The Wand-Maker [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3

When Maia was younger, her mother would warn her of strangers. How they would kidnap her and hide her deep in their lairs where no one will be able to find her. The things a stranger with ill intent may do and they're not exactly pleasing to hear. Might feel in Maia's case. Thankfully, her mother also gave a set of instructions when facing a stranger.

"Hello!" Maia greeted the stranger rather warily. Number one. Do not talk to them, her mother's voice echoed in her head. Whoops.

The man tipped his head forward in greeting. "Are you Maia?" he asked.

"Yup," Maia replied immediately, without thinking.

Number two. Do not respond if they talk to you and if they don't, don't strike a conversation with them.

Double whoops, she thought, "Actually no. It depends. Who are you and what do you want with this.. Maia person?" she asked in a roll to fix her quick slip up. Stupid Maia, she chided inwardly.

The strange man raised one brow and introduced himself. "My name is Archibald Dane. I'm assuming you are Maia and I'm here because I heard you make wands, yes?"

"Oh yes! Absolutely! Come in!" Maia rushed forwards and widely opened her door. Number three was technically don't let anyone you don't know in your house. But this one's a customer, surely it doesn't count? Maia ruminated. Her mother gave more than 3 but none seem to apply if they're customers.

"Please follow me," Maia said once they were both inside her cottage.

She led the man, Archibald Dane, to her living room. She quickly set down Daisy on a nearby unclaimed stool and faced the man in her house. She caught sight of her teapot and asked, "Tea?"

"With a sugar cube, thank you," the man said as he took a seat on her couch.

She took out a porcelain cup, white with streaks of blue and violet. As requested, she drops in a sugar cube after filling the cup to the brim with her homemade brew of piping hot tea. Glad I remembered my mother's gift, she thought. A teapot that will always keep tea hot. Really good use of magic in her opinion.

When she's finished, she set down the cup on a wooden table laid in front of him.

"How can I help you, Mr Dane?"

"Are there some samples of wands you made that I can see?" Mr. Dane replied.

"Oh yes! Give me a minute," Maia answered before she busied herself again, finding and setting wands she made on the very same table that upholds Mr. Dane's cup of tea.

"These are great," the man finally said after examining them for minutes. Aside from his blank face and his 'hmms', it was silent. And silence is not something she can handle. Especially when someone's checking her work. Makes it hard to know what they're thinking of you know? So when he said what he said, she sighed feeling relieved and any negative thoughts are out the window.

"Can you make a custom wand?" He asked.

"Yes, I can," she answered.

"Brilliant. Make one from a tree that has seen bad days and is now in good condition. I have prepared the object from the core to not trouble you. Can you do it?"

"Question. What do you mean by a tree who has seen bad days?" she asked, confused.

"Like the tree has suffered once or a few times in the past but they still find their way to survive," he explained.

Ah.. he's one of those poetic kinds of wizards, she thought to herself. There are many types of wizards and witches when it comes to their wands. The good ones every wandmaker loves are those who choose what's best suited to them. The Pickers are those who would want a wand that looks pretty.

She met a Picker once. Her name was Periwinkle though often shortened to Peri. Her wand was pretty, yes, but also fragile. With a wand made out of glass and decorated with tiny stars, I feel really bad for the wandmaker making that. Not to mention that the core was a thunderbird feather. Must be a real challenge to neutralise a chaotic core with a fragile casing.

The last type would be the poetic ones. Some want the material of their wands to go through certain things because they believe that they give the owners 'strength' or 'preservation'. She called it bull though.

But back to the present...

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"You mean like outliving a rot or something?" Maia asked.

"Precisely! Or maybe it was struck by lightning, you know," Archibald Dane said. No, she did not.

"Okay.. I'll see what I can do. As for the core?"

"Here," Archibald -- she decided to call him Archibald now -- took a red kerchief out of his coat pocket and placed it on the table. "It's an owl feather twined with the hair of the wielder," he explained.

Owl feather plus hair of the wielder. Cool. Almost everything matches with the owl feather. Common but makes a great core. White Ash would do, Maia brooded over. There are loads of them here.

"So," Archibald stood up and clapped his hands loud enough to snap her back to focus, "I'll pick that up in two days yes?"

"Perfect! That'll be 30 gold marks," Maia stated.

Archibald Dane extracted a pouch of gold from his side and gave it out to Maia. "Here you go." She accepted it gingerly and began counting. "Thank you, I'll see you in two days with your wand."

He gave the last nod before she escorted him out the door and into the outdoors. "See you then." was all he said before disappearing into thin air.

She quickly went in and brought her barriers up and receded control over it. Exhaustion fell over like a snuggly blanket over her and she got ready for bed, already anticipating the next day and what she is about to do. 

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How was it? Hope you enjoyed :)