84 Apprentice

Siv sits back in the carriage and tries to stay still to calm her irritated stomach.

'Damn these carriages.'

She takes a deep breath. Then, she takes the carved butterfly Lofi gave her. She inspects it for a few minutes, it is beautiful. She can't believe he made it himself, last night. She is also still amazed by the actions of Asa.

'I wonder what the story is about.'

She puts her hand on the book safely secured underneath her dress. She ponders how many people might know about the supposedly story, and about her tattoo. She is going to have to be more careful so that nobody sees it. If there are other people like Asa, believing that she is the destined queen, it might become an issue.

'That is a lot of pressure.' Siv sighs. 'I don't like to be under pressure.'

Siv looks at Gary who has his eyes closed, she knows he is not sleeping though. Probably just resting his eyes. Then, she looks at Asger. He is too young to be working, especially putting himself in dangerous situations.

'And where the hell does this boy sleep? He didn't spend the night at Asa's house, or at the inn the other night.'

"How old are you, Asger?" Siv addressing the boy takes him by surprise. He clears his throat.

"I am thirteen, Miss Gene."

"Shouldn't you be in school or something?"

"I am an apprentice. I don't need school." He answers with a nonchalant tone.

'I guess even kids in this world hate school.'

"What about things that your Master can't teach you?" The boy glares at her.

"I don't need to learn anything that my Master does not deem necessary. Plus, I already know all I need to know." Asger looks away from Siv.

'What's with the attitude? So not cute.'

Siv is silent for a while after that. She rustles a few times to try to find a better sitting position, especially since she feels more nauseous by the minute.

"Miss Gene, maybe you should try and take a nap until we arrive." Gary says without opening his eyes.

"How long till we get there?"

"Not too long."

'Ugh, that is not an answer.'

"How long is it going to take to sail from Bodo to Bluevale?" Gary presses his lips in a thin line and opens his eyes to meet hers.

"A few weeks if the Gods bless us with good weather."

"A few weeks?" Siv almost squeals.

'Oh man! Is Colby going to be alright for that long?'

Suddenly, the carriage comes to a halt.

"Why have we stopped?" Asger looks out of the window. One of Stein's men disguised as a Lion has been riding a horse. He tries to look ahead.

"There is a long line of carriages waiting to cross over to Bodo." He stands a bit from his saddle to have a better view. "There are Lions checking the carriages at the portal. It looks like they are holding a couple of posters."

"Gods damn it." Gary curses. "They are looking for me." He runs his fingers through his hair. "That was fast."

"What do we do now?" Siv asks, panicking. "Maybe, we should have disguised ourselves."

"That is a brilliant idea, Miss Gene." Siv blinks at him a few times, not understanding what he means.

"Do we have any disguise in the carriage?"

"We have something even better." Gary turns and smiles at Asger. The boy nods, understanding what he means right away.

"Yes, sir." Siv looks from Gary to Asger, to Gary again. She is confused about what is going on but also nervous about the Lions at the portal.

Asger lifts his hands in Gary's direction. He closes his eyes and concentrates until his hands start glowing with bright lights. Siv just looks at him with wide eyes and parted lips.

'What the-'

She watches as Gary's face starts metamorphosing into somebody else's. By the time the light in Asger's hands stops shining, Gary looks like a totally different person. Siv is in complete shock.

"How did you do that?" She whispers. "Are you a... sorcerer?" Both Gary and Asger jerk their heads in her direction.

"How do you know about sorcerers?" Gary asks, his voice is still the same even though he has a different face. Which is quite strange.

"I have…" Siv stops herself.

'Was I just going to say that I have met a couple of them?'

"I have heard about them from Siv." Gary eyes her for a moment.

"Should I change Miss Gene also?" Asger asks.

"Yes. Please do, Asger." Gary sits back in his seat. "Someone might recognize you from running with me at the capital. Or from your fighting yesterday."

"You are right, I guess they might." Asger starts using his magic but frowns. It looks like he is struggling with something. His eyes fly open and just stares at Siv.

"What is it?" Gary asks.

"I… I am going to try again." The boy is flustered. His light shines bright, but nothing happens to Siv. Asger cocks his head to the side confused. It should work. He tries again, but the result is the same.

"Are you..." He utters.

"Why is it not working?" Gary frowns.

"There is only one possible reason." Asger explains.

"I think I will be fine. I doubt anybody has noticed me-"

"Because you were trying not to be noticed, right?" Gary's sarcasm makes Siv grimace. "What is it, Asger. What is the only possible reason?"

Siv looks at the teenage boy with wide eyes. Her heart is beating so fast, fearing that the boy has figured out her secret. She slowly shakes her head, signaling to him not to tell Gary. Asger holds her eyes for a moment then looks back at Gary.

"I might have used too much magic to change you." The boy utters, making Siv let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that might be a problem. If they recognize her-"

"They won't." Siv interrupts. Gary stares at her for a few seconds.

"Well, let's just be ready in case they do." Asger immediately tells Stein's men to be alert.

Siv sits back and takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves. The situation is getting complicated by the minute. She sighs again.

'It looks like people are finding out who I am, faster than I had imagined.'