by A E M
The corners of his mouth turned up. “Tell me everything that’s happened since I left.”
She told him what had happened starting when she arrived by the portal. He was a mixture of frowns and smiles while she spoke. When she got to the part about the tornado, he doubled over with laughter and slapped his knee.
“What?” She asked. “What did I do?”
“You broke up the storm and sent it in pieces all over.” He was crying and laughing then. “He’s out there still trying to clean up the mess you made. Those storms won’t shut down like a normal storm does.”
Charlotte looked up at the darkening sky. “He’s going to be livid when he gets back, isn’t he? He was already riled up before the storm. And here I was proud of myself for putting out the fire.”
“Oh, good luck with whatever he dishes out. It sounds like you’ve been breaking him in well, but he hasn’t done the same for you.”
“Whatever do you mean?” She asked.
David placed his hands on her shoulders. “Sister, if Vincent had totally ignored what I asked him to do, repeatedly, and then pulled the stunt you just did, he would be chopping wood until we had enough to last the winter.”
“You’re serious?” She asked.
“I’m scrubbing pots and pans with a toothbrush serious.” He nodded. “Ask him. He’s done both.”
“Now I know why he threw you out the window.”
David smirked. “Actually, if he had done the storm thing to me, I would have run to Papa for help. He’s sticking it out.”
She smiled at the mention of their father. “Did you ever go to Papa about him? Did Vincent ever do something like this?”
He laughed and sighed. “I did go to him. Many times. Vincent will learn that he will need to come to me occasionally. I’d like to be involved in your training, but I have to let him allow me or it won’t work.”
“You were the one who said he wasn’t ready. Do you think he’ll want to go to you?”
“Charlotte, someday you will tell somebody they aren’t ready.” He patted her shoulder. “Someday sooner than that Vincent will tell you that you aren’t ready.”
“Still, it doesn’t seem very productive. How is he supposed to know it’s okay to come to you?”
David sighed and shook his head at her. “He knows.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I have yours, too, you know.”
“Thanks, brother.” She hugged him quickly.
“That sounds so good to my ears, and I’m glad to see you relaxing more. You have to let some people be close to you. Now, I have to get back to the den. I was going to drop off your Quire, but if Vincent finds out you have it already, he’ll know you ratted him out.”
“I did not rat him out!” She said with a huff.
“Yes, you did.” He grinned.
“You can’t say a word. I told you as a brother, not as his former master!” She insisted.
“Okay, chill! What we discuss is between siblings, then. That will work. I’ll check in again later.” He looked around. “He’s left you here without protection for hours? What is he thinking?”
She shrugged. “He probably wasn’t thinking.” She put her hands on her hips. “Besides, you two have been around for all of two days. I’ve been taking care of myself just fine before that.”
David drummed his fingers on the side of his pants. “Oh, yes, sister. Your collection of burned fields and items clearly defines how well you’ve been taking care of yourself.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
“Okay, I get that.” His face softened slightly. “But you need Vincent. The magic part of you needs help from somebody more experienced. Don’t forget that.”
Charlotte bent and picked up the blanket on the ground and folded it up so she could put in back in her pack. “You didn’t answer my question earlier. Did he ever do anything like this to you?”
“Many, many times.” David said. “But I’ve had so many apprentices that dealing with misbehavior in the first weeks is second nature to me. The harder part with him was his little running away act. He tried to run away now and then for years.”
“Years?” Charlotte asked in disbelief. “Why? I can’t imagine him doing that. He said you were a fantastic teacher.”
“He did? Ah, sweetness to my ears.” David put his hand over his heart.
“What did you do when he ran off?” She asked.
“I brought him back. Every time.” He said.
“You really cared that much about him?” She asked.
David stared at her quietly. He opened his mouth and then shut it. He looked away for a moment. Charlotte waited quietly. He had to have cared about his apprentices, about his job a great deal. Josef had even made a comment about him having more apprentices than usual.
“Yes, I cared about him a lot.” He turned back to look at her. “Is that what you are struggling with? Trusting that he cares enough about you to make the right decisions?”
“I trusted our parents, didn’t I? And look how that ended up.” She whispered and turned away from him.
“Oh, Sister.” David put his arm around her. “I chose Vincent for you for a reason, you know.”
“What, why?” She looked up at him.
“You’ll know why one day. Trust me.”
“Helpful.” She grumbled.
“I try.” He hugged her to his side. “Do you want me to stay and wait with you for him?”
“Yes, but you better not.” She waved him off. “I can handle myself.”
David crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Act like you did when we first talked and you had no idea what happened. Are you a good liar?”
“Terrible.”
He groaned. “He’s going to know everything. That boy has hawk eyes when it comes to behavior. He’ll know we talked. We’re both in trouble.” He laughed. “But me much, much less than you.”
“Are you going to stay, then?” She asked.
“He doesn’t have time to go.” Vincent said as he stepped back into the clearing. He was filthy and wind-blown and his clothes were tattered.
David’s face went serious and he took a few quick steps back so he stood behind Vincent. Vincent looked back at him. “I’ll talk to you later.” He turned back to face Charlotte. “You.” He began. “Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you have caused? Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you could have caused?”
“I don’t know.” She answered. Of course she didn’t know. What kind of question was that?
He stepped closer. “No, you don’t know. Do you know why that is?”
“Because you haven’t taught me yet?” She said, keeping her voice as calm as possible. Could they skip the nonsense?
“Right.” He stepped closer. “Because it’s my job to teach you and it’s your job to learn from me. Right now I’m doing my job, but you aren’t doing yours.” He said.
She took a few steps back. “Oh, come off it. It was a simple mistake.”
Vincent stood as still as stone, breathing slowly.
David closed his eyes and shook his head at her.
“Please leave us.” Vincent said quietly as looked back at David.
David left the clearing quickly.
Charlotte stepped up to Vincent. The anger in her boiled over. “You know, you’re a mess. All inspirational and helpful one moment, and shut off and cranky the next.”
“What did you just say?” Vincent asked with a laugh and a look that sent Charlotte a few more steps back.
“You heard me.” She said, her voice tone less sure.
“You know, you do need to show me some respect. You aren’t a slice of pie, princess.” Vincent said coolly.
How was she going to do this? They pulled at each other, back and forth. She stepped up to him. “I can’t take your rollercoaster!”
“My rollercoaster?” Vincent asked. He inched forward until there was nothing but anger between them. His voice was tight, low, and dangerously quiet. “Want to try r
iding yours?”
Charlotte opened her mouth to speak, but Vincent waved his hand quickly and she found herself unable to utter a sound.
“You know, Madam rollercoaster—” He pulled his gloves off and held them tight in his fist. “I’m not sure what chafes me more, the gloves or you.”
Charlotte stumbled back. Words could punch as well as fists.
“Follow me. Or stay lost. Up to you.”
Charlotte couldn’t help but feel that they were two different rollercoasters on the same track heading in opposite directions. Eventually the crash would come. She grabbed her things and followed him back into the woods. His pace was quick, but she had no problem keeping up. They hadn’t walked long before they came to a smaller clearing where David and Beau we standing around laughing.
“Hey! Come join us!” Beau called out and waved them over.
“Did you have a pleasant discussion?” David teased as they neared.
Charlotte glared at Vincent and stood between Beau and David.
“Ah,” David said and patted her arm. “I used that on him, too. Well, usually he took care of it for me and clammed up on his own. But there were a few times he exploded like a kettle and he found himself in your shoes.”
“I was never disrespectful.” Vincent muttered.
“Oh, never!” David said. “I never had that problem with you.”
Vincent turned and began to walk away. “Can we talk privately?”
David turned to Beau. “Watch your girl. Make sure she doesn’t blow anything up, set fire to the trees, flood the earth, or cause mayhem in general. She can’t talk right now. Enjoy the silence.” He walked after Vincent.
“What do you want to do?” Beau whispered in Charlotte’s ear. She pointed up.
“I can do that.” He pulled a windboard up from beside him and held his hands out. “Let’s go see the stars, Caramia.”
12
The Brother and His Secret
“You did what?” David yelled at the boy. “Just what are you thinking?”
The trembling boy stared up at him. “I don’t know.” He cried. “I’m sorry. I’m just bad.”
David shook his head. “Vincent, stop that. We’ve talked about this. Making a bad decision doesn’t make you a bad person.”
“No, you knew I was bad when you got me. Why don’t you just get rid of me like you want to?”
“I don’t want to get rid of you. We are family.” David scooped the boy up and held him close.
“I can’t get the bad out of my head.” Vincent whispered to him.
David hugged the boy tighter. It was time for drastic measures.
“Come here, you.” David said once they were out of sight of the campfire. He put Vincent in a headlock and rubbed his head. “Have you missed me?”
Vincent pushed him off and stepped aside. “Really, David, that never gets old.” He shook his hand through his hair.
David patted his heart over his vest. “I think that this is the first time you have ever said my full name.”
“How touching.” Vincent said sarcastically.
“Attitude.” David said seriously. “You are not too old to knock upside the head occasionally.” He tapped the back of Vincent’s head playfully.
They walked farther into the woods. The temperature was dropping rapidly. David kept his tongue. He knew Vincent was about to explode, and he didn’t blame him. He had had many apprentices, and only a couple of them came anywhere close to what Vincent was going through with Charlotte.
“It’s been a long day.” Vincent finally said. He looked over at him. “I thought we were equals now.”
David shook his head and smiled. “We are, but you are always going to be that grungy little kid severely lacking in love and discipline to me, man.”
Vincent stopped and pointed back towards where the campfire was. His muscles were ridged, and his face was stony. “I was never that bad. It’s barely been a couple of days and I’m chasing storms all over the continent.”
David raised his eyebrows and did nothing to hide the smirk of his lips. “Dude, you were trouble from the start. Do you even remember the first several years we were together?”
“I didn’t make tornados.” Vincent said firmly.
“Well, that is what you get for choosing a girl apprentice.” David laughed.
“Really, you’re going to boil it down to that?”
David grabbed Vincent’s shoulders, gave him his sternest mentoring stare, and straightened his usual smile into a serious line. “I admit that she is a handful, but you knew that going in. She is not going to be like anything anyone has experienced before. You chose that. You are both in brand new territory, and it has not even been one day. Step back from the emotions of the last day and look at this objectively. She is a mess inside. Her entire world was thrown into a blender and tossed back at her. She regrouped as best as she could and then we walked in and shook things up just before another attack smashed her home again.”
“She’s impulsive and disrespectful and stubborn.” He rubbed his beard. “She’s also a girl. She giggles, and I don’t know what to do with that.”
David laughed. “I had one girl apprentice and that was enough for me for a lifetime. I leave the girls to train the girls.”
“You could have warned me.” Vincent said as he picked up a stick and tossed it into the trees.
“Training an apprentice of the opposite gender is an experience every weaver should have once. If I had warned you, I would have two apprentices and I’d be smacking both of you upside the head right about now.” He shook his head dramatically. “Listen, you are worn out. You need some rest time. I had to do that with you, remember?”
They were both quiet for a few minutes before David spoke up again. “How long were you listening to Charlotte and I talking?”
“The entire time.” Vincent confessed. “I arrived a few minutes before you did, but I was taking some time to gather my thoughts.”
“So you heard me then.” David said.
“Yes, but—” Vincent started to say.
“But what? Kill the pride. You thought I’d just skip out on you after so long? If you ran away from your responsibilities tonight, I’d find you and drag you right back by the ear.” He grabbed Vincent’s shoulders again. “Do you know why that is, Vincent? Do you remember?”
Vincent raised his eyes to meet David’s. “Because we are family.”
“That’s right, and that will never change.” David said as he hugged him.
“I’m in over my head.” Vincent admitted quietly. “This is much harder than I thought it would be.”
David laughed. “It always is, man.”
“I thought it might be easier.” Vincent confessed. “I thought her age would help.”
“It will.” David said. “Eventually.” He clapped Vincent on the back. “You are in over both of our heads, I’m afraid. So ask me to stay. Please. I have to admit that I’m intrigued by the entire situation. Will she complete the apprenticeship? Will he learn to handle her?” He teased.
“I’m failing.”
David shook his head. “Charlotte told me everything that’s happened. There was no failure from you. I admit that you need to get her under control, but that wasn’t going to be easy in the first place.”
Vincent shook his head and threw a stick. “What am I going to do? She is dead set on attending the meeting, but her magic is completely out of control right now. She seems especially dangerous when she dreams.”
“You know, I didn’t sleep well for a couple of years after I got you.” David said as he grabbed his own stick and threw it.
“I don’t remember much about nights.” Vincent admitted.
“Lucky you. Once I woke and the house was empty. You were outside floating around, completely asleep.”
“Seriously?” Vincent cracked a smile.
“Mhmm. That first year we were together tested me to my limits. You were used to running wild. I’m not sure
how much you remember.”
“Very little.”
“Look, it’s going to take some time for you two to fully learn your places. You have to learn how to be in charge and still show her respect, and she has to learn how to step back and show you respect. But for right now, you have one day before that meeting to make sure she knows who’s in charge in case of an emergency.”
“David, she’s an adult.” Vincent said. “It’s not the same.”
“She’s still youngish.”
“We’re the same age.”
“Ignore the age. You are nowhere near the same skill level. Also, an adult still has a boss they have to listen to. Everybody has to follow rules and there are consequences of some kind of or another. You’ll figure it out.”
“What about once she marries?” Vincent asked. “They are very serious.”
“I know. I wish they weren’t, but there’s nothing to be done. Besides, Beau’s relatively laid back. He’s on board with her pursing what she needs and wants, and he’s already had this kind of training. He knows what’s going on, and he knows it will be good for her. I say we integrate him into all this. He can spare us some time now and then to take a break and put our heads together.”
“I get that from him, but at the same time he doesn’t like me.”
“He’s not going to.” David laughed. “I doubt that either of you is going to be fully okay with each other. You are both competing for time with her, even if it’s not in the same way.”
“It’s not a competition. I need to be with her.”
David threw his hands up. “So does he.”
Vincent blushed and kicked at the ground. “Do you think she’ll want to stay with him in his homeland?”
“No, I’ve already spoken to him about that. His sister will assume his responsibilities. He has another job lined out.” He scratched the stubble on his face and looked back in the direction of the campfire. “Charlotte doesn’t know and we won’t be mentioning that little part to her, got it?”
“He needs to tell her.”
“I told him that he better tell her after this meeting. I understand that his family enjoyed being around my father and having a bit of a normal life, but there’s no reason that they should not have told her several years ago.”