"I appreciate the gesture, but there's no need to go to so much trouble. So, if you have a mind to speak as I do, then be my guest – I would welcome a new partner in conversation, one who is able to match wits with words so well. A fool might might push on, their ego stung by someone with such a gifted tongue.
"But all banter aside, I have yet to hear just what brings a Quaesitor here? I trust that you've not come because of some violation of the code committed in our humble abode?"
"Are you ready, Ezio?" Eilid asks in Gaelic. When he's ready, she places her hands on his shoulders.
After a moment, she lets go, looks up at Talia, and nods. She gets to her feet. "He does have the Gift," she says , trusting in Talia to pass what she says along to Ezio. "Tell him that in time and with the proper training, he will be able to do magic just like we can.
"It's going to be about three or four years before I will open his Arts and begin his formal training. Before then, I would like to teach him Latin and how to read and write. I also want to spend time with him and get to know him better, and get him started on things that fall outside his formal Hermetic training."
When she's done, and after she's answered any questions Ezio (and/or Talia) have, she will give the boy a hug and ask Talia if she's ready to get back to work on her Longevity Ritual.
[strike]"I've noticed that you and Halie don't often see eye to eye. Are you comfortable having her draw up the apprenticeship contract, or should we find someone else from Guernicus or from Mercere?"[/strike]
(Apprentices generally do not require contracts. That was a non-canon thing. Legally speaking, once you open his Arts, he's your apprentice, unless you die or a Bonisagus takes him from you.)
((Yeah, Talia doesn't need a contract, if he's Bjornaer, he probably won't be taken by his father and his amici. The contracts I did in Bibracte were designed to keep Ulrich at Mons Electi, and to protect Korvin's investment in Abigail.))
Talia will bend down and give Ezio a kiss on the head. "Eilid's a better teacher than I am. I'm so proud of you. You're going to get some training in the language you here do magic in sometime soon." Talia looks at the nurse and nods her head and says to Eilid, "Yes, let's get back to work."
Once back in the lab "Do you suppose Jonathan could teach him in the library while I'm reading Arguing with one's reflection?"? I could extend my Parma around them so our Gifts don't inhibit the teaching. What do you think?
((You mean the as-yet-uncompleted Rabbi Jonathan? Let's see...flipflip It looks like he does have Eilid beat on teaching. But if Jonathan is teaching Ezio, they don't need parma over them, as Talia and Eilid's Gifts wouldn't bother them as far as teaching scores go.))
((Actually, rereading the effects of the Gift on pp. 75-77, they would both need Parma extended if they're in the same room with the magae. I was thinking it was only if they're interacting, but it seems it's anytime they're aware of the magus.))
Jonathan is happy to teach Latin to Ezio (and anyone else who wishes to join in the lessons). He does not however consent to having magic worked on him. "It is pesha to engage in sorcery, but I thank you for the thought."
Eilid quirks a brow. "And yet you live in an area protected by a spell that protects everyone within it against creatures of magic, against fairies and demons and hostile magi?"
"...I do?" He frowns. "Does this spell affect all of us who are within, or does it affect the land itself, or does it affect hostile entities? And no, even if the spell does affect me personally, then it would not be pesha, which is intentional sin; it would be cheit."
"It protects everyone, but it affects anyone or anything who tries to enter the covenant, any magic cast from outside, or any magic brought in from outside.
"So, it's a sin if a spell affects you directly, but if you benefit from it, it's not? That's splitting a fine hair, isn't it, rabbi?"
"Rabbinic law is nothing but splitting fine hairs. As an example, we are forbidden from lighting a fire upon shabbas. If I'm in a room with a goy, and my tefillinis in a dark room, if I say "Oi, goy, can you please go in that room and fetch my tefillin" I've sinned. But if I say, "I'm gonna go get my tefillin" and you go in the other room to light a candle so I can find it more easily, there is no sin. But if I said the same thing to another Jew and he broke shabbat to help me, then I've sinned. All fine hairs, as you say," he smiles. "It is by seeking to understand Hashem's will that we feel His presence in our lives. Now, yes, I will have to live elsewhere, until I can research this spell better and understand whether or not it is forbidden. I apologise, but I will not be free for teaching until I have a roof over my head. Once I have a home, I will resume teaching there."
He will begin immediate work building a cottage far away from the wizards' settlement in the hopes that it is safe.
(Given the spell description of Aegis it should be fine to live and work within it so long as he doesn't participate in the ritual. But Eilid basically told him "you can't come in, ever, without sinning" neglecting to mention that the aegis treats him as an intruder if he doesn't participate or accept a token.)
((True, but he also told her that he can't be protected by a Parma that's already cast, which by extension tells her that he can't benefit from an Aegis, or by any use of magic (even indirectly). Basically, it's a misunderstanding based on apparently bad assumptions. She's assuming that, since he came in with a maga, that he has at least a clue about magic and benefited by Talia's magic in making the ship go; he's apparently assuming that she knows something about Hebrew and rabbinic/Talmudic law. And the fact that he's trying to explain something while throwing out all these strange words that make no sense in context and that he makes no attempt to explain doesn't help her any.))
Talia, when hearing of Eilid's intention, "Teach the things you need to teach, do the things you need to do now, though. Vermicello can teach Ezio Latin while I read from my book, and my Parma can cover them both to create a stable environment. You don't need to teach him Latin, do you? Isn't that something Vermicello can do? I would prefer you teach my boy magic and things he can't learn from someone else. Unless you claim him now as your apprentice, and we both know what that entails, I must insist as his mother.
"Very well...I will respect your right as his vulgar* mother to see to his mundane lessons. I would still like to be able to spend time with him to get to know him better, to prepare the both of us for the road that lies ahead. And I will check with you in advance."
((*vulgar as in non-Hermetic, not as in obscene.))
"Of course, Eilid. I should only hope that his apprenticeship experience will be different than mine. I don't have a clue about your House, except you transform yourselves into animals that are part of your nature. I imagine it takes time to get to know the apprentice to figure that out."
))