“Well, get ready for one more. A book, I mean. Actually,” the professor said, chuckling, “not so much a book as a giant stack of papers. I made copies. I hope you weren’t expecting anything fancy.”
The woman pulled open the bottom drawer of her desk and withdrew a huge stack of paper, thumping it down on the edge of her desk. “Just like I promised.”
“Woah.” Slipping her backpack off, Cheyenne stepped toward the desk and eyed the words printed on the top sheet. “Cheyenne S., huh? Way to keep it top-secret.”
“You know what? That’s the only way I’d remember what the hell I’m supposed to do with a monster stack like this. Otherwise, I’d have a heart attack, thinking it was a bunch of papers I forgot to grade, and I’d probably end up throwing it in the trash.” Mattie looked up at her student and smirked. “It’s better than Collection of Spells and Healing Magic.”
“Fair enough.” The halfling slid the papers off the desk and cradled them in one arm while she quickly flipped through. These were spells all right, most of them labeled in a language she didn’t know, but they all had drawings of hands doing different things with different fingers. “You brought this across with you from the other side?”
Mattie chuckled and shook her head. “Definitely not. Trust me, the books over there are a lot harder to read and even more impossible to pin down without someone holding your hand every step of the way. Maybe literally. I simplified it.”
“Oh, yeah. This looks real simple.” Cheyenne sighed and shook her head. “You could’ve pulled out a whole bunch and then tied all this together with a piece of string, at least.”
“Please, Cheyenne. You can write me into a box with your programming skills, and you expect me to believe you don’t know how to keep a bunch of loose paper together?”
Ignoring the jab, the halfling set the stack on the desk again and flipped through it again for a better look. “Seriously, how is this simplified? All these drawings and diagrams, plus, what? Like, a hundred spells?”
“More. And the recipes for all those healing salves and whatever are in the back.”
With a laugh, Cheyenne looked at the copied pages, just now registering how they’d gotten on the paper. “Did you write all this yourself? And the drawings?”
“I sure did, halfling. Took me damn near a year to get down even that much, and that’s just the beginner’s guide.” Mattie sat back in her office chair and tucked her wavy black hair behind her ear. “That’s why you get copies only.”
“How much more is there?”
“The advanced stuff? Oh, three or four times as much.” The woman laughed when Cheyenne looked at her with wide eyes. “I’ll say this much, kid. I had a lot of time on my hands when I first came over. And in some weird, naïve burst of inspiration, I thought it would be a good idea to get all this down. Thought I’d find myself some kind of apprentice and make a living that way. Worked out pretty well, huh?”
“You know enough about computer programming to make a living this way, too.” Cheyenne picked her backpack up off the floor and propped it on her knee before unzipping the main pocket. “I can’t believe you crossed the Border with a bunch of training-with-magic books just so you could rewrite them.”
“What? That would’ve been crazy!” Mattie said with raised eyebrows. She looked more than a little overwhelmed at the thought. “I never would’ve made it if I’d done that. I copied it all down from up here.”
When Cheyenne looked up again, she found the woman tapping her temple with a knowing smile. “Huh. Remind me never to try getting into your head.”
“That’s not something you can do, is it?” The anxiety in the question made the halfling pause. “No mind-reading on that list of surprise magic you mentioned?”
“Not that I know of.” That’s a thing?
“Right. Good. You know me. Just had to ask.” Mattie shrugged and tried to laugh it off, but the fact that she’d asked hung between them.
“Well, if that ever shows up, I’ll make sure to tell you before I use it on you.”
The professor almost choked and brought a fist to her mouth to clear her throat. “I wouldn’t expect anything like that, Cheyenne. There were a very small number of magicals who could work their way into someone else’s head before I came here, and I don’t think they’ve been working on cultivating that particular skill since I left.”
“Why not?”
“Let’s just say it’s a lot harder than it sounds. For both parties.”
The halfling nodded, staring at the Nightstalker under her human disguise. Then she grabbed the stack of spells again and stuffed it into her backpack as neatly as she could. “Stay away from mind-reading. Got it.”
She felt Professor Bergmann’s gaze wandering all over her even before the woman opened her mouth.
“Cheyenne.” Mattie squinted when the halfling looked at her. “Something’s different about you.”
It could be anything from the last twenty-four hours. “Like what?”
“I don’t know.” The woman tipped her head back and frowned. “Just different. What did you get into over the weekend?”
Cheyenne smirked. “We both know you don’t want me to answer that.”
“No. You’re right. Keeping my mouth shut.” Mattie mimed zipping her lips and nodded. “Whatever it is, it looks good on you, halfling.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
The tense silence of ending a conversation they never started returned, then Mattie clapped and plastered on a polite grin. “Well, I guess you’re on your own now, learning those spells. That should be enough to get you started, but come back if you have any questions.”
“I always do.” Even when she won’t answer half of them. The halfling slung her backpack over her shoulder again but paused before heading across the office. “Actually, I have some questions right now if you still have time for your one and only drow halfling in training.”
Sitting
