Wizard's Price

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Though Lucia was instructed to go to bed, she decided not to immediately go downstairs. She would just be lying in the dark, staring at the ceiling, anyway. To work off the nervous energy she felt waiting for Rune to return, she started cleaning the workroom. Her potions were coming along nicely, even without magick. She bottled one of them - a simple rash cream - and set another aside to simmer for the night.

As she was doing that, she asked Chaz to read her stories. He did so happily. Rune, apparently, didn't do much pleasure reading. Chaz loved to do so, but he couldn't call on anything by himself, a wizard had to do it for him.

Which, of course, sent a tingle down her spine to think that word. She was a wizard. A hedge wizard, to be sure. If that. She was an apprentice hedge wizard. Still, she was no longer just Princess Lucia. She was Princess Lucia, apprentice to the Great Wizard Rune. Soon to also be wife of the Great Wizard Rune.

She had to bite her lip to keep a wide smile off her face at the thought. She couldn't wait until the day they washed each other in the river and joined their lives in its water. They would be bound by the Iifa, even her father couldn't tear them apart.

Her hand stilled as she wiped off a workbench.

At least, she didn't think her father could tear them apart. She knew that he loved her, but she really rather wished he would stop acting so rashly. Lucia could take care of herself, and he should know that Rune would only do what was best for the kingdom.

"Lucia, are you even listening?"

"Huh? Wha-?" She turned, pulling herself from her thoughts to face Chaz's accusatory glare. She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just...worrying."

"A pointless, human act, I assure you."

"How is it pointless?"

"Well, you humans only ever seem to worry about things you can't do anything about."

"That's not true," she frowned, walking towards him.

"Sure it is. If you could do something about it and it was something to worry over, you would have done something already. Worrying is an activity reserved for times when you can't change things."

"My dear Chaz, that almost sounded wise," Lucia smiled at him.

"I've been known to dispense wisdom in my day," he said a bit haughtily.

"A normal person would just tell me they understand my feelings," she laughed, booping his nose. "You can't tell me that there aren't things that concern you?"

"Fire. I've got a thing about fire. And rodents, but that's another story."

Lucia grinned. "Well, just imagine that Rune is a bit too close to a fire. You never know if an errant spark will send him up in flames."

"Well, he's not made of paper, so your comparison is flawed."

"I don't know if I love you or hate you," Lucia laughed.

"I get that a lot. Besides, you're the one who chose to stay up. You could have gone to bed."

"Then I'd just be worrying in bed."

"You humans are so overly complicated," he rolled his eyes. "Shall I continue reading stories that you'll ignore, or would you prefer silence?"

"I should probably go downstairs," she admitted, setting down her rag. "That's where Rune will be looking for me when he returns. I don't want to miss him."

"Ah, yes. The time honored human tradition of mating. So disturbing."

"We could make a nice lady book for you to make children's stories with, if you want," Lucia said, laughing at the very thought of it.