The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 73

The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 73

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

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It was hard to say which out of Saff and Karlach were more excited as they entered the Circus of Last Days. 

The buzzing atmosphere, the delighted shouts and laughter, the music, the spectacle… Saff loved it all. The free entry meant it was a popular day trip for the orphanage she grew up in, and she had many fond memories of the hours spent there with her friends. As children they’d never received any money to spend and could only enjoy the free attractions, but today that was no longer the case.

“What are you going to do with a disguise kit?” Gale questioned as she walked away from the mummy, proudly holding her latest purchase. 

“Disguise myself, obviously,” she joked, putting it into her bag. “I haven’t decided who I’m going to disguise myself as yet, but I’m sure I’ll find a use for it! Now, what’s next?”

“A djinni with a spin-to-win game. The odds are significantly against the player, it would be a waste of money to-” “Ooh I wanna play!” She gasped, running over. Gale sighed deeply, and followed. 

Karlach was already there, watching the wheel spin, fists balled in excitement. Wyll and Malitas were with her, Wyll watching in good faith while Malitas eyed the wheel with a suspicion Saff didn’t notice at all as she ran up to them. 

“Come on, come on!” Karlach was chanting, til the wheel finally stopped, just past the jackpot. 

“ALAS - NO JACKPOT FOR YOU, UGLY ONE. BUT YOU MAY HAVE THIS!” The djinni declared, presenting her with an old pair of boots that pulsed dimly with a hint of Weave. 

“Aww…” she murmured, but quickly chased away her disappointment as she turned to Saff. “Are you gonna try?”

“Of course!” She announced excitedly, running up and handing her money over. 

Gale decided to try to forget his scepticism about such games, and instead focused on the excitement it gave her, despite knowing it was almost impossible to win.

He was rather surprised when the wheel landed on the jackpot.

“Yes!!” Saff gasped in delight, unable to believe her luck. “I got it! I can’t believe it!” “CHEATER!” 

She almost stumbled back in surprise as the djinni suddenly roared over them. 

“YOU THIEF! YOU CHEATED!”

“Wha… what? I didn’t cheat!” She objected, looking quite nervous as she stepped backwards. Gale took a step forward protectively.

“Is that really how you treat your winners? Immediately assume they’ve cheated?” He snapped accusingly, narrowing his eyes at the djinni. 

“LIAR!” He shouted at her, even louder than before. “ENJOY THE JACKPOT, MEWLING CURD!”

He raised his hands and in a poof, Saff was gone. 

Immediately, they prepared for a fight.

“What have you done with her?!” Gale shouted, and Malitas was at his side in an instant, irate with anger.

“Bring her back, now!” He demanded, but the djinni was unphased. 

“SHE GOT HER PRIZE, TAKE YOUR TURN OR MOVE ALONG,” he said dismissively, waving them away. 

“Bring her back or I will incinerate you!” Gale roared, flames flaring at his fingertips. It wasn’t very often he got so angry, but it also wasn’t very often the love of his life disappeared into thin air. 

“I SAID, MOVE ALONG!” The djinni insisted, his voice growing with anger. 

“If you do not bring her back,” Malitas began, “I will drag your soul through the depths of Avernus then eradicate it from existence!” 

The argument grew louder and louder as Karlach and Wyll joined with threats of their own, and soon they had a small audience gathering around them. Before long the whole group were with them, shouting angry threats until there was nothing but pandemonium… until a voice cut through the noise. 

“HEY!!!” They all went silent and turned to see Saff, who looked like she’d been dragged through a hedge backwards. 

“YOU SENT ME TO CHULT!!” She cried angrily as she glared at the djinni. “I nearly got eaten by a dinosaur!! What the hells?!” 

Gale’s anger dissipated immediately to relief, which then quickly turned back to anger once more when he realised how much danger she’d been in. Furious, he turned back to the djinni, who still looked unphased. 

“HAH! HOW DID THE DESPICABLE CHEATER ENJOY HER VACATION?” The djinni taunted smugly.

“I didn’t cheat!!” 

“YES YOU DID!” “No she didn’t! I did!” Malitas shouted, looking exasperated as he glared at the djinni. “I saw what you were doing, changing the result with a Mage Hand. So I did the same.”

“YOU ARE THE CHEATER!?” The djinni announced in a mixture of surprise and anger. “THEN YOU WILL HAVE YOUR JACKPOT!”

“If you even think of sending me to Chult-” Malitas began, before disappearing in a puff of magic. 

The djinni barely even had time to open his mouth to speak before there was the woosh of a portal, and Malitas was back. 

“I’m afraid that isn’t quite so effective on me,” he said to the djinni through gritted teeth. “You’ll have to try harder than that.”

“THEN BEHOLD MY FURY!” The djinni declared, raising his hands. 

“Whatever you’re planning-”

Malitas was cut off once more by another puff of magic. There was a brief moment where the others didn’t quite know what had happened, til they all saw the cheese wheel on the ground where he’d been standing. 

“NOW, WHO’S NEXT? 500 GOLD A SPIN!” The djinni announced to the crowd. 

Saff decided she wasn’t going to waste any more time arguing with this djinni, so picked up the cheese wheel and led the group away. 

They found a secluded table and she placed the cheese wheel on it, then stepped back next to Gale as they both pondered what to do. 

“It’s just a Polymorph spell, right?” She asked, watching the cheese intensely. “So it should wear off soon?”

“Theoretically, yes. But djinn are powerful creatures. Who knows what the exact nature of this spell is,” Gale said, stroking his chin in thought. 

“Can we just cast Dispel Magic if it doesn’t wear off? Or Polymorph him into an elf?” Saff wondered, looking over at Gale. 

“I think I like him better this way,” Astarion said from behind her, only half-jokingly. 

“We are not leaving him like this!” She said firmly, and luckily they didn’t need to spend any more time wondering what to do as there was a sudden puff of magic and Malitas was back, sitting on the table with a surprised look on his face that quickly turned to anger. 

“That damnable djinni…” he muttered angrily as he stood up and began to storm back towards the djinni, until Saff quickly moved in front of him and pressed her hands against his chest to stop him. 

“No no no! We don’t need to start another fight with him!” She insisted, trying to push him back. “Look, the whole argument has spread through the circus and now no one will play his game cause they all either know they can’t win, or don’t want to be turned to cheese,” she said, gesturing behind them towards the djinni, who was desperately and unsuccessfully trying to get anyone to come to his stall. 

“Hmm…” Malitas murmured as he watched. “I suppose that is revenge enough.” He then looked down at Saff. “Are you ok? That jungle did not look very hospitable from the brief glimpse I saw of it.” 

“I’m fine. I only nearly got eaten by a dinosaur,” she joked. He chuckled, then shook his head slightly. 

“I suppose we’d best move on to whatever awaits us next in this gods-forsaken circus then,” he said, glancing around. 

“That’ll be the dryad over there!” Karlach announced, immediately running over. Malitas headed off with the others and Saff went to follow, til she felt Gale’s hand on her shoulder. 

“Are you sure you’re ok?” He asked softly. “Even nearly getting eaten by a dinosaur can be quite the ordeal.”

She smiled warmly, leaning into him in a hug to show her gratitude for his concern. 

“Yes, I’m ok. Luckily I was able to find a portal back. For some reason it came out in one of the outhouses,” she said, gesturing to the wood outhouse she’d materialised in on the outskirts of the circus. 

“That… is a curious place for the portal to be,” he agreed with a chuckle. He looked back at her, then raised his hand and gently plucked a leaf from her hair. 

“Never a day without an adventure, huh?” She joked, taking his hand and going ahead with the others towards the dryad. 

They found Wyll and Karlach with her, seemingly under some sort of spell as they both stood in front of her, eyes closed and a shimmer of purple magic surrounding them. 

“Looks like an illusion spell,” Gale commented, eagerly inspecting the magic in front of him. “I’d wager they’re both seeing something quite different right now.” 

“Apparently it’s some sort of love test,” Astarion explained with a roll of his eyes. “Honestly, sounds like a waste of-”

“OHMYGODGALECANWEDOIT?!” Saff gasped in excitement, almost reaching a pitch hitherto unknown to man. 

“Sounds most magical,” Gale said with an enthusiastic nod. “Let’s have at it!” 

Unfortunately for them, fate had other plans in store. 

Watching the dryad’s limbs twist and her bones break until finally she snapped her neck back into place left everyone stumbling back in shock. 

The revelation that Orin was a shapeshifter hung over the group, leaving a nervous tension among them as they looked at the crowd that surrounded them, suddenly aware that she could be anyone at any point. This nervousness was reinforced when Dribbles and his assistants also turned out to be doppelgangers. 

Saff sat on a nearby bench, numbly watching as the remaining circus workers hurriedly cleared away the bodies left after the fight. Gale took her hand as he sat down next to her, looking at her in concern. 

“I remember the circus being more fun than this when I was a kid…” she murmured, sighing as she rested her head against his shoulder. 

“We’ll have to come back sometime, when the threat of the Absolute doesn’t hang over us,” he decided, putting his arm around her. 

“Mmm…” she murmured despondently. “I can’t believe Dribbles is dead…” 

“Ah, ahem, yes… a terrible loss.” 

She almost had to laugh at his attempt at sympathy. 

“I know he wasn’t exactly riveting entertainment for adults, but as a kid, I loved seeing him. He was the highlight of the circus, one of the few things we didn’t have to pay for. And I know the kids in the orphanage today are gonna be distraught to hear about this,” she said sadly, hanging her head. 

“Well, let us hope another performer can take his place,” Gale offered, biting back the temptation to add ‘perhaps a better one’. 

“Mmm…” she hummed in agreement, glancing round the circus as the performers and vendors gradually tried to get back to their usual activities. “Maybe I’ll make myself feel better by buying a naked statue of you,” she teased with a playful smile as she looked up at him.

“I’d really rather you didn’t,” he warned, mostly sure that she was joking. She chuckled as she sat up and glanced towards the exit. 

“Looks like the others are ready to go. Guess you’re saved from the naked statue… for today.” 

The group headed off from the circus and towards Sharess’s Caress, though Astarion would not miss an opportunity for some light teasing before they arrived.

“I’m surprised you let that djinni off scot-free,” he said to Malitas, a smirk spreading across his lips. “I would have been rather cheesed off if I were you.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Gale added. “It wasn’t very mature of him.”

“I couldn’t brie-lieve it,” Saff teased, trying to stifle her laughter, and soon the whole group were in on it. 

“It must have been pretty grating.”

“I’d have been wheely pissed off.”

“He’d cheddar not do that again.”

Eventually Malitas stopped and turned to them all.

“Do any of you have any idea how unpleasant it is to be turned into a wheel of cheese?” He asked. The group shook their heads. “Would you like to find out?”

The threat did its job and they managed to reach Sharess’s Caress without another cheese pun. 

Lae’zel hastily led the group off to find Voss and took charge of the ensuing conversation with Raphael, until the crown was mentioned. 

Hearing that the crown was, in fact, the Crown of Karsus, came as no small shock to them, shock that quickly turned to anger when Raphael revealed his intentions with the crown.

“Handing that crown to you would be like feeding gunpowder to a lava worm! We agree to nothing!” Gale spat, glaring at Raphael with rising anger.

“Kaincha! You would refuse the devil’s deal?” Lae’zel objected, turning her fury to Gale. “I need that hammer to free my prince, and I will not let you stand in the way!”

“And I will not let you give a devil the means to become a god!” Gale retorted, prompting Saff to quickly step between them and try to de-escalate the situation.

“Stop, both of you! Lae’zel, we want to rescue Orpheus too, but this is too high a price. We’ll find another way.” 

A chill went down her spine as Raphael began to chuckle at her words. 

“Another way? Oh, my sweet little mouse - there is no other way. Either you agree to my terms, or Orpheus rots in his prison for eternity.”

“There is always another way,” Malitas said calmly, “and I assure you, devil, we will find it. This does not end with the crown in your hands.” 

“My, my, such confidence!” Raphael laughed, his lips curling up in amusement. “And coming from one who is not even infected. One might wager you wish to use the crown for yourself, for your own ends… why else would you go to such lengths to fight for a cure you do not even need?”

Saff narrowed her eyes at Raphael, recognising his attempt at sewing mistrust within the group, but Malitas wasn’t phased. 

“I see the concept of having friends is a foreign one to you,” he retorted, turning Raphael’s smirk into a flash of annoyance at the insult. 

“Go ahead - try to find another way. Waste your time desperately searching until you realise you have no other option but to use the hammer, which lies secured in my House of Hope. I am the only chance you have to free Prince Orpheus.” 

“Is that so? Secured in your vaults, is it?” Malitas questioned, a smile playing on his lips. “Just as secure as the crown was when it was taken by mortals, I’m sure…” 

His implication was obvious, and drew a laugh from Raphael. 

“Ha! How amusing it would be to see you try. But be warned - the fires of the hells burn hot, and I would hate to see you burned.”

“That is very true,” Malitas agreed as he headed to the door to leave. “But know this, devil…” 

He paused as he reached the door, turning back to face him. 

“You are not the only one here with fire in their veins.” 

Convincing Lae’zel to be content with the plan of stealing the hammer was a conversation that lasted all the way back to the Elfsong, but by the time they arrived, she was finally on board with it. 

It was late in the evening when Saff plopped herself down on the bed in front of Gale, smiling at him over the book he was reading. 

“Something’s got you excited,” he commented as he closed the book and put it aside. 

“I don’t know about you, but I was gutted not to be able to do the love test. So…” 

She produced a small, folded piece of paper from her pocket. 

“I got Karlach and Wyll to write down the questions they had so that we could ask them of each other!”

“Ah, an inspired idea!” He complimented as he sat forward, curious to know what sort of questions awaited them. 

“I haven’t read them yet, so they’ll be new to both of us. I think it was three questions each, but we both might as well answer all of them. So… ready?”

Gale gave her an eager nod, and she opened the page and looked at the first question. 

“What, on their darkest day, would make them smile?”

Her eyes flicked up and met his, the two of them looking at each other with a knowing look.

“Would it be too cheesy just to say each other?” she asked with a chuckle. 

“Cheesy perhaps, but also true. The thought of you always brings a smile to my lips,” he said softly, bringing a blush to her cheeks.

“The same is true for me,” she said sincerely. “Though if all the questions are gonna be like this, shall we say we can’t answer with ourselves? Otherwise this’ll get pretty old pretty fast.” 

“Heh, agreed,” he said with a nod. 

She looked down at the next question, and sure enough, it was a question made much more interesting when they couldn’t answer with themselves.

“Who do they most admire?” 

They looked at each other, each contemplating their answer for the other. 

“I think… Elminster,” Saff answered after a moment.

“Indeed, yes. A mentor when I was a child, and a good friend as an adult. I do hope you’ll get to meet him at some point, hopefully under better circumstances than the last time I saw him.” 

“I hope so too,” she agreed, though as exciting as the prospect was, she couldn’t deny the thought of meeting the most famous wizard in the realms also made her, in some ways, more nervous than the thought of taking on the elder brain.

“And for you…” Gale considered, stroking his chin, “I could answer the famed Jaheira or the great Blade of Frontiers, given how excited you were when we first met them both. But I don’t think it’s fame you admire most, nor stories of great heroism. I think it’s something a bit closer to home, someone who helped you personally. I think it’s Malitas.” 

She smiled to herself and nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right. He gave me a chance when no one else did… saw something in me when most people just saw a struggling waitress in a lower city tavern. Like you said with Elminster - a mentor, and a friend.” 

She paused for a moment as she reflected on each of their answers and the similarities between them, before looking down at the next question. 

“What is their greatest regret?” 

“My, what a change in tone,” Gale murmured as they both looked at each other, an answer immediately coming to their minds. 

“The orb?” Saff asked softly, looking at him in sympathy. 

“It is the obvious answer I suppose, isn’t it? Certainly it’s the first thing that came to mind for myself, as well. And yet, I am well aware that had I never found the orb, I would likely never have been taken by that Nautiloid, would still be Mystra’s lover… and would never have met you,” he said emotionally, looking at her with a loving smile. “So can I truly regret something that, despite the pain, has bought me so much joy?” 

She chuckled softly, the blush returning to her cheeks once more. 

“Well, if that isn’t your answer, then… I’m afraid I don’t know,” she said honestly. He hummed as he thought about it. 

“I like to look back on my life with some sense of pride for most of what I’ve done, though perhaps one thing does stand out for me,” he said, lightly placing his hand on hers. “I regret not telling you the truth about the orb, and myself, sooner. Seeing the pain in your eyes when Malitas told you the truth of my folly… when you realised I was not the man I’d led you to believe I was… oh, how I wish I could change that. It may have all worked out in the end, but perhaps certain confrontations could have been avoided, had I been honest from the beginning.” 

She looked down slightly, placing her other hand on his.

“Perhaps… or perhaps, as you’d said at the time, the others would have forced you to leave the group. I don’t blame you for doing what you did,” she said, bringing a smile to his lips. 

“I am glad to hear that,” he said, before his expression shifted to one of sympathy. “And, as for you…” 

She sighed and looked away slightly. 

“I suppose there’s an obvious answer for me too, though mine doesn’t come with a silver lining,” she murmured. 

“Aryn,” he said, and she nodded. 

“I wish I’d never met him. Wish I’d never got together with him, wish I’d broken up with him sooner… but the past is the past, and I have someone better to think about now,” she said with a smile, wanting to get back to happier subjects. 

The questions seemed to have other ideas in mind though. 

“Oh, uh…” she murmured, wincing as she read the next question. “Who do they loathe the most?”

Gale winced too, seeing that this subject wasn’t one they could move on from just yet. 

“Dare I suggest the same answer as the previous question?” 

Saff paused, her eyes lingering on the question as she contemplated her answer. 

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know if I’d say I loathe him, I just… want nothing to do with him ever again. There’s gotta be people more worthy of loathing. Ketheric, Orin, Gortash…” 

Her tone darkened and a look Gale hadn’t seen before came to her face as she realised what the answer truly was. 

“Mystra…” 

The revelation took him by surprise. 

“Mystra? Truly? I… did not realise you felt so strongly about her.”

“How can I not?” She asked, finally looking up at him. “After everything she did to you, everything she demanded of you, everything she still demands of you. After how much she hurt you… and to know that she’ll never face any consequences, any comeuppance, because she’s a goddess. It’s so… unfair! What justice is there in the world if gods can treat their followers like this?”

“Justice enough to lead me away from her arms and into yours,” he said softly, looking at her in a way that instantly dissipated the anger. 

“I suppose that’s justice enough,” she said softly, managing to find a smile, though his smile soon faded. 

“I think, once again, our answers are mirrored.”

She frowned slightly, unsure what he meant.

“Your answer is also Mystra?” She asked, but he shook his head. 

“No. My answer is Aryn.” 

That came as a shock to her. 

“Aryn? Really?”

“Yes, for all the same reasons you listed. I’ve seen what he did to you, how much he hurt you. I’ve felt it myself, in your memories. And I’ve seen the pain in your eyes when you talk about him. So as you said - how can I not?” 

She had to agree with his logic - if she could hate Mystra on his behalf, then he could hate Aryn on hers. 

“Next question’s a bit happier,” she said, a hint of relief in her tone. She hadn’t really expected this to lead to such a deep conversation. “What is their idea of a perfect day?” 

The smirk on Gale’s face mirrored her own as she looked back up at him. 

“Hmm, I dare say your perfect day would start with a stroll through the park, perhaps with a picnic for lunch…” he started, leaning in slightly as he took her hands in his. 

“Hmm, and yours might be the same?” She suggested, leaning in with him. “Maybe with a ball in the evening, a lavish banquet…” 

He moved in until his mouth was at her ear, his breath hot against her neck as his hands found her waist. 

“Followed by making love under the stars…” he whispered, a yearning in his voice that sent a shiver of excitement down her spine. 

“Mmm… that does sound like a perfect day,” she agreed as he pulled back and met her eyes once more. He remained close as his eyes flicked down slightly. 

“What’s the last question?” 

She looked down too, and smiled once more as she read it. 

“A decade from now, where will they be?”

Her eyes flicked up again and saw the warm, loving expression he gazed at her with. 

“Well, now I cannot answer with any certainty, but I would hope that ten years from now, another ball might be graced with the presence of Lady Saffron Dekarios…” 

His implication was clear - not a full proposal, but a hope. A hope she shared. 

“As long as she has Sir Gale Dekarios on her arm,” she whispered, her gaze full of affection as she closed the gap and their lips met with a kiss.

---

She tilted her head from side to side, smiling as she watched the pearlescent gleam of the enchanted emerald within the display case she was cleaning. 

The room was filled with all the most powerful, most valuable and most interesting artefacts Malitas had found in his centuries of adventuring, all sealed away in glass cabinets and display cases. Though the cabinets lay somewhat more empty now after Malitas had given the others a selection of weapons to aid them, and more recently she’d noticed a Staff of Power go missing, only to later be told he’d given it to Saff as a graduation gift. How incredible it must be, she thought, to be able to wield a weapon like that…

The door opened and snapped her out of her daydream. 

“Ah, there you are,” Malitas greeted as he entered the room. 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear you return,” she said, walking over to him and giving him a hug. “So what adventures did today bring?” 

“Revelations more than adventures,” he said, the corners of his lips curling into a smile. “I scarcely dared to believe it could be true, but our suspicions have been confirmed - the crown atop the Elder Brain is the Crown of Karsus.” 

Her eyes widened in disbelief. 

“The Crown of Karsus… but how?? I didn’t think that even existed anymore!” 

“Neither did I, yet here we are. One of the most powerful artefacts in existence, so close to our grasp. The possibilities are… endless. But we can do nothing with this knowledge until we learn more about it. I intend to discuss this further with the others tomorrow.” 

She nodded slowly, possibilities running through her mind. 

“Any other revelations?” She asked after a moment. 

“Orin is a shape-shifter. A foreboding revelation to say the least. She plays her parts well - she took the face of a dryad at the circus, and we were none the wiser till she revealed herself.” 

“Circus?” 

It perhaps wasn’t the part of that sentence that should have stuck out most to her, yet it did. 

“You went to the circus? The Circus of the Last Days?” 

“We did, yes.” 

Memories flooded back to her. Laughter and dancing with her friends… it left a deep ache in her heart. 

“How was it?” She asked, trying to hide how much she longed to go again someday. 

“Infuriating,” Malitas answered, to her surprise. 

“Why??” 

There was a pause as he seemed to contemplate his response. 

“...Doesn’t matter,” he answered eventually. 

She raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes, but knew better than to question it. 

“Now, I have much work to do, I’d best get to it,” he decided quickly, heading back to the door. 

“Actually…” She started, running over to him before he left. “I had a favour to ask you.” He gave her a nod to continue. “Well, I’ve cleaned all these cabinets and cases more times than I can count, but I’ve never really known what’s inside them. I wondered if you could tell me what everything is?” 

A look of surprise crossed his face.

“Everything? We’ll be here all night. Why do you want to know?” 

“Cause I’m curious… and I’m bored. There’s only so many stories you can make up in your head about an emerald while you clean its case for the hundredth time. I’d much rather know the truth.” 

He gave her a sympathetic look, and nodded. 

“I supposed I cannot begrudge you your curiosity,” he said, then put his arm around her waist and began to lead her through the room. 

“The emerald is in fact an elemental gem, if you were to break it, it would summon a water elemental…” 

She went quiet as she listened to his explanations, carefully committing each and every one to memory.