the lower windows were thrown open, releasing a number of savory smells into the evening air.
Kellen's stomach rumbled loudly and Idalia snorted with rude laughter.
'Now, now,' Master Eliron said peaceably. 'It's a nice change to welcome a pair of healthy appetites to the table—and if memory serves, you've never been shy of your food, eh, Idalia? Or are you still barely eating enough to keep a bird alive?'
She laughed, as at an old joke, and Kellen realized that she must have told Master Eliron about having been turned into a Silver Eagle. The realization gave him a peculiar feeling, but he shrugged it off. Why shouldn't she tell him? There was no stigma to practicing Wildmagery outside the City lands, from what he'd seen. Idalia practiced it openly, and everyone accepted it as a normal part of life. Nobody was yelling for the Priests of the Light to shield them, or for the High Mages to come and protect them—not that the High Mages would, since the humans were living with Otherfolk. And not that Armethalieh's protection was anything that you'd want…
It was all very confusing.
There's so much to learn! How am I ever going to even live long enough to leam it all?
KELLEN tried very hard to stop himself thinking about Armethalieh, but somehow he couldn't seem to. It had been easy while he was living out in the woods with only Idalia for human company, since everything was utterly different from life in the City, but Merryvale was just enough like Armethalieh that it reminded him of the place that had once been home, while at the same time being so very different that it stood in the most extreme contrast. Here, Master Eliron's servants and apprentices sat at the same table as the Master and his guests—or, in the case of the Centaurs, stood—and were treated as members of an extended family. To accommodate the Centaurs' greater height, the table was higher—Kellen could have stood comfortably at it himself—and the chairs for the two- legged guests were more like high stools with backs. Kellen caught himself thinking that was unreasonable— couldn't the Centaurs kneel, or something?— but then realized it would be more unfair to expect the Centaurs to accommodate the humans, when it was easier for the humans to accommodate the Centaurs. It was City thinking, the idea that humans were the pinnacle of Creation, that made him think otherwise. And that sort of reasoning wasn't fair.
Kellen sighed and concentrated on his food, wishing he didn't think so much about problems that didn't seem to have any solution. The food was certainly a welcome distraction—hot oven-baked yeast-breads (the thing he'd missed most, living out in the woods), roast chicken with stuffing, a wide selection of tasty vegetables, and beef. Digging into his meal, Kellen realized he'd gotten very tired of venison, rabbit, pigeon, and fish.
At first, looking down at the unfamiliar tools beside his place setting, Kellen hadn't been quite sure what to do, but he quickly realized the courtly table manners drummed into him in House Tavadon had no place here, and emulated the style of those he saw around him.
He was saved from any embarrassment by the fact that Idalia was eating as heartily as he was, with a pragmatic attention to her food that would have given their father heart failure. But so was everyone else, even the old Healer, and Master Eliron's cook was insisting that everything on the table must be eaten before she would bring out the pies and Haneida's honey-cakes.
'And don't you a-go sneaking into the kitchen to steal any, Merana, or I've got a stout stirring spoon with your name on it, my girl!' the woman said firmly. Merana only laughed and switched her braided tail, reaching for another roll and the pot of honey.
'OH,' Idalia sighed at last, chasing a drop of gravy about her plate with a bit of hot bread, 'this is lovely. I only wish I could cook like this—but I'm afraid I lack three things: the talent, the time, and the tools!'
'You know, my dear, that's hardly an insurmountable obstacle,' Master Eliron said gently. 'Were you to come here to live…'
Idalia shook her head in refusal. 'We've had this conversation before, my dear. You know I can't. The forest needs me. How could those I serve out there find me here?'
'I expect they would find you just as they always have, Idalia,' Master Eliron answered. 'But perhaps you would consider coming to us just for a few moonturns during deep winter? The Wildwood sleeps then, and here in Merryvale, with your wants seen to, you could devote all your time to Kellen's training. You would not have to fear being a burden on us, not with the Powers at your command, and it would be good to have a second Wildmage living among us.' He sighed. 'We worry about you out there, with nothing between you and the deep cold but a few walls and a single fire. Do consider it.'
'Very well, Master Eliron,' Idalia said, with a warm and kindly tone in her voice. 'I will consider it.'
But Kellen already knew his sister well enough to know that the answer was going to be 'no.'
Why?
The aged Healer was right: those who needed Idalia's help could find her anywhere. And from what she'd told him about how the Wild Magic worked, she could find work to do anywhere. But she wasn't living with the Elves, and now Kellen knew that she'd had several offers to live in reasonably civilized comfort in Merryvale, and she wasn't living here, either.
Why not?
