“You seemed distracted in today’s class,” Bari chided her as Shaya approached after her class. Her tone was cold, just like the last time they spoke in private. “That won’t do for a Jade mage.”

DESTROY HER.

“Well, you did slit my throat,” Shaya retorted, clamping down on the rage boiling in her veins now, “The near-death experience made me consider a lot of my life decisions up to this point. And put me into a state of shock long after you healed me.”

A state of shock that seemed to bypass my blood rage, she wondered, until well after I recovered my wits.

Does it need time to build up? It’s hit me rather suddenly before...

Maybe it’s because I knew WHY Bari slit my throat?

No, because I’ve felt my blood boil at off-handed insults.

Am I just improving my control? Growing a thicker skin after a week of background insults?

Bari snorted without apology, “You haven’t lived long enough to have many decisions to consider. Now, what did you wish to discuss?”

DESTROY HER.

No! I need her to teach me!

“I have Battle Foundations right before this class, on the other side of campus,” Shaya explained, “I’m going to have to sprint to get here on time, and even that may not be enough. You’re not going to slit me throat every time I’m late, are you?”

Shaya was horrified at how long it took Bari to think it over before responding. “No, that wouldn’t be fair.”

Oh good.

“Thank you,” Shaya replied, an even mix of sarcastic and very thankful, “I know body enhancement spells come later in this class, but I was hoping you might suggest one or two that could help me get to class on time.”

The golkah nodded thoughtfully, “I can. Given what I saw with Quill, you already have a decent start on mastering mend wounds. Focus on invigorate, that will help give you more energy with each breath you take. Then, find this text in the library and learn the first seed it discusses: bear’s strength, otherwise known as ‘enhance strength’ to the less flamboyant. We no longer teach it in first year, due to the number of students who abused it.”

Bari wrote something on a scrap of paper and handed it to Shaya, who read it. Armstrong’s Glorious Guide to Muscle Magic.

“Is this guy for real?” Shaya asked Bari.

The older woman sighed, then nodded. “He was the foremost expert on body enhancement, and those techniques have been passed down the family line for generations.”

“Alright then,” Shaya said, tucking the sheet of paper into a pocket of her pack. “Uh,” she looked back to Bari, “thanks for this. I wasn’t sure if you’d help me, given how you reacted to my parentage.”

Bari’s bestial eyes narrowed as she mentioned it, “You’d best keep your parents to yourself, child, Phaedra’s accomplishments don’t even begin to cover the atrocities Devi committed in the eyes of these people.”

“But not yours?” Shaya asked, pushing her luck further.

“And mine,” Bari said, “You don’t understand what your mother was capable of, what she was able to justify. And you don’t want to. You have not inherited her sins.”

“So, it’s true then...” Shaya said, deflated. She remembered having two good, loving mothers. She couldn’t imagine Devi doing anything evil, but then... none of their family friends had intervened or tried to stay off her execution. Lumir even refused to talk about her, everyone did, maybe it was all to protect her from this truth.

“There is no ‘it’ when it comes to the truth,” Bari said, “Nothing is so simple, especially Devi’s legacy. But you should not speak of it on campus. I'll see you at Mounted Combat tomorrow.”

With that, Bari left.

Shaya saw Cyren leave with Yllaneth instead of waiting for her, so she walked to the library alone. Lost in her own thoughts, she was oblivious to any demeaning looks or comments directed at her. She forced thoughts of Devi from her mind, trying to focus on what she should accomplish in the few hours she had between Intro to Biomancy and Intro to Conjuration.

But she couldn’t reconcile the stories of Devi with the memories she had, and they kept creeping back to the forefront of her thoughts.

Bari seems to have known her though, and even she thinks she was a monster.

“Would you like some company?” A musical voice intoned from beside her, snapping Shaya out of her thoughts.

Samorn glided next to her, giving her a small smile.

“Hey Samorn,” Shaya replied, returning the smile with an awkward one of her own. “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

“I noticed,” she chuckled, “Are you off to the library?”

“I am,” Shaya nodded, her every action feeling clumsy next to Samorn’s, “I have a few hours to kill before Conjuration, I wanted to spend it studying.”

“Me too, want to study together?”

“Yeah,” Shaya smiled, “I’d love that, thanks.”

The Great Library of Arcadia was the largest building on campus, a veritable keep unto itself, and said to be the greatest library on Nadrendir. Shaya was awed by the size of it, easily dwarfing Lumir’s actual keep back home, and she loved to imagine how much knowledge was stored in the ancient books and scrolls within its myriad spires, solars, and mere rooms.

The two women entered through the giant doors of the library together. Their student slates granted them access to the main floor of the library, where floor to ceiling shelves housed books of entry level magic, imperial history, and simple monster hunting manuals. Deeper floors were reserved for students in later years, but most of the spires required special permissions to ever access due to the controlled content within them.

With Samorn’s help, Shaya managed to find Armstrong’s Glorious Guide to Muscle Magic in no time and the two sat down across from one another in one of the open study areas. Dozens of other students sat around them at other tables, ranging from the undergraduates around their age to those who appeared to be doing additional graduate studies to further the Empire’s understanding of magic. Shaya felt safe within the library, not only because she loved the smell of books and their content, but because all of the students here were too busy with their own studies to pay her any mind.

“Wow, you really know your way around this place,” Shaya whispered to her, “it’s still a complete maze to me.”

“It comes with time,” Samorn assured her.

“Why come study at the library, by the way?”

“Ah,” Samorn’s cheeks reddened, “I just needed a change of scenery.”

Shaya remembered Cyren leaving with Yllaneth and sighed.

The two women didn’t speak of it further, instead settling in to study. They passed the time in comfortable silence, each reading their own textbooks and taking their own notes. Shaya looked up once in a while stretching, appreciating Samorn’s hand writing. It looked better than hers by a wide margin, but it wasn’t as flowery as she expected – her writing was very tight and it looked like she even used symbols to shorten her writing further.

No wonder she was able to keep up with everything Zaal was saying... I assumed she just had an unfair advantage because of her status, but really she just knew how to take better notes than me.

I guess I shouldn’t jump to conclusions so fast either, otherwise I’m no better than the high borns who despise me.

“Hey, Samorn,” Shaya whispered, “No rush, finish up your thought.”

Samorn took a few more seconds to finish up a sentence in one of the sub-sections she had divided her notebook page into. “Yes, Shaya?”

“Any tips you can share for taking notes that fast?”

Samorn cocked her head, looked down at her notebook, then shrugged. “This is just how my tutor taught me to write.” She flipped her notebook to face Shaya, then pushed it towards her with a slender hand. “You should develop your own shorthand to take notes faster.”

Her nose scrunched up while she recalled age old lessons, “And try not to record what’s being said, instead focus on writing the main points down in your own words. You’ll remember the information better that way.”

She tapped the three sections of her page as she spoke, “I record what’s being said or written in this big section; use this margin for diagrams, questions, or prompts; and use the bottom section to reflect, review, and summarize what’s on the page so I can find it quickly when flipping through my notes. Seems pointless now since we’ve taken so few notes, but by the end of the semester there’s no way I’ll remember exactly when a topic was covered.”

“Wow,” Shaya whispered, taking notes about how to take notes, “That’s great advice, I’m glad I asked you about it.”

“Any time,” Samorn smiled from across the table, “I was lucky to have a great – and tolerant – tutor while growing up. I’m happy to share what I’ve learned.”

“Tolerant?” Shaya blinked, “I can’t imagine you being the least bit delinquent, Samorn.”

“Oh,” Samorn tittered, “I was... different back then. It sounds like you were driven at a much younger age than I was.”

Shaya shook her head, still unable to see it. “Well, thank you for sharing what you learned. I really appreciate the help, sounds like I’ll need all that I can get.”

“Not a problem,” Samorn took her notebook back, “When you teach something, you get to learn it twice, as my old tutor used to say.”

“Huh, interesting saying.”

“I’m starting to see the value in it,” Samorn said with a smile, but it faded, “Can I ask why you’re so worried about your power level relative to other nephilim? Will that really matter when you go home to keep your people safe?”

“Hm,” Shaya leaned back and stared at the tall, vaulted ceiling while she thought it over. “I guess it won’t, but I was hoping to, uh, show up more than a few nephilim. Since coming here I’ve received a lot of derision from them about, well, every aspect of who I am. Even before now, really... I grew up with the same non-sense. I just wanted to turn the tables on...”

“Us?” Samorn quirked an eye brow at her.

“Well, not you in specific, you’re really nice and respectful towards everyone,” Shaya sighed, “But yeah, ‘your kind’. Sounds crappy when I say it out loud, but there it is.”

The other woman nodded at her in understanding. “No worries, plenty of ‘us’ think the same thing towards ‘each other’, if you will. More than a few of my ‘peers’ could stand to be knocked down a peg or two.”

Shaya chuckled quietly, “Good to know, but it’s a shame that’s not happening now.”

Samorn’s eyebrow rose again, “Does the word ‘friend’ not exist in Kelahk? Where I come, friends help each other achieve their goals. Maybe you can’t single-handedly humble the Empire’s aristocracy, but I’m sure we can accomplish a lot more together.”

“You know, I never thought another high born would want to do that.”

“Oh yes,” Samorn’s smile grew conspiratorial, “You’re not the only one with a long list of grievances Shaya. Not by a long shot.”

“Conspirators, then?” Shaya invited.

“Conspirators,” Samorn nodded.

“Can we start with Oraeus?”

“We probably shouldn’t.”

“You’re probably right,” Shaya replied, “we should also probably get going to Conjuration. More minions for our conspiracy couldn’t hurt.”

“Careful,” Samorn chided, “you’re already starting to sound like the arrogant high borns you despise.”

“Gods, you’re right,” Shaya chuckled, “Please be sure to keep me in check, should I, too, become corrupted by power.”

“Well, if you insist.”