Runfree laughed and shook their head, stepping back from the barrier and crossing their arms. “If she met the passing criteria on her own, without anyone there to draw my figment’s ire or attention, then she deserves to pass. Bring down the field and the barrier, and let us congratulate her on a successful first day!”

Paui stumbled over her own feet as Runfree’s Issi left her in a whirl of blue, the clone blinking out of existence leaving her pushing up against nothing. She let out a cute yelp as she whirled her arms in front of her, falling face-first into the grass with a muffled cry of surprise. Runfree grabbed one of Sechen’s shoulders as Thana grabbed the other, and suddenly Sechen was standing just behind Paui along with the manifestation and one of their most powerful apprentices.

“Hopeful Paui!” Runfree boomed, making Paui jump and flip over in one swift motion. She looked at them with confusion, then scanned over Thana and Paui as a blush spread over her face. “I congratulate you on making it through the first of many trials towards becoming my apprentice, or in your case, proving that you deserve the spot you’ve already earned!” They offered a hand for Paui to take, and she looked at it for a moment before accepting it. “Your room is yours, as it always has been, Paui. The next trial starts tomorrow at ten in the morning, and your time is your own until then for whatever you wish to do. Wix has been instructed not to contact you, and I’m trusting you to turn him away if he ignores my warnings.”

“Okay.” Paui said, her eyes locked on Runfree. “Why did you… it… why did you stop?”

“Because getting a clean hit on the duplicate is an instant pass for this portion of the trial.” Thana said, stepping up to Paui and putting a hand on her shoulder. Issi snapped between her hand and Paui like static, a dull yellow aura puffing into the air around Paui like a cloud of pollen. “I brought Sechen here, just as you asked me to. She was very impressed with your performance.”

“I asked you NOT to bring her here.” Paui hissed in embarrassment, avoiding Sechen’s gaze.

“Oh, did you. My apologies.” Thana said without a hint of regret in her voice. “Well, she is here now. Why not spend some time together before tomorrow’s trial? You could both use some downtime.”

“Both?” Paui’s eyes locked on to Sechen, only now noticing the hole in her bloodstained shirt. “What? What happened to you? You were supposed to be protecting her!” Paui raised her voice to just below yelling, yet Thana didn’t so much as shy away.

“I was, and I will take full responsibility for my incompetence. I will ensure Sechen comes away from this with something of great value.” Thana said, the smallest smile tugging at her otherwise straight lips.

“Excuse me, but how did you get hurt?” Runfree asked, his face an unreadable mask. “Did one of my apprentices attack you?”

“Nope.” Sechen shook her head. “Brynn and her friends apparently want us dead, and I’m unfortunately a part of that ‘us’.”

“Brynn?” Paui asked, stepping closer in concern. “Do I know Brynn? Or was that before we met?”

“You might remember her.” Sechen said as Paui fussed over her bloody shirt. “She’s the girl that tried to intimidate me back in the night district. The Glasrime apprentice without a collar.”

“That bitch.” Paui grumbled, her fingers biting into the bloodied cloth as her muscles tensed.

“Glasrime’s apprentices are in the city?” Runfree cut in, putting hands on Sechen and Paui’s shoulders to get their attention. “Is Hoalt already aware of this?”

Sechen nodded. “He is.”

“Then the machinations have already begun to turn. Thana.” Runfree ordered. Thana stepped up to their side and said nothing, hands behind her back at the ready. “Fetch Wix. Tell him that the terms of his reparations have changed, and have him wait for me in my office. And have Delia, Yarre, and Jovie join us as well. If one Glasrime rat is here, then an infestation is sure to follow.”

Thana bowed soundlessly and disappeared, leaving Runfree standing in front of Paui and Sechen with an intense look in their eyes. “Your trial will continue as if nothing is wrong. We can’t risk bringing forth a panic, especially not to the general public, but the emperor counts everyone outside of his constants as the general public. Wix will get me a meeting with him, and we’ll discuss from there. Thana will oversee the rest of your trial, Paui, and know that I trust your aunt just as I trust myself. There will be no skirting the rules or bribing her.”

“I know. Thana won’t let anything like that happen.”

“And Sechen.” Runfree sighed, running a hand down their face as they paused. “You weren’t just under Thana’s protection, you were under mine. I will ensure my failure is repaid ten times over when times are less dire, but for now count my home as your own. I’ll inform the staff to treat you as if you were my own daughter, so if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask them. And that includes anything that you might need for your compressions or expansion while you are here.”

Sechen shrugged. “Not your fault we kicked a hornet’s nest, but thanks.”

“Take good care of each other.” Runfree said with a wink, then disappeared in a blur of blue and yellow Issi.

“So, they still think we’re a couple?” Sechen asked.

“No matter what I told them, they just wouldn’t listen.” Paui groaned, grabbing her left wrist with her right hand and feeling for anything wrong with her hand. “That’s why I didn’t tell them I was into girls until I was out of the house; they’d’ve tried to set me up with every other apprentice that happened to be a girl instead of all the guys. And I was way too awkward to deal with that.”

“But not so awkward that dealing with guys was a problem?”

Paui shrugged. “The guys were my friends, and that’s it. Sure, some of them wanted more, but I knew I didn’t and I made sure they knew the same. You put younger me in front of a pretty girl and she’d shut down, her face as red as a tomato and stumbling over her words as bad as I stumble over my Issi. It would’ve been a living hell.”

“I was travelling with Revel so long I never really had time for anything like that.” Sechen started walking up the hill to the cabin as she talked, the grass slippery under her feet as if it had just rained. Damned fluidity practitioners and their need to practice. “We never really stayed anywhere longer than a few weeks, so I didn’t get any relationship practice in. And something like a one-night-stand never sat well with me.”

“So last night with Prisoner was your first time?” Paui asked, choking out the words as if they physically hurt her.

Sechen looked over her shoulder with an incredulous expression. “I’m not having sex with Prisoner. Eternals, no, that’s disgusting. He’s like… fifty times as old as me! Yeesh, get your mind out of the gutter Paui.”

“You aren’t… but…” Paui stammered, blushing so bright that she must have been stealing blood from the rest of her body to fuel it. “If you two didn’t… go at it… last night, then what happened to make your Issi change so much?”

“I stopped pretending I wasn’t a monster.” Sechen said plainly, giving Paui a sad smile. “I’ll tell you once I get up the courage to tell people other than the one training me, but yeah, I’ve been suppressing a huge part of my Issi to try and be like Revel. Partly because I felt bad about who I was, and partly because Revel wanted me to be exactly like her. The end result is that I’ve been playing with half a deck, and now I have to learn a bunch of new cards.”

“Oh. Um. I didn’t mean to…” Paui started, then shook her head and smacked her cheeks with both hands. “Sorry.”

“No worries. Let’s go have something to eat, yeah?” Sechen suggested. “I haven’t eaten since this morning, and I’m starving. After that, you can show me around the place. That sound good?”

“Yeah. Yeah!” Paui stepped forward, falling in beside Sechen as she walked to the cabin. “It’s much bigger on the inside than on the outside, and there’s a lot of interesting rooms we use… used to train and relax. Runfree wanted their apprentices to feel like a family, and even though I never felt like I deserved to be there, I have to admit that the house is a great place to live. It would’ve been great for the poor kid I kicked out, too…”

“Hey, we’re working on that now, so don’t get too depressed.” Sechen batted Paui on the shoulder with a friendly smile. “We’ll deal with this whole ‘retrial’ thing first, then we’ll go find the kid who deserved to get your bond and make it up to them. The same plan as before, just with another step in the middle. You can tell me the story of how your first trial went while we eat, and I’ll give helpful advice.”