Page 43 of Mistaken Magic

"Smallones," she assured me, turning the knob to step inside.

Immediately, the conversation in the room ground to a halt and everyone looked up to see who'd walked in - even the teacher.Lynnheaded straight for him, soIfollowed meekly.Ihad a feeling that by the end of the day, everyone would get their chance to gawk at me.Thiswhole system was almost designed to make sure of it.

"Mr.Greene,"Lynnsaid, gesturing to me. "ThisisRainBrooks, andI'msupposed to help her choose her electives."

"Liam'sniece,"Mr.Greenesaid. "Well,Ihave plenty ofLegaciesin here.Yousee, after theExodus, we quickly learned normal shops won't sew clothes with enchanted thread or dye them with distilled potions.Seemssuch things are considered pointless."

"Magic,"Irealized.

Henodded, a cherubic smile on his happy face. "Exactly.Soin most fae communities, there are jobs for people trained to handle some often expensive enchantments.Ofcourse, baking with love potions is always in high demand.Notthat we'd use anything so dangerous in here, but giggle potions have almost the same qualities.Thenthere's the simple reality that working with magic means someone will have to clean up the magic.Theresidues and stains left behind can require a specialist.Thoseare a few things you'll learn in my class."

"Ok, that sounds a lot more interesting than whatIexpected,"Itold him.

"Go, have a look around.Ifyou have any questions, even if they come up later, feel free to ask me."Mr.Greenegestured to the rest of the room, basically turning us loose.

Lynnled me around the edge, allowing me to gawk at the minor differencesIdidn't notice at first glance.Thesewing machines were pretty standard.Themetal cage around the unused spools of thread weren't.Theovens were at the back, but the oven mitts hanging on the fronts had a very interesting looking fabric.

Andwhile all of this was unique and different,Istill didn't want to takeHomeEcagain.I'dhad that course as a freshman, andI'dhated it.Ididn't think adding magic would necessarily make sitting at a sewing machine more "my thing."

Whenwe left there, we passed another class with the door open.Inside, it looked like a brewery with all the glass lines swirling around.Myfeet slowed soIcould figure it out, butLynnjust caught my arm and kept going.

"That'san enchantment class," she explained. "Distillingand brewing with fae plants to make potions.Now, over here is something you might like."

Sheled me to a classroom straight ahead of us.Justlike before,Lynntowed me inside, then moved to whisper a few words to the teacher.Hepointed to a spot at the side, making it clear we could stand against the wall, and then kept going.

"So, where wasI?Right, weapons."Theman clasped his hands behind his back and meandered across the front of the classroom. "I'msure you've all experienced iron sensitivity by now.Well, for those of pure fae blood, it's even worse.Naturally, that means swords, knives, and even armor can't be made from the metal.Theproblem is there are few other options here.Thesame is not true inFaerie."

Ok, he had my attention.Whenthe teacher picked up a small rectangle of an almost iridescent metal,Irecognized it.Atleast,Iwas pretty sure it was the second optionI'dlooked at in my entrance exam.Theone with the rainbow reflections.

"Thisiseltam," he explained. "Unlikeiron, it is not a magnetic metal.Inmany ways, the properties are similar to that of aluminum.Thedifference iseltamis stronger.It'sharder to forge.Itcan also hold an enchantment much easier.Manyfae swords or daggers had protections or additional damage properties built into them as they were forged.Flamingswords are just one example."

Hewent on to explain how the fae courts had been dazzling places, not only because of the pale silver color of the metal, but also due to the refractive qualities of its surface.Lightingfor events was often chosen to bring out warm or cool shades, thus making guards appear dazzling to the nobility of the courts.InFaerie, beauty was as much a spell as any other magic the fae could perform, it seemed.

Afterabout fifteen minutes,Lynngestured for me to head to the door.Theteacher looked over at us and nodded, but he didn't stop what he was talking about.Ikinda wanted to stay and listen a little longer, butLynnwas clearly done with it.

Still, the moment we were in the hall,Imade her pause. "Whichclass was that?"

"Oh,HistoryofMagic," she said, all but blowing it off. "It'sone of your options, butIhear the tests are killer."

"Itsounds kinda cool."

Sherolled her eyes. "Onlyif you're trying to pad your resume or something.Theylist it as a specialty history course.Seriously, what difference does it make?Imean, all that stuff happened inFaerie, and we're not exactlyinFaerie.We'rehere, and there's no moreeltamexcept what the refugees brought with them.Thoseweapons are hoarded.Thethings are priceless!Allthe rest of it?Wemay do it a little differently here because we don't have as much magic, but again, we'rehere."

"Yeah,Ican see that,"Imumbled.

YetIdidn't agree with her at all.Knowingthe how of things often explained the why.Itwas somethingI'dlearned the hard way as a foster kid.Historyhad a way of coming back to bite us when we least expected it.Nevermind that all of this was amazing!Iwanted to know everything they were willing to share.

Maybeit was becauseIwas merely human.Ishouldn't evenbeat this school, butI'dgotten in, soIwanted to make sureIappreciated it.Hopefully, the harderItried, the less likely they'd be to kick me out.Liamwas a human.Iwas a human.Therewas no reasonIcouldn't figure out a way to make myself useful to the fae and eventually earn that title:caradil.

Fromthere, we headed to another classroom on the far side of the building.Thistime,Ididn't understand a single word.Consideringthe class was the introduction course to the fae language, that made sense.Still, listening to it was nice.Thewords were melodic and soothing.Theylilted and flowed in ways which reminded me of a song, andIkinda liked it.

Somewherealong the way, the bell rang, and students once again shuffled through the halls to their next class.Lynnkept me moving, aiming for yet another classroom.Afew people turned to look at me.Acouple of guys smiled in a way that felt like an offer.Plentyof girls sneered as ifIwas something they didn't want to get close to.

Thosewere the jesters,Iwas pretty sure.Theyall had on too much jewelry, all of it was gold, and much of it had expensive gems.Goldenblonde hair, reds, and warm shades of brown seemed to be the most popular in that group, and they traveled in small packs.Clearly, popularity worked the same way with fae as with humans.Theprettier ones always rose to the top, and the more they were adored, it seemed the uglier their expressions became.

Whenthe next class started,Lynntook me into another room.Thistime, it was calledTaxonomyofFaerie.Theinstructor talked about the plants and beasts ofFaerie, how they differed from those onEarth, and compared many to folklore.Fromthe littleIwas able to hear, it seemed trolls were real.Afew had escaped toEarthlong ago and were gone now, but they were prevalent inFaerie.

Lynnwas bored with the lectures, though, so she decided we could hit one more and then we'd call it good.Consideringshe'dbeen the one to say we needed to take the whole afternoon,Iwas a little confused, but not willing to contradict her.Onceagain, we walked the entire length of the hall, back towards those large rooms where we'd first started, and she picked a door almost at random.

---