Paui’s eyes gleamed with understanding. “A self-tainted bond. A bond that is perfectly fine, but something in me screws it up. That has to be my hangup with whoever I screwed out of getting a bond with Runfree, and because I still don’t think I’m worthy of having this Issi. Since I don’t think I deserve it, it doesn’t work right. It makes me clumsy. And I can’t put anything in my container because I don’t feel like it should be my container, it should belong to whoever I stole it from.”

“You can’t put anything in your container?” Sechen asked incredulously. “How do you get more Issi, then?”

“Oh, I meant anything other than Issi. I still don’t have a focus, and any accellerants or supplements I try to use don’t make it to my container. I wonder if that’s why my headspace is all screwed up too.” Paui shook her head and chuckled dryly. “Who am I kidding, of course that’s why.”

“Your headspace is screwed up too?” Sechen said too quickly for her mind to filter her words. She’d been keeping that little nugget of information from Paui so she wouldn’t think she was completely broken.

“It’s all twisted and spinny. If I go in there for too long I start to feel queasy, everything goes blurry, and I have to leave. Honestly, I don’t really remember what it looks like. Just electric blue and some things that my brain tells me were impossible after I leave, and won’t let me remember them. There’s no way that isn’t because of my hangups.”

“So you’ve gotta deal with those before you can start working out the kinks in your Issi. I have a suggestion if you don’t know where to start.” Sechen offered.

“Well, I don’t think I’m dealing with all my self-worth issues today.” Paui said with a humourless laugh. “But I think I know how to deal with all the guilt. Even if it might end up costing me my bond.”

“Hey, if Runfree takes away your bond, we’ll find someone else.” Sechen assured Paui as she pushed herself to her feet and walked up to her. Paui closed her notebook before Sechen could get a look. “I’d love to try and talk you out of this, since I don’t think it’s worth the risk, but if you aren’t comfortable in your own skin then I don’t think you’ll ever master your Issi. I damn sure learned that last night.”

Paui blanched and looked away. “We should leave the pillar today. I’ll talk to Runfree and we can be back before Prisoner leaves with Metea/Irric.” Paui scrambled to her feet, making distance between her and Sechen before speaking without turning to look. “I’ll meet you at the exit room in fifteen minutes.”

Well, that was bizarre, Sechen thought. The thought of losing her bond must have scared Paui more than she expected. She wondered what it would be like to lose her bond with Revel, and Sechen found herself unsettlingly unfazed by the thought. A month ago, that thought would have ruined her.

“That’s different.” Sechen whistled as Paui led her into the patrons’ section of the night district. “I can barely see the house through all the junk in the yard.”

Runfree’s home was barely visible through a sea of random debris, walls and towers jutting out far higher than the brown wooden building that was the centerpiece. A fence of sparsely populated black metal bars surrounded the property, a golden gate at the base of a winding path that led to Runfree’s oversized cabin the only indication that this place was, indeed, in the Gilded Night. Not that any of the other properties in this section were overly Hoalt-esque, but Runfree’s was on a different level.

“It’s somewhere all us apprentices could train; an obstacle course for all the fluidity apprentices, a track for fast apprentices, and an open field in the back for the force apprentices.” Paui explained.

Sechen raised an eyebrow. “Fast apprentices? I’ve never heard of fast Issi.”

“It’s actually speed Issi, but Runfree wanted all their types to start with the same letter.” Paui puffed out her chest and spoke with a deeper, mocking voice. “Two f’s and an s doesn’t sound anywhere as good as the three f’s of Runfree.”

“I’m not going to comment on that.” Sechen said through a grin. “So, how’re you doing this? Just gonna tell Runfree you don’t deserve to be their apprentice and let whatever happens happen?”

“That’s the plan, yeah.” Paui chuckled nervously, stepping up to the gate and taking a deep breath. “If I come back without a bond, will you help me get a new one?”

“Yup.”

“Okay. Okay, Paui, you can do this.” Paui muttered to herself, pressing her finger to a small black button below a carving of some kind of Issi beast. A trilling sounded until she removed her finger, a voice crackling to life from the beast’s maw.

“Runfree estate.” A monotone, almost bored voice stated. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I don’t.” Paui said, her voice shaking. “I’m Paui, and I’m here to see Runfree…”

The door to the cabin swung open with an echoing boom, a large manifestation who Sechen would have guessed had anything except fluidity and fast… speed Issi taking up the entire frame. They had a barrel chest, legs and arms like tree trunks, and one of the shortest necks Sechen had ever seen. It almost looked like they went straight from chest to head, with nothing in between. Sechen caught the silhouette of someone else behind the massive manifestation, but couldn’t make anything else out as the manifestation threw their muscular arms out to the side.

“Paui! And friend! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Runfree laughed heartily as they spoke, stepping up to the gates of their fenced-in yard themselves at the obvious disdain of the man who’d answered the intercom. It took them only a single stride, the ground beneath them warping to give them a better pushing-off point. “I haven’t seen you since Hoalt’s daughter took you in. And I haven’t seen you at all! Marvellous!”

“Sir, I know that you are aware of what is happening presently in the city. Do try and have the smallest amount of self-preservation in a time of potential crisis.” The man from the intercom appeared next to Runfree with a sigh, shaking his head of shimmering blue hair that matched the pattern of his matte white suit. “Welcome back, apprentice Paui. Should I prepare a room for you and your guest?”

“What are you saying, Wix? Of course she’ll need a room!” Runfree slapped the butler on the back, a burst of blue Issi washing over him like an errant wave. It didn’t affect him in the slightest. “Even if she doesn’t want to stay any longer than a day, she’s one of my beloved apprentices. She deserves at least that much!”

“Of course, sir.” Wix said with a shallow bow, kicking off backwards and landing perfectly on the steps of the oversized cabin. “Would you still like your afternoon tea?”

“Bring it into the main room this time. After all, we do have guests!” Runfree appeared behind Sechen, putting a hand on her back and shepherding her up the path towards the oversized cabon. Paui shared the same fate, except with constant tripping over her own feet. There wasn’t a hair out of place on the stone path. “You haven’t gotten over the jitters yet, Paui? I thought Hoalt’s daughter would’ve helped you out with them.”

Paui stumbled over the smallest groove in the carved stone, letting out a small yelp as Runfree pushed incessantly on. “General Temery didn’t have enough time to help me personally…”

“And you didn’t want to bother anyone, so you didn’t ask.” Runfree interrupted, shaking his head with a sigh of disappointment. “You need to learn your own worth, Paui. My apprentices shouldn’t be afraid to go after what they want, what they want should be afraid of them coming after it!”

“That’s kind of why I’m here.” Paui said meekly, her tone catching Runfree off guard. He slowed his step, looking down at his apprentice with confusion. “I need to talk to you about my trial.”

“Your trial? I don’t know why you want to bring up ancient history, but I suppose I can dig up the files. I have to have them somewhere in the archives. Wix would never throw them out.” Runfree patted Paui on the back assuringly, and Sechen caught a quarter of a comforting smile on their face as he turned to her. “But that can wait until after tea. In fact, I won’t even unlock my archives until we’ve caught up over a pot of Wix’s famous crescent moonleaf tea and a plate of his skewerberry cakes.”

“Okay. Dad’s food is the best.” Paui admitted with a painted-on smile.

Oh, no. Sechen grimaced; that made things infinitely more complicated, and almost certainly meant they wouldn’t be getting back in time to see Prisoner off. She silently thanked Gilt for insisting they write him a note, and hoped he wouldn’t be too put-off by them missing his farewell.

“You know it is.” Runfree bared their teeth, showing that they were actually two continuous teeth. As if he was wearing a sharpened mouthguard, but it was made of teeth. “Quickly, now; we don’t want Wix’s tea going cold. That would be a crime against manifestations everywhere.”

“So, tell me, if you weren’t learning how to control your Issi, then what were you doing with Hoalt’s daughter?” Runfree asked after draining half a mug of scalding hot tea in a single gulp. They raised an eyebrow with a twinkle of mischief in their eye. “Did you get infatuated with her? I know you always had a penchant for women, but I didn’t expect you to aim so high.”

Paui choked on her own tea, sputtering out half-finished words with a crimson blush staining her face. “Runfree!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I completely forgot your friend. You couldn’t be with Hoalt’s daughter if you’re with her, silly me.” Runfree’s eyes wandered over at Sechen, trying to gauge her reaction. She tried to ignore the conversation that was going on around her, barely sipping at the too-hot-to-taste tea. “Is my apprentice being good to you miss Sechen…”

“Revelation. Sechen Revelation.”

“Miss Sechen Revelation.” Runfree nodded. “I’ll commit that to memory. I ask again; is Paui being good to you? Is she causing you any trouble?”

“No more than I’m causing her.” Sechen said with a smile, glancing over at Paui and enjoying her flustered sputtering. “We’re not together, by the way. Only met two-ish weeks ago, and that’s a little too fast for me.”

Paui muttered something under her breath, then blushed a deeper shade of red, fanning herself with her hand as she reaped the consequences of whatever hole she’d silently dug herself.

Runfree either didn’t hear, just as Sechen hadn’t, or they ignored his apprentice’s mutterings. “That’s good to know. Paui was always a troubled girl, so I’m overjoyed that you’re enjoying her friendship. I have some pictures of her when she was younger, if you’d like to…”

“Runfree!” Paui hissed, jolting out of her seat and planting her hands over Runfree’s mouth. “We need to talk. Alone. Can we go to the room?”

“The room?” Runfree’s expression steeled, their eyes narrowing at their apprentice. They set their mug down on the table and pushed themselves up. “It’s serious, then. Alright. Lead the way, apprentice.”

Paui nodded and stepped towards a rope that hung from the roof, grabbing onto the bottom knot and swinging up in one fluid motion. “I’ll be back soon.” She called down to Sechen, who gave her a thumbs-up in return. “One way or another.”