“This isn’t working,” Abby growled while staring at Snowy.

For Snowy’s part, she only frowned for a moment, but her attention remained on the Fascination Orb in her hand.

Biting into the bit of toast left on my plate, I continued to watch, only my eyebrows rising when Abby growled inarticulately and approached me.

“This isn’t working!” Abby said again, this time more to me than to Snowy.

Swallowing my bite, I put the rest down then brushed off my hands.

“Nope, it’s not working,” I agreed.

That hadn’t been the response Abby was hoping for given the way she looked at me in outrage before slumping defeatedly in the chair near the hearth, the cushions seeming to swallow the young woman. At my continued silence to her displeasure, Abby finally spoke up. I noticed that she tended to shut down in silence or turn grumpy when she was upset. While dealing with her outbursts, I could deeply understand the urge, but it wasn’t professional. Given that Snowy had talked to her about the childish behavior, I decided to ignore the outbursts for now. They had reduced in frequency lately anyway. Today was a unique circumstance.

“Why aren’t you training her? You’re the Skill Trainer,” she said.

Setting aside my plate, I leaned forward, though I made sure my voice carried to Snowy, who sat in the corner staring at the orb.

“I have a few reasons. The first is that this kind of training can foster resentment, and I would rather Snowy resent you than me,” I said.

For a moment, Abby stared at me with her mouth hanging partially open. In the corner, Snowy smirked and snorted, seeming to find humor in my mercenary attitude toward emotional manipulation. Though, I noticed a slight frown starting between her eyebrows.

“That's! Uh…that’s not right,” Abby said, unable to articulate the seeming betrayal.

“And now Snowy won’t let that happen since I’ve mentioned it. You’re welcome,” I said while watching the confused and outraged look flash across my apprentice’s face.

The frown that had begun to form between Snowy’s eyebrows faded. Now she was fighting the smile at my antics. I wasn’t sure why Snowy gained so much enjoyment out of my emotional manipulations of people. Still, she seemed to think it was funny. I didn’t understand it, but I was glad she enjoyed my antics.

“Still, you’re right. You aren’t doing well teaching Snowy how to fight off the Fascination Orb, and we can’t go to another gathering until she is protected,” I said.

Again with the exasperated look, this time mirrored by Snowy.

Standing, I walked around my apprentice’s chair and plucked the orb from Snowy’s hand. At its removal, Snowy’s distant and distracted look snapped into focus. Smiling at me, she stood and gave me a peck on the lips, the sudden sign of affection befuddling me, though not so much that I would let Snowy snag the orb out of my hand and continue her practice.

“None of that now,” I said with a smile, then pulled her over to join our talk.

“Abby, when I was training you to defeat the Fascination Orb, what did I do?” I asked as I returned to my seat.

“Nothing. You just handed me the orb and left me fumbling around!” Abby said, her voice rising in irritation, though she calmed when Marcus entered the office to grab my plate.

When the man left, she continued, “Nothing, you just left me with it,” she said as if laying down a complaint before a nightwatchman.

“Exactly,” I said, then leaned back and smiled.

Again with the pair of incredulous looks. Seeing that my stroke of brilliance hadn’t been enough of an explanation, I couldn’t resist leaning forward and extolling the virtues of my favorite subject - teaching.

“With a student, you should learn what you can about how they learn, what they understand, what they know, how you can best get them to progress. I didn’t have time for that with you. But, you needed to start learning. The first step to learning is to try. Just try. Who knows, you might have had a natural knack and picked it up without effort. All I could do was prejudice you from trying things your own way. So, I let you fiddle with it and fail,” I said, then looked around at the office.

“Did you decide to train Snowy here, or did she?” I asked, the sudden change in conversation throwing Abby.

“She chose my father’s office. If she’d asked, I would have chosen here as well. Why?” Snowy asked.

I could tell by Snowy’s focused gaze that it wasn’t an idle question. She could tell I was either distracting them from my previous answer or preparing to unbalance them again. It might have been the giant grin on my face.

“Abby, if you had to describe Snowy, would you say she is studious?” I asked.

“Uh. Yes? She works through her studies every day. She works hard. She wants to step into her father’s shoes!” Abby said, sensing an attack on her friend in my words.

Shaking my head, I said, “Snowy is smart and dutiful, but she doesn’t enjoy study and learning for its own sake. She is more likely to create a unique riposte to an attack than a trick in accounting…” I started before noticing the look I was now receiving from both women.

“Err…the point I’m trying to make is that this study isn’t a place of comfort and relaxation for her. It’s a place of irritation,” I said. I noticed the rolled eyes the two women gave me, as well as the smirks at my sudden backtracking, but I diplomatically decided to ignore them.

“For Snowy, the training grounds are her place of learning. When presented with a challenge, she can see it as a battle and win. Here, she is just slogging through the effort because of duty. We need her invested, so she will learn quickly,” I said.

My words seemed to invigorate Snowy, and I couldn’t help smiling at her new fierce look. The wide grin, the eager twitch of her hands that she seemed unable to hold back, everything about her look said she was ready to conquer the challenge, and I couldn’t resist grinning with her.

“Well, let’s go,” Snowy said while rising, her hand pulling me with her as she dragged me through the mansion and unto the walled training grounds. Somehow, her urge for conquest overrode the second enchantment of the Fascination Orb and she was able to move around. If she had trouble with that portion, I would remind her of this moment. The training arena was similar to the one in her father’s fortress. Grass for most of the yard, sand in a central circle, but the walls only came up to waist high, leaving the view to the garden clear. We passed through the preparation area, and this was the first time she left her sparring equipment in the cabinet. It seemed to me that the subtle difference of a dress versus leathers slowed her, but only for a moment. Stepping into the arena sands, Snowy turned to me and, with a peck on the lips again, snagged the orb from my hand then returned to staring.

Behind me, Abby coughed, dragging my attention away from the noblewoman and back to her.

“You said you had a few reasons. You only told us one reason. What were the others?” Abby asked.

Shrugging, I looked to Snowy, though I returned my gaze to Abby before I spoke.

“You’re my apprentice, and learning how to train someone is part of the deal. I’m not just milking you for Noble’s Bane,” I said.

Nodding my head back at Snowy, I continued, “As I said. One of the ways to teach someone a Skill is to throw them in without advice. Watch them fumble. Then provide clues and hints on both their success and failures. That’s what I was doing to you,” I said.

Walking over to stand next to me, Abby regarded Snowy as she stared at the orb, then slumped her shoulders and turned back.

“So, what am I supposed to be watching for? I learned how to look away, but I’m still not sure how I do it. I just…do it.”

Keeping my eyes on Snowy, I nodded along with Abby.

“I have no idea how you are doing it either. A real puzzle that,” I said with a smirk.

Before Abby could respond, Snowy looked at us and said, “Do you mind?”

“There!” I shouted. My sudden outburst caused Abby to startle, but Snowy just gave me a disgruntled look.

“What?” Snowy demanded, her tone making it clear she had reached the limits of putting up with my antics.

“We annoyed you, and you looked up. That’s a success,” I said with a grin, my smile not seeming to help Abby, but Snowy gave me a fierce grin and dived back into her challenge.

“I don’t think I like being a Skill Trainer,” Abby said.

I could only shrug at that.

“It’s not for everyone. Personally, I love seeing my students improve. Growing and getting better. It’s addictive. The different challenges, figuring out the best way to help a student learn, even if it’s hard. I love it. You could always ask Mason to train you to be a throat slitter like him,” I said.

Abby went silent, and I was surprised at her rejected look.

“I wasn’t trying to upset you, and I’m not getting rid of you. I was saying you have options, and I can help you find more if you want. You seem to like working with Mason, and you’re good at his Skills. I know my mom has taken a liking to you as well. She could teach you a thing or two.”

Abby nodded at my words, but they didn’t cheer her up as I had hoped. Awkwardly, I returned my focus to Snowy. Leaning next to Abby, I dropped my voice before I said, “One second.”

Gently, I pulled Abby with me as I backed up. I kept my eyes on Snowy, then leaned over again to Abby. In a whisper, I said, “Keep your voice down and lean in toward me. Fake a smile if you can. Keep your eyes on Snowy and watch where she looks. The eyes are the core of a person’s focus. Watching where someone looks can help you figure out what they are thinking. With that, you can help them learn.”

Whispering along with me, Abby glanced again to Snowy, then back at me. “Mason said the same thing about aiming for where a target is going to be,” she said, then tried to deepen her voice to match the gruff man, her body swaying back and forth as she spoke, “Watch the eyes. They’ll tell yah. Then you can hit um.”

Looking over at us, Snowy frowned. Her eyes bounced between Abby and me and silently asked why we were whispering. When her eyes met my own, I wiggled my eyebrows at her, then glanced back at the orb in her hand. Snowy gave me a comical look of both pride and annoyance.

“You’re doing well, Snowy! Keep up the hard work. We’ll be over here annoying you. Whispering together. Close together. Totally innocent,” I said with a raised voice, my tone dipping between innocence and innuendo.

“You are not a nice person!” Snowy shouted at me, though she couldn’t hide her grin at my antics.

When I looked back at Abby, she was shaking her head. I didn’t think she found my games nearly as entertaining as Snowy did. To be fair, Abby was a great deal more dubious about our relationship - and I understood the source of her uncertainty. Snowy knew that I was only working to help her, Abby was still questioning my mentorship.

Leaning in, I returned to whispering, “Alright. It’s your turn. What would work to get Snowy’s attention?” I asked but quickly retreated when Abby’s eyes dropped to my lips for just a split second.

At my sudden lurch, Abby shouted, “I wasn’t going to kiss you!”

This instantly had Snowy’s attention and left me glancing between the two women, my face pale. The two then grinned at each other. Somehow, Snowy knew immediately that it had been a ruse and that I was the butt of the prank. All I could do was place my head in my hands in defeat.

Training had started out so well.