“Are you alright, sir?” Dashito asked him.
Era looked distant and off in his own world, but he quickly turned around to his new apprentice. “Yes,” he said, “I’ll be okay. It’s just hard to say goodbye, you know?”
“I do,” he said, nodding.
“And you’re welcome to call me Lucien if you like,” he said with a smile. “Or Luc, or Era if you prefer. There’s no need to be formal here.”
“Are you sure?” Dashito asked. “I mean, I am your apprentice.”
“And therefore I believe we have the right to be casual with one another,” he joked lightly.
Dashito smiled. “Thanks, sir—uh, Lucien.”
Era smiled, scribbling something on a piece of paper and dropping it down a chute for the servants to collect. “You’re very welcome,” he said. “Now I think it’s time for a bit more tea, don’t you?”
And I’m not the one bringing it? Dashito suddenly felt very glad of his choice of master. “That’d be great. No lemon for me, though.”
The carriage ride back to Sarmanna seemed much, much longer than usual.
Gabriel felt little relief as he stepped out onto his porch, exhausted from the trip as he was. And Era’s not here anymore, he thought. What is this, empty nest syndrome?
The house was empty and quiet, the couch still slightly disorganized from Era’s last awakening on it. He straightened the pillows on it and rearranged the blanket with half a mind, then trudged up the stairs to unpack.
“Too tired for that right now,” he muttered to himself, tossing his bag on the floor and collapsing on the bed, wriggling out of his boots. He groaned as he sank into the bed. “Guess tomorrow I’ll start working on my latest batch of potions or some such.”
He rolled over, staring at the ceiling. “Just like old times,” he said resignedly, drifting off into a deep, heavy sleep.
A week later, Era and Dashito were strolling casually down the halls of the castle.
He’d had a formal ceremony after his speech and settling in; he’d feasted as much as his small frame would allow him to, unwittingly butting elbows with some of the most powerful men in the country in the process. Power games still aren’t to my taste, he thought afterwards.
He’d also learned that Dashito slept in the servants’ quarters. “But you’re an apprentice!” he said incredulously. “Your master is supposed to arrange your living conditions!”
“Caine, uh, didn’t like to be disturbed,” Dashito explained. “And honestly, I didn’t want to be anywhere near him when I was asleep.”
Era chuckled. “I understand completely,” he said. “If you’d like, though, we can change that. We can easily put a bed in the attic above this room, if you don’t mind a little dust.”
Dashito looked surprised. “You don’t have to, but… yeah, I’d like that.”
“Then we’ll get right on it.”
The two became fast friends; Era found that having him around made the hurt of Gabriel not being there much easier to bear. I still miss him, he thought. He was like a second father. But he was right: we do all have to move on eventually.
Their walk was merely for the pleasure of it; neither of them had a destination in mind. “If they didn’t make half the castle’s guards follow us when we did,” Era joked, “we could go walking in the woods.”
“Ah well,” Dashito replied with a smile. “This place is enormous; I don’t think I’ll ever see all of it.”
“Very true.” He smiled as they walked side by side for a while, startling some of the servants as they passed. Seemingly out of nowhere, he chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Dashito asked.
“Nothing, really,” he said. “It’s just… have I ever told you about the first time I cast magic after losing my memories?”
“Everyone, the Archmage is on his way!!” shouted the Academy guard. “Everyone on your knees, show some respect!!”
It was several days later, and Era and Dashito had decided to pay a visit to the Academy. “I am the headmaster now,” he said, not fully believing it himself. “I suppose it’d be good to drop by every once in a while.”
Once again, the entire student and staff body dropped to their knees as Era approached. Several of the teachers wondered why on earth they’d told the detectives investigating his disappearance that they’d never heard of him; after all, he had been the Archmage.
Embarrassed, Era motioned for everyone to get up. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” he said, “just go about your normal routine. Pretend we aren’t even here.”
Slowly and with a good deal of confusion, some of the students began to slowly rise to their feet and resume their duties, casting sideways glances at Era the entire time. Once the rest of them realized it wasn’t some sort of trick to weed out the gullible ones, the rest eventually rose as well.
“Much better,” Era said with a smile, earning a chuckle from Dashito. They continued down the hallway to Tarrgus’s office.
The guards pulled open the doors for them, bowing as they walked by. Tarrgus was, as usual, busily working away at his desk.
“This had better be important,” he grumbled. “I’m very busy.”
“I suppose this is a rather important visit for us,” Era said politely.
Startled, Tarrgus jumped out of his seat. “You!! What… why are…” his face paled as he realized exactly who Era was. “Your mageliness,” he said, bowing as low as his gut would allow him to and breaking into a nervous sweat, “you must excuse my horrible attitude towards you during your last visit. I truly… I don’t know what came over me…”
“All is forgiven,” Era said with a smile. “I’m merely here to check on how my school is progressing.” My school, he thought with an excited inner laugh.
“But of course, milord,” he said, pulling out a record book. “Let me, uh, get the proper records here…”
While he was digging, Era noticed a familiar record book out on a desk. He flipped through it absent-mindedly, stopping on a familiar page.
Erauldin --- Samuel Lyonsworth
Eravisté --- Lucien Baines
Eravitral --- Wendon Schmitt
Erbusyyn --- Galen Foley
He smiled triumphantly. Perfect.
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