Exchange Magic

Hey, why not fill in some background while we're filling in words?

The wagon ride from Coombe to Strand had been an education. Kaelyn had been outside of Coombe before, she wasn't totally sheltered, but she'd never ridden in an enclosed coach before. She had tried to look totally in control and mature—and had done moderately well. Of course, Kaelyn had spent her entire life being told that she was a “mature” and “serious” girl, and it had sunk in. But even a very serious child like Kaelyn would be excited by the ever-changing landscape as they came down out of the forest valley into the comparatively broad fields below. At each stop Kaelyn had jumped out of the coach to inspect the trees, the grasses and herbs, to take in the view.

Nobody else riding in the coach could share her interest in plants and wildlife, but there was a blacksmith who, when he heard that she was traveling to start her apprenticeship was happy to talk to her about professional life. He reminisced about his own days as an apprentice, and some of his best (and worst) apprentices he had trained in his forge.

At last, nervous, excited, and trying to remember the good advice the smith had given her, Kaelyn stepped out of the coach in Strand town square.

She looked around, realizing that “Strand” wasn't really an address, and she didn't know where this “Master Colm” lived, or even what they looked like. Fortunately she didn't have to wait long.

“Hello dear, are you Colm's new apprentice? Oh good. Come wait out of the sun, child. The other apprentice arrived a little while ago, and Mama took her back to the cottage, and asked me to watch out for you,” said a cheerful, round-faced lady who came bustling out of the bakery when the coach left.

“Oh, thank you, missus. I'm Kaelyn, and yes, I'm here to study with Master Colm. I didn't know he had another apprentice, though.”

“Oh, he often does. Colm seems to think that young people feel more at home in pairs or trios, instead of being the only young blood with just him and Mama.”

“His wife is named...Mama?”

“Ha! No, of course not, dearie, but all of Colm's apprentices call her that, and the name has spread a little bit. She's a kind lady, and you're lucky to be in her house while you're a 'prentice. I'm sure she'll be here soon. In the meantime, dear, would you like a little something to eat? I'm sure it was a long trip, you must be hungry.”

“Oh, that's a good idea...I don't have much money...” Kaelyn began, digging into her satchel.

“Well, that's no problem dear! On the house of course; Wouldn't want Marion to find out I charged one of her apprentices for food straight off the coach...”

Kaelyn was grateful to be in the warm and safe bakery but the words and ideas were coming fast. Still, a free bread roll and cheese was always welcome, and they were both quite good. As she was finishing up the door opened and the baker said, “ah, Marion, there you are! Your little sheep arrived, and we've been having a nice little talk,”

Kaelyn looked at “Mama” for the first time. She was roughly sixty, with gray-green eyes that sparkled, and crinkled around the edges as she smiled, suggesting that she smiled often.

“Kaelyn? Oh I'm so glad you are here and safe! I wanted to greet you in person as soon as your coach arrived, but the other apprentice got here a couple hours ago and I wanted to give her time to get settled in. I'm Marion, Colm's wife, but you can call me Mama.”

Kaelyn stood and reached out for “Mama's” hand, but instead was gathered into a warm hug. “No need to be so formal, at least not with me. Let's get you up to the cottage so you can wash up and then we'll have a nice dinner tonight, let you girls get settled in, then Colm can start your training tomorrow.”

“That sounds great...Mama.” Kaelyn said.

Mama was roughly six inches shorter than Kaelyn, but lithe and strong, and astonishingly energetic. Yet she also seemed to understand and respect the need for quiet that had so distanced Kaelyn from others in the past. When Kaelyn spoke, Mama listened attentively; when Kaelyn stopped speaking, Mama didn't immediately jump in to fill the silence. Kaelyn found herself relaxing during the short walk to the cottage.

“So the other apprentice is...another girl?”

“Oh, yes, Daisy! She seems to be a sweet girl, much like you, really like most young healers. I'm glad we train healers here, my own kids were much less well behaved! But they're all moved out now. Anyway I hope you two will get along well.”

Kaelyn noticed a few things; Mama said 'hope' not 'know'; she's been through this before, but she didn't seem to have any actual reservations about this “Daisy” that was suddenly going to be a constant part of Kaelyn's life.

Kaelyn had grown up with only brothers. While she had girl friends, of course, she was also accustomed to having her own space, and wondered if she would be sharing a bedroom with this other apprentice.

They reached the cottage as the sun was just heading for the horizon, the sky turning golden but still bright; in the summer it would be up for a while yet. The cottage stood back from the main road a good way, deep in the forest that marched up into the foothills beyond. There were trees that Kaelyn recognized and others she didn't, but she could smell the resins and the pollen and it felt like home.

The cottage was larger than the name implies, and had clearly been built over the generations. The original cottage was a low, round structure, onto which a large, two-story rectangular house had been added on one side, and a one story workshop on the other. The house part had two large windows, looking out over the front walk towards Strand. Mama pointed at one of the windows on the second floor and said “that'll be your bedroom while you're here with us. The ground floor is ours. Daisy's room is on the other side.”

And she led Kaelyn around back, through the kitchen door.

The original building was now all kitchen, the small, round cottage had a large oven, a cold pantry and a wizard-powered stove. A small table with four chair stood along one wall, but Kaelyn looked at the stone floor and suspected she could see where the old family table had stood.

Mama called out, “Colm? Daisy? I'm back, and I have Kaelyn with me!”

The door to the workshop opened and Colm came in. He was also in his early sixties, with white, thin hair, but a straight, tall posture. He wore a simple robe, with a cowl in a style that looked somewhat antiquated to Kaelyn's eyes, but seemed to fit his statue as a master healer.

He smiled and said, “welcome, Kaelyn. It's so good to meet the young woman that Davis told me 'is almost ready to take over his post'.” Kaelyn blushed, and wasn't sure what to say to that; she knew that the healer in her hometown had arranged this apprenticeship, and that she was going to be working with his former master, but she hadn't been privy to the letter that Master Davis had sent.

However, she was saved the work of coming up with a reply, because at that moment Daisy came out of the other door, the one that led to the bedrooms. Kaelyn's heart sank. Daisy was one of those girls. Tall, blond, shapely, tan, somehow both strong and feminine; she made Kaelyn look, well, less worth looking at. The only question was what kind of person Daisy was going to be.

“Oh, is this the other apprentice? Hi! I'm Daisy, It's so nice to meet you!” she said, her smile open and genuine. Kaelyn looked for any sense of mocking or any angle and didn't find it. That was better and worse. It meant that Daisy was going to be honestly friendly and it would be that much harder to resent her when Kaelyn felt like resenting her.

Kaelyn and Daisy made small talk as they carried Kaelyn's things up to her new bedroom. Daisy, Kaelyn was glad to find, wasn't a constant talker, although she was clearly happy to carry the conversation. But just below Daisy's voice, Kaelyn thought she heard Colm and Mama talking.

“I think they'll get a long like a house on fire,” Colm was saying, his voice kindly and wise.

“Perhaps, but they'll be some fireworks first.” Mama seemed to say.