Page 42 of Reluctant Wizard

She took a bite and closed her eyes in an expression of such utter bliss that his cock stirred with renewed hunger for her. “This is delicious. Way better than anything the dining hall serves.”

“Now you know why I like to cook for myself.”

“Except when you’re lurking in the dining hall in order to spy on me.”

“To look out for you,” he corrected easily. “Now that I can feed you myself, I won’t worry so much.”

“As previously noted, you worry too much.”

She needed someone to be concerned about her, but he decided that wouldn’t be a productive conversation. “Tell me more about what you did with the fire elemental.”

“Changing the subject?”

“Absolutely.” He offered her the bread basket, waiting for her to take a slice, then helped himself and swirled it in the thick sauce of the stew. Taking a sopping bite, he rolled the flavor on his tongue. Quite good, he decided. The mushrooms added a nice richness, and the red wine he’d used in the sauté reminded him of Alise’s flavor.

“You like to dip stuff,” Alise observed, watching him.

“I do. I love the contrast of crunchiness and creaminess.” Demonstrating, he popped a bit of dripping crust in his mouth and chewed. He’d gotten the crust on the bread just right, too. “Perfect.” And so was she. Alise looked exactly right sitting at his table, her magic softening the air, turning winter to rose-laden summer.

She tipped her head. “You’re surprisingly sensual for someone so in his head.”

“Why is that surprising? There’s no conflict between thinking and feeling. I can do both.”

“Yes, you can. Do you really want to know more about the fire elemental?”

“Very much.”

“Why?”

“I’m curious.” Also, he wanted to know everything about her. He particularly liked how her face lit up when she talked about her magic-working. She was deeply conflicted about it, too—and he wasn’t sure why—but at least this aspect of her talents brought her joy and Alise didn’t have nearly enough of that.

“Hmm.” She sounded unconvinced, but kept going. “I gave the fire elemental more magic, for one. As I was saying before, the production line wizards employed by House Elal summon the elementals, then bind them according to a standardized protocol. That process includes a packet of magic along with a set of instructions. The elementals can use a favored material to supplement that magic—like earth elementals eating dirt—but they can only ‘charge’ to a certain point. The excess goes nowhere. Otherwise, we’d end up with earth elementals growing to enormous size and power in the sewage pits. And no one wants that!”

He loved this side of her and mock shuddered. “A daunting image—and also something I’d never thought about.”

She shrugged a little, forking up some beef and chewing. “Why would you? This kind of thing falls under the realm of house arcania, establishing a consistent product line. Of course, the process of standardizing elementals for household use happened centuries ago, crafted by my Elal ancestors, and only tweaked since then. Why fix what isn’t broken?”

“Why, indeed?”

She smirked at his reply. “A commonality to high houses, I believe, clinging to tradition. Anyway, these elementals being the size and shape they are has been consistent for not only our entire lives, but our parents’ lives and grandparents’ and before. So it’s natural to accept that as the default without examination.”

“I don’t much like to think of myself as having accepted something as a fundamental truth without having examined it,” he admitted.

She gazed at him thoughtfully. “No, you wouldn’t. But look where your curiosity has led you: examination of the banal.” She grinned impishly. “So, because I have Elal blood, it’s relatively easy for me to tinker with the default settings on an Elal product. I simply adjusted the metrics that had been binding the fire elemental to the standard size and heat output, fed it some extra magic to compensate for the increases, and promised it some gingerbread as a treat.”

That gave him pause. “A fire elemental can consume more than wood or oil?”

“Oh yes. They particularly like anything with heat elements, like spices.”

“Like ginger.”

She pointed a bread crust at him. “Exactly.”

“So, will it eventually revert to standard?”

“Yours?” She shook her head. “No, it will stay this way, unless you want me to reset it. Or you could get some other Elal wizard to do it.”

“You are the only Elal wizard I want mucking with my elementals.”

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