Aelyn made me pick the route to the Academy the next morning. I kept my bearings—more or less—and we walked through the doors together, then split up. I kissed him on the lips before he left to start his first day of teaching.
“That’s an elf,” said a young woman, who suddenly appeared from a side corridor.
“Clever of you to notice,” I said, “He’s my Blade.”
“Oh, how romantic.” She seemed oblivious to my snark. “He’s gorgeous.”
I relaxed. “Yes, he is.”
“Chani.” She grasped my forearm with her hand, and I reciprocated. It seemed that both languages and greetings varied from race to race.
“Circe.” I studied her. She looked a bit older than my physical age—mid-twenties or so—and wore her hair in ringlets. She wore a yellow dress with an ochre jacket open in the front. “You’re a student here, then?”
She nodded. “Second year. I’m supposed to meet some new freshwoman in Madam Jaffer’s office.” She giggled. “Some kind of prodigy, they say.”
“Ah.” As we continued down the hallway to the director’s office, I could not get a word in edgewise.
“—and this semester we’re supposed to match with our Blades for the year. And there’s this cute guy called Rondar, but I don’t think he even knows I exist, and—” she glanced up at the door, “—oh, we’re here. Say, maybe we’ll see each other later.”
“Actually, this is my destination as well.”
Sheena was gazing at a stack of paper with despair on her face.
“You know,” I said, “you could just set fire to them.”
“Don’t think it doesn’t cross my mind. Oh, Chani, I see you’ve met Lady Circe already. You may both go in. Madam Jaffer is expecting you.”
Chani was staring at me. I inclined my head towards the inner office, and she followed me without a word. Jaffer raised her eyes from the inevitable paperwork.
“Right on time. Good.” She pulled a folio from her desk and perused it. “This is your tentative program. Duke Werner tells me that you are both a Healer and a combat Mage.”
“I have some experience with both.”
“You were in combat with a goblin pack and some Skaford, yes?”
“Yes. With my Blade and his people. They did most of the fighting.”
“That is not what I heard.” She glared at me. “Listen, Lady Circe. I need to know the capabilities of my students. Absent that, I cannot match them with the appropriate task.”
“I understand. As to the goblins—apart from an initial fireball, I simply healed our combatants.”
“And the Skaford?”
I licked my lips. “I treated them more roughly.”
“Very well. I will have you assessed by our in-house Healer. But given the fact that you are already licensed and employed as one, I think we will have little to offer you.”
“I can always learn.”
“Admirable. However, I think your focus here should be on combat skills. Do you have anything to add?”
“I would not want to neglect other branches of magic, Madam. Specifically, I need to learn warding and veiling. I mean, concealment.”
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“Have you been shown any of these spells?”
“Well, no. But my previous mentor gave me a small grimoire, and—well—I figured out some of the veiling spell.”
“You can’t ‘figure out a spell’ from a book, dear.”
There it was again. Something must have shown on my face, because Jaffer paused.
“On the other hand—” she looked around the room, “—perhaps you could try to conceal a small object.”
I cast a veil around Chani. I was pretty sure I had both spells balanced properly.
“Chani, dear, bring me that—” Jaffer looked left and right, “—where did that girl go?”
“I’m right here, Madam.” Chani sounded puzzled.
Jaffer froze, and I dropped the veil. Her gaze fixed on Chani and then flicked over to me.
“Point made,” she said in a flat tone. She opened the folio and made some notes, then passed it over to me. “Anything else you’d like to share?”
“No, Madam.”
“Thank the Goddesses.” She looked at Chani. “Your job is to show Lady Circe around the grounds. She needs to know where to go tomorrow. Where the library is. Anything else you can think of.”
“Yes, Madam.” Chani was vibrating with excitement.
“Dismissed.”
Chani started talking as soon as we entered the outer office. “You were in combat? Was it exciting? Is that where you met your Blade?”
“Chani,” I said, “I met my Blade while healing someone he cared for. And combat was the worst experience of my life.”
Of all the places we saw, the library was my favourite. I was captivated the instant I entered a vaulted space with windows that allowed the sunlight to stream into the nooks and crannies, onto desks and chairs, and along tables laden with books. And the shelves: towering so high that each came with its own sliding ladder, each rack crammed with books and scrolls. I could spend a lifetime here. I drifted from section to section, identifying the books by title, and sometimes opening one just to inhale the odor and skim through vellum pages replete with text and symbols.
“Circe, are you quite alright?” asked Chani.
“I think I’m in heaven,” I said.
“Oh,” she looked doubtfully at the mass of texts in front of me, “I tend to stick to the assigned reading. This seems—” she shuddered, “—masochistic.”
I grinned. “I’ve always loved books. The more detailed, the better.”
“Ugh. Shall we have some lunch?”
“Sure.” We made our way to a low building set about with flowers. Students were streaming in and out, laughing and chattering. Inside were long sideboards piled with a buffet, and tables with seating for four or six persons. I craned my neck and saw Aelyn sitting in a corner with a young man who looked Chani’s age. I pulled Chani by her arm towards their table. When she saw them, her mouth gaped.
“Goddess, that’s Rondar. Do you think he’ll—”
We arrived at the table. Aelyn stood and embraced me, then dropped his lips to mine. I purred with pleasure and gazed at him happily. When we separated, I saw Chani looking at me in awe.
“Aelyn, let me introduce you to Chani. She’s been showing me around this morning.”
“Well met, Chani.” He turned to me. “This is—”
“Rondar, I believe.” I smiled at him. “Chani told me about you. I understand she’ll be looking for a Blade soon.” I heard Chani give a small gasp. “So, is he one of your new students, Aelyn?”
Aelyn nodded. “Indeed. He shows promise.” Rondar blushed. “You have made a good choice, Chani.”
Rondar was staring at her with shining eyes.
“I didn’t know—that is—that’s great,” he managed to say.
“Isn’t it.” I nodded and stood up. “Shall we get some lunch?”
As we headed towards the table, I dropped back to walk with Chani.
“Rule one,” I said, “They don’t get a chance.”
We left early to receive our purchases for the house, and to prepare for that evening. Shortly after we arrived, two carts pulled up front, and I busied myself with directing workman to one room or the other. I left Aelyn to organize the bed and mattress and stowed away the kitchen gear.
“Goddess,” I thought, “I feel like a damn housewife.” For some reason, the notion did not bother me as much as I expected.
The last item was a large chalkboard, which was installed in a spare room overlooking the courtyard. I stood with my hands on my hips, looking at it with anticipation.
“What is that for?” asked Aelyn.
“Spells,” I said, “I have some ideas.”
I retired to the bedroom to consider the dresses that had arrived from Lenna.
“Well,” I muttered, “the gown from the ball will likely get me arrested in Vandoran. So…”
I pulled a pale green one from the rack. It had a high collar, a small waist, and a base that flared just above the ankle. A long slit ran up one side to allow freedom of movement.
“This will do.” I preened in front of the mirror. Then I had to take it off to fix my makeup. I let my hair fall loose to my back. It was silver in the blue twilight.
Finally, I was ready. I could hear Aelyn pacing in the hallway below.
“I’m forgetting something,” I said to myself. “Oh.” I grabbed a pad and stuffed it in a small purse. “I hate this part.”
I walked downstairs to Aelyn. He looked me over carefully without expression.
“Well?” I said.
“You are,” he said, “the most beautiful woman I have ever met.”
My heart soared. And we stepped out into the evening.
