“And then she said that they should force me to go to the festival.” Maril was telling Bert about, or maybe complaining about, her mother’s outburst the day before. Bert shrugged as they walked towards the woodshop, “I mean, do you not want to go this year?” he asked looking over at her. “Of course… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 13
Excuses amounted in such plenty that they were becoming more tedious to track than simply doing what needed to be done. Eustace looked at his notes, a small bound booklet of scribbled thoughts and ideas. He had so many things he could write about from this collection of inspired moments but he was stalled once… Read More »Year One #22: Delayed Priority
Maril painstakingly climbed the steps into the carriage. Slowly and exaggeratedly she moved over to the bench and waited for Owen to close the carriage door. Once he had, she could barely contain her excitement. She grinned ear-to-ear and struggled to not bounce on the bench. She had done all seventeen aqueduct pillars in one… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 12
Later that afternoon Maril was sitting at a cramped desk in a nook of the Student Mage Library. The desk space was inconveniently small and the mage light sitting on the desk was a little too dim. It was unfortunate that she didn’t think to bring her light from home. She considered putting a little… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 11
Bert had given Maril the puzzle box and began teaching her how to open it as they left the Assignment Office. The puzzle to open the box was surprisingly complex. When she realized she was not going to learn how to open the box before they got to Bert’s house she had Owen stop at… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 10
They finished the last two pillars uneventfully. Owen was maybe a little suspicious when they came back from the pillar after Maril had absorbed the mana. She only realized after sitting down in the carriage that it was odd that she was laughing and had enough energy to leap up into the carriage. But no… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 9
Maril climbed out of the carriage at pillar 1,458. This one and one more to go. She was starting to get tired. Her mana had not completely refilled since she had worked on the other pillars a few days ago. Bert jumped down out of the carriage behind her. It was a tiny bit annoying… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 8
It took almost an hour to get to the aqueduct where Maril had left off a few days before. The main highway started out relatively smooth but got progressively rougher as the carriage traveled farther from the city. Maril fell asleep for part of the trip, even with Bert excitedly looking out first one window… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 7
Maril peered out the carriage window. Owen, who had figured out where Bert lived without any assistance from her, was turning into a driveway. There was an elaborate looking building near the street decorated with carved wood trim and embellishments. The building was painted teal and all the trimmings were a burnt orange color. It… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 6
Maril and Bert walked down the street in what Maril had started to think of as companionable silence. They were headed to the community park where both ends of Canter Court joined the main highway. There were about 30 houses on the loop of the street, all about the same size but of a variety… Read More »Maril Leyfinder: Chapter 5