Chapter One: WIP

Typically, Lenire awoke to the sound of the guard on horseback clacking through the streets. This morning was no different. Before the sun's rays had even begun to warm the world, he was up and out of bed, dressed by candlelight. Slipping the pendant from his mentor over his head and tying auburn curls back, he was ready to start the day. Descending the stairs into the store, yawning and rubbing the sleep from olive colored eyes, he was only slightly startled when he saw an older human man standing behind the front counter. He looked unamused, sipping a cup of tea and flipping through Lenire's most recent field notes. By now, Lenire was old enough - and experienced enough - to run the store by himself. Still, the mentor often stopped by and checked his work... More often than the pupil liked. 

"Ernest... You helped yourself to a cup of tea, I see. How did I not hear the kettle?" Walking over to the wood stove in the corner, a freckled hand gently touches the kettle. Typically used to brew concoctions and potions...the cauldron had been removed from the stovetop and replaced with a beaten kettle. Indeed, it was hot to the touch. Ernest waved a finger in the air, shrugging and taking another sip of tea. 

"I haven't the faintest, my boy," the old man hummed, closing the notebook and perching on the stool behind the counter. He wasn't old, really. At least, he refused to be referred to as such. Rather, he preferred the term 'experienced' and 'well traveled.' Whatever made him happy, Lenire wasn't one to argue. With him or anyone, for that matter. He knew Ernest was being difficult. The reason he hadn't heard the kettle was - in all likelihood - because Ernest had used a sound dampening spell. Imbued with magical energy, the pendant around Ernest's neck gave him the ability to cast spells as if born with magic in his blood. Lenire wore one much like Ernest's. As humans who had studied the magical arts, but held no magical abilities of their own, this was the only Exemplar sanctioned way they could use magic. Magic was highly useful - and profitable - in the world of healing and curing ailments. Still, such things could only be used with extensive training, education, and - of course - the approval of the Exemplar. A sound dampening spell, Lenire knew, was not a part of healing magic. Ernest, of course, did not care. And never had. With a long and long suffering sigh, Lenire was saddled with the task of taking inventory. What he didn't have, he would stock up from the botanical garden. He had become very familiar with the botanist there since striking it out on his own. Only after Ernest learned to let go, of course. Ernest's deep and warm voice distracted Lenire from his count, "What are you working on? What is it you are missing? Did you scrub the cauldron?" 

With a sigh, Lenire put his notebook to the side and turned to slowly look at his mentor. Yes, they still worked together. But Lenire was supposed to be taking over for him. Ernest was an older apothecary. He had many years of relaxation ahead of him...without pestering his former students. Tapping the notebook on the counter, Lenire closed one eye and squinted the other at the old man. "I'm sorry. Last I checked, I was the one running the apothecary now. And you were supposed to be making sure I don't blow the place up. Right?" Raising his brows, Ernest simply shrugged and sipped his tea, blue eyes examining the shelves of bottles and parchment wrapped bundles... Irritated, Lenire taps the notebook on the counter. "I can tell when you're counting stock, Ernest!" Defeated, the fledgling apothecary sulked over to the coat rack by the front door. Shouldering his cloak, he clasped it shut and pocketed his notebook before opening the door. A slight chill crept in. Spring had not yet sprung, as Ernest so eloquently put it every morning they saw each other. Without further argument, knowing the arguing was futile, Lenire set off into the early morning fog. Best get to the botanical garden to speak with the botanist before it got to be too late in the morning. 

Head low and hood pulled up and over his brow, Lenire hurried to the gardens. It wasn't that apothecaries weren't respected or honored... Quite the opposite, really! But, magic in any sense was typically frowned upon. Despite the wonders and miracles it performed for the sick and injured. Still, Lenire knew it was easier to mind his own than to change minds. And he wasn't in the business of changing any minds. Waiting for the guard to pass, Lenire makes his way across the street and to the glass paneled building. He could feel the warmth as soon as he stepped in the doors, bells jingling to announce the presence of a customer. It always smelled so nice in the building... In the winter time, it was a paradise. A soft voice calls from the greenhouse, "Just a moment, be with you in a second!" 

Content to wait, he sits down on a stool to wait. Within moments, an earth elemental emerges from the beaded curtain that leads into the large greenhouse. She had rough and woody skin, much like tree bark found on an oak. Long trails of ivy sprouted from her head like hair, tied back and out of her face. Moss grew in clumps on her face and arms, constantly shedding. Soile had always been a reliable source of herbs and flowers. Coming from a long line of earth elementals, her magic was second to none. In Lenire's eyes, anyway. Wiping her hands on her apron she wore over plain linen clothes, she smiles and waves to the apothecary, her pink almond shaped eyes narrowing with joy and sparkling all the same. 

"Lenire! It's the sixth day...what are you doing here? You're usually closed on the seventh and first days..." Running her hand over a wilting pot of flowers, the small blooms instantly perk up. Soile herself was looking much more vibrant, which was typical of the spring time. The equinox was only five days away. Pulling out his notebook, Lenire nods his head. Elementals typically referred to the days of their calendar differently, and Lenire would be the last person to correct his friend. 

"I do close on Set and Som, but with the equinox fast approaching I'm sure people will be picking up little ailments. And the pollen does tend to trouble some. Best to be prepared." Tearing out the piece of paper from his notebook, he hands it over to Soile. Quickly skimming the list, she motions for him to follow her back into the gardens. The two walk through the gardens, the elemental carefully harvesting the listed herbs and flowers. Sage for coughs, yarrow for inflammation, marshmallow for sore throats, hyssop for chest congestion, and lemon balm...brewed into his own tea for his own chronic ailment - frayed nerves. Returning to the front counter, the herbs are carefully wrapped in parchment. A handful of coins dropped into Soile's waiting hand, Lenire carefully packs the bundles into his cloak. He rests his gaze a moment too long on the pendant around Soile's neck. Where his allowed him to use magic...her own stifled her magic. By order of their Exemplar, those with magical bloodlines could utilize their magic if approved by the Exemplar and only if they wore pendants that suppressed magical abilities. Soile, noticing his gaze, clears her throat and places her hand over her pendant. 

"Business has been picking up with the equinox right around the corner. I'll be pretty busy, so it's a good thing you came and got what you needed when you could," she smiles at him, as pleasant as ever. Lenire starts to speak when the door opens, the bells jingling merrily. The pleasant smile disappears from Soile's face, causing Lenire to look over his shoulder slowly. In the door stood three men, dressed in armor and sporting the crest of Araria. He turns to face the three of them head on, not wanting to leave any vulnerabilities in the open. It was often the guard attacked citizens, but it was often that they heckled those in the business of magic. 

One of them stepped forward, a lieutenant judging by the insignia on his right pauldron. "Routine inspection," he spoke in a clear and even tone. Soile scoffed slightly, tilting her head to the side. 

"Routine? You were just here the beginning of the month. I'll see you on the first of Avles." The flowers on the counter wilted slightly as she spoke, clearly affected by her shift in mood. The guardsmen didn't move, and didn't seem to think Soile's observation was worth acknowledging. Pink eyes settled on Lenire. A silent request for him to say something. Back her up. Ducking his head, Lenire simply waved to the elemental. Granted, she waved back to him as he hastily shuffled out the door between the guards, but the flowers on the counter wilted to near death as he went. The entire walk back to his shop was spent mentally kicking himself. It was always like this. If Soile ran into trouble, with a customer or the guard, Lenire was too quick to make himself scarce. He wanted to speak up for her, back her up, do something. But every time he thought about doing so, his mouth went dry and his voice died in his throat. Later, he would see her again, and he would try and apologize. She would simply wave off his apology and reassure him she understood his hesitance, but did she really? Or was she simply trying to reassure Lenire that she wasn't saddened by his lack of action on her behalf? As if to make him feel worse, the sky opened up and down came a cool, early spring shower. Shuddering - from both the cold rain and his guilty conscience - Lenire hurried to his shop. Once inside, he shut the door behind himself and sighed after flipping his sign to open. Turning, he froze in place. Ernest had taken all of his bottles and bundles down off the shelves and...rearranged them. 

"Lenire! I made more tea. Also, I organized your herbs and the like the way I had them during your lessons. See? Isn't this a good system?" The master apothecary held his hands out, balancing from the top of a stool. He smiled, clearly pleased with himself. "You had tons of marshmallow, it was hidden behind a bunch of yarrow. I don't know why you bought more..." 

Sputtering, Lenire hurried forward, placing his bundles of herbs on the counter and pointing to the door. "Out! Get out, you old man! Don't you have cobwebs to gather, or something?" 

"Cobwebs aren't used in any potion or tincture or salve that I know of, Lenire..." Ernest mockingly tapped his chin in thought, giving his former pupil a sly smile. With a exasperated sigh and a growl, he tossed his cloak at his elder before turning and rearranging his supplies the way he liked them, thank you. As the city came to life, so - too - did the inside of the store. With Ernest...lingering in the corner. He had opened the window, letting in one of the alley cats and was content to sit and pet the cat and murmur to it. At least it kept him out of the way. The students from Lenire's own alma mater, the studium of Alnwick, had already been set free for the weekend. Many in search of tinctures to ward off illness as end of the term examinations loomed ahead. Some looking for 'love' potions and tokens to give to their sweethearts during the equinox. Some inhabitants of the city came seeking salves and potions to aid in fertility. A few were looking for something to bolster the soil they wish to plant their flowers in. No matter the need or query, Lenire had something to aid or assist. And if he didn't, he simply crafted something. With the input from his mentor in the corner...heard but no more than background noise. After seeing a young couple off with a potion he had specially crafted, movement in the corner of his store caught Lenire's eye. Someone behind the shelf, perusing his pre-made salves for aching joints, teeth, wounds, and muscles.