A scholar who reveres wizards and a street rat who despises them both find themselves apprenticed to a mage with a dark storied past and discover he is not what either of them expected. They may end up learning more from each other than they do from...
The morning sunlight filtered through the window of Tenet's room, rousing him from his rest.
He stretched and yawned, excited for what the day was to bring. He had waited for this day a long time.
After dressing and seeing to his morning routines, he stepped out into the hall of the upper floor of the inn and rapped on the door to one of the other rooms.
"Quinn? Are you awake? It's time to get ready."
He waited a moment and then knocked again. "Quinn?"
The chambermaid with the reddish hair, Bria, passed by carrying an armful of towels and spotted Tenet. "Your friend isn't in there, sir. She's left her room."
Tenet looked at the chambermaid in surprise and then pushed open the door to Quinn's room.
Sure enough, the bed showed no signs of use. There was nothing on the nightstand, and the window was wide open.
"She's left." Tenet let out a long sigh and sat down on the bed, not sure why this bothered him so much. But it did.
"Hey, why so glum? And what are you doing in my room?" Tenet turned in surprise to see Quinn climbing in through the window with a small sack in her hand.
"Quinn? Where have you been?"
"I was visiting the market. I wanted to get a treat."
"Must have been some fierce haggling. What happened to your forehead?"
"Rough night. Don't worry about it. Come on. Let's go."
"To see Madrigal? You're going to go through with it?"
"Yes. Now let's go before I change my mind."
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As Tenet and Quinn walked toward the wizard's tower, they received several polite nods and words of encouragement from those in town who knew the purpose of Tenet and Quinn's arrival. Tenet thanked those who spoke to him, but he said little else as they moved closer to the footbridge leading across the stream to the wizard's tower.
Quinn had said nothing since they left. She had kept her eyes fixed on the tower the entire time. Tenet suspects this meeting would be difficult for her and admired her for seeing it through.
Crossing the footbridge, they had a better look at the tower. It looked nothing like Tenet expected it would. The tower seemed to be a hodgepodge of different architectural styles layered on top of each other like a badly made cake. The oddly arranged windows varied in their size. Long sections of canvas hung in odd places, blowing in the breeze. A large miller's wheel stuck out of one side of the tower, gently turning with the passing current.
The grounds outside of the tower were, and several vegetable gardens were visible. Quinn seemed to take a particular interest in this and finally spoke. "Do you suppose these are actually safe to eat, or does he use these in potions and spells?"
