Chapter 59: A favour

Koth had a hard time hiding his grumpiness and impatience as they walked into the chief's house.

"Koth, Irin, how nice to see you again. Have you eaten?" Mila asked, hugging Irin.

"Thank you, yes we have," Irin answered, and Koth nodded. "Don't mind him," she added. As usual, Irin didn't seem to mind his mood. Still, he felt he should make an effort, as it would make her life easier and she wouldn't have to apologise for him. On the other hand, his mood was so low that he had a hard time pulling himself out of it.

"Come, sit down and have some mead as we talk," the chief invited them, sitting at the head of the table. They joined him, and Koth perked up a little at the mention of mead. A large mug of mead was put in front of him, and he saw a smaller one placed in front of Irin.

"I remember the last time," Lokhue told them when he saw Koth eyeing her mug. Koth nodded approvingly; Irin didn't seem to mind.

"You needed to speak with us?" Koth asked, most of his grumpiness at bay.

"I have been talking to my wife, Lokhue, and Melir. Does your offer to reach out to your contacts regarding an apprenticeship for Melir still stand?" the chief asked. Koth hadn't been expecting the question but was happy that the chief and his family were willing to let Melir use the potential he had.

"It does. I would be more than happy to arrange a place for him with a wizard I trust. If it's okay with you, I can contact my top choice and invite them to come here so you can talk to them," Koth offered.

"We would be most grateful. After everything that has happened, we know that Melir has magical potential, and we can also see how unwise it would be if he doesn't learn how to use it," his mother said. Melir had joined them and was sitting at the other side of the table. Mila had walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"It's easy for accidents to happen when you don't know how to control it," Irin agreed. "Don't tell anyone, but before I understood how my magic worked, I once wished my little brother would know how much it hurt when he smacked you with his wooden sword. The sword was ripped out of his hand and flew around trying to whack him for half an hour," Irin told Melir. Everyone around the table laughed. Koth loved how naturally she put the boy at ease.

"I will contact my friend this evening. I should have a reply by morning at the latest, even if it will take him some time to get here," Koth told the chief.

"So fast?" the chief asked.

"Magic," Irin said with a smile.

"Ah..."

"Have you considered Viturleiki training him?" Irin asked. Koth could see Melir stiffen at the question.

"We don't think it would be a good idea. Viturleiki is a good man at heart, but he is also stubborn and short-tempered," the chief said. Both Irin and Koth nodded. Koth didn't like the shaman, and he was happy Melir would get another mentor. Koth liked the boy, and he saw the great potential he carried. He would be a powerful wizard with the right guidance. They stayed a while to socialise; Koth was fine with it. He liked the chief and his family. But as he finished his second mug of mead, he decided he had been friendly enough.

"We'll head back to the inn. I need to contact my friend before it gets too late," he said and stood up.

"Thank you again for doing us this favour," the chief said, shaking Koth's hand.

"We are happy to do what we can. Melir is a talented youngster. It will benefit us all if he gets the proper training," Irin said. Koth nodded along.

"That took almost three hours," Koth pointed out as they walked back to the inn. His grumpiness was returning.

"But it was well worth it if we, well, you, can get Melir to where he needs to be," Irin said. Koth grunted. It was the easiest way to respond without having to admit she was right. "I'll just look in on the horses," she said as they got to the inn.

"I'll go with you," he offered.

"You have a message to send," she reminded him, kissed his cheek, and gave him a gentle push towards their room. He sighed and did as she wanted. In their room, he took out a small crystal orb, about the size of an apple, and sat down at the table. He used some charcoal to draw the spell on the table; it wasn't a spell he would need to use in a hurry, so he had never put it on his body. As he placed the sphere in the middle of the spell, he infused it with his magic, and the crystal lit up in a soft gold glow. Koth waited, but nothing happened. He waited some more and felt his bad mood return. He sent another pulse of magic into the orb, and the light emitting from it turned red.

"Koth? What do you want?" Galos asked. His way of speaking already worsened Koth's mood.

"Don't you ever pick up your orb of conveyance?" Koth grumbled instead of answering. He could see Galos' pointed ears twitching. The wizard would never stoop so low as to admit he had a tell for when he was annoyed. Koth knew him well enough to catch it and felt pleased he had managed to get under his colleague's skin.

"I was busy," the elf hissed back.

"Well, stop seducing maidens with your deceivingly good looks. I have something far better for you to occupy your time with," Koth said.

"Really? Have you found some interesting manuscript in elfish you need my help decoding?" Galos asked. The irritation was gone from his voice, and he looked to sign for someone to leave. Koth saw three naked women hurrying away in the background and rolled his eyes.

"How did you even convince an elf, a human, and a dryad to get along long enough to share your bed?" he asked Galos. His friend shrugged and pushed his long, silver-blond hair over his shoulder.

"It's not that difficult when they all want the same thing: me." Koth rolled his eyes. Galos could be the worst kind of elf. He was born into one of the noble houses, which made him a high elf. His upbringing was clear: he could be snobbish, spoiled, and rude. His good looks had women, and men, throwing themselves at him. Usually, Koth would never spend time with someone like him, but there was another side to Galos. He was almost as passionate about studying magic as Koth was. He had a different approach to it and access to the high elves' archive—something Koth could only dream about. Their differences didn't matter when they got talking about magic, what they were researching, and what findings they had made. The two of them had been friends for almost ten years. "So? Are you going to tell me why you had me send my lovely friends away?" Koth was about to answer when Irin walked into the room. She smiled at him but didn't speak as she headed for the other part of the room. "What was that?" Galos asked.

"Nothing," Koth said. "I have..."

"It was something. What are you hiding?" Galos demanded to know. He was a typical wizard and barely trusted anyone.

"It was just my travelling companion who entered the room. She is trustworthy," Koth said with a sigh.

"SHE is trustworthy? Koth, is your companion a woman? You need to introduce us," Galos told him.

"No, I don't," Koth said and saw Irin laughing silently. "I was going to tell you..."

"Yes, yes, we will get to that. But I refuse to listen to anything before you let me say 'hi'. Why are you hiding her? Is she that hideous? She's not a troll, is she? Koth, you used to have standards!" Koth was watching Irin, who seemed to be having a hard time keeping upright as she was laughing so hard. She made a valiant effort to pull herself together and walked towards him. He could just end the transmission and call another wizard, Koth thought.