“I saw some bracelets, rings and wands in mom’s dresser,” I said as I put the other lengths of wood back in the rack. “And something that I thought was a belt made of metal. Were those her foci?”

Ken beckoned for me to follow him to one of the worktables as he said, “Some of them were, some were just jewelry. Now that you mention it though, we ought to have a closer look at them. I can tell you what each one did, which will give you a better idea of what such things are used for. You might even have an affinity for one or two of them. Put the blank staff here, we’ll start working soon.”

I put the wax wood staff on the indicated worktable, which had racks on it containing what I guessed were engraving and etching tools for various materials. “What does that mean? That I might have an affinity for some of her foci?”

“As I’ve mentioned,” Ken said, “and as a generality, one spellcaster cannot usually effectively use a focus created by another spellcaster. It’s a matter of energy and affinity…in the same way some of those blank staves felt like plain wood to you, while others felt different, the same is true - and on a greater scale - for crafted ones.

“However,” he went on as we headed for the door together, Sparkle trailing behind us, “some are actually passed down through bloodlines, as that close a relationship can sometimes allow the affinity for a focus to pass through the bloodline…that is, the tool resonates magically with descendants as well as its creator, allowing for effective use of it.”

“I see,” I said slowly, not entirely sure that I actually did.

Ken smiled. “It’s a complicated subject. Suffice it to say for now that, if one of your mother’s foci is going to work for you, you’ll know it quickly enough.”

As we left the lab…damn it, I was not going to let Ken suck me into feeling like a mad scientist, no matter how funny I found it…the workshop and started down the hall, Sparkle shyly took my hand. It startled me, but I didn’t pull away. I did glance over however, and the look on her face as I let her hold my hand made me smile, and I felt my cheeks warming with embarrassment. I didn’t understand how or why simply being allowed to hold my hand could make her so perfectly and radiantly happy.

But then, I’d never had anyone hold my hand except to lead me across streets before. It made me feel rather special.

And, recalling the way she’d clung to me when we first met, and how she spent so much time perched on my shoulder, Sparkle was obviously a very tactile being. It would probably do me a world of good to get used to that.

Shortly, I was sitting on the floor in front of my mother’s dresser with Sparkle sitting beside me and leaning lightly against my left arm. I opened the drawer in which I’d seen the items I was guessing were Mom's magical tools, and shifted a little so Ken could get a better look.

“Let’s see,” he said, then nodded. “Yes, these are her foci. I wasn’t really sure your father had kept them.”

“Ah. So…why are so many of them pieces of jewelry? You keep mentioning wands and such.”

Ken smiled and sat down on my right. “Because your mother found them easier to carry, and they didn’t stand out the way a staff, wand, or something like a ritual dagger would. Your mother was a bit of a pioneer in that respect. Many of her contemporaries felt she was disrespecting tradition…your father felt she was being uncommonly practical.”

Sparkle giggled. “Mistress Chessie was rarely practical about much of anything.”

I chuckled softly. “That certainly fits the mental picture I’m building of her.” I poked one of the bracelets. “Is this silver? I’m not really familiar with metals.”

“Platinum, actually,” Ken said. “Different metals can contain different amounts of magical energy, based on a number of factors. The biggest contributing factor being their purity, and there are few metals more pure than silver and platinum.”

“By purity,” I asked slowly, suspecting a misunderstanding, “are you speaking of the amount of physical impurities once a metal has been smelted?”

Ken smiled. “Partly. But more than that, it’s also a measure of…of how well the metal will hold and channel energy, for lack of a better way of putting it. It’s one of those concepts that doesn’t define well…it’s something you’ll come to understand instinctively. Many people say it’s a measure of the spiritual purity of the metal, which is why that term is used.

“It’s also,” he said absently, leaning forward to examine the pieces in the drawer more closely, “why silver is so disruptive to cursed beings like vampires and werewolves, and to unholy entities like demons…”

I had gone completely still as he trailed off into silence, trying simultaneously to accept the casual disregard with which Ken had mentioned creatures I had for so long considered the stuff of fantasy. Integrate the existence of such basically terrifying things into my new reality was going to take some doing.

Sparkle took my left hand in both of hers and twined our fingers together, leaning close and whispering, “Yes, they’re real. No, they can’t get in the House. They’re also very rare, and most of them are actually perfectly friendly if you’re polite.”

I blinked a couple of times and felt the growing tension ease out of my body. I squeezed her hand and murmured, “Thank you, Sparkle.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her faint purple glow return, and smiled a little.

Ken went on, either not having noticed my momentary fear or having spotted Sparkle effectively dealing with it and preferring not to say any more on the subject. “Of all metals, platinum has the greatest potential to hold magical energy,” he said. “At least, of metals that are easy to get a hold of and safe to work with. The choker you’re wearing, for example, is able to store and regenerate the energy needed for the enchantments that allow it to contain all of that chain in a very small space, resize itself to fit you perfectly, and keep anyone but you from removing it. Frankly, it could hold a lot more than that, but Mistress Chessie never added any other enchantments that I know of.”

Sparkle shifted a little beside me, and I wondered what she knew that Ken didn’t. It must be something to do with what Sparkle knew about the choker that she’d promised not to tell anyone. Since I trusted that it wouldn’t be anything harmful - I simply couldn’t see either my mother or Sparkle being willing to do me any harm at all - I let it go for now.

“There’s an earring here,” Ken said, “that you might want to wear if it’ll work for you. It’s a small emerald in a silver setting, which is enchanted to protect its wearer against a large number of comparatively minor, but very annoying, hexes and curses. Because emerald and silver were used - you’ll learn more about the properties and affinities of metals and gems as we go - Mistress Chessie was able to make it very protective indeed.”

I took a look, and plucked out the earring in question. It was a simple thing, understated but - to my eyes - very pretty. A silver setting made of delicate-looking swirls of wire surrounding a tiny, rough-cut emerald. After a moment, I removed the small silver stud in my left ear and replaced it with the silver and emerald earring.

My earlobe tingled for a moment as I secured it in place.

“I felt something,” I said, lightly touching the earring.

“Excellent,” Ken said, pleased. “That will have been the protective enchantments taking effect.”

“Oh,” I said, wondering if I could find an earring to match it. Then, amused at myself, wondered why anybody else would care if I wore mismatched earrings. Better yet, perhaps I could find a similar one with a blue stone in it, and wear them in opposition to the color of my eyes. The idea rather tickled me for some reason. “So, what else do we have here…those are wands, right?”

Ken nodded. “Correct. The wands your mother made were for controlling different types of elemental magic. She later replaced some of them with rings, and others with bracelets, but right here we have one for fire magic,” he pointed to one capped with a ruby, “one for earth magic,” he pointed to one with an emerald attached to it, then one with a sapphire and one with a piece of quartz, “one for water magic, and one for air magic.”

He paused for a moment, then shrugged a little. “Your mother liked to make foci with a specific purpose in mind, rather than ones with a broader range of uses. She felt they worked better that way.”

“Did they?” I asked curiously.

Ken smiled. “Most of the time, yes. But it meant carrying around a lot more of them. You’ll see there’s a few metal bracelets over here with gems embedded in them…they mostly replaced Mistress Chessie’s wands as her skill increased.”

I chuckled. “Definitely a point to consider.”

“The wooden bracelets,” Ken said, looking at them closely, “as I recall, were an experiment by your mother to replace her staff. You’ll see they have runes engraved in them, similar to the ones you’ll be etching into your first staff later on. They never worked very well for your mother, and probably won’t for you, either.”

“Why not?”

“Well…” Ken considered his words for a moment, then sighed a little. “Basically, it’s because the wizard’s staff is a very broad-spectrum tool, with a wide variety of uses. It’s the Swiss Army knife of magical tools, if you will. As a result, it’s tough to break it up into smaller pieces - like these wooden bracelets - and still have it work effectively.”

I digested that for a moment, then nodded. “That actually makes good sense to me. It’d be like breaking up your keys onto multiple key rings. Sure, they’re easier to organize, but they’re also spread out, which makes it harder to find the one you’re looking for when you’re pressed for time.”

Ken nodded. “Exactly. Though it's also a matter of metaphysical mass. The bracelets comprise a smaller mass of wood, resulting in a less effective focus than the greater mass of a staff.”

“What about that metal belt there?” I pointed to the curious, braided thing.

“Another attempt by your mother to replace her staff,” Ken said with a smile, “and to reproduce her own mother’s very impressive and effective staff. Mistress Chessie had this notion that she could make a similar metal staff that would be light and malleable, so she could change its shape and wear it as a belt.” He shook his head a little. “It’s not a terrible idea, really. The staff itself was a work of art, made of braided silver, copper, and platinum, with a flexible core of gold and iron wire and chain. A masterpiece of forging, and a powerful focus.”

He chuckled softly and continued. “Unfortunately, the first time she made it go limp to wear it as a belt, she was unable to get it to change back into a staff.”

I laughed. “Once I have a grasp of what I’m doing, maybe I’ll see if I can make it work.”

Sparkle giggled. “Mistress Chessie would’ve liked that.”

Ken nodded his agreement, returning his attention to the drawer. “The rings here are all specific-use items, like the wands. There is one here that I’d like you to try out…that one there, the silver one with the little kite shield on it.”

I picked it up and looked at it. It was a simple silver ring with an equally simple - but well-made - Medieval kite shield. Perhaps inevitably, the shield had tiny oak and ivy leaves engraved on it. “What is it?”

“Your mother called it her ‘forcefield’ ring,” Ken said. “It’s designed to channel defensive energies into stronger, more effective barriers. At its most basic level, you can just push energy into it to create a small shield.”

“I like the sound of that,” I said. “How would I use it?”

Ken smiled. “I thought it might appeal to you. Start by putting it on. I recommend your left middle finger.”

I gently extricated my left hand from Sparkle’s, then slipped the ring on, reassured to feel the same sensation I’d felt when I put on the earring. “Why there?”

“Because it’s not where you’d wear an engagement ring or wedding band, rings look odd on the index finger - or so your mother always said - and you’re already wearing Sparkle's ring on your right middle finger.”

The look I gave him was so surprised and confused that he started laughing. “You were expecting some mysteriously arcane and portentous magical reason overflowing with deeper meaning, I take it,” he said between chuckles.

I blinked a few times, then shook my head and smiled ruefully. “I was starting to think every explanation you gave me would be that way. Hearing a very mundane one tripped me up.”

Ken smiled warmly. “Yes, I suppose most of my answers so far have felt that way, haven’t they. But not everything needs to have an arcane explanation. Some things simply are.” He gestured to the ring. “Now, make a fist and hold it out in front of you. We’ll start with the simplest use of the ring…gather some energy, then push it out through the ring.”

After his earlier lessons, that turned out to be surprisingly easy. I envisioned the energy gathering in my closed fist, then visualized channeling it into and through the ring.

I yelped in surprise when a full-size glowing kite shield - white in the center, fading to pale blue at the edges - sprang forth from the ring to hover in the air in front of my clenched fist. It was so solid-looking that I could barely see through it at all. I moved my hand around a bit, and the shield moved with it, staying directly in front of the ring at all times.

Ken’s mouth dropped open a little.

Sparkle laughed and clapped her hands. “Well done, Mistress!”

“Indeed,” Ken said slowly, shifting a little as he examined the magical shield closely. “We’ll have to work on teaching you to make it more translucent, but…Mistress, are you having to strain to hold that at all?”

I considered myself for a moment, then shook my head. “No, it’s no strain at all.”

“Interesting,” Ken said slowly. “We’ll have to test its strength later, but you most assuredly have an affinity for that particular focus. Stronger than your mother’s, I’d say.”

I released the shield and it instantly vanished. “That’s…a good thing, right?” I asked, feeling a bit wary of the unknown.

“Very good!” Ken said quickly and reassuringly. “It’s just a little bit strange, that’s all. Still, it’ll make your defensive lessons a lot easier to start.”

We sat in silence for a moment as I put things back - keeping the ring and earring, since I was quite certain my mother not only wouldn’t have minded, but would have wanted me to have them - and closed up the drawers again. Then I said, “So…now that I’ve had a glimpse into what foci can be made to do and how they work, how do we proceed with my staff?”

Ken seemed to shake himself slightly. Perhaps he’d been lost in thought for a minute too. “Well, the first step will be deciding on a pattern of runes to engrave on it. There are several traditional sets with different uses, but the most common one is designed to channel and redirect energy. It turns the staff into a general-purpose tool for easing the gathering and use of energy.”

“That does sound useful,” I agreed, thinking that anything that made me less likely to exhaust myself casting spells was a good thing. “What do the others too?”

“Oh, there’s a pretty wide variety, really,” Ken said. “Some are designed for defense, like your ring. Others are for offense, like general-purpose wands. Geomancy - earth magic - is often practiced with a staff or cane carved specifically for that purpose, because of how difficult and energy-intensive it can be. But for a first staff, the general-purpose design I spoke of first is best. Many wizards never use any other type of staff.”

“I can imagine,” I said. “It sounds like a very useful tool.”

“So it is, Mistress.” He looked at me more closely and rose. “But we’ll start on that tomorrow. For now, you look rather drained. Let’s get a solid meal into you, and you can take the rest of the evening off. You could explore the house a bit after dinner, if you feel up to it. There’s a truly amazing aquarium room that you might like.”

His words made me realize just how tired I felt. “That sounds wonderful,” I said with a laugh, struggling to my feet with some support from Sparkle. “My legs feel like lead all of a sudden.”

Ken smiled. “Magic lessons are like that at first. But as your stamina improves, it’ll get easier. In a couple of weeks, you’ll just be tired at the end of the day instead of wiped out.”

“Thank goodness for that!” I said with a smile as Sparkle gigglingly finished pulling me to my feet. “Successful second lesson, then?”

Ken gave me a decidedly proud smile. “Very successful, Mistress.”