Doubleborn by Toby Forward

demanded. “Locking me in.”
    He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.
    “You’re not locked in.”
    “Not now.”
    “So go if you want to.”
    He lowered his hands, picked up a book and started to read.
    Tamrin was angrier than ever. She had come downstairs ready for a fight and he had denied it her.
    “I wanted to go last night,” she said.
    “No, you didn’t.”
    “Don’t tell me what I want and what I don’t.”
    “Don’t tell lies, then. It was late. It was dark. It was dangerous out. You wanted to flounce out, but you didn’t want to leave.”
    He didn’t look up from his book.
    Tamrin felt herself shaking with anger. She darted a quick toothache spell across the room to him.
    “Ouch,” she said. Her tooth jabbed a needle of pain into her.
    Smith smiled and continued reading.
    Tamrin quickly removed the spell and rubbed her cheek.
    “Shut the door after you,” he said.
    She shut the door, still inside.
    “How did that happen?” she asked.
    “If you’re staying you can help yourself to some breakfast.”
    “Am I really free to leave?”
    “Any time you want.”
    He put the book down. Tamrin could see that it was well-used, old, and the pages were covered with diagrams and measurements.
    She dragged a toe across the floor.
    “If I can go,” she said, “I may as well eat first.”
    He nodded and carried on reading. No matter how much she clattered a plate and cup, sawed furiously at a loaf of bread and slapped butter and marmalade on it, he made no response. He read steadily as though she was not there. She dragged the chair with as much noise as she could make and sat down with a thud.
    After her first mouthful of food she stared at him. He didn’t look up.
    “How did that toothache thing happen?” she asked.
    “I really don’t know what you mean.”
    “You do. You know you do. I sent a toothache spell to you and it came to me. How did that happen?”
    He put down his book and took a drink from the mug next to him.
    “It was toothache, was it?”
    He laughed.
    The tooth was still a little sore so Tamrin didn’t join in and laugh with him.
    “Can you do magic?” she asked.
    “No.”
    She bit into the bread again and chewed while she thought.
    “What happened, then?” she asked.
    “Have you ever seen a blacksmith work?”
    “No.”
    “I’ll show you, if you like.”
    “I haven’t got time. I’m leaving when I’ve finished this.”
    “As you like,” he said, and picked up his book again.
    Tamrin came close to throwing her breakfast at him.
    “I said I was leaving,” she said, “not that I didn’t want you to explain.”
    “It’s easier if I show you.”
    “Tell me. I’m quick. I’ll understand.”
    “There’s a hammer,” he said. “And an anvil. An anvil is a big—”
    “I know what an anvil is. Tell me.”
    “Did your teachers like you at the college?” he asked.
    “Just tell me.”
    “You put the hot iron on the anvil and strike it with the hammer. To shape it. No matter how hard you hold the hammer, no matter how much you try to control it, as soon as it strikes the anvil it bounces off. There’s no stopping it.”
    Tamrin chewed the last of her bread and considered cutting more.
    “You’re not an anvil,” she said.
    “No. But I’m a smith. And smiths are not like anyone else. You’ll see that when you’ve had a look around.”
    “I’m not going to have a look around. I’m leaving.”
    “Winny will pack you some food.”
    “Where is she?”
    “Oh, not here just now.”
    He went back to his book.
    “Come back any time you want,” he said. “We’ll talk some more about tailors.”
    Tamrin felt that the room was tilting or that the sunlight through the window was affecting her eyes. He was so frustrating that she was unbalanced.
    “We didn’t talk about tailors,” she said. “You know we didn’t.”
    He seemed to think about this, but Tamrin knew he remembered perfectly well.
    “We didn’t,” he admitted.