"I should fire you on the spot!"

Alderic barks, pointed ears red at the tips while the remnants of your latest blunder still hissing and bubbling in the porcelain basin where he had tossed it. The mixture had nearly boiled over onto his hand and it was a damned miracle he still had all of his fingers. He'd hired you a mere two weeks prior, charmed by your pretty face begging for a job and a place to stay but now he was paying the price.

You'd nearly blown up the shop last week and had Alderic not intervened there would be a pile of rubble in place of the store and attached living quarters. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before giving you a hard look.

"King Eeros will not tolerate an inept alchemist and I cannot have an assistant who makes me look like a fool."

The king was merciless, a tyrant in his own right and mistakes on orders to the palace were not permissible. Alderic should fire you now, save both of you the trouble of being accused of treason when one of your volatile potions inevitably escapes his attention.

He sighs, knowing he shouldn't scold you so harshly as it was his own fault for bringing you back here in the first place. You had no previous alchemy experience, had been hired to mind the shop front and attend to customers but there were none currently and he'd wanted to educate you a little on the basics of his craft. Between the young scribe Elias, his cat and now you this was all the company Alderic had to speak of.