Chapter Text
“I don’t see why we have to stay in the Great Hall tonight, Olly. I would be perfectly happy to find some out-of-the-way bush on the way back to Kalhn to kip down in instead.” Qifrey dragged his hands through his already-messy hair and glared. “Actually, scratch that. I would prefer the bush.”
“You can’t spend your first night as a full-fledged witch in a bush when there’s a perfectly functional bed awaiting you a mere few halls away.” Olruggio took hold of Qifrey’s mud-stained cloak and gave him a firm push in the direction of Beldaruit’s spire. “What was the fifth test like anyway? You lot were locked up in that room for ages, and now you’re all muddy and snippy. You did pass, right?”
“Of course I passed! You heard the proctor just fine yourself, seeing as you were lying in wait for me outside like some kind of deranged owlcat!”
Olruggio paused to consider the odd comparison and shook his head with a snort. “If there’s a grumpy owlcat here, it isn’t me.” They turned off the main corridors towards Beldaruit’s rooms and Olruggio relaxed a fraction. Even after both of them passed the fourth test, the glances that came Qifrey’s way when he bothered to visit the great hall had lessened in neither frequency nor suspicion. He had hoped that perhaps the fifth test would finally force the witching community into something like grudging acceptance, but that hope seemed a far way off.
What even possessed him to take the fifth test in the first place? He never seemed interested in teaching before, but just after we started fixing up that atelier near Kalhn, he suddenly started studying for it like a man possessed! Olruggio had been rather out of it with a nasty head cold for several days, and when he came back to some semblance of sanity, suddenly it was all apprentices this, and taking the fifth test that. Olruggio was used to Qifrey’s mercurial, and sometimes downright baffling whims, but this was really something else. What if he doesn’t even get any apprentice applications? I know he studied under a Wise One, but I can’t see most of the hall-born apprentices wanting to gallivant off to the countryside with the hall’s most notorious former member.
Olruggio banished his worries as they neared Beldaruit’s tower, nudging along a begrudging Qifrey. As they neared the door, Olruggio braced himself. Sure enough, a turn of the doorknob broke the silencing-spell cast on the room beyond, unleashing a wave of yells. A colorful explosion of ribbons burst forth from the doorway, swallowing up both of them and depositing them before a beaming man wearing an unusually over-decorated pointed hat.
“Qifrey!! What a day to behold! My precious apprentice becomes a Master of his own, ready to carry on our glorious legacy to a new generation of precocious young witches! Oh, I thought this day might never come, but truly-”
“W-what is this supposed to be!?” Qifrey picked himself up from the rug, which was weaving itself back together, kidnapping completed, and looked around the room.
“It’s a party for you, dummy.” Alaira stepped forward, rolling her eyes, and snatched Qifrey’s hat, replacing it with one identical to Beldaruit’s. Qifrey made an aborted attempt to grab his hat, before sending a glance full of betrayal back at Olruggio.
“Sorry. Wise One’s orders. Enjoy the madness.” Olruggio held up his hands in surrender, wincing as Alaira dragged a glaring Qifrey off towards the refreshments table. Despite the hubbub Beldaruit created, it truly was a small gathering, just a few of their friends and their own former masters who clustered around reminiscing with far too much fond sighing.
Beldaruit started up some kind of elaborate spell performance that seemingly involved telling the assembled witches all about Qifrey and Olruggio’s most embarrassing childhood adventures. Olruggio took one look at the smoke-sculpture version of childhood self, winced, and quickly headed over to pour himself a drink. It was going to be a long party indeed.
The next morning found him nursing a hangover while an unusually quiet Qifrey picked at a bowl of porridge in the hall’s main cafeteria. It was too early for most people to be up and about, so only a smattering of tables were filled. However, a cluster of witches over by the large sea-window caught his eye. They were deep in discussion, gesticulating wildly. Olruggio spared them a glance, but none of them looked their way. Whatever gossip was afoot in the great hall, it had nothing to do with them, fortunately.
“You’ve been glaring at that bowl non-stop now. What did the porridge ever do to you?” Olruggio finally asked after knocking back a cup of erbe tea.
“Do… do you think I’ll really be able to teach an apprentice? What if I’m terrible at it? What if all my students hate me? What if they-”
“You worry too much,” Olruggio interrupted. “You’ll be a great teacher. You redrew the remodeling plans for the apprentice rooms 16 times and already bought a life-time supply of palm quires from that shop in Kalhn. You’ll be so good that they’ll beg you to take over Wise in Teaching after the old man retires.”
“Wow, thanks ever so much for the new nightmare, Olly,” Qifrey said dryly. He did, however, finally shove a spoonful of porridge into his mouth.
After picking up another load of supplies from the shopping district in the hall, Qifrey and Olruggio took the window-way back to Kalhn and flew back over the hills to the little run-down shepherd's hut they were converting into an atelier. Over the last few months, it had finally sprouted a roof (that only leaked in a few places!), a functional hearth with a chimney, and a collection of second-hand rugs bought in one of the nearby towns.
Olruggio dropped off his load of spelled cooking pots with a sigh of relief. The things were damned heavy to be hauling all over the countryside in a sack, but the potter from the great hall produced craftsmanship second to none. If there was one thing Olruggio was going to splurge on when setting up the atelier, it was kitchenware, for sure.
“Glad we made it back before the rain started. It’s really coming down now, isn’t it.” Qifrey peered out the living room window, grimacing as the storm lashed at the panes of glass.
“It’s coming down here too!” Olruggio dodged a growing puddle and scrambled into the kitchen, cursing as he dragged one of his precious new cooking pots over to catch the drip.
The two men stared at the steady plunking from the ceiling into the pot. “I swear I fixed that spot last week,” Qifrey finally grumbled. “I’ll go set up a temporary rain ward on the roof. Where did you put the waterproofing ink components again?”
“Second shelf to the right…” Olruggio reluctantly sacrificed a few more pots to catch the other leaks while Qifrey unrolled a large canvas to begin drawing the spell on. To cover the whole atelier and hold through the night, it would need to be quite large.
Olruggio watched in silence as he diagrammed the spell and began to draw, his pen quick but precise. What are you talking about, idiot? You’ll make a great teacher. I guess it’s my job to make sure there’re some students around to see it. Olruggio made a note to discretely enquire with a few of his contacts about potential new apprentices looking for ateliers outside the hall.
With the spell nearly complete, Qifrey rolled up the canvas and put on his cloak with a grimace. “I’ll go set it on the roof. Come get me if I blow away.”
Olruggio rolled his eyes, but he did wince when Qifrey opened the door and the storm swept in with a howl. He’d offer to go out instead, but he knew the suggestion would be shot down in an instant. Qifrey could be remarkably obstinate about the strangest things sometimes. Olruggio slammed the door shut behind him and eyed the rain splashed across the floor. It was a bit too much for the vapor bubble to handle, but a few drying spells should take care of the mess quickly enough. He had just stepped over a pot on the way to his desk when a loud crash! shook the roof of the atelier.
“Qifrey!!” Olruggio wrenched open the door and rushed out, taking to the air in alarm. This proved to be a mistake when a gust of wind smashed him painfully into their brand-new roof tiles. He scrambled up and hoisted himself fully onto the roof, following a garbled-sounding yell. Abruptly, the driving rain and wind cut off, a dome of force snapping into place over the atelier like a bubble of calm.
Olruggio heaved a sigh of relief. If Qifrey was aware enough to complete the spell, he couldn’t be that injured. Coming around the side of the main chimney, Olruggio found the man kneeling on the roof, spell tossed aside, clutching a bundle of robes with a slightly wild look.
“Olruggio! Thank goodness. She- she came out of nowhere! Almost knocked me off the roof. I think the sigils on her shoes are going because of the storm! What should we…”
Olruggio stared at the sopping wet child that had crash-landed on their atelier with disbelief. What sort of master would let their student fly in a storm like this? He glanced around, but spotted no other witches in the sky.
The kid coughed wetly and sat up with a start. Qifrey gave a faint ‘oof’ of pain as she elbowed him in her haste to scramble up, slipping a bit on the wet tiles. Olruggio reached out a hand to steady her and received an impressive glare in return.
The girl pushed a mass of sopping curls out of her eyes, took a deep breath, and performed an impressively precise bow to Qifrey. “Master Qifrey, former disciple of the august Wise in Teachings. I have come to apply for a position under your tutelage. I swear to complete, to the best of my ability, any task you set forth to earn the honor of that position.”
Silence descended over the rooftop while the two men digested that. Finally Qifrey dragged himself up with an awkward laugh, fingers dancing over his quire to draw a quick vapor gathering spell. Most of the water slid off of the three of them, and the girl’s curls sprang back into shape. Olruggio inhaled sharply. That hair, and the colors of her cloak- she could only be…
“Let’s take this inside, shall we? I think we could all do with some warming spells and a nice cup of tea.” Qifrey quickly weighed down the edges of the rain-repelling spell to keep it in place and offered the girl a hand. “I wouldn’t trust your sylph shoes in all this rain. Mine are barely holding on too, unfortunately…”
After making it down to the ground with no further accidents, Qifrey quickly ushered the three of them inside. The girl surveyed the small forest of pots arrayed to catch leaks with a glance, but said nothing.
“Olruggio, if you could…”
“Already on it.” He closed the circle with a flick and turned the seal on the girl, drying off the last of the moisture. He could already see her shivering, and cursed silently. Did she fly here from Kalhn? Surely not, right? Who in their right mind would let a kid go out in this? Did something happen at the great hall?
“Alright, let’s, erm, start over a bit. You seem to have come looking for me? That was some storm you flew through! It was terribly reckless to set off on your own like that, though. Is everything alright in your current atelier, Miss…” Qifrey ushered the girl onto the couch and quickly activated the spell Olruggio had installed in the hearth to create a merrily burning fire.
Olruggio suppressed a wince. Qifrey had never cared to follow the affairs of the great houses, but for him to not even recognize a child of one of the main families…
To his surprise, the girl tugged her cloak a little tighter, hiding the distinctive tassels of House Arklaum. “It’s Agott. I… heard that you were accepting apprentices and I… came to apply. Please-”
“Woah woah woah. Erm, let’s slow down. You do know that I only just passed the fifth test? I hadn’t- err, that is- the atelier isn’t quite set up yet to take on apprentices, I’m afraid.” Qifrey waved his hands around, clearly panicked.
Agott gave a large shiver, clutching her cloak a little tighter. “That- I can help fix things up. As the test for admission. I know the stone weaving spell, and the beast-ward spell, and the levitation spell, and-”
“Yes, I’m quite sure you do. And I would be quite honored to take you on as an apprentice, but-” Qifrey held up a finger, gently staving off the look of excitement the girl directed at him. “As an apprentice, you deserve a clean, dry, and safe place to learn magic. Right now, I’m afraid this place barely qualifies for any of the above! How about this. You can stay over tonight, while the storm blows through, and tomorrow we’ll talk things over. I’m sure your family or your former atelier must be worried sick-”
“They won’t be.” Agott turned away to stare at the hearth, fingers clenched tight on her cloak. “They don’t care at all where I am, so it’s perfectly fine if I stay here and start the apprenticeship now. I won’t be a bother, I promise. I passed the first test already, I swear-”
“Ahh…” Qifrey exchanged a worried glance with Olruggio, who sighed. He had a terrible inkling of what the hot gossip in the atelier lunchroom this morning had been about. If Qifrey caught on to the full story, he had very little doubt their atelier would be gaining an apprentice several months earlier than planned. He reached out, dragging the man over to the corner for a hushed discussion.
“She’s clearly running from something to wind up here like this. Now before you throw yourself headlong into this particular mess, let’s take a step back and find out what happened at the great hall.” Olruggio glanced over at the girl, who had crept a bit closer to the fire and was looking dangerously close to nodding off on the couch. “Give her our room for tonight since the apprentice rooms are still a mess. I’ll find a dry spot in the side hut, and you can take the couch. Tomorrow we’ll bring her back to the great hall and make some inquiries. If nothing else, she’ll need to collect her luggage, since she seems to have dashed out with nothing but her cloak.”
Qifrey frowned. “You seem to know more than you’re letting on. Do you recognize her?”
“I think she’s a daughter from the Arklaum family. I hear an unfortunate amount of gossip while chatting up potential patrons,” Olruggio said with a sigh.
“House Arklaum!? Surely someone should be coming to fetch her? I thought they…” Qifrey dragged a hand over his face. “Nevermind. Fine. You should stay down here with me though. The side hut is barely livable-”
Olruggio groaned. “We’ve already had this conversation. If I’m going to apply to be your Watchful Eye, I can’t blatantly sleep with you. I’m supposed to be impartial. Unbiased! Better get used to it now before we get even more apprentices.”
Qifrey blinked. “Will we get more, do you think? This does seem unusually fast to be getting the first applicant.”
Olruggio grunted in lieu of responding. Perhaps his worries would prove entirely unfounded. Children could be quite discerning judges of character, without the biases other adults brandished at the slightest provocation. If Agott was the first to feel the allure of a quiet atelier away from hall pressures and politics, she likely wouldn’t be the last. Since Qifrey seemed determined to throw himself down this path of teaching, to provide a home for all the wayward children of the great hall- well. Olruggio could hardly stand idly by.
He placed a spell in one of the glow lamps and hoisted it, jerking his head towards the stairs. “C’mon. You grab her and I’ll lead. Don’t want you slipping on a wet step and dropping your very first apprentice. I’d be a disgrace of a watchful eye.”