used for serious and involved Magical work.
Margherita had put compulsions upon the door that worked better than any orders
forbidding Jenny or Sarah—or anyone else who was not a
magician—from entering. That was a special ability of the Earth-Master, to
create compulsions that worked even on those without a hint of magic in their
souls. Oh, others could do it, but the trick came most easily to Earth Masters.
Each compulsion was gently tailored to the individual. For
Jenny, the moment she touched the door, she would be under the impression that
she had just cleaned the room and was leaving. Sarah, on the other hand, would
suddenly think that there must be something on the stove or in the oven that
needed tending. Visitors would believe that the door was locked, even though it
wasn’t, and would promptly forget about the room the moment they turned
away.
“That will be fine, Elizabeth. Would you like Marina
to help you?” Margherita replied casually.
“I certainly would! You know me—completely
hopeless when it comes to organization!” Elizabeth laughed, and the
conversation went on to other things, leaving Marina tingling with excitement
and anticipation.
Elizabeth lingered over her tea until Marina finished her
breakfast, then nodded at her as she rose. Marina jumped to her feet, and
followed the older woman out of the kitchen and down to the workroom. As an
Elemental Master herself, Elizabeth was not affected by the compulsions on the
door, and opened it without a pause, beckoning to Marina to follow.
According to Uncle Thomas, many Elemental Masters preferred
to have a religious cast to their magical workrooms; they often had an altar
and religious icons such as crucifixes, statues of ancient gods or goddesses,
censers for incense, and other religious paraphernalia. But since this room was
shared by three—counting Marina,
four
—magicians, all of
whom had their own very definite ideas about their magic, the compromise had
been reached of leaving it bare. Uncle Thomas had installed cupboards with
shutters to close them on all of the walls, and whatever each person felt was
absolutely necessary to his or her working lived in the cupboards until needed.
There were two benches pushed up against one wall, and a small table (which
could presumably serve as an altar) against another. Although the room did not
have a fireplace of its own, the back wall of the library fireplace radiated
quite enough warmth for the small space.
And it had only one small window, ivy-covered and high.
Marina would have had to stand on tiptoe to see through it. So it would be
fairly difficult for anyone to spy on whatever was going on in here.
The floor was of slate, like the rest of the ground floor
of the farmhouse; the panels of the shutters were of wood with grain that
suggested far-off landscapes and distant hills. Between the panels, Uncle
Thomas had carved the graceful trunks of trees that never grew in any living
forest. The two benches were also Uncle Thomas’ work, as was the table.
“Close the door, dear,” Elizabeth said, and
pulled one of the benches out further into the room while Marina did as she
asked. “Now, come sit down, please.”
Obediently, Marina did so.
“One of the great advantages of using a permanent
workroom is that the basic shields are already in place, and one needn’t bother
with putting them up,” Elizabeth said with satisfaction. “I know
that you’ve been taught perfectly well in all the basics, so I shan’t
bother going over them again. Nor am I going to put you through a viva
voce
exam on the subject.”
Oh! Well that’s a relief!
Marina had been
expecting something of the sort, and was very pleased to discover she was going
to escape it.
“No,” Elizabeth continued, “What you need
first from me is the understanding of how you access the energy of your own
element.”
“Shouldn’t we be outside for that?”
Marina asked curiously. “Near the stream or something?”
But
Margherita had put compulsions upon the door that worked better than any orders
forbidding Jenny or Sarah—or anyone else who was not a
magician—from entering. That was a special ability of the Earth-Master, to
create compulsions that worked even on those without a hint of magic in their
souls. Oh, others could do it, but the trick came most easily to Earth Masters.
Each compulsion was gently tailored to the individual. For
Jenny, the moment she touched the door, she would be under the impression that
she had just cleaned the room and was leaving. Sarah, on the other hand, would
suddenly think that there must be something on the stove or in the oven that
needed tending. Visitors would believe that the door was locked, even though it
wasn’t, and would promptly forget about the room the moment they turned
away.
“That will be fine, Elizabeth. Would you like Marina
to help you?” Margherita replied casually.
“I certainly would! You know me—completely
hopeless when it comes to organization!” Elizabeth laughed, and the
conversation went on to other things, leaving Marina tingling with excitement
and anticipation.
Elizabeth lingered over her tea until Marina finished her
breakfast, then nodded at her as she rose. Marina jumped to her feet, and
followed the older woman out of the kitchen and down to the workroom. As an
Elemental Master herself, Elizabeth was not affected by the compulsions on the
door, and opened it without a pause, beckoning to Marina to follow.
According to Uncle Thomas, many Elemental Masters preferred
to have a religious cast to their magical workrooms; they often had an altar
and religious icons such as crucifixes, statues of ancient gods or goddesses,
censers for incense, and other religious paraphernalia. But since this room was
shared by three—counting Marina,
four
—magicians, all of
whom had their own very definite ideas about their magic, the compromise had
been reached of leaving it bare. Uncle Thomas had installed cupboards with
shutters to close them on all of the walls, and whatever each person felt was
absolutely necessary to his or her working lived in the cupboards until needed.
There were two benches pushed up against one wall, and a small table (which
could presumably serve as an altar) against another. Although the room did not
have a fireplace of its own, the back wall of the library fireplace radiated
quite enough warmth for the small space.
And it had only one small window, ivy-covered and high.
Marina would have had to stand on tiptoe to see through it. So it would be
fairly difficult for anyone to spy on whatever was going on in here.
The floor was of slate, like the rest of the ground floor
of the farmhouse; the panels of the shutters were of wood with grain that
suggested far-off landscapes and distant hills. Between the panels, Uncle
Thomas had carved the graceful trunks of trees that never grew in any living
forest. The two benches were also Uncle Thomas’ work, as was the table.
“Close the door, dear,” Elizabeth said, and
pulled one of the benches out further into the room while Marina did as she
asked. “Now, come sit down, please.”
Obediently, Marina did so.
“One of the great advantages of using a permanent
workroom is that the basic shields are already in place, and one needn’t bother
with putting them up,” Elizabeth said with satisfaction. “I know
that you’ve been taught perfectly well in all the basics, so I shan’t
bother going over them again. Nor am I going to put you through a viva
voce
exam on the subject.”
Oh! Well that’s a relief!
Marina had been
expecting something of the sort, and was very pleased to discover she was going
to escape it.
“No,” Elizabeth continued, “What you need
first from me is the understanding of how you access the energy of your own
element.”
“Shouldn’t we be outside for that?”
Marina asked curiously. “Near the stream or something?”
But
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