"Then I'm going to go with a solid 'maybe'."

"Better than a no," Cia decides and skips over to hug him.

Anders folds down into eir arms, sighing in relief. 

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. Did you pick some magic to try?" 

"Blaise got a spell for Fade-walking."

"Fade-walking?" Anders pulls back to look at em, then look at Blaise. "Are you trying to return to the Fade?"

"...No?"

"Ooooh, is this about your and Karl's project?"

"Mhmm."

"I'll look forward to hearing all about it. Karl's upstairs?"

Nova disappears off to find Karl.

Anders watches him go. "I always feel like I'm mis-stepping with that boy."

He turns back to the group. "Oh. Hey, Henri. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I was just making sure this lot got home safely."

"You're very good at that," Anders says, smiling. 

"Thank you, for looking after them. I believe I have a magic lesson to start? If my kids are ready?"

"Always!"

Anders pulls Cia and Ilska aside, into a closed off space. "Okay. Where are we starting?"

"Where did we finish?"

"I believe you were picking a school." He retrieves the book. "Cia, you're doing very well with Creation, but I'd like to see you with some form of offensive magic." 

"Ilska? Do you want to start fires or fuck with people's minds first?"

"Fires are good," Ilska says with a shrug.

"Easy done." Anders starts taking Ilska through the manoeuvres to start magical fires.

Ilska is a quick study with this.

Cia turns eir attention to the books while Anders and Ilska work.

Anders runs through the simpler forms, having Ilska practise on a candle, but delights in how fast she picks things up. 

"Well. Let's try on something larger, shall we?" He piles wood into a metal cradle, and gestures.

Ilska rises to the challenge, happily.

Anders is on hand to control any disasters, but for the most part, is happy to let Ilska push herself.

"Can you feel it like an extension of yourself? Magic is never a separate, strange thing. It's as familiar as scent or sight."

"Since I realised I had it, yes."