"I'll take your hand! Not in marriage or anything, though, if that's what you mean... that'd be super gross. I'm half your age."
"No! No, no, no! No! As my apprentice!"
"Yeah! What's that even mean? You're gonna make me into a wizard?"
"Exactly!"
"...Cool! And does that mean I get free food?"
"Yes!"
"Wow! I don't think I've ever felt happier!"
She grinned, showing her sharp, pointy teeth. Both Linnie and Lady instinctually winced at the sight of her two large fangs, despite it being a friendly gesture.
"So you're gonna teach me magic, right?" she asked.
"That is what becoming a wizard means," Linnie scoffed. "Are you done with your questions? It's getting late, and unlike you, we haven't eaten yet."
For some reason, the boy forced a strange sense of superiority into his voice. It was quite childish.
"Huh? But I haven't eaten yet—oh." She realized what he was talking about and burst into laughter. "Are you still hung up on that? You're so funny. You're lucky I didn't go for your neck!"
He scowled as she, again, broke into a laughing fit.
"Tch, right."
The party, now made up of five members (yes, including the cat), walked a short distance down the path and away from the scene of the toppled wagon. They didn't want to camp near the dead bodies or risk the porcupine bear coming back.
Once the campfire was made and food was on the flame, Linnie was about ready to pass out. But, of course, he didn't.
He was far too hungry!
"Wow, this smells amazing! I haven't had real food in, like, forever," she giggled.
'That's kind of dark, isn't it?' Linnie thought, almost feeling bad for a second.
Then he rubbed his forearm, still red and ticklish from the effects of the healing potion. Suddenly, he didn't feel so bad anymore.
"So what's being a slave like, anyway?" he asked, spinning the skewers over the fire.
He'd never met a slave before, so he was quite curious. His hometown was much too poor to have any real slave trade. There were a few times that Linnie himself was nearly forced into servitude... but that wasn't anything of real substance.
"Oh, I don't know. I was kind of different, so I don't think I'm the best example, but..." She put her finger to her lip, thinking of how to best describe her life up until that point. "I was sort of like a doll, you know? I would be dressed up and carried around everywhere. I never really did any work like the other slaves, so I guess it wasn't too bad!"
'That doesn't seem bad at all! Death to pretty people and their easy lives...!'
"But then why's a doll like you getting shipped off to somewhere wearing nothing but rags? You look like a bum."
"I look like a bum? Really?" she asked, examining herself with a concerned expression.
She wore what could only be described as... a potato sack. Her 'clothes,' skin, and hair were all caked in dirt, and it looked like she hadn't been groomed since she was born.
"You're not even wearing any shoes, of course you look like a bum," Linnie snickered.
"What!? But you're not wearing any shoes, either!"
"Yeah, but I'm a bum, so it's only natural that I don't wear shoes!"
Alwyn appeared behind them, wrapping his arms around both of their shoulders.
"Linnie, you aren't a bum, and Liora, you aren't a slave. Not anymore. We're going to be in Corvailles soon, and I don't expect you to act perfectly, but as my apprentices, you're practically nobility now. So try and... uh, at least clean up a bit. Okay?"
He gave them each a pat on the back and grabbed two skewers from the fire, walking off.
'I'm glad, it looks like they're getting along better now. I think?' he thought to himself as he took a bite of the food.
He'd meant to bring the other skewer to Aliza, but she was already passed out.
'More for me, I guess!'
"Yeah, he's gonna buy us brand new clothes once we get to the big city," Linnie told her. "And not just any clothes—crazy expensive wizard robes."
"Whoa, really? Does that mean we get to wear cool hats, too!?"
Linnie raised his eyebrow, making a funny face.
"You seriously think that thing is cool? It's so lame! I sure hope I don't have to wear one."
"But, wasn't it awesome when he brought out the entire camp from inside the hat? I've never seen anything like that, before!"
"Eh... you get used to it, you know?" Linnie bragged. "Stuff like that is nothing impressive, especially when you know real magic."
"Wait, you know how to use magic?!"
"Obviously. I'm Alwyn's first apprentice. How could I not?"
"Show me!" she begged, wide-eyed and excited.
Linnie pointed his finger into the air, smiling smugly. He leaned back on the log bench, striking a relaxed, nonchalant pose.
"FIREBALL!"
A large fireball flew into the air, and Liora watched in awe as it exploded and lit up the night sky. The force of the spell nearly caused the boy to fall on his back, thanks to his unsteady posture.
He quickly stabilized himself though, before anyone got the chance to see his silly mistake.
"Wow! That was so cool!" Liora said, moving her fists up and down in excitement. "When do I get to learn how to do that!?"
"Patience. I'm sort of a..." Linnie moved his hand up close to his mouth and leaned closer to her. Whispering, he said, "Genius. It probably won't be as easy for you, so Alwyn'll start by teaching you more basic spells, I'd bet."
"Wow! How impressive!"
'She says 'wow' a lot, huh?' Linnie thought.
"What's that smell? No! The meat!"
He dove towards the fire, slapping the remaining, burning, skewers from the flame.
After that, they quickly ate and set up the sleeping sacks. As usual, Linnie dragged his own far from the rest. When he climbed inside, though, he was surprised to hear the sound of footsteps growing closer. Then rustling.
He turned around and was face to face with Liora, who was lying on the dirt next to his sleeping sack.
"What are you doing...?"
"We don't have an extra sleeping sack, so Alwyn and Aliza told me to sleep in yours. I felt bad, so I decided to just sleep next to you," she said, yawning.
Unamused, Linnie shouted at her to go and sleep with Aliza.
"Over here is for me and me alone! Oh, and Lady, too. C'mere Lady... good girl. Now scram! Shoo! Begone!"
'Heh, 'begone.' I didn't even know I knew that word. It comes naturally to a wizard's apprentice like me, I guess.'
Liora bounced away and back to the other two, who were snickering in amusement. Linnie turned back away once he saw Liora climb into Aliza's sack.
Linnie lay still in his sleeping sack, eyes closed, body perfectly still—pretending to sleep the way you do while you wait for the blanket of dreams to fall over you. But it never... did.
The forest was perfectly quiet. The air was cool, but not too cold, and the ground beneath him was soft—a patch of moss that gathered like a mattress for him to sleep on. Even the stars above the thin break in the trees were soothing and scattered. Calming, really.
Normally, he would've been long gone by now. Out cold in minutes, able to sleep through even the loudest of thunderstorms, his dreams already painting pictures of nonsense scenarios in his head.
Was it the events of the day keeping him awake? It couldn't be. He had experienced much more terrifying things, only to sleep like a baby right afterwards.
He rolled onto his side. Then his back. Then his other side. Then, onto the first side he had rolled on, again. Nothing. His incessant movements caused Lady to hiss and run away to a more comfortable spot.
He counted sheep, held his breath, listened to the soft creaking of the wood swaying in the wind. It started to irritate him; his heartbeat started to feel too loud, and his eyes burned. His stomach growled as the birds started to chirp.
Linnie had never experienced such a thing before—insomnia. He didn't even know the word for it. He wasn't cold. He wasn't scared. He was just... awake. Miserably and stubbornly awake. As if something hovered above his shoulders, shaking him gently whenever he drifted too close to sleep.
"You're up early, that's surprising," Alwyn said, noticing.
But he was never not 'up' to begin with.