Chapter 5

"Introducing Master Mage Lukas, claimed of clan Golden Leaf, Royal Instructor."

The herald stepped aside, reading a long list of achievements. I ignored him. Titles and achievements meant nothing to me anymore. 

I stepped forward carefully, my robes, the mark of my position in the Academy, weighing heavily on me. 

In my previous life, I loved them, they set me apart, and they showed off my status and prestige. 

In this life, they hung on me like chains. I itched to throw them off. 

I approached the two thrones at the far end of the room. I stopped at a black line that had been painted across the floor and bowed deeply. 

"You may approach ten more steps." The herald announced. 

A hushed murmur filled the room. 

I approached ten more steps. And stopped in front of another line, this one painted yellow. 

"Master Lukas." The king greeted me warmly. "Welcome. I understand that you have come to educate my daughter?"

A necessary show for the nobles in attendance. Many of them feared that my presence would threaten their positions. By announcing my purpose the king made my position clear, heading off any discontent from the attendees. 

"Yes, Your Majesty." 

"Good. I approve. And you, beloved? What are your thoughts on this?"

My heart beat quickly, and I forced my eyes to look at the woman sitting on the throne beside the king. 

The queen, and the love of my life. She and I had grown close following the death of the king, and only after years of pining, and cautious courtship did we marry. At Anna's insistence. 

She was much younger than the king, only two or three years older than I, with deep red hair and sparkling green eyes that seemed almost bottomless. 

I swallowed and bowed. "I greet the Sunrise of The Kingdom." 

Another murmur, this time one of approval. The queen was well-loved. 

"Master Lukas, welcome to the palace. I grant you my permission to guide my daughter." 

"Thank you, Highness."

"Good. I suppose you'll want to assume your duties as soon as possible?"

I understood the hidden message. I was dismissed. 

"Yes, Majesty. If you will allow me to withdraw?"

"Granted."

*

I headed to the pavilion. It was there that I directed the princess to meet me, and there she sat, this time dressed like a stable boy with a flat cap and pale blue overalls. 

I shook my head wryly. Miss Rita was going to have a hard time with this one. 

"Lukas!" The princess waved when she saw me. 

I waved back and picked up the pace, reaching the pavilion just as the princess stood up. 

"Morning, Anna. I trust you had a good night?"

The princess nodded. "I did. I've never slept so well."

The spirit's gift. 

"Good to hear. Do you have your books?"

The princess grimaced. "I'll need my books? I thought you were going to teach me magic!"

I sat down on the wire chair, cursed my lack of foresight in not bringing a cushion, and looked at the princess. 

"Remember what I said about the spirit yesterday? That it could only do things that it had experienced?"

The princess nodded. 

"Then how did I encourage the spirit to create fireworks?

"Because the spirit had seen fireworks?"

I shook my head. "This spirit is too weak to experience anything beyond its immediate surroundings. It can't even see the sky. So, I repeat my question. How did it know how to create fireworks?"

The princess thought for a second… "Because you knew how to create fireworks?" she guessed. 

"Yes!" I said. "The spirit drew from my experience so that it could follow my command. I know how to create fireworks; the spirit used that knowledge to do the same."

"So what you're saying is that in order to become a powerful mage, I need to know stuff?" the princess didn't sound happy. 

"That's exactly what I'm saying." 

"Ugh. And I thought magic was going to be fun."

I grinned and held out my hand. "Give me your hand, Anna."

She did so cautiously. 

"Extend your palm."

She did so and rested her hand on my outstretched palm. 

"Now, close your eyes and picture the pavilion. I want you to picture it perfectly, down to every chip and dent."

She furrowed her brow. 

"Do you have it?" I asked after a few moments. 

"I think so." 

"Now comes the hard part. What does this pavilion mean to you?"

She opened her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"What feelings come to mind when you think of this pavilion?"

"Frustration right now." 

I laughed. "Okay, focus on that."

I muttered a few words under my breath, a silent prayer to the spirit to relax its restrictions and appear when my student called.

"Now what?"

"Imagine a small ball, and direct all your frustration into it."

She grunted with effort, and a faint light appeared above her palm. 

"Open your eyes."

She did and watched as the faint light began to slowly coalesce into a small, shining ball. 

"I did that?"

I nodded. "You did that. Do you think you can command it to do something?"

"What?"

"Whatever you want. It has to come from you. Only you know what you know. Let's see if it will respond."

The princess thought for a second and then smiled. The spirit began to shake and transformed into a small raspberry cookie. 

And vanished. 

"What happened?" Anna asked, sweat beading on her brow, breathing heavily. 

"You ran out of stamina," I said. "It takes a lot of energy to manifest a spirit. And it takes even more energy to command it."

"But you did it so easily." 

"I am quite a bit older than you, you know." 

"And you're an elf." She pointed out. 

I nodded. "Half-elf, actually, I still grow old, just as quickly as humans do. Elves have an easier time connecting with nature spirits, like the one in this pavilion. If this pavilion was surrounded by water, or fire, or buildings for that matter, then it would be much harder for me to summon a spirit."

"Are humans good at summoning a specific type of spirit?" She asked, after a few moments. 

I shook my head. "Humans are good at summoning every type of spirit. They have no restrictions. I can't summon forge spirits, and earth spirits give me a headache. You, on the other hand, can summon any spirit you want." 

"I see." She blew a tuft of hair from her face. "I guess I understand why you need to know something before you can create it."

"How so?"

"I couldn't get the spirit to turn into a raspberry cookie until I thought of the recipe and pictured it perfectly in my mind."

"See what I mean? Now, what if I asked you to turn the spirit into water?"

"No one knows how to make water." She retorted. 

I concentrated for a second, and a bucketful of water was dumped on her head. 

"Is that so?" 

She spluttered and swept her wet blonde hair from her face. 

"How dare you!" She sputtered, outraged. "I am a princess!"

Another bucket of water was dumped on her head. 

"And? What does that have to do with water being dumped on your head?"

"I'll tell Father."

"So?"

She glared at me, folding her arms across her chest. 

I concentrated again and pulled all the excess water from her clothes, leaving only her hair wet.

Her eyes grew wide. "How did you do that?"

"I thought about heating the water up and made it evaporate from your clothes without hurting you."

"How did you make it evaporate?"

"Did Miss Rita tell you the boiling point of water?" 

"One hundred degrees?"

"Very good. That's all I did. I told the spirit to heat the water in your clothes to a hundred degrees, and now you're dry."

"It's that easy?"

I nodded. "It's that easy. You just have to know how to do it. So, will you bring your books tomorrow?"

The princess wrung the water from her hair. "Yes, yes, I'll bring them. And one day, I'll dump water on your head."

"I'm looking forward to it," I replied.