[Viskyia Crow]

Viskyia listened carefully to Master Titus. Her confidences at knowing her trade waned a bit as she listened to him speak of business. She stared. It simply never occurred to her that she needed to think of being a Jeweler as running a business. Her world had been so narrow in her past that all she simply thought of was doing the work that she loved. She was a tool. Her purpose for existence was to cut and shape for the desires of others. She blinked sharply and shook her head slightly. No. No! She used to be a tool. Now she would make her skills her tools and let them cut a life out of the stonework of life for herself.

She continued listening. Markets? Margins? What in the world was he speaking of? Did she mean to sell her work in a market? Viskyia was smart. She knew that she was. But that didn’t mean, she realized in this instant, that her education was complete or particularly thorough. Her naivety about the ‘real world’ that was Nexus Prime was painfully evident. In his few simple statements, Master Titus had reaffirmed to her why this apprenticeship was needed. Not only was the training needed, but desperately needed. She had a sharp understanding suddenly that this man could teach her a great deal more about society than she had previous access too. She smiled slightly. Those one hundred crowns were well spent.

He was speaking again, she realized. She watched him take out the parchment and begin to lay out a simple project. He instructed her carefully, giving her a budget and an idea of what the purpose of the item was to be. When he mentioned the example of the onyx brooch, she automatically nodded as he asked her if it made sense. She felt the past encroaching though. The word ‘purpose’ had done it. She tried to fight off the memory as Master Titus began to sketch, but it caught her fully off guard and swept her up into its grasp.

She had been hammering out a lovely flange for a enormous piece of cabochon onyx. Hammering might have been too strong of a word for it actually. The thin silver band was meant to wrap the stone and completely cradle it in a thick edging of silver with only a loop showing at the top end. She’d cut the stone three brightenings ago, and as per her Master’s wishes had sent it up to his workroom. She’d had it back now, though she was loathed to look at it or even touch it. She knew what the Master sometimes did to such things. The stone rested on her workspace in a tiny wooden box.

Viskyia had wait for the very last minute to flange it, and that minute had finally come. She had a carefully scribed bit of notes from Master stating the runes he wanted engraved into the flange surrounding the stone. She’d etched the runes into the silver first, before wrapping the stone as per his instructions. The moment she’d pulled the onyx cabo with her tongs from the box and had began to wrap the flange around it, she had began to shake. She could feel the power within it. The onyx practically vibrated in her hand, greedy, hungry, almost sentient in its desperation for whatever it was keyed in to seek. She managed to get the silver strip wrapped up and around it before the whole stone itself started glowing with a deep darkness that made her gasp. If it had been anything else but this item, Viskyia would have dropped it immediately. But she knew the Master. She knew his ways, and suspect this was yet another one of his tests for his amusement. He had specifically requested the item be done by tonight. There were guests expected.

It took her most of the rest of the evening to finish the piece, and by the time she was done handling it, most of her strength was gone. Her skin had lost its usual healthy glow and had turned ashen. The bottom of her waste bin beneath her workbench was heavy with the thick substance that was the remaining contents of her stomach from breakfast. In fact, she was so far spent when the task was done, Meg had come to fetch her for a late dinner and found her curled up on her work stool, head down on her table space, completely oblivious to those around her. She’d taken to her bed for the rest of the brightening, and for the remainder of the cycle. What Viskyia had never told Meg, was that the Master had already been there, studied her reaction to the stone, and then made a disgusted sound, collected the finished brooch, and retreated upstairs, leaving Viskyia where she slumped. Viskyia had never even looked up when the Master had walked in. she felt his presence keenly enough though. His message was clear. She was displaying weakness and vulnerability, so he refused to acknowledge her presence.

The worst thing was, she never knew where the foul stone had been sent. She didn’t know who it was intended for. To this very day, onyx or the very mention of it seemed to bother her.

She pulled her attention back to Master Titus, who was busy sketching and speaking of the project that was to be her test. She listened carefully, nodded, and watched him sketch over his shoulder. She was keen on the idea of how he went about the actual process of design verses just the actual creation of a piece. She was enchanted. It was like a whole new aspect of a beloved concept opened up to her. These new topics were far more than enough to make her forget the Onyx brooch for a moment. A new world, in fact, was coming to light. As he drew, he discussed his various clients, which frequented, which were high end and which were commoners. The numbers and statistics he rattled off about who bought what when and how often slowly started to make a bit of sense. Yes. She did understand. No, she didn’t understand who bought for why yet, but as he said, she would learn.

She turned and glanced at the shop in a whole new light. Yes. He was right. The cases were full of the stuff everyday people would purchase. These things weren’t expensive, but were beautiful in their own right. Viskyia turned back to his sketching, nodding slightly. “I understand. I think I really do understand.” She smiled now. The challenge of making the brooch for him appealed to her. There would be no arcane involved. No one was going to die or suffer because of her art. The true test would be some commoner coming in and purchasing her work. It was as simple as that.

Viskyia remained quiet, letting him finish his sketching and listened a bit more to his explanation. As he talked, she took a moment to light a few lanterns as it was growing fairly dark. He hadn’t seemed to notice. Then, when he paused to take a breather , an appropriate pause fell, she asked a few quiet questions. “What stone do you recommend, what setting? Or is this all up to me as long as I stay under budget”

She paused to let him respond, then added after he’d done so…

“I think this is enough to get me started, so long as you are here to answer my questions”, Viskyia added but then had an additional thought. “Master Titus, which workspace can I use? And are there spare tools enough for me to use until I can afford materials to create my own set?" She was eager to get on with the project, and glad that the Master was going to watch over her step-by-step until she was truly proved herself to be outstanding. She stifled a yawn, gave him her best smile, and said “I really want to get started.” And then she tilted her head and looked thoughtful, giving both men a bright smile.