“Honestly, Violet. I can’t believe you were so reckless.” Theodora huffed in annoyance, her head and shoulders buried in one of her cabinets. “Do we need to go over the list of ways you could have killed yourself? I thought I’d been clear the first time.”

  “No, Thea. You made it very clear.” It had been a very long list. And disturbingly graphic.

  “And that business with the trap! That was… very clever, actually.” She dragged another contraption out and added it to the growing pile in my arms, waving away the cloud of dust wafting out of the cabinet. “Well done.”

  “Thank you?”

  “That being said…” She squinted at me. “Are you sure you’re up for a lesson? You still look a bit peaky.”

  “I’m fine,” I assured her. “Just a bit tired. I have a friend in the hospital I’ve been visiting, and I’m trying to catch up on some reading.”

  “Oh?” She perked up. “Anything I might like?”

  “Probably not. Although it’s been… enlightening.” Asher hadn’t exaggerated the volume of evidence they’d collected.

  The morning after my first visit with Edrin, l’d written up my report and had Cael deliver it, along with my stack of invitations. I’d wanted to deliver it myself, but I’d been shouted down. He’d returned with copies of all the Watch reports available. I’d spent the last three days reading and rereading them every chance I had.

  I’d been careful to keep my own report factual and succinct — the details were Edrin’s to share, not mine.

  Thea opened a drawer, rifling noisily through its contents. “Shame, I’ve been looking for something new to try. This too, please.”

  “… What is that?!”

  I stared at the thing in her hand in horror. It looked like a medical device crossed with a sea urchin. There was a definite suggestion it was intended to be inserted.

  “No idea,” she informed me cheerfully. “It was here when I moved in.”

  “… And you expect me to do what with it?”

  “Hexbreak it, of course. We need something if we’re going to get any readings, and the enchantments on this are already weak and barely functional. You’ve already proven you’re capable, and if you’re up for it, this should give us a decent baseline.”

  She smiled gleefully. “No one has ever managed to get readings of a Hexbreaking. I can’t wait to see what we see.”

  Cael snorted, shuffling sideways with a look of alarm as his own armload began to shift. “That what all this shit’s for?”

  “It’s far more interesting than shit, I promise. Although I read this interesting treatise a couple of weeks ago on the use of manticore feces in the manufacture of… not my point.” She blinked owlishly. “Where was I?”

  “… This shit?”

  “Right!” She pointed at the various bits of equipment piled in my arms. “That measures a mage’s resonance variance, while that’s used to map enchantment field destabilization. And that one’s designed to measure atmospheric ether bleed. Not sure if it’ll pick anything up, but I have a theory I want to test.”

  “And that—” she gestured at the heap of inscribed metal poles and wire cradled in Cael’s arms with a dreamy sigh “—is the Institute’s brand-new, top-of-the-line portable testing array. Which I had to sign an insulting number of forms to borrow. Which reminds me…”

  She scowled at Cael, her hands in her hips. “Are you—on top of being a Water mage and a Seer—twice-blessed, a Light mage, Shadow mage, or otherwise empowered in any way that might cause this incredibly expensive piece of equipment, that I can only borrow thanks to a generous donation from House Dusk, to explode?”

  “… No?”

  Thea beamed at him. “Excellent! You’re mostly self trained, right? Any chance you know what species you are?”

  Cael stared at her blankly. “… Human?”

  She laughed. “Species of Seer. It’s fascinating, actually; only seven or eight actual Seer Talents have been isolated, which feels low, but there’s evidence that over two-thirds of Seers have two or more. The way those Talents and the Seer’s personality interact is what causes them to vary so much.” She spun and began rifling through one of the massive piles of paper that littered her counters. “And that’s assuming the combination results in something that qualifies as ‘Sight.’ From what you’ve told me, I suspect you’re a Finder, and you’ve got one of the passive ones as well. I actually have a treatise on it if you’re curious—”

  Cael dumped the array on top of the nearest counter with an annoyed huff. “Great, but who cares? I know what I am: a Seer.”

  “It’s still important,” Thea insisted with a frown. “We have no idea how strong you are or if you have other Talents. And I’m guessing you haven’t given your Water magic itself much care. It’ll be easier to train if we know your limits.”

  He shifted uncomfortably. “I guess…”

  “And House Dusk will be covering your tuition, of course, but we’ll need it for your admission documents.” She then frowned in annoyance as she shifted to a second stack. “Damn it, where is… don’t worry,” she tossed over her shoulder. “I’ll edit yours the same way I did Violet’s. Benefit of doing the assessment ourselves.”

  “Why would I go there?”

  Thea froze, her hands halfway through the pile. “Pardon?”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “It’s a school for nobles, right? I get Princess has to go because noble bullshit, but… we’ve only got a year.” He shrugged. “It’s a waste of time.”

  She blinked, and adjusted her glasses. “Because you’re an intelligent and skilled young man. Your level of competence with your Sight tells me that much, especially since you’re self taught. Besides. Someone needs to look after Violet while he’s there.”

  He glared at her. “… Dirty pool, lady.”

  “I— wait, what?” Why was I getting thrown under the bus? “I can take care of myself!”

  “Violet.” She crossed her arms and huffed. “What was the one thing I told you not to do?”

  “… magic without you present?”

  “And what did you do?”

  I winced. “… magic without you present…”

  “And that’s why someone needs to watch out for you.”

  “I was trying to save people.” I pointed out. “There wasn’t another choice.”

  “Which doesn’t invalidate my point.”

  Cael chuckled and leaned back against the counter. “What do you think, Princess? Should I go?”

  Sunlight reflected off the pendant hanging from his collar. The tag that marked him as mine.

  I swallowed, guilt welling up in my throat. “I won’t tell you how to live your life.”

  Cael froze.

  His hand slowly drifted up, touching the pendant at his throat. Then his face twisted into a sneer. “Y’know what, Princess? Fuck you.”

  “Wha—” I blinked.

  “You said we’re friends? You wanna be my equal? Then get your head outta your godsdamned ass.” He stood stiffly, his fingers wrapped around that damned hunk of amethyst, and snarled at me. “I’m asking for your opinion, not your fucking permission! I can make up my own fucking mind. Got it?”

  … Fuck.

  My heart sank to my feet. That wasn’t rage in his eyes — it was betrayal. I’d been so terrified about forcing him into something he didn’t want that I’d gone too far the other way.

  His jaw tensed and he crossed his arms, curling his shoulders inwards.

  “…. I— I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  “So?” He snapped. “Let‘s hear it.”

  ”Sorry?”

  “I want your fucking opinion, Princess.”

  I was wobbling on a knife edge. Cael wanted honesty.

  I owed him nothing less.

  “I… I think you should go. To the Academy, I mean.”

  “Why.”

  “Because Thea’s right. You’re smart — smarter than I think you give yourself credit for. If anyone can make the most of the opportunity, it’s you. Because we are bound together, and as long as you’re with me, you’re going to get pulled into noble affairs. We’re swimming in murky waters, and we’ll need every advantage we can get. And because…”

  I sighed, and placed my armload of equipment on the counter behind me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Thea’s back as she moved the same stack of papers from one pile and back again, carefully not looking in our direction.

  “Because the whole point is to make sure we have a future. Yes, we might fail, but even in five days, we’ve made a difference. I think it’s a mistake to only focus on this one year and ignore what might come after.”

  Cael stared at me wordlessly.

  I dropped my gaze, trying not to nervously pick at my nail polish. Louise had painted them a soft pink — I liked the colour more than I’d expected.

  “… So how’s this ‘assessment’ shit work?”

  My eyes shot up to meet his.

  He sighed and uncrossed his arms. “They’re good reasons. So yeah. I’m in.”

  “Fantastic!” Thea’s head shot up and she spun, a big smile pasted on her face. Cael jumped as she rushed over to him and seized the pile of rods and wires. “Give me a few minutes to set up,” she called over her shoulder.

  I stepped closer to Cael. I wasn’t fooled by Thea’s sudden burst of activity. She was definitely still listening to every word we said.

  “I really am sorry,” I said quietly. “I wasn’t trying to—”

  “I get it, Princess,” he said softly. “You were trying to protect me. But I don’t need you to do that.” He sighed. “We’re not equals, not really. No way to change that. Only place we get to try is between us. I need you to trust I can stand up for myself.”

  “… I understand.”

  He nudged my shoulder with his elbow. “Friends?”

  Damn, I was short.

  “Friends. Next time you’re being a stubborn idiot, I’ll tell you so.”

  “Good.” He cracked a tiny grin. “And next time you’re a whiny little ass, I’ll say so too.”

  There was a soft sigh beside us. “Delightful.”

  I looked over at the neighbouring counter to find Thea leaning on her elbows, watching us over the rim of her glasses with a soft smile. “It’s good to have a friend like that. Had one of my own when I was at the Academy. Drove me mad, but kept me from losing myself in my own head. I’d like to think I helped him too — at least he listened when I told him his morose poetry was a travesty.”

  “… It was Tempest, wasn’t it.”

  She laughed lightly. “It was. I was a frightened fifteen-year old who’d left my tiny village for the first time in my life, and he’d lost his father the year before. Tempie and I were shoved together for some group project, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.”

  I had to find that poetry.

  Cael’s brow wrinkled. “Wait. Fifteen? Don’t you have to be seventeen or something?”

  “And what happened to setting up the array?” I added.

  She waved me away. “It’s already set up. The thing’s designed to roll out and go; I only told you a few minutes to give you both some time. Nobles attend the year after they turn seventeen as a matter of tradition. For scholarship students, it depends on several factors. The spead’s wider, but most of them tend to be a year or two older than their classmates — you’ll fit right in. Whenever you’re ready.”

  He pushed off the counter and looked at her, waiting.

  “Just stand where I tell you, and don’t move. Violet, wait here. The last thing I need is another destroyed array.”

  Cael’s eyebrows shot up, and he glanced over at me.

  I sighed. “Do you remember all of the things she asked you about?”

  “… Yeah?”

  “It’s from experience.” I told him as Thea led him into the array.

  Cael’s assessment… was a lot less dramatic than mine. Cael just stood there for about a minute and a half, surrounded by a forest of waist-high bars. Thea walked around him, her hands hovering over the array’s outer edge.

  I felt a bit insulted — all it did was hum.

  “About what I expected,” she called. “Water mage. You’re a Finder, and you’ve got a secondary Talent called Truesense. It’s a sort of limited precognition, tied to your subconscious. It can get murky, but I think most people underestimate it, honestly. Do you ever get uncannily accurate hunches or gut feelings?”

  “Yeah,” he called back. “I’m pretty good at spotting trouble coming. Except when I’m gambling — my luck’s shit.”

  “Half Sight, half insight, probably — helpful, but I wouldn’t rely on it completely, if I were you. You’re powerful, but not exceptionally so. I don’t think you would have received a scholarship, at least not without telling them that you’re also a Seer. And … hmm. You’ve got Metalsong as well. That’s interesting.”

  “Is it good?”

  “It’s not powerful, but it’s useful. If you were looking for a job, I’d send you to apprentice with a blacksmith.” She lowered her hands, and the soft humming died. “I think that’s it. You can come out now.”

  “How long will this take to write up?” I asked.

  Thea pulled a loose, only slightly creased form out of a drawer. There was an expensive-looking mass of gears acting as a paperweight inside. “Not long.” She pushed her glasses up her nose and began filling it out. “I’ll be done by the time everything’s set up.”

  I blinked. “Set up for what?”

  She paused, staring at me, then rolled her eyes. “Boys. One bit of drama, and everything important flies out of their heads. Cael? Please pack up the array and put it in a corner. Just fold along the creases. Do Not let Violet touch it — I still don’t trust him.”

  “On it!” He called back. And began swearing almost immediately.

  “How are you feeling, Violet?”

  “A little hurt, honestly. It’s not active; there’s nothing I can break.”

  “You’ve surprised me before. Once he’s done, you can find a spot on the floor you like. Put the sensors around it in an equidistant circle, then make yourself comfortable.” She peered at me over the rim of her glasses. “If you’ve got the energy to argue, you’ve got the energy to get me my readings.”