Chapter 10

"What are you thinking about, Lukas?"

The princess and I sat in the pavilion, the late afternoon light casting the whole garden in shades of brass and gold.

I shook my head. "Sorry, highness," I said, smiling brightly. "My mind was fifteen years in the future."

"That's an odd thing to say." Anna tapped my palm. I opened it, and she concentrated for a moment. 

The pavilion spirit, now familiar with her, appeared above it, in the form of a rose. 

"Very good work, Anna!" I said, and held the rose by the stem, presenting it to her. 

She reached out to take it, and it evaporated into mist. 

"Damn."

"No, that was good!" I assured her. "I could touch it this time. You've become quite accustomed to summoning this spirit."

"I still can't summon it for nearly long enough." She replied, a little sulkily. 

"Well, what do you know about this pavilion? What do your studies tell you?"

She thought for a few moments. "It's pine, a softwood, sourced from a forest just outside the city."

"Tell me about the forest?"

"It's an artificial one. It was planted just over two hundred years ago by my great great-something grandfather, who needed the lumber to help him expand the fleet."

I sat back impressed. "Very good. What else?"

She danced her fingers on one of the posts. "The pavilion was crafted by…an elven artisan, and presented as a gift to the queen, on her thirtieth birthday."

"And?" 

"The queen put it in the garden, surrounded it with flowers, and spent many hours in it, just watching the gardens."

"That should be enough. So, what does this tell you about the spirit?"

"That it's comfortable around people." She held her palm out and concentrated again. 

The spirit popped into existence and began dancing around her. 

"And that it responds best to positive feelings, and is given to celebration."

At her words, the spirit began to glow brighter, and larger. It flew around her and then landed on the tip of her nose. 

Anna's eyes widened. 

"It…spoke to me." 

I smiled. "It's been speaking to you constantly, princess. You just learned to hear it."

Anna held her palm out, and the spirit settled gently on it, before fading away.

"I can still hear it." She whispered. "It's singing." She looked up at me. "Is this what you hear all the time?"

I shook my head. "When I just started learning, yes, but as I grew older, I learned to block it out. Now I hear what I want to hear when I want to hear it."

"Why would you ever want to stop hearing this?" She stood up and danced, the spirit's song rising and falling with her steps. 

"It tends to lose its charm at two in the morning when you're trying to sleep." I clapped twice, and the princess stopped dancing. 

"What did you do?" She asked, dismayed. "I can't hear it anymore."

The pavilion creaked around us. 

"Enough, both of you," I said. "Princess, you must be careful. Many apprentices have lost their minds listening to spirits. This pavilion is gentle and only wants to play, but there are other spirits. Harsh ones. Angry ones. Dark ones. They will try to hurt you."

The pavilion stopped creaking, and the princess sat down, a little subdued. 

"Oh…"

"But, congratulations on becoming a spiritspeaker, princess. You are one of the very few people in this world that can hear when a spirit speaks."

And one of the youngest. I thought, with pride. 

"Really? I'm a spiritspeaker? Does that mean I can learn magic now?" Her eyes were bright with excitement.

"You've been learning magic this whole time, princess," I said reprovingly. 

"This isn't magic, Lukas. This is just talking and listening. I want to do real magic."

"And what is real magic?"

"You know, summoning lightning, throwing fireballs." She mimed an explosion with her hands. "I want to fly, and create buildings out of thin air."

"You've been reading too many stories, highness," I said, smiling slightly, remembering my own master's response when I said the very same thing that she just said to me. 

"So it can't be done?"

"I didn't say that. Everything is possible. Well, almost everything. You just need to know how to do it." 

"Do you know how to do it?"

I nodded, "But I can't do it on my own. I'm going to need my staff for the next bit. And you're going to need one too. Or possibly a wand. Depends on what level of magic you're trying to do."

"I want to dump a bucket of water on your head." She grinned. 

I laughed. "A wand will be more than enough for that. We'll need to stop by the Academy tomorrow then, and we can get you one."