The next day, Arielle woke up groggy.
Likely because she had spent most of the night reading elven fables instead of sleeping. It wasn’t so much that the stories were entertaining or even particularly informative about spells. Though that was the primary reason she had cracked open the book, the reason she kept reading it was that she couldn’t sleep.
She was acutely aware of Lyra lying in her bed, probably asleep but perhaps not. She hadn’t said anything to Arielle during dinner and nothing after they came back to the room. Arielle was used to silence. She enjoyed it most of the time.
But not this type of silence from Lyra.
It reminded her too much of the beginning of the semester when she'd tried so hard to be her friend but everything she did only pushed Lyra further and further away.
It felt like she was making the same mistake, and she didn’t know how to make it better.
I can’t tell her the truth, she thought. And I can’t lie to her. So what can I do?
She didn’t know.
So she focused on the one thing she did know, and what she needed to find out, which was in the book.
The spells in the books were simple, but sometimes the scope was large. There was a spell that made rain fall in a desert for many years, eventually turning it into an oasis. There was a spell that migrated birds across their realm to populate another kingdom. A lot of their spells seemed focused on, or were tied in with, nature, and elves appeared to pray and meditate a lot.
Elven stories also regularly had a moral lesson attached. For example, there was a story about a little elf who lied too much, and one of the elven gods cursed him with a tongue that would twist unless he told the truth. He begged and despaired, but the curse was only lifted after several years of strict honesty when it seemed the boy had learned his lesson.
There was also a story about a thief who got trapped in the very treasure chest he was trying to steal. The more he struggled, the tighter the containment got until it became his coffin. That one was a pretty macabre story, but it served as a reminder for the elves not to steal.
Elves also appeared to use spells a lot more than humans. They used them to take care of every minor inconvenience, from setting the table to lighting a match, which made sense considering that they didn't have the same problems with essence scarcity that humans did.
But then it also begged the question: why did they not have the same scarcity? Mathematically, they should have it worse.
Or was it because their essences did not come from the primordials? As a matter of fact, there was no mention of the primordials anywhere in the fables.
The book itself had been written by an Elven traveller, who wanted to share childhood Elven stories to Earth dwellers in hopes of 'improving their minds' and 'imparting fundamental goodness within their souls'. Arielle didn't know what made the elves believe that they had more 'good' than humans were. They still had conflicts between themselves, and still displayed traits of pride, anger, and selfishness.
There was something charming about the way they were reported to live, the ease with which they incorporated magic and nature into every aspect of their lives. Arielle would guess that they were far more technologically advanced than Earth, but they still seemed grounded in their ancient ways, mostly using spells to enhance nature's processes rather than defy them.
They also tended to look down on humans, but they valued other creatures like druids, who were said to be their gods' helpers. They summoned them often, and even had a chant they performed at a festival dubbed the Day of the Druid, which loosely translated to:
Eyes of the gods
Ears of the trees
Hear our requests
Grant our pleas
A bountiful harvest
And years of peace
A sacred heart
We ask of thee
At the time it was nearly morning and Arielle forced herself to go to sleep, the chant echoed in her head. Her internal alarm failed her too, and she would have slept for a lot longer if Lyra hadn't ultimately shaken her awake.
“Hey,” she said when Arielle opened her eyes blearily, noting that her mouth had already been open, her tongue dry. “It’s almost breakfast time. Isn’t your presentation with Woden this morning?”
“Yes,” she croaked.
“If you sleep longer, you’ll have to skip breakfast and head straight to your presentation."
Ari sat up. Her brain felt foggy, and her vision blurry as she put her feet to the ground and got up. One hand out, she steadied herself against the wall in her journey to the privy. By the time she was done getting ready, Lyra remained at her desk, supposedly reading her politics book.
“Aren’t you going to be at breakfast?” Arielle asked.
Lyra shook her head without looking back. “I’m skipping it today.”
“Why?”
“Just not hungry, I guess.”
A silence descended, one that Arielle was unsure if it was uncomfortable or normal.
She also wasn’t sure what to do about it. She retrieved her books from the side of her desk and turned to leave, but paused.
“Sorry,” she said, holding the book to her chest.
“For what?”
She pushed her lips together. “I don’t know.”
Lyra turned to look at her. She gave her a small smile that also seemed a little sad. "It's okay.”
Arielle didn’t know if the smile meant that Lyra had forgiven her or if it was simply an acknowledgment of what she had said. But she took solace in it anyway, nodding and heading to her exam.
Her group waited for Woden in his class, at a table near the window. The rest of the room was empty. Technically, they were supposed to have the presentation in front of the rest of the class, but thanks to the postponement, that became difficult. Professor Woden had to fit the presentation in during a time when all the presenters were free, which happened to fall on a weekday, when some of the class still had their trials. So, today, they were only presenting for Woden, but he would take notes and share with the rest of the students later.
Arielle sat next to Lacey, and he smiled in welcome.
“You look terrible,” he said cheerfully.
“I do?”
“Yeah. Your eyes are like a panda I saw once at the Fiery Paw sect. I’m guessing you didn’t sleep much?”
Arielle nodded.
“Wow, so even you get nervous about presentations,” Cedric said, and he also looked happy about this fact.
“It’s not about the presentation." The words slipped out before she could stop herself.
“Oh?” Lacey leaned forward, his now shoulder-length hair falling out of the tuck behind his ears. “What is it about then?”
She pushed her lips together. She wasn't sure if she should share it, but she didn’t want to keep holding it in. Maybe they would know what to do to make it right. “Lyra is mad at me.”
“Why?”
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“Because I lied to her.”
“What about?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“It's a secret?"
She nodded. “She wants me to tell her, but I can’t, and I lied and she knew I lied, so now I think she’s mad at me, but she smiled at me this morning when I said sorry, so maybe she’s no longer mad?”
“She could still be mad and smile,” Lacey pointed out. “Or she might not be mad, just generally upset about the situation.”
“I don’t want her to be upset,” Ari said. “She’s my best friend.”
“Why can’t you tell her this secret?” Godfrey, who had previously been zoned out looking out the window, suddenly tuned in.
“Because…” She pursed her lips.
“You can’t say that either?” Lacey said.
She nodded.
Godfrey’s eyes glinted, and he leaned forward. “Does this secret have anything to do with dem–ugh!” Godfrey’s voice cut off when Cedric jabbed him in the side really hard, and Lacey threw him a dirty look.
“With what?” Ari asked, but Lacey shook his head.
“Never mind him. He just likes to spout nonsense and regurgitate stupid rumors.”
“Yeah.” Godfrey rubbed the side of his chest while staring at Cedric with narrowed eyes. “Never mind me.”
“Is it a secret you’re keeping for your own good, or for hers?” Lacey asked, getting back on topic.
She pondered it briefly. “Both.”
"Well, if it's a secret you have to keep for her own good, you should probably tell her that. And show that you care about her in other ways.”
“How do I do that?”
“That’s for you to figure out. What do you think would make her feel cared for?”
Arielle thought about it. She assumed that fixing Lyra's problem with her cores would make her feel cared for, but she was already working on that, and she did not have a solution yet to give her. She was also vaguely worried that she wouldn't get a solution on time and would disappoint Lyra.
Was there any other way she could show that she cared? What did Lyra like?
“This is too easy," Godfrey spoke up instantly. "She's a girl. Take her shopping and buy her dresses.”
Arielle perked up. That was right. Lyra liked dresses, especially colorful ones. And she needed a dress for the ball. Arielle could take her to a boutique over the break. Or better yet, tell her family to have items delivered to campus as Lord Wesley did.
Yes. That might do the trick.
At that point, the door opened, and Woden hurried in. “Sorry I’m late. I was viciously attacked by one of my pets this morning."
“Your falcon?” Arielle asked.
"The Seizan lizard?" Lacey asked
"The hippogriff?" Cuthbert drawled.
“Worse. My cat.” He held up a hand with three scratches on the back, which he healed. “I was running some experiments last night and forgot to feed him. He was very irate this morning when he realized."
"Poor thing," Lacey said. "He was probably starving."
"Oh, he was in no danger of starvation, believe me." Professor Woden scoffed. "Alright, now let’s start the presentations.”
Arielle stood, and so did the rest of the boys. They had already decided on the order they would present.
Lacey would go first since he was the most personable and it was good to lead with charm.
Ari and Godfrey would be in the middle as they were the most and least knowledgeable in the group, respectively. So Ari could make up for Godfrey's gaps in knowledge, and Godfrey could make up for her wooden delivery.
Then Cedric and Cuthbert would go last, not for any particular reason, simply because there was no other place to put them.
Arielle realized that she had forgotten to ask about Riorke before the presentation. Was he okay? Would he get a grade for this presentation even though he could not participate? It would be unfair otherwise, as he did help them a lot in the earlier parts.
Despite her grogginess, Arielle managed to relay the presentation exactly as she had practiced.
They started off with the basic stuff they knew about the Unmaker and all the tales they had heard, then decided to focus on the Drift since that was the character she knew the most about.
"I believe the Drift shows up differently to different people," she said. "That is why no one can truly understand who he is. He uses agents, the Church of the Wayward, to fulfill missions that are asked of him."
Though Arielle could have said more, she had to avoid doing so, so as not to inadvertently endanger anyone. It was okay to mention the Church, because she and Woden had already had a discussion about it, but everything else she kept close to her chest. A secret.
At the end, Woden looked impressed.
"Not bad," he said. "Except erm, Arielle, this church you mentioned..."
"Yes?"
"Where exactly did you get the information? I know I said that it sounded familiar, and I tried to find a file on it in my office, but nothing came up. Plutarch might have spoken about it too before he disappeared, but the details escape me."
"My cousin told me about it," she said.
"Archmage Earthbinder?"
"Yes."
"Interesting." He brushed his chin, and Arielle could feel the others staring at her. When she looked at them, they looked away.
"Well, I suppose that's not against the rules," he concluded. "The five of you have done well. Exceeded my expectations, actually. It's clear that you all worked very hard, and most importantly, you all worked together."
"What about Riorke?" Arielle asked. "He did his share of work in the beginning."
"Don't worry. Riorke passed too."
Arielle breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good job."
“Thank you, sir,” Lacey spoke up. "But I think Arielle deserves extra thanks here.”
"I agree,” Godfrey admitted as her eyes snapped to Lacey, then him. “If not for her, we never would have gotten as far as we did. The vast majority of the information we found was provided by her, and she worked harder than all of us combined."
"Basically lived in the library at some point," Cuthbert murmured.
“We probably slacked off a lot, to be honest,” Cedric said. “If not for Arielle, this would be an easy fail.”
"Yeah," Lacey said. "I think she deserves extra points."
Arielle blushed at the praise being heaped on her, looking down at her shoes shyly. It was all true, but she didn’t expect them to admit it to Woden, risking their grade in the process. That was very kind of them, and she wasn't used to kindness from her classmates.
Her friends. Could she call them that? Did their relationship qualify as friendship when they barely knew things about each other? Should she ask?
Ari could hear the amusement in Professor Woden's voice when he coughed and spoke.
“Well, I appreciate your team morale, children, but that’s not how it works. You all will be getting full marks. It’s clear you’ve worked together on this and have formed a friendship here. Keep it. It will sustain you. Collaborating is just as important, if not more, than competition. Alright?"
They all nodded and Arielle grinned. Professor Woden had called it a friendship, so that was likely what it was.
Then she remembered her other mission for the day. “Can I have a conversation with you, Professor?”
“Of course. Just give me a second. I need to feed Mittens a second breakfast to make up for the dinner I missed."
“Okay. I’ll wait here.”
The professor disappeared, and the boys got ready to leave.
"Wait," Arielle said to Lacey, who hung back, leading Cedric to remain too. "How is Riorke?"
“Well…” Lacey made a face. “He’s alright, I suppose."
His voice and the face he made didn't give her any comfort. "Was he hurt in battle?"
"No. They haven't started fighting yet. Riorke's anguish right now is more mental than physical."
“Why?”
“Because of General Pissguzzler."
“General...Pissguzzler?”
“Yes," he said, while Cedric snickered in the background. "Or at least that's what we call him. The biggest asshole you've ever met in your life. Probably why his mouth is always so puckered."
That made Cedric snort again as Arielle cocked her head. "What makes him an asshole?"
"What doesn't? Arrogant, condescending, sadistic. He calls it discipline, but the truth is that he probably enjoys torturing his soldiers with the excuse of making them better warriors. Riorke would have had to train underneath him if he didn't come here, or if he attended the Military Academy of Loia instead."
"And he's the general?"
"Yes, directly under the throne. The hand of the empire. Historically, the role was actually supposed to go to Riordan before he died. However, there was a bunch of political stuff and Pissguzzler convinced the Elders that Riordan had to 'prove himself worthy' first."
"What do you mean?"
"You know, by winning battles and such. Riordan was smart, much smarter than Pissguzzler, and he was strong too. But he was more strategist than warrior, at least at first. Pissguzzler argued that unless Riordan led the front lines and won a given number of high-stakes battles, then he wasn't fit to lead.” Lacey shrugged. “Riordan accepted and he almost did it, but then he…you know. Imagine how happy Pissguzzler was. Anyway, Riorke wants to challenge him to become the new general. If he manages to graduate Erynwall and become a Master, he can do it without going through that lengthy process, and has a real shot of beating him."
Riorke's not likely to become a Master, Arielle thought. At least not at the rate he's going.
But she was smart enough to keep the words to herself this time.
"Regardless, since they're prepping for battle, and Riorke insists on being a part of it, Pissguzzler is probably putting him through hell. The last letter he sounded so mad he could spit. I had to tell him to drink some ale and calm down."
"That is bad for him."
"Yes. Yes, it is."
Professor Woden appeared in the classroom again, with fresh scratches on his face and animal fur on his coat. The boys said their goodbye, and Arielle turned to him.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Professor Woden asked.
Arielle had thought long and hard about how to answer this question. She'd even come up with an elaborate excuse, but Vittoria had told her that simplicity was better.
"Dragons," she said.
"Dragons?"
"Yes. I got curious about them. Specifically, their anatomy. Do you know anything?"
Professor Woden cocked his head, his eyes moving like blue bubbles behind his goggles.
"I suppose I know a thing or two.” He turned and gestured with his hand. “Come into my office. Let's discuss."
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