Draden shoved more food in her mouth, thinking quickly. “She asked if the rock man, you, had imaginary friends like her.” He shook his head. “We live outside the city, and she gets lonely at times.”

  One of the things he had learned by reading spy books back on Earth, it was always best to use as much truth as possible when lying. That way, there was less you needed to remember in the future.

  The guard grunted, but before he could answer, there was a flash of light, and an old man appeared beside him. Once he was there, the guard retreated a respectful distance to give them some privacy.

  The old man twisted at the hips and bent backward, popping his joints as he went through a few quick yoga poses. “Ugh, sorry about that, teleportation, even across relatively short distances, has always done weird things to my body. Joints get squeezed and have to be popped back into position.” He swung his hips in a hula-hoop maneuver and then shook out each leg. “They know I hate doing that, and yet they still sent me.” He muttered, finishing his stretches.

  “This grandpa is weird,” Leah told her father softly, licking some juice from an apple slice.

  The old man’s eyes snapped to her, his hearing apparently in better condition than his joints. “Who’s weird? You’re weird, your dog is weird, your entire family is weird!”

  “Yup, definitely a weirdo,” Draden agreed.

  The old mage’s face abruptly broke into a grin before he started to laugh and walked over to them. “Ah, I needed that, thanks, little girl.”

  “I’m not little. I’m Leah!” The little girl said defiantly, before shoving another apple slice into her mouth.

  Draden covered her eyes as he snorted. “I take it you’re the elder I asked to meet with?”

  “Where are my manners? My name is Marcus,” He grunted slightly as he sat down on the steps next to them.

  The name rang a few bells in Draden’s mind, causing him to look closer at the older man. “That name sounds familiar for some reason. Are you famous, by any chance?”

  “Not so much anymore, but a few years ago, I was.”

  Draden looked closer at him, not saying anything for several seconds, before he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it. Marcus the Mysterious!”

  “Nope, not me,” The old man denied with an emphatic shake of his head. Behind them, the guard was doing his best not to burst into laughter. “I was known as-”

  Draden waved his hand, cutting him off. “Something equally embarrassing, I’m sure. Most nicknames are.”

  Marcus’ mouth closed with a click of his teeth, and he agreed with a nod. “True, they are better left forgotten. Now, why did you ask to meet with an elder?”

  Leah waved at the man. “We came here for Leah. She needs a teacher so she can play-” Her father stuffed another apple slice into her mouth before she could reveal too much.

  If Marcus was to become her teacher, then he would undoubtedly learn that she could see magic, but he would rather the rest of the world didn’t know about it. He didn’t know how rare the ability was, but it was generally a good idea to keep certain details to yourself.

  “How old is your daughter?” Marcus asked after he had taken a moment to truly stare at Leah. “No matter how I look at her, she seems far younger than the normal age of awakening.”

  “She is,” Draden agreed. “That’s why we came here, instead of going to the academy. The nobles would either take her as their own or…”

  “Leah is-” She held up five fingers and then closed her thumb. “This much old.”

  Marcus’ brows rose in surprise. “She truly is much younger than the normal age.” He lightly poked the girl’s cheek only for her to try and bite his finger, a digit which she quickly spat out in disgust.

  “Blegh, this grandpa tastes nasty. Daddy, do you have a seasoning that would make him taste better?” She asked cutely, while wiping her tongue.

  Draden felt a drop of sweat form at his temple at that question. He dearly wished his daughter wouldn’t develop any odd tastes or hobbies due to her foodie nature. “Uh, we don’t eat people,” He said after a moment.

  Beside him, Marcus nodded emphatically.

  The little girl frowned thoughtfully, nibbling at the last apple slice. “What about those pigmen?”

  “Pigmen?” Draden wondered. “Do you mean fat people?”

  Leah shook her head. “We learned about them in class. Teacher said they’re pigmen, and that people consider them to be a deli- delicashy in some regions.” She struggled to pronounce the unfamiliar word properly.

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  “Oh, she’s talking about orcs,” The mage said. “That is an interesting discussion, but not one I’m entirely sure your daughter would appreciate. Regardless, at what point do you draw the line between edible meat and non-edible? Orcs are intelligent, but there are no orc cities, at least not permanent ones. They are a race of nomadic hunters, and are always on the move, much like the barbarians.”

  Draden raised a brow. “And people eat them?”

  Marcus scratched at the stubble on his chin. “Well, I said they are nomadic hunters. I never said what they hunt. They are very open-minded about what species count as food and prey. I think that is why most people are so willing to do the same to them.” He shrugged. “Personally, I try to avoid the meat whenever possible. It just seems a little off to me.”

  “Yeah, I think I’ll probably do the same,” Draden muttered with a shake of his head. That might be normal here, but he was still dealing with some sensibilities from Earth. Eating something with actual intelligence just didn’t seem right to him. “Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, my daughter. She began displaying her talents yesterday, that I saw anyway. I suppose it’s possible they could have appeared earlier. Her mother was a true magical talent.” He finished softly stroking the little girl’s head.

  “What was she doing, if I may ask?”

  “Originally, it was something with mud that I missed. Then when I was washing her off, she began playing with the water.”

  “That wasn’t Leah,” She said stubbornly. “The magic wanted to play. It’s Leah’s friend.”

  “Whichever,” Her father admitted with a shrug. “I decided it was best to find her a tutor before the wrong person saw her using magic and it became a problem.”

  “You realize we could just as easily be those wrong people,” Marcus told him solemnly.

  “I do, but you’re also my only hope at the moment. Besides, I can offer you something more useful than a single stolen child.”

  “Oh, and what would that be?” The old man asked with a hint of amusement.

  “I’m conducting a grand opening for my restaurant tomorrow night. It’s outside the city walls, but why don’t you come and find out? I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Draden could almost guarantee that he would be, actually.

  The energy-rich foods, and with any luck Mirna’s husband, would bring a few additional guards. Then there were all the rumors the construction workers had spread. Actually, now that he thought about it, he was going to need to make far more food than he had originally planned.

  “A restaurant?” The mage asked doubtfully. “There are plenty of restaurants inside the city already. What’s so special about yours?”

  “You’ll have to come and find out. Now, can you even teach Leah?”

  “I’d have to spend some time with her and get to know her first. It shouldn’t surprise you to know that I’ve never taught anyone as young as her before.” Marcus admitted after a few seconds of deliberation. “I tell you what. Let me spend the night doing some research, and then tomorrow I’ll be there at your little opening. Afterward, I’ll spend some time with you and your daughter. We’ll decide how to proceed from there.”

  “I can agree to that. Before we go, let me ask you something. Will Leah be in danger if she doesn’t receive any training?”

  “It’s hard to say,” Marcus said after a moment, scratching his chin again. “Some people do experience problems with their magic going out of control, while others are perfectly fine. It really depends on the individual and what they are attempting to do, among other things. In your daughter’s case, I truly can’t say due to how young she is. It may help her or be a hindrance. There is no way of knowing at the moment.”

  Draden sighed and nodded. “I had a feeling that would be your answer. Very well, we’ll see you tomorrow. I hope you don’t disappoint me or my daughter.”

  With that, he brushed off his pants and grabbed his cane. Leah, understanding that their meeting was over, quickly reached into his bag and pulled out a cold hodduk pancake.

  “Here, grandpa, looks hungry, eat some of daddy’s magic food.” She held the pancake out to him, only to bring it back and break it in half offering the other half to her father.

  “Thanks, sweetie,” Draden said with a chuckle, taking the food from her. He popped the entire piece into his mouth and stood as the energy entered his body. The healing energy from the food he had eaten was just barely enough to get him home.

  The old man looked at the piece of odd-looking pancake and tentatively took a bite. The taste was pretty good, though he imagined it would have been better hot. That said, it was the gentle wave of qi and healing energy that truly took his breath away. It wasn’t much, as the portion he had been given was small, but the fact that it was there at all was incredible. There was no doubt now that he would be going to that restaurant the next day.

  Leah took hold of her father’s hand, her own slightly sticky from the juice of the apple slices. “Are we going to play in the mud again when we get home?”

  “No, I finished with the fishpond while you were at school,” He told her, leaning on his cane. “It still needs to dry before it can be filled with water though. I was thinking that we might need to make a larger one behind the restaurant. That was just for the house, but if we want to serve fish to customers, we’ll need a decent-sized fishpond.”

  The little girl began hopping about in excitement. “Oh, oh, oh, yes, Leah wants to help, and her friends will help. This will be the bestest, fishiest pond ever!” She exclaimed, twirling around with a laugh.

  Draden chuckled, watching the little girl lovingly. He wasn’t sure how he would have reacted to coming over to this world without her as his grounding force. He truly couldn’t understand how the original had ever been able to become so self-absorbed that he could ignore his own daughter. Her energy was so infectious that it was impossible for him personally to ignore her or be sad around her.

  By the time they made it home, his leg was on fire again.

  He wasn’t going to start prepping any pond-site behind the restaurant, not right then anyway. That didn’t prevent him from sitting back there with a pad of paper and a pencil. He was sketching out a general shape of what he wanted the pond to be, along with the general materials needed.

  While he was doing that, Leah was playing among the reeds, tossing rocks to the side, and just generally having fun. She was wearing large boots as bubbles of water hung in the air and little furrows of mud formed behind her.

  Flipping the page with the drawing over, he began writing out a recipe that he had been working to remember for the last few weeks. It was a simple recipe, with only a few steps and ingredients. Despite that, the specific amounts of each ingredient had eluded him until earlier that day.

  It was a little late to start on it now, but this particular version of the recipe was meant to be ready to eat after only a little time.

  It was time to introduce his daughter to the food of the gods. She was about to discover what pizza was like.

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