Rilcar's cart was going along the road quietly, in a couple of hours he would be in the city, ahead of him after a bend they would reach the detour to the north and then the bridge over the river Daldril. There were leafy blackberries and thick strawberry trees blocking the view, that corner must be the dream of every greedy child in the surroundings.
However, what he saw when he regained sight of the road worried him, a group of horsemen was heading north along the road, from what he could see it was a heterogeneous group, three guards, a couple of rangers, and some young farmers with draft horses and not war horses. What was happening?
A cart with straw was heading towards the city pulled by a pair of oxen. The magician spurred his nag to pass the farmer's cart.
"Good sir, where were those horsemen going?"
The man turned his head in surprise, with a bad expression while he scratched a small rash on his ear, although when he saw the traveling magician's wagon the unpleasant grimace was erased, all the simple people respected traveling magicians.
"Good morning, Mr. Magician, those riders were looking for Mr. Gael, he escaped yesterday, and they think he has gone to look for Mr. Nolkar who was hunting in the north..."
"Gael? Isn't that Leena's and Baron Aulos's youngest son?"
"Yes sir, as expected of a magician you are well-informed, that little devil has decided to give his mother a new headache..."
"Is he such a bad guy? He's only five years old..."
"The last time I saw him in the square he cast a spell on Parvi the baker to take a cake from her, he conjured the wind and lifted her skirts in the middle of the square, he grabbed a bun and ran away... A few weeks ago he put his nurse to sleep, and she almost drowned in the beasts' trough... That child has his soul eaten by a devil like me, my name is Tobias..."
"Thank you for the information, Mr. Tobias."
Rilcar threw him a small package wrapped in some large vine leaves.
"Apply that to the rash once a day, you'll see how it relieves it..."
It was customary for traveling magicians to pay for information and favors, it was better to lose a few herbs than to lose reputation.
By the time the wagon reached the city gate he could see the silhouette of the redhead Leena from afar. Pregnancies had been good for her, she had gained at least two cup sizes, before she had barely had two half oranges, and now she had two large full peaches. It was definitely an improvement.
"Hey redhead!!! They say you have lost a puppy..."
The nearest guard, seeing the lack of respect towards his lady and the lascivious look of the stranger approaching in a wagon, made a move to put an arrow to his bow, but the lady had already crossed the space through a dimensional rift to appear next to the intruder.
"Rilcar! You have the gift of opportunity, we have missed the commission we wanted to give you..."
"Commission? I thought that little devil they say is your youngest son had escaped..."
Rilcar was not liking the implications of Leena's words, but after years without seeing her, when the pretty redhead deftly climbed onto the wagon and kissed his cheek, he could not help but blush like when he was a child.
"Of course, Gael is your charge, we want you to be the little one's teacher..."
Leena briefly told him about Gael's circumstances, how he had been gifted with an affinity for all magic but cursed with very small mana cores, whether Rilcar approved or not of what had been done to the child, or if he didn't even suspect it was something she would never express, although that level of magic could hardly be imagined even by a magician with the knowledge and world like Rilcar had, only a father knew why he made such a decision. The boy was clearly very talented, very intelligent and completely untameable.
"Tell me Leena, when you say that the boy is intelligent and talented I think you mean that he is intelligent and talented for magic like me, and not extremely powerful like you, right? As far as I remember you didn't manage to make a sleep order until you were nine years old..."
"Don't make me burn you alive with your chariot Rilcar, you know very well that I am capable, besides it would be good if you started looking me in the eyes and not at my cleavage, now I am the lady of the place..."
Jokes aside Leena told him the details of the boy's last days and his frustration because they hadn't taken him on the hunting party. Rilcar couldn't help but laugh while Leena told him about the absurd escape that the boy had planned.
"Why did you send your men to the north?"
"Where did you want me to send them? The same way his father went..."
"Didn't you say that the boy is intelligent? He has stolen food for no more than four days, with that food he wouldn't get that far, anyway don't worry, I'll go out to look for him, depending on how the boy is, I'll decide about being his teacher..."
"Do you have any idea where he could have gone?"
"Of course, if he's only half as intelligent as you tell me and has half as much malice, he will have gone in the opposite direction to where you would look for him, and it seems that he has something to prove to his family, he wants a solo adventure, not to risk being punished by his father and sent home tied up..."
Rilcar left the confused Leena at the city gates, wasted no time except to ask a couple of apparently absurd questions to the locals and left, this time on foot, to head south.
The traveling magician was not very excited about babysitting a spoiled child, and even less teaching magic to someone who was not able to stay still. He would rescue the boy, collect a small reward for it, and then make any excuse to get back on his way.
No matter how good a salary he was offered, it wouldn't be enough to compensate for the headache a child was capable of generating. He also didn't trust a mother's words to describe her son, all of them magnified his virtues and belittled his mistakes. Although being able to give a sleep command at that young age was something that indicated that the boy had some talent.