"Well then, how were you captured?" Castra said, obviously trying to change the subject from coral stone.
Isha leaned closer to listen.
"For one thing there was no food or water in the ruins," Nairobi said. "For another, I wasn't about to spend the rest of my life in the ruins. So I left it behind. I had to find food and water after all."
Isha didn't fail to notice that her tone was defensive, as if she expected Castra to chastise her for leaving the relative safety of the ruins.
"No one expected you to do more in your situation, girl," Castra said. "No need to get all worked up about it."
"I know… I just… Not one day out of the ruins and I fell into a bog. When I finally got out of the bog, remembering I had flight skill, I saw a campfire not too far from my position. I flew there and crumpled next to the fire and fell asleep."
Nairobi gulped down the glass of water in a single go. "The next thing I knew I was inside a caged wagon. How could I be so stupid? If Michael ever learned of this, I will never hear the end of it. Oh, how the tables have turned."
Isha cocked her head. "Were you and this… Michael close?"
"Ew, no," Nairobi said. "He was just a snotty runt of a brother of my best friend—clumsy and easy to pull pranks on. But after sleeping in the camp of bandits who drained my blood for over a month, I can never tease him for his clumsiness now can I?"
"Maybe you …" Isha began.
"Is there a point to this?" Castra cut in. "Just tell us how you escaped."
"But we were just about to have a friendly conversation, perhaps with some juice to it. Don't you know how to talk to people?"
"My valuable time isn't there for you girls to engage in idle gossip."
Isha folded her arms, grumbling to herself. "Talking to people isn't a waste of time."
Nairobi laughed. "Do you two always bicker like children covered in chicken's manure?"
The air suddenly became heavier than a carriage. Isha's heart tightened and she couldn't breathe.
"I will not have this from you, girl. And you," Castra said, turning to Isha. "You will not speak a word unless spoken to. Do I make myself clear? Or will I have to sew up your mouth?"
Isha made a 'I understand' gesture. The air returned to normal and Isha took a deep breath. The woman was like a collapsing mountain when she was angry.
Castra nodded at Nairobi. "You were telling us how you escaped?"
Nairobi swallowed before she began speaking. "I escaped because those bandits had no brains in their thick skulls. It never crossed their mind that I could use magic. Locking me in a wooden cage-ha! That day when they were passed out drunk, I burned a hole in my cage—oh, it took hours to do it to prevent anyone from noticing, but I did it, didn't I? I escaped."
"You can think when it matters," Castra said, tapping her temple with her index finger. "Yes, I can work with you. You will be a fine addition."
"Fine addition to what, exactly?"
Castra stood up from her seat and walked to the window, gazing at the drizzling rain.
"Nairobi?" she said, tracing her fingers along the embroidery of the window curtain. "What do you think of magic?"
"Magic is like drugs. Once you get the taste of it, you cannot stop using more of it. I can't get enough of it. I want it all."
Isha blinked, she hadn't expected such an answer—comparing magic with drugs. But now that Isha thought of it, Nairobi wasn't wrong. Hadn't she felt euphoria when casting spells?
Castra turned, fixing Nairobi with her gaze, smiling slightly. "Then why don't you become my apprentice?"
Nairobi looked up from her bed. "What's in it for you?"
"Freedom from my debts," Castra said, sitting back down, her smile widening further.
"I suppose I can get behind that. When do we start?"
"What?" Isha said. "You agree? Just like that? No more questions? No—"
"She is going to teach me magic, isn't she?"
Isha nodded.
"Well then, what's there to complain about?"
"But—"
"If this decision turns out to be a bad one, then I will face the consequences for it, but I won't regret my decision. It's magic…"
Isha had nothing to say to that, something still rankled at her, though. She turned to her master and frowned. "You performed so many tests on me before accepting me into your apprenticeship. Yet you are going to accept her with none of those tests?"
"Indeed," Castra said, giving no explanations of her decisions.
Something twisted in her gut. "Why?"
Castra sighed. "I did it for you to keep the appearances, for formality. I wasn't about to go into a Nobel's estate and not follow the protocol. So you caught the short end of the stick. Besides, dear, Nairobi is like a blank canvas, with little to no foundation of magic. So, unlike you, I won't have to take care of some of the smudges to paint her into a proper Mage."
Isha ground her teeth so hard it was a wonder they didn't turn to dust. Thank Naiker, she hed managed to keep her hand from pulling her hair.
"My, but she looks like she has swallowed her own poop," Nairobi said.
Castra laughed. "She does, doesn't she?"
Isha wished she knew how to cast the [Invisibility] spell. She would learn that spell one way or another, she decided.
"What now?" Nairobi said. "Now that I am your apprentice?"
"For starters," Castra said, pulling out a piece of paper from her belt pouch. "You will follow the diet plan I am about to make for you."
"For what purpose?"
Isha leaned closer to inspect the diet plan Castra was making.
Castra dipped the pen in the ink. "You said you didn't know about your Cniad heritage. Well, a half-cniad can't survive on human food alone. You must consume other food as well, if you want to maintain the health of your carapace that is. Trust me, if your armour begins to flake off, it will be mighty painful."
"Oh!" was all Nairobi said.
Castra handed her the paper with the diet plan after she finished concocting it. "If you ever find yourself in a pickle regarding your carapace and with no way to access Cniad food, eating sand should suffice."
"Sand? Why would eating sand help my carapace?"
"Sand? Why would eating sand help her carapace?"
Isha and Nairobi exchanged a look. The idea of someone eating sand, even Nairobi, sounded ludicrous to her.
"Nobody knows," Castra said. "But we do know that it works. We must do whatever is necessary in order to survive. Whether we like it or not. So always keep some sand in your person, even if it isn't that difficult to find."
Nairobi nodded with a bewildered expression.
"Now rest, both of you," Castra said. "We will move out in about a week and then travel further south."