THE THIRD MAGE 7 Crafting

"Pottery, is the art of creating objects from clay, or from what you're using, mud. They use this wheel and some mould to create pots, ceramics and others. But I seriously doubt that you were using mould in creating that dandelion." The Queen's eyes sparkled in curiosity and interest.

But Denaire didn't see that glint in the Queen's eyes, she was more focused on what the Queen said, "that dandelion".

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry for asking this, but what did you say I was making then?"

"A dandelion."

Denaire couldn't believe it. Someone recognized it as a dandelion. "You knew?" Denaire blurted out. And regretted it the next second.

She bowed and kowtowed in apology. "I'm sorry Your Majesty. I didn't mean to shout at you."

Queen Iris chuckled. "That's alright. Shall we continue?"

Denaire reddened in embarrasment, but still followed the Queen.

"So, this building is for woodworking. It's for the art of creating objects and whatever you wish from wood. All materials such as saw, chisels, nails, are here, including books that will guide you in woodcrafting."

They moved to the next building.

"This one is for stone carving. It's the art of creating figures and objects by carving from natural stone. There are reserved big stones here. If you're interested, you could try. The stones are gotten from the cave just behind this building. You could check it someday, it's safe there. There are books here too, to guide you."

"This last building is for smithing, the art of metal crafting. They have the same purpose of our sword smiths. But where the sword smiths only know how to forge swords, original smithing process includes the knowledge and skills to forge objects from metal. It's a tiring job, and as such, I do not understand why my grandpa liked it."

Queen Iris finally faced Denaire, her face shining with sweat. "So that's it. I'm giving you this whole place for you to take over. Do here whatever you wanted. I'm giving you full reigns."

Denaire jumped in glee. "Really, Your Majesty? Oh I'm so happy! Thank you very much!"

***

And so that was the start of Denaire's addiction to crafting. She studied first pottery, read all books related to it, and perfected creating creatures. Her masterpiece was a clay replica of the Queen. She thought that this could be a good gift as a thank you for what the Queen has given her.

When finally she got bored of all the mud work, she decided to start learning stone carving. She was mesmerized watching the statues and beautiful art pieces made out of stone. She wished to learn its secrets too.

But she didn't realize how gruesome stone carving is. She found out that there were different kinds of stones, and for that she has to study it's different characteristics, of the strength and type of materials she'd use to create a perfect one.

"Oh, this is too many! My mind can't take it anymore!" she grumbled one evening in her room. "Well, I'm still 15, so I probably couldn't take it all in yet."

And then she plopped down on her bed and sighed, thinking of how she would proceed from this.

There came a knock on her door which made her grumble even more. "Stupid people, what do they want me to do now?" Because every night, the kitchen maids would ask for her company as they cleaned and washed all the dishes.

When she opened the door, "Oh, Your Highness! Lady Samarra is in her room right now."

The Prince looked at her, seemingly frozen. Denaire was a feeling a little uncomfortable so she dared to ask him again, "Your Highness? Do you need something? Do you want me to call Lady Samarra for you?"

Prince Amon snapped out of his daze and shyly replied, "Uh, it's you I really want to see."

"Oh. Then please come in Your Highness." She prepared her only usable chair as of the moment, for all of it was filled with books.

"Uh sorry for the mess, I've been interested in some other things these days."

Prince Amon smiled, liking the girl even more. "Don't worry, I'm glad you're using your time wisely."

Denaire thanked the Prince. "So, uhm, Your Highness, what do you need of me?"

Prince Amon smiled, "Uh, so, Mama told me you knew of a secret place which is quiet and wide enough to do some things."

Denaire was confused for a bit. "What things, Your Majesty?"

He combed his fingers through his hair, as if ashamed of what he is about to tell. "Uh, I need to.. to.. practice swordplay more. I..I was defeated by a mere foot soldier yesterday. Oof!" he looked down. "That was embarra.s.sing."

Denaire smiled. "No, it isn't, Your Highness. Mistakes can be a very good motivation to do better. If you lost, then all the more you have to give your best to win the next round. But why do you have to practice secretly?"

He sighed and covered his face with his hands, his elbows resting on his knees. "The other royals were bullying me yesterday for losing. I don't want them to see me practice at the palace for I know they'd bully me still."

"Oh." Denaire understood, royals are a super pain.

"Well then, you found the right path." Denaire happily declared. "Meet me at the fountain tomorrow after breakfast. We're going on an adventure."

***

When Prince Amon went out of Denaire's room, he couldn't describe the feeling of the happiness he felt within. He was just so overjoyed that he was skipping on his steps, only to skip one flight of stair, which made him tumble down for quite some time. But his tumbling down didn't faze his happy heart. For even when he was feeling a little pain and had light bruises, his heart was soaring towards the heavens.

Meanwhile, Denaire was confused of Prince Amon's behavior. He remembered that although he grew warm to her, he was still so arrogant when talking. He usually brags about everything he has accomplished, sometimes looking down on her in the process. But she wouldn't mind then. But now, it was as if he was chopped off of that arrogant att.i.tude. 'Maybe defeat and shame could make that to a person.' she thought.

She then grabbed a little prince statue she made earlier, her first efforts in stone carving. Although it's a little disfigured, she was rather proud of having this accomplishment.

"You are a strong person." she started talking to the statue. "You don't have to look down on yourself. Even if you lose, you have to stand up and face another day. If you feel like giving up, I'm always here to guide you. Do not be afraid, Prince Amon. And like you, I will rise and get out of this stump we're in. We will prove them all wrong."

She was feeling rather foolish, but she has to say it out loud, so that the mantra would fully engrave in her mind.

'I'll share it to the Prince tomorrow so that he'll feel she isn't alone in his struggle to be better.' And she finally slept with that thought.

As soon as Denaire finally entered dreamland, the little statue started to wiggle it's extremities and snuggled close to Denaire's overturned hand.