“Night,” Gregory echoed, bowing a bit more than Yukiko had.
Gregory had a couple of questions, but waited for them to enter his room before he spoke. “Yuki, what was that all about?”
Yukiko went back into her normal demeanor and sighed. “He is trying to buy allies. The powder is worth over two thousand vela for each vial. If Felina’s is the sort of place I think it is, it’s less a bathing house and more an oiran house. The gift… more like leash… is to tie me to their clan before others can even bargain. This might be part of why he’s been so friendly to us.”
Gregory looked lost, “He was pleasant and nice to me even before we had talked. The gifts might have been pricey, but like you said, maybe he just likes to throw around his money.”
Yukiko shook her head. “No, they are bribes to keep people close. Did you not note that Jason said it had been months since he’d last been to Felina’s?”
“Yeah? Umm, what is an oiran house?” Gregory asked.
Yukiko blushed, then saw his obvious confusion. “Right, I forget with you at times. What is the right way to say it…? Oh yes… it’s a… whorehouse, but higher priced than you could imagine.” Pulling the scroll from her bag, she read it. “Much higher priced. This is a blank ticket for the bearer to indulge as the guest of the Eternal Flame clan.”
Memories of Jess at the Proctor’s Rest flashed through his mind, causing his cheeks to flush. He had another reaction, making him glad he was sitting. “Oh, err... sorry.”
“As for the leash...” Yukiko slapped the small box on the table and opened it. Nostrils flaring, she grimaced, “They don’t skimp on their pets.” Pulling out the silver and sapphire pendant, she squinted at it. “I think it’s enchanted on top of the craftsmanship.”
Gregory could only blink upon seeing the necklace. He knew it would have cost more than Alturis was worth. “Pet?” he asked when he could think.
“The Eternal Flame is a clan devoted to keeping eurtiks in their place. They don’t mind using those of mixed blood, but they are kept on a strict watch. They must not have realized my heritage yet, or they are looking past it because of my magic.”
“Are you sure? Maybe Nick really is just friendly,” Gregory said, but the words felt wrong to him even as they came out of his mouth.
“No. They will stay friendly, but the relationship will cool now. Just watch,” Yukiko said as she put the pendant away. After a moment, she shrank in on herself and glanced at Gregory with guilty eyes. “I’m sorry, Greg.”
“Huh? Why?”
“They will distance themselves from you, too.”
“No,” Gregory said. “If they do, it isn’t your fault, Yuki. It’ll just prove you were right, and frankly, I don’t have any real love for people who think less of you just because one of your ancestors was a eurtik. Even if your mother was full eurtik, I’d still be right here with you.”
Yukiko stared at him, seconds ticking by, and her eyes started to glisten. Looking down, she coughed, “I see. You’re the best friend I could have hoped for, Greg. Thank you... for being my friend.”
Gregory reached out and tapped her hand with his. “Partners in training and friends, right?”
Yukiko looked up, her eyes still glimmering with unshed tears. “Yes. We should get some more study in before bed. You wanted help with economics, yes?”
Chapter Twenty-five
When the third bell rang, Gregory was out of bed in seconds, feeling energized and ready for anything. Getting dressed more quickly than normal, he paused to make sure his kimono was correct before grabbing his bag and heading for the door. As he opened it, he came nose to nose with Yukiko, who had just raised her hand to knock.
Stepping back, Gregory coughed, “Morning, Yuki.”
“Morning. Should we go?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
They gave Dia a bow as they went by. Dia, sitting on the porch smoking, waved to them and watched as they headed toward the mess hall, smiling.
Breakfast was the same as it had been, though Gregory and Yukiko were done eating and walking to the archive before fourth bell rang. Gregory wondered about that as they walked. Maybe the powder is helping us process the food easier? We’d have just been finishing, but instead we’re ten minutes or more ahead of where we were last week.
Rafiq smiled and bid them good morning when they entered the archive. “Your new books await you, Novices.”
“Thank you, Archivist Rafiq,” Gregory replied.
Yukiko bowed her head, “Thank you.”
“You may use just my name. The books you requested are being considered by the chief archivist,” Rafiq told Gregory. “It might be a few weeks before we can supply the first choice you asked for.”
“Thank you, and please thank them for me,” Gregory bowed his head. “I’ll muddle through economics until then.”
“Very well.”
Once they were at their table, the pair settled in and dove into their selected books. Gregory went slowly; the subject matter was more dense than he anticipated, making it harder for him to understand all of it. Yukiko was absorbed in her book, the pages turning slowly but steadily.
Fifth bell rang, snapping them out of their studies. Gregory blinked and shut the book with a sigh, “That is hard to work through.”
“The history in this book is a middle ground between the others I read,” Yukiko said. “If you need help, I can answer questions while reading.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” Gregory replied, stretching as he stood.
As they were leaving the archive, Rafiq stopped them to ask if the books were what they wanted. After a brief exchange of thanks, they were on the path toward their first class of the day.
~*~*~
Gregory managed to keep up with Magus Marcia as she went over economic theory, but he struggled at points. Going to need Yukiko to help clarify some of this, he thought. Maybe we won’t be exhausted tonight.
Yukiko was bored in history, and Gregory was not much better off as they listened to Adept Thomas talking about the First Eurtik War. Gregory noted the absence of two novices from their class, and both of them wondered if it was even worth going to for the two hours— they could study history on their own in the archive if they wanted.
As they left history and went toward aether introduction, Gregory was frowning. “Yuki… should we drop history for more time in the archive instead?”
Yukiko was silent for a few minutes as she considered the question. “We lose posting opportunities that way… but I don’t know which ones. We can ask Rafiq. Maybe he’ll know, and then we can make that decision.”
“Okay.”
When they reached aether studies, they wondered about the extra people. Two dozen apprentices, two adepts, and a magus, most of them with clan emblems on their kimonos, stood beside Adept John. One of the apprentices was the man who had almost tripped Gregory a few days ago.
When the bell chimed for the class to start, the fifteen magi silently lined up, facing the class with John standing in front of them. “Welcome back, Novices. Today, you will see basic magic in each known branch. Be attentive, and if you have any questions, wait to ask them until after all demonstrations are finished.”
Seeing that he had their rapt attention, John turned to the left side of the line of magi. “Jubal, you may begin.”
The first apprentice stepped forward. “I use enchanting magic, which can’t be seen, so I don’t have anything to demonstrate. I can, however, explain how it feels.”
Gregory’s hand was starting to cramp halfway through from all the notes he was taking. The first few were crafting magics, and they talked instead of showing their magic. The magi after them gave demonstrations of the basic magic they all learned first, from creating a small breeze to lighting a candle.
“Trade off? We can copy from each other later,” Yukiko whispered, watching him flex his hand.
“Agreed,” Gregory whispered back as the water magi separated salt water into pure wate
r and salt.
The magus was the last one to step forward, his face impassive as he looked over the classroom of novices. “I’m Magus Aldum, and I’m a magi of shadow.” Turning to face Yukiko directly, Aldum smiled, “I am no longer the last shadow magi the academy has seen. The first magic a shadow magi learns is how to blend into shadow, letting it cloak them. I’ll use as little aether as possible to give you an idea of what it looks like at your tier.”
The class had looked at Yukiko and began to murmur, but fell silent and went back to watching Aldum. John opened a large parasol and held it up so the shadow fell over the area where Aldum was standing.
“First, connect to your aether and try to direct your shadow to pull in toward you.” As he spoke, his shadow contracted toward him. “Once that is happening, you want to bring it into contact with the shadow you wish to blend into. You should be able to feel that shadow and yours— now mix them to form a shroud.”
The class murmured as Aldum’s form began to fade into the shadow of the parasol, making him difficult to discern. Yukiko was watching intently, and Gregory scribbled notes since she was observing.
“That is the first magic a shadow magi should be able to use. From there, well, depending on the clan and your path, things open up,” Aldum chuckled as he vanished completely.
The class leaned forward, trying to find him.
“The Whispering Darkness clan will send someone to talk with you soon,” Aldum said from behind Yukiko. “Do your best to learn all you can.”
Every novice jumped when they realized that the magi had seemingly teleported to stand behind Yukiko. Yukiko gasped, her heart racing, but she nodded once. “I understand and will listen to the offer.”
The adepts that had come to teach looked annoyed, but did not voice any objection. John stepped forward, looking stern. “Magus Aldum, talk of clans is forbidden during class.”
Aldum’s smile never wavered as he walked past Gregory and Yukiko. “I forgot. Apologies.”
“It isn’t me you need to apologize to,” John said in his normal monotone. “It’ll be the council.”
Aldum’s smile vanished, his face going cold. “You’d report my mistake, even after the apology?”
“Rules are rules, Magus,” John replied with a shrug. “What are we without them?”
Lips tight, Aldum snorted, “I see. I should expect no less from a member of the Shining Light clan.”
“This has nothing to do with clan affiliation and everything to do with rules,” John said evenly. Turning to the class, John continued as if the conversation was over, “You are invited to speak to whomever has the same magic as yourself. We are a quarter hour from the end of class.”
Magus Aldum sneered at John before stepping to the side. The novices had separated, each of them going to speak with the magi who had similar magic. Gregory frowned; as he gathered his notes together, he realized that no one here had talked about anything besides the already known types of magic.
Yukiko put her notes in order and looked at Gregory. “Do you want to copy these while I talk with Magus Aldum?”
“Please. If I have time, I’ll make duplicates of mine for you.”
“Thank you,” Yukiko said, pushing her notes to him. “Now to see if he will talk about magic or just try to sell his clan to me.”
“Good luck,” Gregory said, watching her for a moment before he started to copy her notes.
As Gregory finished with Yukiko’s notes, Adept John came over to him. “Novice, do you not wish to speak to any of them?”
“It wouldn’t do me any good,” Gregory replied. “Master Damon hasn’t been able to find out what my magic is yet.”
“I thought you were the one,” John said. “You are a mystery that many clans are wondering about. I hope that is solved quickly. Without knowing what your magic is, it’ll be hard for you to find the best path, which will stunt your growth.”
Gregory’s pen paused as he started to copy his notes for Yukiko. “I hope that an answer will come soon, as well. I can only do the best I can until then.”
“Aptly said,” John nodded, a faint smile appearing briefly on his lips. “Good day, Novice.”
When the bell rang, announcing the end of the class, Gregory had just finished copying his notes for Yukiko. Putting their notes in order, he got his stowed as Yukiko came back to the table. “You okay, Yuki?”
Yukiko’s frown lessened, “Yes. He didn’t give me much to go on, and he sidestepped most direct answers. Thank you for the notes,” she smiled at him as she put the papers away. “Time for our snacks and meditation.”
“And then conditioning,” Gregory’s voice was pained, as was his smile.
“I wonder what he’s planning today?” Yukiko mused as they started to walk toward the arenas.
“Running and stretching,” Gregory grumbled.
“Yes, but he might also start us on sparring,” Yukiko added. “We only have five months until the first tournament. We’ll be fighting before that happens.”
“Maybe,” Gregory nodded. “It would be a welcome change from just running and stretching.”
“I wonder if we’ll still feel that way after class,” Yukiko added.
~*~*~
Gregory sighed as they walked toward the mess hall, “Well, the answer was ‘no.’ Instead, we got even more exercises.”
“It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. We didn’t skip a day.”
“True. Most of the class seemed to struggle today, even Nick.”
“Yes,” Yukiko said. “How do you feel?”
“Not as tired as normal,” Gregory said. “Is that the powder Nick gave us, or just because we’re improving?”
“Perhaps both,” Yukiko suggested. “Do you want to study economics a bit more tonight?”
“For a half hour, maybe. We still wake early.”
“We do, but extra study is good for us, too.”
“True,” Gregory smiled at her as they reached the mess hall. “Before that, food.”
Yukiko’s stomach growled at that moment, and she blushed lightly. “Food sounds good.”
Chapter Twenty-six
The rest of the week was what had started to become routine for them, with only one major change. They left the history class as they had found out it would only disqualify them from positions in the academy or capital. They spent that extra time studying in the archive instead.
Up at the third bell as usual, Gregory put on the second outfit Yukiko had bought for him on their last day off. We’re going down to visit Felina’s and have lunch somewhere. I still don’t know how she talked me into that... I feel like I’m taking advantage of her. She insists that she’s the one who owes me, but... The tap on his door ended his train of thought.
He picked up his bag and opened the door to see Yukiko waiting there for him. “Sorry, Yuki, I’m ready now.”
“It’s fine, Greg. You look good.”
Gregory brushed at the outfit, “Thanks. You do, too.”
Yukiko pushed a few strands of her hair behind an ear, “Thank you.”
“We should get going,” Gregory said quickly.
As they were exiting the dormitory, Dia stopped them. “Novice Warlin, a moment, please.”
Yukiko looked at her curiously. “Yes, Keeper?”
“I received a few scrolls for you last night, but you’d already gone to your room, so I held onto them. Please wait a moment.” Dia clapped her hands twice and a rabbit eurtik appeared from the dormitory. “Bring me the scrolls for Warlin.”
“Right away,” the eurtik replied before hurrying off.
They only waited a minute before the servant came back with six scrolls. “I believe they are invitations from various clans asking you to visit them today,” Dia said. “They at least had the decency to wait until a day off to request to speak with you.”
“Thank you,” Yukiko said, putting the scrolls into her bag.
“Good day to you both,” Dia said as she took a puff on
her pipe.
“Keeper,” they said together, bowing.
“I wonder who you’ll pick,” Dia murmured, exhaling a thin line of purple smoke as they walked away.
Breakfast was the same, but the teachers not being there was different. The cooks greeted them with smiles and wished them a good day. Once they had finished, they headed for the archive to study. Greeting the eurtik on duty by the door, they went to their table and dove into their respective books.
When fifth bell rang, both of them closed their books. Gregory was still lost in thought over the last portion of the economics book as he got to his feet.
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