24. Fenric #3
Lirion jumped to his feet as if he couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.
He moved away from the table to join Malfas and Maxie near the small stone oven—a recent addition so Rain could wring more muffins out of Fenric.
Lirion grabbed a ladle, scooped water from their portable water barrel, and poured it into a teakettle before handing it to Maxie. “Put that on the stove, too.”
“Oh, sure? I can’t add tea leaves to this, though,” Maxie warned him. “I tried making tea and failed miserably.”
“I know. I’m testing something else.” Lirion met Malfas’s excited gaze with a giddy look of his own. Fenric found himself grinning as well. Their enthusiasm over figuring out Maxie’s magic puzzle was infectious. He could almost see the shared thoughts zipping between Malfas and Lirion.
Maxie went along with the direction, putting the teakettle on the stove.
“Butter should be melted. Pull out the pan,” Malfas said.
Maxie did as directed, pulling it out and then setting it on the eye next to the kettle. Lirion tested the butter and made a face.
“Poisonous?” Fenric guessed.
“Slightly so, but yes.” Lirion tossed the needle into the sink before he took out another and dipped it into the kettle.
That one was even more obvious. Fenric could see the needle turning black from here.
Maxie stared at both pan and kettle, jaw dropping. “Even just that?!”
“Alchemy relies upon both fire and water in order to create its magic,” Malfas stated with a nod. “I’m not surprised by these results. Frankly, water and heat are triggers for your magic to activate.”
Lirion shook his head and tossed that needle into the sink as well. “So no boiled water for you.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Maxie said with a whimper. The way he stared at Lirion and Malfas, it was like he couldn’t figure out whether to laugh or cry.
Malfas ruffled Maxie’s curls and grinned broadly.
“It’s why apprentice alchemists may prep, store, and handle ingredients all day, but the second they need to use fire or water, they have a master right at their side.
So, Puppy, you can help prep food in a kitchen, but don’t come near the oven at all. ”
Maxie’s shoulders slumped. “Well, I guess I can brew up a poison quickly, at least. There must be an upside.”
“As we’ve explained, there are plenty of people who will pay a lot of money for an effective poison, particularly one that doesn’t look, smell, or taste like a poison.
Can you imagine how hard it is to poison someone when you hand them something that smells or tastes off?
” Fenric wanted to encourage him, as he seemed so disappointed right now.
“And what if you find yourself in jail or captured. Those assholes are always cleaning out your pockets to make sure you don’t have anything good.
What if the jailer or kidnapper just happened to find a tasty cookie in your pocket?
You think that jerk isn’t going to eat it in front of you? ”
Maxie bit his lip, but it didn’t completely stop his giggles as he likely imagined getting revenge on someone threatening him, and he accomplished it with nothing more than a cookie.
“Can you handle water at all…?” Lirion fetched a cup from the cupboard. “Just try filling the glass with water.”
Maxie ladled water from the barrel, then handed it over to Lirion. Lirion tested it with a silver needle and shrugged.
“Safe. So it is the combination of fire and water that engages your talent. Or just fire itself.”
Maxie stared at the cup for a long moment before he broke out into a huge grin. “Well, I can help by chopping up ingredients or fetching things from the market with no need to worry. Thank you very much, Lirion, Malfas. This is such a relief to have even this small understanding of my gift.”
“Of course, my pleasure.”
“Excuse me!” Fenric called from the table, holding one hand in the air. “I believe there was talk of an apple cobbler, but I currently see no progress being made on such a dessert.”
“Oh yes!” Maxie darted over to the table and plopped onto the empty spot on the long bench next to Fenric. “I would also like some cobbler.”
Malfas started to run over to the table and join them, but Fenric held up a hand, stopping him. “Before you sit, don’t you think you should update Hapi on what you’ve learned? You’re going to forget.” Fenric jerked a thumb topside. “He’ll want to know all of this.”
“Excellent notion. He has been very concerned about the manifestation of Maxie’s powers and was determined to uncover the limitations and reach of said magic. I’ll be back momentarily.”
“Yes, me too! I can’t wait to tell him.” Maxie and Malfas dashed away in a swirl of robes and hammering of feet on the hardwood.
Lirion bent his head down, apparently to track where Maxie was, before he commented, “It’s very odd to see someone of his age who doesn’t understand the basics of his ability. Is he a late bloomer?”
“I have no idea, but he didn’t even know he could poison people when we first met.” Fenric rubbed his forehead.
“Where is his master? He should have already had one by now.”
“No, if we’re asking questions, let’s start with why his family threw him out and then had him buried alive.”
Lirion quickly halted his cooking, voice going into the realm of bad operas. “He was what?!”
“Keep cooking,” Fenric requested, letting out a tired sigh. “I’ll fill you in. It all started a week before I first met you, actually…”