He paused at a stall selling herbs and spices that had a touch more qi than normal, hoping for a lead. The merchant, an old woman with kind eyes and a weathered face, smiled warmly as she greeted him. "Good morning, sir. What can I do for you?"

  Draden stiffly knelt to inspect her wares while quietly asking if she knew of any unaligned mages in the city. “I find myself in need of a teacher.”

  The woman was shaking her head, even before he finished the question. “Mages not aligned with one of the noble houses or an existing academy are a rare thing these days, sir. Most practitioners tend to enjoy the steady source of income.” She paused, tapping a finger against her chin. “You said you need a teacher?”

  Deckard nodded and decided to reveal a little more. “Yes, my daughter recently revealed she inherited the gift from her mother. I’m not interested in getting her involved with nobles or academy politics, not yet at least. Perhaps once she has had some private tutoring and knows what to expect. But I won’t toss her into that viper-field unready for their machinations.”

  It was a little white lie as he never intended to let Leah get involved with nobles or one of the academies, especially at her age. The woman didn’t need to know that though.

  “There is one place you might try,” She said with an agreeable nod, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “The Whispering Grove. It's on the outskirts of the city, near the old temple ruins. Some say it's a haven for magic users.” She tapped the side of her nose and winked. “Just remember, you didn’t hear it from me.”

  Draden chuckled and agreed. “Whispering Grove…” He repeated, noting the name, though not recognizing it. “Thank you, ma’am. You’ve been very helpful.” After buying a sack full of different herbs and spices that contained qi he bid her farewell.

  The spices and herbs would be useful for future recipes. He would need to figure out if they could be dried or if they had to be used fresh. If they could be dried and crushed for later storage, then that would be perfect. However, if that caused them to lose their qi content, then it was pointless.

  Looking up at the sky, he judged there wasn’t enough time before he needed to pick up Leah for him to make the trip to the outskirts of the city. Not with how slowly he walked. As it was, he was already tempted to dip into the food he had brought to ease the pain in his leg. If he did that Leah would never forgive him. The girl was a total foodie.

  He just hoped this Whispering Grove lead worked out. It sounded promising, but it was also the only decent lead he had gotten for his efforts.

  Draden knew where the old temple ruins were. They were dedicated to a minor god long since forgotten. The temple itself was actually older than the city and belonged to whoever had lived here before the current regime. That was as far as his knowledge of the place extended. It was a curiosity to him, nothing more.

  Walking back towards the center of town, he turned toward the school and slowly made his way toward it. He would be glad to get off his leg for a few minutes. This time he entered through the gate, instead of remaining outside the fence. There was a bench near a cherry blossom tree that he limped over to and sat down on with a sigh of relief.

  Leaning back, he spotted a familiar figure leaning against a nearby building, watching as a group of kids played some sort of game.

  "Mirna!" He called out, waving to her.

  The woman looked away from her little charges, a warm smile on her face as she nodded back to him. The teacher was a fairly young woman in her mid-twenties, with kind brown eyes and long dark, braided hair that flowed down to her waist. Her simple robes were adorned with a few embroidered flowers, adding a touch of color to her otherwise plain attire. The reason they were so simple, and plain was immediately obvious as they were covered in little, tiny handprints.

  Children were a dirty bunch, no matter which world you lived in.

  "Ah, Draden," She greeted him, pushing off the wall and walking toward him, keeping one eye on the kids. “You’re here early today. Leah is still in class with the other teacher.” A twinkle appeared in her eyes as she added, " She's quite the bright spark of happiness, full of energy and curiosity. She seems particularly eager to talk about your cooking lately. I overheard her telling the other children about your 'magic food'."

  Draden chuckled, a warmth spreading through his chest at the thought of Leah gushing about his cooking. It felt good to be appreciated, more so when the one doing so was your own daughter. “Well, she’s always been a good eater,” He replied modestly. "I'm just glad that I can make food she enjoys. That’s the same type of food that I will be making at the restaurant tomorrow night, so make sure you and your husband come."

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  She rolled her eyes. “I already said that we’ll be there, don’t worry. Besides, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the workers that you fed during its construction have been talking about your cooking as well nonstop.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “No, I hadn’t heard that, though that is what I was hoping would happen.” Draden watched the kids play for a moment, stretching out his leg and massaging the muscle when it suddenly became uncomfortable. “Tell me, how have things been going for Leah? There haven’t been any issues or problems due to how I was raising her before, right?”

  The teacher stared at him intently for a few seconds before looking away. “I’m not sure if it’s just your leg beginning to heal, or what, that has caused you to finally start coming out of your depression and care for your daughter again, but I’m glad it happened. Leah deserves so much more than what you were giving her.”

  “I know,” He replied softly, a wave of anger roiling through him. Some of it was directed at her for chastising him when he didn’t deserve it. However, most of the anger was directed at the original host who had been a piece of crap human.

  “In answer to your question though, no, she’s been fine. I made sure she was always clean when she arrived, and kids are inherently dirty at that age anyway. If they had been a few years older, things might have been different, but they are all still too young to know the difference. Besides, she is always so happy and friendly that anyone who seriously picked on her would have a dozen other kids that they would then need to contend with.” She said, finishing with a laugh.

  “That’s good. I was worried that she might have been telling me everything was fine just to keep me from worrying or something.”

  They talked for a few more minutes, while the woman kept a close eye on the kids, occasionally calling out to specific ones who weren’t doing what they were supposed to.

  Eventually, classes ended for the day, and Leah ran out the doors of the building, her little pack bouncing on her back.

  “Daddy!” She cried out. “Where’s my snack?”

  He rolled his eyes in exasperation at the little glutton and poked at her nose. “It’s still too early. Now come on sweetie, we have someplace to visit before heading home.”

  She pouted but grabbed at his hand while waving to her friends. “Where are we going?”

  He glanced around, ensuring no one was near enough to overhear. “The outskirts of the city. I heard that there might be someone there who can help train you in how to use your magic.”

  The little girl was silent as she thought about his words. “Does that mean Leah will be better able to play with her new friends?”

  “Um, if we can find a decent teacher, then probably,” He replied hesitantly.

  “Yay, then Leah wants to find a good teacher quick, so she can play with her new friends.” She said excitedly.

  ***

  Finding the old temple ruins was easy, walking there less so, as his leg started to hurt and tremble from the excess exercise. He was sorely tempted to break out their snacks and heal his leg, but he knew he would need it for the walk back home. It was a snack, not a meal, which meant the energy and healing it provided was limited.

  Once they were at the ruins, finding the exact location of the Whispering Grove was another matter. As expected of a place meant to be a haven for unaligned mages it was hidden, and impossible to find for normal people. After several minutes of looking around, Draden had to stop and rest on the steps of the temple. His leg was beginning to throb and tremble too much.

  “Come on Leah, let’s eat. We can keep looking for these people after when my leg is feeling better.” He pulled his pack off with one hand, while the other was smacking the muscles of his thigh with the head of his cane.

  “Yay,” The little girl cried, dancing up the steps to her father, though her eyes kept being drawn to a spot to the left of him.

  With a sigh of annoyance, Draden discreetly picked up a handful of rocks from the steps while he pulled their food from the bag. Then, with a swift flick of his wrist, he launched them over his shoulder in the direction she had been looking. They didn’t have enough force to hurt anyone; he was still too weak to accomplish such a feat with a simple flick, but they would reveal if something, or someone, was there.

  The rocks landed all around the area, with a couple revealing a shape that was out of place. Realizing the jig was up, the mage released his spell and revealed himself. A layer of dust and dirt crumbled from around him and piled onto the ground at his feet.

  “A camouflage spell?” Draden asked the man, seeing someone even younger than himself. A scout, if he had to guess.

  The man nodded, standing up with a groan and shaking out his stiff arms and legs. “It feels good to stand after spending hours in that position. They should really make our shifts shorter.”

  Leah clung to her father, peeking curiously over his shoulder at the man.

  “Right, well, can you call one of your elders or something over? I need to ask them for a favor.” Draden asked him without any sort of preamble.

  He looked suspiciously at Draden before his eyes drifted to Leah and slowly widened. “How old is your daughter?”

  “Young enough that if word got around, it would be problematic,” Draden told him firmly. “Again, can you bring an elder or escort us to wherever it is we need to go to speak with them?”

  The scout pulled out a communication talisman that he pressed to his head, causing the runes decorating it to flare to life before the entire thing crumbled to ash.

  “They have been notified, and one of them should be here soon.”

  Draden nodded and straightened out his leg. “In that case, we’re going to continue our meal while we wait. If you don’t mind, would you mind telling me how you knew about my daughter?”

  The man was clearly putting some thought into how to answer the question as Leah helped her father pull out their snack. “All guards are required to have good eyes.” He eventually said.

  Draden glanced over at him, a frown crossing his face. “What does that mean? Can you see magic or something?”

  Leah perked up something, her chipmunk cheeks puffed out with a half-eaten sandwich. “Can the rock man see Leah’s friends too?” The words more than a little garbled due to her mouth being full.

  Her father groaned, immediately wishing she hadn’t said anything.

  Thankfully, it seemed as though the man hadn’t understood what she said, as he merely cocked his head and asked for clarification. “What did she say?”

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