Page 29 of The Elven Healer's Apprentice

However, everything changed when I went to live with my master.

“He pitted us—the two other apprentices and me—against each other. They believed superiority came with age and experience.”

“It does.” Adela scanned the road ahead.

My senses hummed with the awareness of our surroundings, but I expected nothing hostile. We trod hobgoblin country now, and they were fanatical about keeping strangers outside their boundaries. Only natives would accost us at this point, if at all.

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Adela glanced over at me.

“Yeah.” I smirked slightly. “Each elf is born with latent magic and active magic. As we mature and learn to access it, our latent magic becomes accessible for our use. As I developed my skill, I slowly realized I had more latent magic than either of my fellow apprentices. They hated me for it.”

She nodded. “So, elves aren’t that different from humans. They desire more than they have and despise those who possess what they seek. How did you deal with it?”

“Kept my head down, worked hard, and learned how to set up a ward better than anyone.”

She smirked. “Makes sense. A good ward prevented contamination of your work and sabotage.”

“Even more importantly, it stopped them from hurting my patients.”

She stopped in her tracks. “The master healer let you have patients?”

I swung around to face her. “What is your issue with that?”

“How old were you?” She planted her fists on her hips and jutted her chin at me.

Taken aback, I studied her with amusement. “I was a young elf of twenty. Hardly a child.”

“Yet you won’t let me call any of the people I treat patients, and I am almost thirty.” She tilted her head to the side. “Also, you refuse to allow me to be your assistant or your apprentice. Why?”

“Your approach is wrong.”

“Oh?” Her chestnut eyebrows rose. “In what way?”

“First, the criteria for taking on patients included experience, proof of competence, and demonstration of an understanding of the basics of healing.”

“I have more experience than you did at that age, and an understanding of the basics of healing in addition to a specialization in an area in which you do not excel. Furthermore, I think I have more than proven my competence over the past year.”

“True,” I admitted.

“Then why aren’t you willing to allow me a title and position?”

“There is your second error.”

“Oh?”

“You assume the fault lies in my opinion of your skills.”

She narrowed her darkening eyes. I never considered jade an eye color that turned stormy, but her glare certainly proved me wrong. Crossing her arms over her chest, she settled back on her heels, saying nothing.

“I am torn. If I take you on as an apprentice, not only will I be held responsible for your deficiencies—not that you have any,” I hastened to add. “I had a rather unpleasant experiencewith an apprentice before. It caused me to be reluctant to take on another.”

“How long has it been?”

I shrugged. “Twenty years.”

“That isn’t recent.”

“By elven standards—” I stopped myself at the tightening of her mouth. Recalling Sina’s reaction to my absence for a year, I explained instead, “It feels recent to me.”

---