Chapter Text
"It might be helpful to have a line of focus for your core magic as we try this," Rakel explained, pressing the hilt of the sword into his hands.
Farrin dropped the sword like it had burned him. "I don't think—what if I hit you?"
Rakel frowned slightly. "I'll be behind you, so you can deflect towards the targets. It'll be fine, Farrin."
He was taller than her now (when had that happened?), but with his shoulders hunched and his eyes downcast he still looked so young. And scared, far too scared for someone who had suffered an individual accident with their magic going awry. She winced involuntarily at the indirect reminder of the troll incident (and Evariste's long lecture about traumatizing his little brother and inopportune teaching moments; like he would have done better) and tried to organize her thoughts.
While she had been thinking, Farrin picked the sword back up and worked through a few defensive forms. Rakel studied his face for a moment.
He's not particularly expressive, but he's miserable.
Farrin wouldn't refuse her outright if she went ahead with her planned lesson, but he certainly wouldn't learn anything. And if anything went even minorly wrong, it would only cement his wariness of his own magic. She exhaled sharply, eyes narrowing as she rearranged her plans for the day.
"Never mind," she said out loud. "We'll cancel our lessons for the day. I need to go run an errand; keep practicing without magic for now. And if you feel up to it, you can try focusing your magic onto the blade, but only if you feel up to it. I should be back in a few hours."
Farrin gave her a surprised look. "Are you--of course, Master Rakel."
She gave into the temptation to ruffle his hair like she so often did with Evariste before she headed into the house to use the portal to the Conclave Evariste had set up for her.
~~*~~>
Madam Quarrellous was Rakel's first stop. She didn't bother knocking, just pushed the door open none too gently.
"Explain to me why my apprentice is terrified of his own core magic," Rakel snarled without preamble as the instructor blinked owlishly at her abrupt entrance.
"I...I beg your pardon, Enchantress Rakel?" Quarrellous stammered, wide-eyed.
"Farrin. What did you do to him?" The longer Rakel thought about it, the more her anger built up.
"I don't know what you mean!" Quarrellous protested.
Evariste always got more eloquent when he got angry. Rakel envied him that skill. Anger made words slip from her grasp like water through a sieve.
And, oh, was she angry.
"You don't know what I mean?" The words tumbled from her lips, falling over each other as the temperature dropped around her. "You are telling me that even though you were one of the ones nearly responsible for sealing my apprentice, you can't conjure up a reason why he hates the idea of using his magic so much that he won't train with it? What did you do to Farrin?"
Quarrellous shrank back. "He should be wary, magic like that used without caution could be deadly."
"Without caution, perhaps! But how am I supposed to train him to be cautious if he's too terrified to use his magic at all?"
"He's dangerous!" Quarrellous insisted. "The Headmaster told me himself! At first I was like you, intrigued by his power and what could be possible with it, but he has so much of it. After his initial power tests came back, the Headmaster himself pulled me into his office and told me to be extra diligent with Farrin."
Rakel's fingers curled into her hand so tightly she could feel her fingernails digging into her palm. "What else did he say?" She demanded.
"He and several other teachers said we had to be cautious because his magic made it far too easy to fight other mages. If he ever fell to evil, it would be nearly impossible to stop him."
Idiots. Why are they all idiots? "So instead you decided to inflict one of the most loyal, kindhearted mages I know with constant disapproval until he was a stunted shadow of what he could be?" Rakel shook with anger. "I'm going to speak with the headmaster. I never want to see you anywhere near my apprentice again. Do I make myself clear?"
She waited only for Quarrellous' squeaked out "I understand!" before she stormed out of the room, intent on the headmaster's office.
Barely two turns down the path towards her destination, a familiar arm dropped onto her shoulders like a lead weight.
"Rakel," Evariste said with carefully measured calmness. "Explain to me why the entire floor feels like Verglas in winter."
She shoved his arm off. "I need to go talk to the Headmaster."
Evariste muttered something about stubborn singleminded ice mages under his breath and moved in her way. "Not like that, you're not. Now, calm down and tell me what happened. I could hear you yelling all the way down the hall!"
In clipped sentences, she explained what had happened and the conversation she'd had with Quarrellous. As she finished, Evariste's eyes snapped dangerously.
"They—" he cut himself off, visibly reining in his own temper. "No, the bigger problem right now is that you just left Farrin at home alone? And stormed off angrily after he didn't want to use his core magic?"
Rakel winced. "Kind of."
He flicked her forehead. "Idiot. Okay, the first thing we're doing is going home. No, scratch that, the first thing you're doing is easing up on your magic because I am cold! Good grief, they should be scared of you, not Farrin!"
"Sorry," Rakel mumbled, coiling her magic around her so the room temperature could ease back towards normal.
"Thank you. Now, we're going home together so I can spoil my brother for a few days, and because I'd probably get in trouble if I challenge the Headmaster to a duel, which I would dearly love to do right now."
Rakel snorted, but something inside her eased slightly at the knowledge that Evariste was just as furious as she was.
"Thanks, Evar," she said sheepishly. "Sorry for being impulsive."
"I don't blame you at all for yelling at Quarrellous," Evariste said cheerfully, "She deserves it for being awful to my little brother. But. Next time you plan on going on a crusade, make sure you don't accidentally traumatize him more in the process."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm trying my best, you know."
"Told you I should have taken him as my apprentice!"
Rakel scoffed as they left the lounge Evariste had led them to at some point. "You'd make a terrible teacher, you'd end up just teaching all the interesting things you find."
Evariste gave her a scandalized look. "Rude! I would make a great teacher!"
"Keep telling yourself that."
"Hey, I haven't traumatized my student." Evariste shot back.
Rakel winced. "I really don't mean to."
He nudged her shoulder and gave her a gentle smile. "I know you don't. Just, hey, Farrin isn't as open as I am, but he still feels things pretty keenly. You should give him a hug every now and then."
Rakel stared at him. "That's your solution? Really?"
"It's a start! Always works for me!"
"Because you are the human personification of a burr and a golden retriever rolled into one," Rakel protested.
Evariste ignored her. "And gifts! Gifts are good."
"Why am I taking your advice??"
"He's my brother!" Evariste ushered them into his office where the portal was already waiting.
"Okay, fine, if you're so smart, what do I get him?" Rakel asked, snatching a book Evariste had borrowed from her and never returned as she walked past his desk.
"Be creative! He likes dogs," Evariste offered.
"Hmm. I guess I can work with that."