breath - the decision was his.
For all of Finn’s faults and his never-ending suggestions for Kurt to stop having feminine interests, Finn was loyal: family came first.
Master Niko’s eyes flickered over to Kurt’s discarded work - the outline of the bird was done in very tiny, neat, perfect stitches. Quietly, he added, “We have some of the most remarkable works of threadcraft in all of the Pebbled Sea. Our loomhouses are known to those as far away as Yanjing.”
Kurt looked at his father; Burt Hummel’s face was carefully neutral, but Kurt noticed the heavy under-eye circles and how there were worry lines etched into his features that were not present half a year ago.
Their family had always lived quite comfortably.
Between Carole’s work as a healer at a sick house and his father’s job supplying horses for the city and travelers, he and Finn had never wanted for anything. But after the problems at school began and resulted into a couple of broken limbs for both of them (Finn because he tried to protect him), both his father and his stepmother decided that private tutoring would be the best option.
His tutors had been the very best; because he had been so far ahead in school in languages and history. They could have gone for someone less costly it had just been Finn…
The very room they were standing in was a tenth birthday present. It had originally been intended to be a small reading room, not a library, but it was expanded once it became clear he owned far too many books.
Kurt did not even want to think about how expensive that must have been - even if his father had connections to many of the craftsmen and builders in town.
“I - I suppose I could give it a try,” Kurt said, finally. He attempted to smile back when his father grinned broadly at him and clapped him on the back.
“That’s my boy,” his father said, pleased, sounding relieved. “Winding Circle and Summersea are both great. The education you’ll receive at Winding Circle will be unparalleled to anything in this town. And we’re only a day’s travel away.”
“This is going to be fantastic!” Finn enthused. “I bet they have all sorts of different food over there.” Then his eyes widened. “Oh crap, my Standard Common is terrible.”