Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 31

By the time the door opened again the soup was ready.  Maxine swept in with a serene expression across her smooth features and Allan followed her looking positively dour.

Ildri dished out the soup and sat down with the other two.  The table was uncomfortably silent until Ildri thought she could bear it no longer.  She was still feeling a bit annoyed at Maxine so she turned to Allan.

"So, Allan.  What have you done today?" she asked.

"Little enough.  Everything is secure," he stated gruffly.

"The horses..?"

"Are fine."

"Well, that's good," Ildri said, feeling a bit uncertain and a tiny bit annoyed.

Maxine seemed quite amused by the exchange and Ildri could only barely stifle her irritation with them both.  Lord Wildwood should have sent a young and entertaining soldier to watch over her instead of this lump of wood, Ildri thought crossly.  And Maxine should act her age if she was going to lecture Ildri.

Allan finished quickly.  He cleaned up his plate, muttered some excuse and was quickly out the door with only the briefest look towards Maxine before he left.

"It's a wonder he hasn't started wearing garlic or something to ward me away," Maxine commented dryly, then laughed.

Garlic?  Ildri smiled in spite of her pique.

After they had cleaned up, Maxine spoke again.  "So, Ildri.  Are you ready to learn?"

Ildri swallowed hard past the lump which had suddenly formed in her throat.  "Yes," she agreed more unsteadily than she would have liked.  She needed to stay positive.  She would do it, and everything would be perfect!

"Then come with me," Maxine said.  Ildri made herself follow.

* * * * *

The shed behind Maxine's house was more spacious than it had appeared from the outside.  It seemed that there would be plenty of space for the two of them to work.  There were dried plants hanging from the rafters and potted plants crammed into every space in front of the windows.  A long workbench lined one wall and a couple of chairs were strewn haphazardly around the room.  Empty and full vials, jars and bottles and other such things were kept on shelves on the walls next to a dozen books.  There was also a small fireplace in one corner, Ildri supposed it was for days when the weather turned cold.  Or perhaps some potions needed to be heated.  She shrugged.  She supposed that she would find out when Maxine started to teach her.

Maxine picked several bottles off the shelves and set them on a counter.  Ildri moved closer to look at them.  One was labeled green oak sap and another was full of crushed dried leaves that looked like mint. Another had an unrecognizable purple liquid.

"I'm going to start off by teaching you a very simple potion.  Mint, green oak sap and wendelroot juice are the ingredients for a particularly good hair treatment solution."

Ildri nodded blankly.  "What am I supposed to..?"

"Making a potion is simple, really.  One only needs to mix the ingredients.  For every potion one or several base materials are needed.  That material can be anything from water to complex mixture of many different things, although some base materials work better than others.  With experience you'll come to understand the properties of various materials and what they do."

"I see," Ildri muttered, but she really did not.  She wondered what she had been thinking, imagining that she might be able to learn magic if she simply tried a different method.  This seemed even more difficult than wizard magic.  There was no way that she would succeed.