She had known enough to feel a tremor of concern; if the Dragons were restless—the Elementals that ruled the Earth—then the Earth itself was restless. She had experienced several small earthquakes by now, and was in no great hurry to learn what it was like to feel a large one rock the ground beneath her!
But she must have shown her apprehension, for Pao had smiled suddenly and told her that she need not bother herself, for he would speak to the Dragons and lull them with his persuasion. "The Dragons cannot be ruled," he told her, "but they are capable of being soothed. And I am an old hand at soothing the restless."
He then changed the conversation, and she did not attempt to resume that subject, not when she had so many other things to concentrate on. And what could she do, if Master Pao was unable to quiet his dragons? Nothing, of course; and she had never envied the ancient prophets their foreknowledge of the future. She would rather not know than be aware of what was coming and be helpless to stop it.
It was from Master Pao that she learned something Jason had not told her; that her own Magickal Nature was not that of Fire, but of Air. Now, it occurred to her that as long as she was serving as an Apprentice, she might as well become an Apprentice in truth. So in addition to doing research for Jason, she was learning as much as she could of the Magick of that Element without the help of a Master of Air.
It was not all that difficult; the Work was very similar, the discipline required identical. The only real differences lay in the trappings and the abilities represented by the Elementals themselves. The framework of the Magick was absolutely identical; in many ways, the situation was similar to being an artist in glass; one could make a set of red goblets, or green, or blue—but they would all be goblets, in sets of four, or eight, or twenty. One could create the lead frame for a bird and insert the stained glass panels that made it a scarlet bird or a yellow—but the windows, in the end, would be identical except for color. Thanks to Jason, she knew what the framework was, and more importantly, why one did things thus-and-so. She knew the details of the Magick of Fire, and as importantly, she knew the reasons why, had she tried any of these Magicks alone, they would have worked poorly, if at all.
There is no Water in my Nature to negate the Fire Magick, but there is so little of Fire compared to Air that I doubt I would get very far.
Just as electricity would not flow through wire made of lead, the Magician's Nature had to be suited to carrying the "current" of the particular Element with which he was trying to Work. The purer the Nature, the better the Magick would flow.
She knew the theory, she knew some of the practice, and she had been learning the details of the Element of Air. But the time had come for her to stop simple study, and begin her real Apprenticeship and that meant that the time had come for her to confess to Jason her "divided loyalties."
She always waited for him to call her by means of the speaking-tube before going down to his suite for the day. He was extremely sensitive about his appearance and the difficulties his changed form caused him, and she would not for the world embarrass him by bursting in on him before he was fully and correctly clothed and prepared to meet with her. This time, though, when she descended the staircase, she brought with her a basket of those things she would need that were not part of the Work Room of a Firemaster. I might as well hang for a sheep as a lamb; if I am going to "tell all," I'm going to ask for permission to use the Work Room for my first conjuration of a Sylph.
She was so used to his appearance by now that seeing her own face in a mirror sometimes gave her a little shock, because she did not have upstanding, pointed ears, nor a muzzle full of the sharp teeth of a carnivore, nor fur. He was so completely himself in any form, that the outward appearance was hardly worth noting. But today, she paused after her greeting to search his face intently, and acknowledged for the first time that not only did she not find him monstrous or repulsive—she found him remarkably handsome, in and of himself. He might consider his current form warped, but there was nothing misshapen about it to her.
"Rose—" he touched her shoulder to awaken her out of the little daze she had fallen into. "Are you quite all right?"
She shook herself mentally, and smiled at him. "Perfectly, Jason. But I have something of a confession to make—"
But before she could say it, he had taken the basket from her hands, and replied with a laugh, "You wish to tell me that you have been studying Air Magick in your free hours. And, I would guess, given this little burden of yours, that you wish to undertake your first Elemental Conjuration."
She froze with shock. "How—how did you know?"
He shrugged, as if it should have been obvious how he knew. "It was inevitable, my lady. Once you had a taste of Apprenticeship, once your need for Magick was awakened, you would never be able to deny the craving. And since your Nature is that of Air, even though there is no Master available to you, you would find a way to study it."
She stared at him, and he laughed teasingly, holding the basket just out of her reach. "Shall I continue to amaze you with my sagacity? Today, of course, you wish to undertake your first attempt at raising a Sylph, and you felt that you had to confess your activities but were afraid I would be offended that you 'stole' time from my researches for your own."
"But—" she spluttered, indignantly, her whole, carefully-rehearsed speech having gone up in smoke as he spoke. "But—"
Taking pity on her, he gave her back the basket, and placed one hand atop hers as she took it. "My dear lady, you could not help it, and I knew you could not help it. I have been attempting to guide your efforts as best I could without betraying that I knew your little secret. And since the first attempt at Conjury is best done in the presence of a Master, if not a Master of your own element, I was planning on overseeing you from the beginning."
Her indignation vanished; how could she be offended at such generosity? She had no reason to expect such understanding from him! "You were?" she said, astonished and relieved beyond measure. "But your own work—"
"Can wait, my lady." He offered her his arm, and she took it. "To be quite selfish, it is entirely possible that our combined work will proceed much faster with the devotees of two Disciplines pursuing it. I will be the first to admit that my own Mastery may blind me to possibilities obvious to those of another. And—"
He hesitated, then shrugged. "Never mind," he ended. "It was not important."
But his expression said otherwise, and she raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "You never look that way unless something is important, Jason," she chided, as they came to the door of the Work Room. "Now, out with it! Else I'll ask your Salamander to ferret it out for me!"
"You would," he growled, but not as if he was really displeased. "Well enough. I am perfectly pleased that you are not pursuing Fire. It is not possible for two Firemasters to remain together in the same area. That was why I had to leave my home and my Master when my Magickal education was complete. However, it is possible for a Firemaster and a Master of either Earth or Air to remain in close proximity. Even—" Was it her imagination, or did his voice grow just a trifle hoarse? "—even in the same dwelling."
She cast a sharp glance at him, but his expression was opaque, and she was not certain just what to make of that statement. But he gave her no chance to think about it.
"I have also sent a letter to that charlatan Pao, and gotten his reply," he continued. "The Orientals have slightly different Disciplines than us of the West, as you are aware, and I asked him if it was possible in his experience for a Master of one Element to serve as the teacher for an Apprentice in another." He pulled a set of folded papers from his breastpocket and waved them, before returning them to the pocket. "According to him, not only is it possible, but it is quite the usual thing in the East. He even sent me suggestions as to how I might employ the Eastern methods in your Western education."