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The Unexpected Apprentice (Retro/PrinceCaspian)

Royce was mortified. There was no way that the shield was going to hold forever. The barrier had only been up for a few seconds and already she was feeling the strain against her body. As strong as the magic was, her body was ill adapted to it. Tears burned her eyes and she looked down. The wolf circled her like she was a wounded animal. Cold sweat broke out all over her body. Being prey was not how she imagined her day going.

A scream finally wormed its way out of her dry throat when the beast jumped up. It snapped at her and broke what little concentration she had. The force field popped in the same way a bubble might and another squeal sounded as she fell. Again her magic worked without her thinking; a branch from the tree grew out and caught her. All of the wind was knocked from her body and she wheezed on the branch. Pain made the tears fall down her face. Her cheeks were a bright red. Below her the large animal waited. Now it was closer to her than she was comfortable with and the branch that had grown out was not sturdy enough for her to stand and place her weight on one particular spot.

"Get out of here you stupid mutt!" she managed to bellow at the thing. Her voice was hoarse as she had not fully recovered from falling so harshly on the enlarged branch. "Go on! Get!"

Where had Elland ran off to? Didn't he have magic better than hers? Why wasn't he here fighting? Instead he flailed off like the coward she knew he was, yelping like a little girl about the big bad wolf. Her nose crinkled. This was going to be how she died. Likely no one would come and get her body until a few days had passed and she was nothing but bones and marrow; picked clean by a hungry mongrel. Without her around, her father would never be able to pay back his debt to Elland, either.

"I have to survive."
 
Elland watched with amazement. He could not believe how she manipulated the growth of a tree without practice or training. Such skill usually took years to master. It was clumsily done, and she was lucky to have been successful, but stress was a great motivator and this lesson was something that could be used in the future. Elland knew that manipulating Royce was bound to create some trust issues, but she would understand one day, he hoped. In turn she had the potential to be one of the best sorceresses in the history of all of man if she could manifest growth without proper training.

He watched intently as she sat on her branch. At first he could detect nothing but fear and concern, but there was a visible change in her resolve that was visible to Elland, even over the distance between him. He saw her mouth the word "survive" clearly enough to know that she was going to try something. Elland could not interfere until she was either in danger of hurting herself or burning herself out. Magic was a dangerous tool if used too much. He stood by at the ready, watching Royce prepare to do whatever it was she was going to do. Elland was excited and watchful for the last act of the short play to finish.
 
This was something she only did in small waves, like the one she had sent towards the creeping vine the day prior to keep it at bay. Anyone prone to magic or even basic energy manipulation could do what she had done to the plant but doing it on a grander level took skill. Skill that she knew she did not possess but had to muster.

Royce sat up a little. Beneath her the sound of the branch creaked and she winced. Movement was even more precarious than what she had first assumed. Even in that position she risked breaking the wood that held her slight body. Still it was enough room. A hand came up above her head, a arch of distortion following it and resting above her head. Her other hand came to join it and in much shorter order than the first. The distortion fought the momentum. The amount of pressure in her hands was agonizing and she was sure her fingers would snap from the amount of force now building between them.

Somehow they didn't and, instead, a ball of strange energy rested in her hand. All of the color had drained from her face and it was almost as if she could feel the blood flow recede in her body. What an altogether terrible sensation! With the last bit of her strength she hurled the ball at the beast in hopes of hitting the strange creature.

Whether it did or not, she couldn't tell. All of the blood rushed too quickly back to her head and she slumped over on the branch, unconscious.
 
Elland rushed over to the unconscious Royce and saw her hanging precariously on the branch. He caught her as her body slumped off of the branch towards the ground. Her light frame felt soft and relaxed in his arms as he lauded her gently down against the tree using his sheepskin pack as a pillow supporting her head. He got up to inspect where the phantasmal wolf had once been.

The crater was only a foot deep but he knew that if that energy had connected with almost any living creature, it would have died instantly. There was no scent of fire or sulfur, so it definitely had to be an energy spell. The wolf dissipated instantly and was no more. Elland was excited to see what Royce could learn. He sat patiently and waited for Royce to wake up. Suddenly, for the first time, Elland wondered what he was going to say to Royce.
 
The first thing she felt upon waking was pain. Her hands felt as if they had been skinned raw. It was stupid of her to have even attempted something like that but she was in a horrible spot. What else was she supposed to do? Clearly it worked or the wolf would have gobbled her up.

Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she was taken aback by Elland's close proximity. How was the branch supporting him, too? In her shock she threw her head back, colliding with the trunk of the tree.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, bringing one of her painful hands to rub the lump on the back of her head. She scowled at him. "The wolf must be dead if you've come back to rescue me."
 
Elland paused for a second. "The wolf. Yes. The big wolf. Well, there's nothing left of it." Elland said nervously, avoiding looking her in the eye. "Which might be said for the skin on the palms of your hands, we should get you back to the castle. I have just the thing for it." Elland wasn't ready to mention magic just yet. He wanted her back and in a comfortable setting before exposing her and his own dirty secret about the wolf. He looked down into her eyes. He no longer saw the nervous and resentful peasant who walked into his castle. Now he saw something far more intriguing. He saw a potential student. Someone who could be molded and shaped and who could probably surpass him one day. He also saw an opportunity for them to help make back his fortune. All he needed was some time with her and his stipend, which should be appearing soon.

He draped her arm around his shoulder and helped her up to her feet. "Can you walk? If not I can go back to the castle and get help. Hopefully a real wolf... errr really BIG wolf won't show up if I have to leg it back to the castle." Elland knew that only Evander would be available to help. The rest of the staff would be lolling about the castle laughing, playing in the sunbeams or trying to wash the pixies out of the floorboards.
 
If she were feeling like herself she would have likely taken notice of the way his eyes darted around. However, in the state she was in, she hardly took care of anything. Little things like making the bed and the small blast of energy to fend off the vine did not compare to the amount of force used in those moments when she fought the wolf. The experience clearly wiped Royce out.

Surprisingly, he lifted her up without much of a fight from the exhausted young peasant. There was no point in fighting him. He was going to take her back to the manor to have her hands treated and, while she detested being scooped up like a toy, little could be done to prevent it. The pain in her hands were to the point of distraction and she had not noticed the slips of tongue he had.

"I can walk," she told him harshly. Putting pressure on her legs made them wobble and shake, making her grip on to his forearm. Embarrassment tinted her cheeks a bright shade of red. "But I guess I do need a little help."

Plus there was the fear that the wolf wasn't actually dead and she had just frightened the beast off. Her blood chilled at the prospect and she knew she was going to go along with him, even if he protested it.

"I just want to get back inside."
 
Elland got Royce back to the outskirts of the castle. Fortunately both the cook and Evander were able to help get Royce back into the castle and into her room. The castle was in a state of minor disarray. Three staff members accused Elland of being the Pixie King while the Groundskeeper declared himself to be "Briggand BustBritches, overlord of the castle and keeper of the chastity belt!" The groundskeeper then slumped into a corner and began giggling at the sound of his own voice. Elland wished he had rethought his plan, but it was too late for that. They laid Royce down in her bed and Evander ran her a bath while Elland went and grabbed some salve for Royce's hands. The smell was fresh and minty with a touch of lemon. It stung like hellfire on her hands initially, but cooled the burning sensation and allowed the pain to subside to a tolerable level. "I have a concoction that will help you to sleep tonight, if you wish. There are some side-effects and it effects everyone differently in their dreams, but it works wonders." Elland offered.

He resolved to tell her of what he had seen her do and to tell her the truth about the wolf, but not until the next day when the castle would not be filled with the catterwalling of the intoxicated staff.
 
If Royce had more sense about her, the scene that greeted them at the castle would have been greatly amusing but with how she was injured, it almost felt nightmarish. The jarring laughter was frightening and without thinking, she pressed herself closer to Elland. Even if he abandoned her when the wolf appeared he had come back to retrieve her. There was something safe about the man because of that lone fact. When the pain was away and rest was gotten, her loathing of him would return.

The feeling of her bed against her back was amazing. The mattress felt heavenly against her wracked body. At first she thought the minty and lemony smelling stuff was something to eat but soon found out that it was meant for her practically skinned hands. A faint cry escaped her lips as Elland smeared the gunk on her hands. Seconds of whimpering dwindled down as the cooling sensation spread through them.

"That actually sounds wonderful," she told him. "I haven't been sleeping well these last past two nights."

This was odd for her. Why was he being so kind to her? There were plenty of things that had told her that he was an oily little snake that only thought about himself.
 
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