Classes that Alisa had scorned or neglected suddenly took on a new weight of importance. Knowing that she’d be fighting only for herself and her people on her own terms, without The Traitor or anyone else trying to control her future, put everything into a whole new light. It was liberating, empowering, but also terrifying.

She needed to learn this all, and needed to do so now. She wouldn’t have the luxury of another two years of classes; she had to get as much as she could out of the academy before Tay’s plan came to fruition and she could leave. Sure, many of the classes remained genuinely useless, but she began fully engaging with the combat exercises that she’d previously only endured out of obligation.

There were still weeks until Tay’s deadline, but the days that for so long had dragged on now suddenly they seemed to fly by.

The intense focus she'd lost for so long came back, the feeling of throwing herself fully into a subject and doing her very best to attain success. Spells of only tangential interest to her before, she now practiced religiously. In the mock invasions between students - no longer staged at the academy itself but taking place outside of the city in the wild foothills to the southeast - Alisa put as much effort and focus into their team's success as she ever did into mastering tiny detailing on a powerscript.

And the more she threw herself into it, the more she began to appreciate its depth. Sure, combat magic was nowhere near as detailed or nuanced as creation spells. But it wasn't as shallow as she'd always assumed, wasn't as easy to master. Drawing spells quickly was a whole different skillset than drawing them with perfect precision, and doing so while flooded with adrenaline, hands shaking and time racing by, was another kind of challenge entirely.

Zen, for his part, absolutely adored the practice sessions, but paying attention in class remained difficult for him. She tried to keep him from flying off, but even her most persuasive arguments tended to only work for a few minutes before he'd be distracted by a wild dragon flying overhead, or just start flying in increasingly complicated loops, clearly paying more attention to the shapes he was drawing in midair than the lectures. Some days she barely saw him at all.

Zo Rienna continued to assure Alisa that this was normal for an Aelanir, and even more expected of one as wild as Zen. Since Alisa had waited so long to initiate the bond, he had a considerable amount of headstrong independence that most magebound dragons did not. They'd always been connected, but the balance of power wasn't as lopsided as it ought to have been. Alisa should have been able to force him to obey without much effort, but his increased development prior to their connection being finalized left him with a degree of self-directed thought that Alisa would never be able to fully dominate.

The whole discussion made her uncomfortable. Zen was clearly just as much a person as anyone, and to imagine his stubborn, curious, playful personality overwritten by blind obedience actually made her a little angry.

"It wouldn't be like that at all," Zo Rienna tried to assure her. "Dragons are perfectly capable of developing their own personalities and acting in accordance with their own desires even if they're bonded the moment they hatch. It's more like... if you teach a puppy to wear a collar its whole life, then when you need to clip a leash to it it will always be there. But if the dog is wild, it may slip out of the collar and refuse to let you put it back on."

"Not making it any better," Alisa said. "Dragons are clearly much smarter than dogs. They can actually talk, and think, and write."

Not every dragon cared to learn writing, but some of the more ambitious lightrihn dragons had been practicing and bragging about their literacy. It was novel to see a dragon holding a pen, and even more so when they managed to make comprehensible letters without smearing the ink everywhere. Most dragons didn't have the manual dexterity for it.

Zen might have learned, but he didn't care to. He could barely read, far more interested in exploring than sitting and staring at papers. He still appreciated the value of what was written, and if Alisa read it aloud to him he would offer mental commentary. Sometimes she marveled at his perceptiveness about topics he had no reason to know, while other times his utter ignorance of even the most basic of obvious concepts tripped her up as she had to explain in increasing detail.

"It's like a chair for multiple people," she explained when he demanded to know what a 'sofa' was. "Or like a tiny emergency bed you can also sit on."

'I don't see why there should be a difference,' Zen said. 'Can't we call it a chair?'

"It's not a chair, though. It's bigger and longer, completely different in construction. Differentiation matters, nuance is important."

'Like the difference between a sky cloud and a ground cloud?'

"It's called fog when it's on the ground, and I'm not convinced it actually is the same thing."

'It is. I've flown through both. There's no difference.'

"But it feels different to us."

'Only because you are ignorant.'

Though Zen tended to assume he was right and never admit that anyone had anything worth knowing if he didn't know it too, he was far from stupid and their arguments sometimes ended up forcing Alisa to rethink assumptions she'd taken for granted her whole life.

Most of the time, though, they were just exhausting. She wouldn't have said it aloud, but she felt the coming deadline as a chance to relax, a vacation, even if it would be spent traveling to her homeland to act as protection against a nebulous threat that may or may not actually become an invasion.

But it would be a chance to get away from the rigidity of the academy's schedule and expectations, a chance to let Zen roam and not worry about being reprimanded for not keeping him close. A chance to spend a few hours not thinking about dragons or spells or how to explain the purpose of curtains. Zen was exhausting, full of energy and questions and chaos, and then he'd be gone for just long enough that she started to relax, only to reappear with a branch from a rich mansion's prized pear tree and questions about how there were flowers on a tree instead of leaves, and Alisa had to explain about fruit trees, and then Zen wanted to know why there weren't fruits growing on the bushes and flowers in the yards...

She desperately needed a break, a vacation from all of it. The growing tension of the student body was palpable as those with connections further afield began to withdraw as the lines were drawn. Lrend was taking Indencai's side, Breih made blustering threats in Leviir's defence without actually promising anything, and Renand, though allied with both Leviir and Indencai on paper, seemed to be leaning heavily toward taking Leviir's side.

Then, one morning, someone knocked firmly on her door. Alisa answered, wondering if it might be Sadie, or perhaps a messenger from the academy that she had another unexpected class to attend or something.

Instead, it was Reen.

Alisa looked around for Lia but she was notably absent. Raxi sprawled across the yard in a very undignified sprawl, her obsidian-plated belly upturned to the sunshine.

"Can I come in?" Reen asked.

"Oh, yes, certainly. Come in." She glanced anxiously around the place, but it was no more untidy than usual. She drew up a chair to the table, motioning for Reen to have another. He smiled and nodded, and she looked away to hide her blush. She had decided she was over him, hadn't she? That she wasn't going to be the stupid lovesick child?

"I've been trying to talk to you for a month now, but you're never around any more."

"Why do you want to talk to me?" Alisa asked, feigning nonchalance perhaps a bit too aggressively.

Reen's smile faltered. "You did say you were interested in me, didn't you?"

"I did." And there went her face, heating up at her stupidity.

"Didn't you want an answer?"

"Only if you want to give one. I wouldn't want to push or impose."

"No, that's Lia's job, isn't it?" Reen joked. Alisa managed a laugh, though it sounded choked and false to her own ears. Then Reen’s tone turned more serious as he continued. "I do like you, but I've never... never pursued a more intimate relationship with anyone in the past. Not that I’m entirely uninterested, but it's never been a priority."

Alisa found that surprising, coming from a boy. "So what are you saying?" she asked, flustered and uncertain. Was he trying to say 'no thanks', or 'maybe later'?

"If you want us to get to know each other better, I'm not opposed. But I'm not making any promises that it will proceed to something more intimate. I'm not sure either of us would be ready for something like that anyway."

Alisa wasn't sure if she should feel relief or anger. He wasn't saying anything at all. Not a yes, not a no. Just a... wait and see.

But as the initial flush of irritation faded, she found to her surprise that she didn't mind. If she were going to risk Lia's enmity by dating her brother, far better to put it off as long as possible, and fully research the possibility to be sure it was what they both wanted before taking drastic actions.

Reen probably made the right call, even if she’d have preferred a 'yes, Alisa, of course I'd love to be your boyfriend'. It was a less terrifying alternative, though she felt a bit like a coward for being happy that they'd made no decision. And her feelings of inadequacy didn't diminish in the least. But at least she could stop coincidentally not being around when he and Lia came around. It would make scheduling less complicated.

"Then let's do that. Get to know each other, no strings attached, no promises rendered."

"So, what are you doing this evening after class?"

Alisa's mind hitched, blanking. That sounded like he was asking her out. That sounded like he was asking her out. Getting to know each other? Or getting to know each other?

All the calm and certainty drained away, as her heart-rate sped up in sudden flustered panic. "Uh, nothing, not doing anything, why, what do you want me to do?"

"Well, getting to know each other tends to involve some... getting to know each other. Would you like to go for a walk around the city?"

Alisa laughed with relief. "Oh, yes. Walking. Talking about things. That sounds good." Nothing too stressful, like going to a fancy expensive venue where she'd feel out of place and stupid. Walking and talking sounded much more reasonable. "When?"

"After classes this evening. There's several hours before curfew. We can see the sights."

Alisa nodded, her panic relaxing though her body had yet to get the memo, her silly heart still racing. "Sounds good. I'll meet you here?"

Reen nodded, and after a few more pleasantries they parted ways.

She wasn't sure what to think. She had a chance to talk with Reen alone, without Lia dominating the conversation. He hadn't promised anything, but wasn't that a good sign? If he were too fast to jump into things, it might mean he didn't take it seriously. By the sounds of it, he took relationships very seriously, and she was somehow even more attracted by that. The fact that he'd be the sort to think carefully, consider it seriously, not just throw himself at anyone...

She told herself not to get her hopes up too high, not to expect more than was reasonable. But from everything she'd seen, Reen was as close to perfect as she'd ever find. All she had to do was manage not to mess it up.