Shaya stiffened as Samorn pointed Parmenia upstairs toward them. Ren still just seemed dazed and drowsy, perhaps too distracted to pick up on what she heard to react and hide or do whatever scum like him did in these situations.

Do I warn him?

Why would I? If he’s really leading on multiple women at a time, this piece of spit should lie in the grave of his own making.

But Bri crammed later into the night than the rest of us, I doubt she’ll be able to sleep through whatever happens here.

Our Lance’s reputation might also plummet if this turns ugly.

There’s nothing I can do to prevent this from falling out eventually, better to not be involved at all. If Ren somehow survives the justice Parmenia inflicts on him, maybe I’ll get the chance to kill him myself.

“Cat got your tongue?” Una teased, adjusting the towel wrapped around herself.

“I’ll pay you both back for this later,” Shaya sighed, turning and walking down the stairs that divided Ren’s room from Samorn’s - and she idly wondered if that’s how Samorn had missed Ren’s company last night.

Parmenia walked up the stairs toward her, a curvaceous beauty with long, copper hair and a mole on her cheek that Shaya assumed let her enchant anyone she damn well pleased even without magic.

“Shaya, yes?” The woman said, silvery-blue eyes sizing Shaya up in a heartbeat, “Congratulations on your latest deployment, you set a high bar for us to chase after.”

“Thank you,” Shaya gave a slight nod, limited by her injuries more than a lack of respect for the other woman, “congratulations on your deployment, I was really impressed with your strategy as well as your magic. Just a shame about your partner.”

“It’s good practice for reality,” she replied with a languid shrug, “one’s partners and resources will never be ideal. But perhaps we’ll have the opportunity to work more closely in the future.”

“I’d like that,” Shaya said, then her tone turned apologetic, “and you’re right, sometimes it’s good to be prepared for disappointment.”

She seems like a calm, capable woman despite her imperious bearing. Maybe things won’t get too dramatic.

Samorn seemed in good spirits as she cooked up eggs and bacon in the kitchen, fresh bread already sliced on the counter. Apricot, Oraeus and Ral were already at the table eating the first batch of food, and Samorn turned to Shaya with a smile and a dish bearing a heaping serving – the bacon lightly cooked, just how she liked it.

“Thanks,” she said, “you know me too well.”

“Hardly,” Samorn chuckled, “the way you complain about the ‘southerner preference to ruin perfectly good bacon by burning it to a crisp’ makes it pretty easy to pick up on.”

Shaya returned the chuckle as her nose scrunched up, eyes following the acidic smell to a glass carafe of steaming black liquid. “Is that Apricot’s magic sludge that grants wakefulness?”

“It’s called coffee,” Samorn corrected, “and I can make you a cup with sugar and milk if you want to cut down on how bitter it is.”

“And it’s effects are chemical, not magical,” Oraeus corrected from the table.

“Alchemy, magic, whatever,” Shaya complained, ears twitching as she caught the faint hint of Parmenia knocking on Ren’s door and felt doom approaching, “I’ll take a sweetened cup of it. Gods know I need it for today and the magical healing should burn off the extra richness.”

Shaya thanked Samorn for the coffee and joined the others at the table, where they sat reviewing their notes while eating breakfast. She didn’t bother unpacking her bag, wanting desperately to dine and dash to her appointment with Bari. Part of her plate was wolfed down before she lowered into her chair, her voracious appetite even surprising her.

But then she caught a restrained gasp from upstairs and knew things weren’t going to be civil.

Ral looked up at her and their eyebrows rose with concern, “You’re looking worse than yesterday, is everything okay?”

Shaya merely gestured upstairs, just as angry shouting began.

The others at the table winced, putting two and two together given who just walked through the front door a minute earlier. Their expressions darkened, much as Shaya imagined hers had when she realized what Ren had done. Even Samorn’s smile vanished as she sat down next to Shaya with her own small plate of food, shaking her head.

“I was worried that Ren’s proclivities might lead to something like this,” Samorn sighed, brow furrowed in anger.

“Then you shouldn’t have brought him,” Oraeus stated coldly, “his actions will reflect poorly on our lance, and we have enough relational problems already.”

“He’s a skilled mage,” Samorn countered testily, “and I’m not his mother.”

“You’re his patron here,” Oraeus retorted, “you don’t see my vassal making life difficult for us, do you?”

“Thank you for your kind words, master,” Ral chimed in, tone sarcastic and eyes narrowed at Oraeus.

“You know I didn’t mean it that way!” Oraeus said defensively.

“Samorn’s right,” Shaya said, gesturing for peace with her utensils, “she’s not his mother, and neither are we. If Parmenia – or Una – let him live, we’ll tear him a new one ourselves and make sure he doesn’t do this again. I knew he was promiscuous, but if he’s been leading multiple women on into relationships instead of casual affairs, I won’t stand for it.”

It just seems so uncharacteristic of him to be caught so brazenly, but maybe it was inevitable given how many women he’s been seeing.

Maybe I was just starting to overestimate him after our last deployment... I figured he’s been holding back on us – and even the Academy – but maybe he just got lucky.

The others around the table nodded at her suggestion, willing to let the topic drop. People returned to their studies, Apricot and Ral sharing ideas as they studied for their Intro to Spectromancy exam. Oraeus reviewed his notes, the fact he kept them turned away from Shaya cuing her to the fact that they were his lists and strategies for their Game Theory exam. Samorn seemed dejected, staring at her plate as she ate in silence.

Shaya felt bad for the woman, but didn’t have time to console her then. She was confident that Samorn would do fine on her Intro to Enchantments exam that day anyway, so they’d have time to chat about it later if she still blamed herself for what was going on.

“Alright, I need to run to my appointment with Bari,” Shaya said barely a minute later, her large plate of scrambled eggs, right proper bacon and heavily buttered bread devoured.

“Here’s hoping she gets you fully healed,” Ral said with a knife-thin smile, which Shaya had grown used to over the past three months.

“And good luck on your exam,” Apricot said with a smile, “though obviously I’m wishing more luck for Oraeus.”

“That’s kind of you,” Shaya smiled back, “he’ll need it if he hopes to beat me.”

+++++

“How do you feel now?” Bari asked, leaning back from Shaya.

The golkah woman’s jade-flecked eyes looked at her with concern, but at least the day’s healing session hadn’t caused her any aether burn. That mitigated Shaya’s guilt somewhat, at least, knowing that Bari was definitely going beyond the call of duty to treat her injuries.

Quill looked up at her from where he lay cureled up at her feet, giving a concerned and curious cheep!

Shaya slowly tested her body, gently stretching and twisting to see if she’d regained a greater range of motion. Bari’s healing grove offered her plenty of space to stretch despite her long, lanky limbs, which Shaya appreciated. Though stiff, the pain was minimal even at extreme ranges, and Shaya’s concern quickly became regaining her full strength in the next five days for her duel with Azreon.

With some of her mobility restored though, she knew her main priority was giving her gryphlet more attention. Quill approved with a happy squawk, rolling over to expose his belly as his feathers fluffed up with joy. She gave the soft, silky fur of his underside a good scritching, grinning as his purr rolled over her like thunder.

Enjoying the moment as much as she could, Shaya simply appreciated her friend’s joy and just how much he had grown. Quill was about half the size of his parents now, putting him at the size of a normal tiger. His maiming meant he might not grow any larger, but the light scratches he left on her while pawing at her in excitement suggested razor sharp claws and talons that he could defend himself with just fine. She’d never want to take him into battle, but at least she didn’t have to worry about him.

“Much better, thanks Bari,” Shaya said with as much sincerity as she could, “I owe you big time for this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bari waved a hand dismissively, “it’s not like I had to dip into my aethercyte reserves, and as valuable as my time is I feel I still owe you for the help you provided when the stables burned down.”

“Then consider us even, at least,” Shaya insisted, “unless I can trade in a bit more for some information about that night’s events.”

“Even it is,” Bari replied with narrowed eyes, “stop digging into matters that aren’t yours, especially when Chancellor Makrian says to drop it.”

“Yeah, what a super helpful assembly that was,” Shaya snorted with sarcasm, “as confident and smooth as the Chancellor sounds, I doubt anyone was assured by his words, especially since he didn’t exactly showcase much power, magical or political.”

“Are you at least assured by the lack of issues on campus since then?” Bari said, though Shaya noted she didn’t contradict Shaya’s barb toward the chancellor.

“Sure,” Shaya shrugged, “though no one has announced any justice brought to those behind it.”

“Hmph, fair,” Bari nodded, standing from the stump she sat on, “What else is bothering you? You’re uncharacteristically waspish today.”

“Enh, that’s a long list. The annoying one at the top of my mind is I think Ren’s been cheating on women, and he got caught red-handed this morning.”

“You just realized this?” Bari said, actually amused.

“I mean,” Shaya said defensively, “I knew he was sleeping around – I'm sure most of campus knows that – but I didn’t think he was leading them on. From the shouting I heard today, I suspect at least one woman didn’t agree to casual relations.”

“Much of the Empire is so prudish,” Bari chuckled, shaking her head, “but you’re right, communication is important, especially when different cultural perceptions and morays are involved.”

“Oh?” Shaya asked, blushing, “Are the Sillanir more open with their relationships?”

“We’re more open about most things, but you should get to your exam. We can chat about your origins more later, assuming you impress me in my exam, of course.”

“Of course,” Shaya laughed, giving Quill an intense bout of pets before going, “Sorry buddy, you know I have to run now. Go play with Storm Breaker like a good boy.”

Quill whined and gave her few gentle nips to register his complaints, but allowed her to go with some cute kisses and deep rumbles.