An Apple for Teacher

*Three days ago*

The sun was shining down brightly in the mid-afternoon, illuminating the Mage District of Stormwind with a brilliant glow; more than enough light for many of the students from the nearby Mage Tower to sit outside and study with. The warmth of the light drove away the autumn's chill and quite a few of the students were taking advantage of the pleasant weather.

Sitting on the grass with her back propped up against a bench, Malandrae frowned and bit the end of her pencil as she studied the book that was lying in her lap. Sitting with her legs crossed and barefoot in the grass, she'd been there for over two hours now, puzzling out the lessons contained within the book's cover. She sighed, biting the pencil harder as a particularly difficult point came up in the text before her.

A shadow fell across her and she looked up to see a human male standing over her, smiling down. He was likely in his mid-twenties as far as she could judge of the human race, and his black hair was neatly trimmed and contrasted sharply with the pale skin of one who spent more time indoors studying than outdoors. He wore a tabard of the Kirin Tor over his flowing robes, and had a number of spell component pouches on his belt that immediately clued Malandrae into the fact that he knew magic.

"Having trouble with your studies?" He said with a pleasant smile, looking first at the book and then at Malandrae, his eyes lingering over her.

Her face lit up and she closed the book, holding it up so he could see the title which read Principles and Practice of Magical Warding: A Beginner's Guide. "I'm afraid that some of the lessons are quite beyond me. I'm alright with the general idea but once it talks about physical anchor points and force multiplication of magical fields I become lost."

The man smiled and nodded, "It can be difficult, but I'm sure a smart and aspiring student such as yourself will grasp it in time. If you are half as good at magic as you are pleasant to look at I suspect you will be teaching US in a few years!"

Malandrae flushed a deep purple color and grinned up at the man, giggling flirtatiously. "Oh? And are you an instructor then? I've never seen you before."

He nodded and smiled, "Yes, I'm Victor Whitehearth, senior professor of the tower. And before you introduce yourself, I suspect I know who you are. You're Malandrae Moonwhisper, apprenticed to Professor Knox yes?"

Malandrae nodded and smiled. "Oh you know the Professor!"

"Of course, she and I are colleagues. We often discuss our students. She indicated that she was teaching you about some basic spellcasting and seeing you out here, I thought I'd drop by to check in on you," He said pleasantly. He paused, his eyes wandering over her again for a moment before he added, "Of course, if you're having trouble, I'd be glad to personally assist you outside of regular class time."

Malandrae giggled again, "Oh I'd like that very much. It would be so helpful to have personal instructions from more than one professor! I will visit you in your classroom and we'll see if you can help me."

Victor grinned, "It would be my pleasure."

***********************************************

*Two Days Ago*

The apple sat on Victor's desk, shiny and red and fresh. The elf who had brought it sat beside it, half hanging off of the desk as she leaned back on her hands. The rather inappropriately short skirt she'd worn to visit Professor Whitehearth left little to the imagination about the shape of her legs; legs that currently had the Professor's hands on them as he leaned forward and kissed her neck.

Malandrae giggled at the touch, "I thought we were going to study today? Or perhaps you meant that you wanted to study ME?"

Victor smirked as he lifted his head up, meeting her challenging gaze with one of his own. "Oh, we will study surely. From what I have heard you need to practice as much as possible."

Malandrae laughed, enjoying the wordplay. "Oh? Is that what you've heard? I suppose you will need to observe me then for some time to ensure that you are satisfied with my magic hmmm?" She ran a hand across the human's face, enjoying the attention he was paying her and the closeness with another person which she'd not experienced in some time.

The man ran his fingers across her knee playfully and smiled, "I certainly agree, although my classroom is hardly a good place for...in depth observation? Perhaps I should visit you at home for...private tutoring?"

Malandrae bit her lip and frowned, "Professor Knox asked me not to bring over guests without her approval first though..."

Victor waved a dismissive hand and laughed, "Come now, Ilhedith and I are good friends, I'm sure she would not mind if I stopped by, especially if you told her that I was simply helping you with your lessons. And I can come over when she's not around you know..."

The elf giggled again at the suggestion and nodded, "Alright, if you're sure she won't get mad. She gave me a magic key, but if you have another key I can copy the magic onto it. I learned how to do that a long time ago!"

The man nodded and produced a key. "She won't mind at all, trust me. And your lessons can be much more thorough there, where other students will not interrupt."

Malandrae smiled and passed her hand over the man's key. It glowed, taking on the same aura as the one around her neck. "Oh, we might be interrutped, but only by my friend Eldre'nor. I'm sure she would not mind...participating...in the lesson."

The man's eyebrows rose at the lithe elf's comment even as she slipped from the desk and kissed him. She whispered in his ear, "We do however have half an hour for you to at least brief me on the lessons you plan to give me. Perhaps you can come over on Thursday? I've got classes tomorrow but Professor Knox will busy at the tower all day on Thursday."

The man made no response, his tongue unable to properly form a response. It wasn't exactly a question anyway, more like a strongly worded suggestion that he was loathe to deny.

***********************

*Current Time*

Victor smirked to himself as he pushed the door open, revealing the interior of Ilhedith Knox's personal study. It had been child's play to convince her vapid little apprentice to give him her apartment key and then break the wards on the study, and now her private research lay exposed on her desk for him to browse at his leisure. It was mid-day, and he knew that Professor Knox had classes to teach and that her two apprentices would also be busy at their studies; the perfect time to slip in unnoticed and find what he was looking for.

The human rushed over to the desk, immediately grabbing papers up and studying them intently. "So Professor Knox, you delve too deeply into things which are not your concern. Soon enough though you'll learn much more than you ever wanted to, and then you'll be ours."

Even as he spoke, the door creaked closed behind him, and he whirled around. Standing behind where the door had been ajar stood Malandrae, completely nude.

"What are YOU doing here?" he hissed at her. "And why aren't you wearing clothes?"

Malandrae smiled sadly, taking a step towards him. "Do you know what I once was? As for why I am not wearing clothes, it is to avoid having to clean the mess."

Victor blinked and shook his head; he had no time for her stupidity. "It doesn't matter what you were, what matters is that I cannot have witnesses. I'm sorry. Actually, I'm really not."

He shouted a word of power, and a deadly bolt of magic flared from his hands, hurtling at Malandrae. The elf simply took another step forward, the magic fading before it touched her as if it had never been. Around her in the air runes began to form in the ancient language of the Highborne. Beautiful letters made of glowing magic circled her, the blue color highlighting her exquisite body softly.

"Once, long ago I lived in a place where beauty, love making, and the feeling of love itself were an art form," She said softly. "They were things to be admired, cherished, and raised up in reverence. I excelled at this of course, and was known far and wide for my beauty and passion."

She took another step closer to him, and he backed away from her, putting the desk between himself and the strange nude elf. "When a lover kisses me, I can tell if they mean it, or if they play a game. I can feel the passion in their lips, feel the excitement on their fingertips. I can know when the gestures are a front for other motives. I have been playing these games for thousands of years."

Victor cursed and pulled a wand from his belt. He pointed it at Malandrae and spoke the activation word. "I don't care about who or what you are. I have a purpose here that doesn't involve you living."

Bolts of magic flew at her, and again disappeared before they touched her bare skin. The dancing runes in the air around her faded to a yellow color, and she sighed softly.

"Please Professor...Victor," She said in the same soft tone. "Forget about your plans, your devices and goals. Let it go and enjoy life with me, here and now. Don't do this, there is no reason to. I won't tell Professor Knox if you promise to just stop and leave with me now. We can enjoy the rest of the day together."

The human growled, summoning up another spell, this one his most powerful curse. It shrieked through the air, surrounding Malandrae in deadly magic. Again it faded to nothing, and the runes around her faded to a dull ugly red color, agitated now.

"I never wanted you. What would I want with someone as stupid as you?" He shouted, beginning another spell.

Malandrae looked at him sadly and nodded. "It's true, I'm not the most intelligent spellcaster. I never have been, and it's a flaw I know I have." She paused, eyeing him over. "I am, however, not so stupid as to attack someone who has been using magic for thousands of years before my ancestors were born. I'm so sorry Victor."

"Sorry for what?" he paused.

She smiled, even as the runes around her began to soar away from her, surrounding him now with an angry buzzing. "I'm sorry that I never learned how to create wards that were not deadly. Professor Knox tried to teach me, but I'm too thick headed to understand just yet."

His eyes widened as the first bolt of ruby magic sliced into him, entering his arm painfully. "You stupid bitch! The Twilight's Hammer will see an end to you and Ilhedith Knox! Her work will be put to an end and so will she!"

Malandrae tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion. "I don't know why you carpenters and masons always name your tools. Is that a common thing amongst humans? Why would a hammer be made of twilight? It would hardly be useful..."

As the magic around him flared brighter and began to push his body towards a pending explosion, Victor's last thought was that he was being killed by a complete moron. His rage at that fact went with him into the afterlife.

*************************************

A couple walking past Ilhedith Knox's apartment heard a loud *Crump* as someone exploded inside her living quarters. One of her windows was showered with what looked to be red paint. The pair paused, looked at each other and shrugged.

Perhaps Ilhedith Knox was redecorating and decided to use her magic to spread the red paint more quickly? Seemed like a messy process though.

**************************************

Hours later, Ilhedith Knox returned to her apartment, tired from a long day. As she went inside, she found her apprentice Malandrae on her hands and knees in the hallway. The girl had a light summer dress on and her hair was tied up with a bandana. In her hands she held a brush that she was using to scrub the floor. Behind her, the door to Ilhedith's study was opened.

"Oh hello Professor Knox!" Malandrae said with a smile. "I'd meant to surprise you but I didn't finish in time. I've been doing some cleaning up for you. I'm sorry I went in your study, but you haven't cleaned that room in ages. I scrubbed it down nicely for you and put all of your research into neat files in alphabetical order."

Ilhedith's eyes widened and she rushed past the chattering apprentice and into her study. The room was completely spotless. On her desk sat neat stacks of paper, organized by title into alphabetic order. Malandrae came up behind her as she examined the room.

"I also found several Highborne works that had been improperly translated. I made corrections and filed those in a separate file for you. Your current work that had no title is in a work folder to the right there. If there's anything else you need, please let me know and I will be glad to help. I'll fetch you dinner while you look around," the elf said happily.

Ilhedith blinked and looked around, finding not a thing out of place. She sighed and settled into the chair behind her desk, seeing all of her work was still there and in proper order. A wave of relief passed through her. She smiled as she looked around, seeing her study actually was VERY neat, as if the elf had spent a great deal of time cleaning.

"How delightful," she said to herself. "What a thoughtful apprentice..."

She never did notice or think to ask why Malandrae had needed to scrub the ceiling clean and repaint it...