“It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things.”

― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

The morning began in a very typical and ordinary way. For Alea that is.

“Mireille, your leg. Mpf.” How she had managed without waking Alyssa she would never know but Mireille had tangled the bed sheets and herself with Alyssa’s arms and legs, not unlike a certain legendary knot.

“...m sleeping.”

“No, you...pfft.” Alyssa struggled and at last woke Mireille enough for her to let go. “I will never understand how that was comfortable enough to sleep?” She had to admit to herself that it was warm and comfy though.

Mireille smiled sleepily, “Mornin'.”

“Let us get breakfast, if we don’t hurry it will get cold.” Alyssa tried to get Mireille to hurry. An empty threat because Madam Gosling was well versed in the vagaries of providing for unruly students and could use minor magics to keep meals warm or reheat as necessary.

Alea sat in her dark blue sleeping robe and looked at all of that and the spider shook her head in consternation. Her friends were weird.

Breakfast was again a strained affair as some of the other girls were wary of Alyssa. One even suddenly ‘remembered’ an appointment and hastily left.

But with the encouragement of her friend's presence, she held her peace.

The first classes were again magical theory and history. Mr. Glames was already there as they filed into the room. He nodded distractedly while he finished transcribing a runic alphabet from a thick tome onto the blackboard.

Vivienne, her brother in tow, greeted Mireille and introduced herself to Alea and Alyssa. “Hello, I don’t think we have spoken directly, I am Vivienne of Kruoghs Breach and this is my brother Valens. Mireille, my brother, and I have ‘Art of the Storm’ together.” She smiled, there was only a very slight hesitation as she nodded towards Alyssa and the white-haired girl was unsure if she was imagining things.

“Nice to meet you too.” Alyssa gave a friendly smile.

Students flocked into the classroom. Alea, Mireille, and Alyssa sat near each other as before, Vivienne changed her seat to one beside the red-head, her brother begrudgingly followed. Some of the students who had been sitting near the trio shuffled their seats.

The princess entered with her attendant nodded towards Alea, seemed to think for a moment, and then went closer to take a seat directly in front of her. The girl who had been the former occupant sat half a room away chatting with some friends. She had been especially unnerved by Alea's spider.

“Nice to meet you,” Lieseleta whispered with a mischievous smile and nodded towards Mireille and Alyssa. "Good to see you again." The last was said toward Alea.

Alea seemed a bit embarrassed and a bit of red could be seen beneath her blindfold. “Good to see you too. You know my friends, Alyssa and Mireille?”

“Naturally.” She nodded a greeting. “Let's keep quiet for now and talk at lunch.”

“What's with the commotion. Simply take the same seats as yesterday. Anyone without a seat can come to sit here at the front, there are some perfectly fine ones where I can keep an eye on indecisive troublemakers.” Mr. Glames' eyes had an angry glint- one could not be sure if it was only a trick of the light.

After this announcement, it took only a few short moments for everyone to find their seat, and the whispered conversations tapered off.

“Good morning students. Welcome to your second day in the academy. Today I will outline the most common runes and their function both in enchantment and in spell-magic.”

Alyssa was focused on the lesson, she never did have formal schooling even though her mother had tried her best while she had been alive. Alea was bored because her knowledge of glyphs and runes was far more advanced than what was presented up til now. The princess studied a book on intelligent magical beings. Mireille was fast asleep.

Vivienne had a faintly amused expression while she seemed to listen to the teacher. Her right hand made a small gesture and glyphs flickered before fading quickly. Her brother was diligently taking notes.

A soft breeze blew from behind her and barely intelligible whispers reached Alyssa. “...we have to talk to Professor Nordstrom again.” “...she...accepted…” “...this can't go on. Alyssa Miner…” She flinched, calmed herself, and then, trying to appear natural, looked behind her. There was a row of desks with some students from her void class. As she risked a quick look she met the eyes of two, a boy and a girl with dark blonde hair that seemed startled by the contact and guiltily lowered their gaze.

A dark-haired boy gazed at her derisively and then said something to the two blondes who looked incredulous and then giggled.

Alyssa turned around, brow furrowed.

Mr. Glames finished transcribing all runes and turned to the class. “Why do we use runes?” He looked at the students questioningly. “Anyone?”

“To better focus our intent and give the magic a clear path and direction,” Lieseleta answered.

“Correct. You use language, gestures, and runes because you want to focus your intent. For basic magic.” He looked at the table before him and a paper began to float. “You only need focus and intent. But in that case, I have to be absolutely focused and concentrate on my task. If I falter even for a moment the working will slip and the magic dissipates or worse. For small things, this does not matter much.”

He relaxed, overdoing it for effect and the paper was ripped in two as the breeze that held it aloft turned violent for a second. “The more you use ancillary means, by which I mean runes, words, and gestures, the more precise you can get and the less magic you have to use and the better, more exact, and even greater the effect. A great magician might get a fireball to work even without such help, but it is but a moment away from failing, while the correct usage of glyphs focuses the magic even when intent and focus slip."

He drew breath and continued. "Rituals take that a bit further and at their best even allow more than one mage to pool their magic for the intent is inherent in the ritual and no longer needs the caster to do more than supply power. Not to mention that even knowing all the necessary variables affecting a large-scale ritual can be nearly impossible to manage for a human.”

He paced back and forth gesturing. “Enchantment is another form such magic can take. You can instill most or all the necessary preparations into an object to simply channel the magic or even use foreign substances such as crystal dust to power it.”

He turned back to the students and put both hands on the table. “Why are there so many different magical languages and runes? Ms. Vivienne.” He pointed.

“Because they specialize. And one is good for something another lacks.” Vivienne smiled gently while saying that drawing an approving nod from the teacher.

“That is also correct. You use the language most suited to the endeavor if you can. Old Allisairian is what we use most often and is suited for most applications, but there is Crafters Tongue, Penang’s Speech, the elemental tongues, and regarding runes there is naturally the ancient speech or titans alphabet which is still ill-understood. If you talk to a sailor for example he will have much more specialized words, expressions, and sayings for nautic matters than any other dialect or language would naturally care to contain. But it is very useful that you can be more precise, more correct in your diction regarding those specific areas.”

He spoke a word that sounded like a shower of sparks and a ball of fire appeared hovering over his right palm. “Your power and precision would be much better working fire magic while using the elemental tongue of fire. To make a somewhat simplistic example.”

The lesson was hard for those not already versed in runes and Alyssa managed only because of her mother's and later Vanessa’s tutoring. As it came to an end she was sweating and her hand and forearm cramped from notetaking.

Softly so as to not aggravate the pain she spoke a few words and called the healing waters which eased the strain.

“Was that Elven?” Vivienne leaned a bit forward to look.

Alyssa looked a bit startled and replied. “Yes, it's an old spell my mother taught me.”

“It looks quite efficient. If you have the time I would very much like to talk to you about that.”

Mireille looked pleased that her friends seemed to get along well.

Lieseleta looked intrigued but refrained from commenting.

Lunch was more boisterous than the day before, the students had gotten more used to the environment and the awe many had felt at first, began to wear off.

As they walked through the mensa two boys with a noble bearing walked towards them and stood in their path. The older one addressed Lieseleta. “Princess, how very nice to see you again. I hope you remember me? Jaroslaw of Kamgrin Hall.” He bowed but made no attempts to move aside.

The princess's mouth firmed into a thinner line. “It is much appreciated to see you again after all this time, but mayhaps it is not the time or the place for such a reunion. I will inform my servants that you should be included in the invitation in the event of a get-together which I am currently planning. But if you might excuse us for the moment, we still have to get lunch.”

“If it would please you, we would like to invite you to our table.” He motioned towards a table beside one of the large windows. A few students, seemingly all of noble birth were already sitting there and had their attention on their two representatives and Lieseleta.

Alea took a small step and whispered. “I hope it is not impertinent of me to say, but if you need to go with them, please do not think yourself beholden to your promise to eat with us.”

The golden-haired girl looked at her with a smile and then turned. “I will have to decline for today, it is best if we don’t decide on a moment's notice. How about lunch on Monday?”

The two looked disappointed and then pointedly looked at Alea, Mireille, and last Alyssa while ignoring the two half-elves. “If you have a prior commitment we will have to accept of course.” The word commitment was said a bit derisively.

“Gentlemen, I bid you a good day.” Lieseleta did not take any pains to hide her displeasure. The two boys went back to their table.

“That was draining.” Alea sighed. “Hopefully they took the hint. And they did not accept the appointment for Monday, you can sit with us then too.” She smiled a bit.

One of the two boys seemed to become angry as if he had heard something and the girls fell silent. Vivienne had a half-smile as she pointed towards a free table. “Let's sit over there”. Her brother had a mien of long-suffering patience while still hiding behind her.

They talked about the lessons and ate a delicious meal, then it was off again to their respective lessons. Mireille had ‘The air we breathe’; Alyssa was scheduled for ‘Water, the first building block of life’ and Alea had ‘Never enough, principles of Time Magic’.

The two half-elven siblings went with Alyssa who was glad for the company of at least supposedly friendly students. “Have you been in Kronenburg long?” Vivienne attempted a bit of conversation while her brother did his level best to fade into the background. A bit difficult with his features and coloration but he tried.

“No, we got here some few days before the enrollment.”

“Ah. Then might you be interested in seeing a bit of the city with me and my brother? I would like to invite your other friends too if they are interested.” Her brother seemed resigned.

“Oh, that sounds nice actually, other than driving through the merchant's quarter I never did get to see much of the city.” Alyssa smiled. They walked along one of the many collonades facing an inner courtyard and the wind tousled her hair.

Vivienne regarded her intently as Alyssa thought about the invitation. ‘The girl will be an absolute beauty in a few years' time.’ and as she saw her white left hand, ‘She should really wear a glove, the void affliction is very visible to those who know what to look for. And it's progressed quite far for her age actually. But that's a personal void gate for you, normal people don’t have nearly the amount of void magic to damage themselves that much.’

Half-amused she continued the thought. 'You would have to have lived on a large battlefield to amass that much void mana, or have caused it at that.'

Then they arrived at a large courtyard. It seemed many classes were held in the open, understandable if one looked at the possibly destructive magic involved.

A middle-aged blue-eyed woman with white-blond hair and a stocky figure waited for them. She wore the robes of a professor, dark blue with green highlights and runes in a blue-metallic colored thread.

There were a lot of people already assembled. It seemed the pure elemental classes were the most popular. Nearly thirty students were already sitting and chatting with each other. A pool occupied the centermost part the walls were carved with depictions of sea life, fish, whales, jellyfish. A representation of the Wavemother her moon-tipped glaive in hand sat on a throne made of sunken ships and watched in contemplation.

“Welcome to my class. My name is Heru Gera von Turswacht. I don’t stem from Margrinar originally, yes Turswacht was one of the Kingdoms of the Broken and sadly is no more."

She smiled indicating her indifference, "This class aims to teach the necessary language and control of water-based spells, primarily for healing and utility purposes. Damaging magic using water as the spell's base is best done with ice in my opinion and that is outside of my curriculum. Any questions regarding that?” She looked around.

A dark-haired youth Alyssa vaguely remembered from the introduction by professor Reneus raised a hand.

“Yes, what is your question?”

“Do we get to learn defensive arts? I heard water is especially suited for that.”

“Yes, there will be some protective magics, especially against fire-based attacks. Are there any other questions?”

A blonde girl raised her hand.

“Yes, state your question please.”

“Do we learn something about liquid-based magic in general or primarily water?”

“Water will be the focus, but if you are asking if there are applications for Alchemy then the answer is yes. I will teach you some spells to control the flow of liquids and their behavior which should help with brewing and distilling. Is there a next question? If not I will continue the lesson.”

She let her gaze roam over the students and they felt it would be a good idea to wait to ask their questions another time.

“I will begin by testing you for control and the extent of your knowledge. Because our students come from wildly differing backgrounds their starting point can be quite divergent, so I and most of my fellow teachers like to get to know where we stand before then formulating a plan to get everyone onto the same page. Please come forward in the order you are called and demonstrate the spell that is in your opinion your best or most powerful use of water magic.”

Students would be called forward and then cast one or two spells. Most conjured simple globes of water, some formed sculptures out of the water in the pond.

“Alyssa Miner.” Murmurs went through the watching students. The professor gave a sharp look and the noise ceased.

Vivienne's gaze sharpened with interest while her brother was looking bored. She gave him a pointed look and whispered. “Keep your eyes on her. You are my resident expert in water magic. Tell me what you see and evaluate her ability.” Reluctantly straightening his slouching pose he looked towards Alyssa who was walking quickly towards the pool.

Asandria's whispers sounded in Alyssa's mind ‘You could go for awe, but it might be best to go for humility and goodness. What do you think? I will support your magic and Cyrus will do so too.’

Alyssa whispered under her breath. “What would awe include exactly? Yesterday I was depressed, today I would like to show them up.”

‘I could inhabit a water golem and give all of you a performance.’

Alyssa could practically see her smile full of teeth and sighed. “It might be best to stick to goodness and humility. The teacher does not look the flashy type.”

‘You never know.’

Vivienne raised an eyebrow. Her playful winds drew the words from Alyssa’s lips to her ears and she could not make sense of it. ‘Does she talk to someone or to herself?’

Asandria demurred, ‘we will shine in the years to come, what is a day of humility when set against that.’

“Please begin.” Professor Turswacht announced.

Alyssa drew a deep breath and then focused on the all-too-familiar cadence of healing waters. Drawing fully on her connection to Cyrus who perked up at that and listening to Asandria singing counterpoint she drew the spell glyphs into the air with her right hand and invoked the magic. A glowing mist formed and water began to softly rain onto the soil. The grass around became vibrant and even seemed to grow a few centimeters in an ever-spreading circle.

As she sang, the noise of the whispering students ceased, it was an elemental song of flowing water, deepsea currents swirling about mountains in lightless depths, the spray of the ocean waves hitting the cliffs of the shore. And inside the one there was another voice echoing. A bright sapphire glow emanated from the coiling waters streaming from her hand. Vivienne smiled and clapped with real emotion this time. Other students followed.

“That was beautifully done, Ms. Miner. And the spell was also highly effective. That was always the elven way, to combine utility with the expression of art. Thank you, that will be all. Next is…”

Alyssa blushed and gave a sort of half-bow then hastily returned towards her position.

“Well done,” Vivienne whispered. “You simply will have to teach me that.”

And Alyssa looked relieved while thinking. “Maybe it was only a bad start, this does not seem to be so bad.”

Somewhere else. Sometime before lunch.

“Magister, we have received some complaints.” The old man turned his head slightly, a puff of smoke escaped his pipe. A small gesture and the pipe floated before him.

“What is the matter this time? And do I have to remind you that you should not bring every little rumor to my doorstep?”

The man was in his early sixties, and still very hale, even muscular. He stood before a large window overlooking the front yard of the academy. His robes were a deep red with copper accents and runes encircling his hem, collar, and sleeves. A big amulet of tarnished silver with an inset ruby big as a walnut drew attention to his immaculately braided, snow-white beard. The head was clean-shaven with bushy eyebrows and steel-gray eyes.

The room had wooden paneling and an ebony parquet with thick dark red carpets underlying a massive desk of black wood facing the entrance. Shelves with books and scrolls, bottles and globes for astronomical, astrological, or cartographic use lined the walls.

A thin woman with a pair of pince-nez glasses looked at him disapprovingly. “I would not waste your or my time for no good reason. Drathur Illimen, do you remember the times I discussed the relative merits of letting commoners mingle with our finest noble mages? And the times I warned of the ill-effects that would most likely have?”

She was clothed in robes of dark grey, her black hair pulled back into a tight bun was mingled with a lot of grays.

The magister turned fully, the pipe still hovering and smoking. “Yes, how could I not. And as before I can only point to the facts. Three of our best war mages come from common stock and the personal healer of the dowager, our esteemed queen mother is also a merchant's daughter.” The tone was weary and without passion. “Why the sudden temper tantrum? Did something happen?”

“The first years have a potential summoner with a high void affinity. And she demonstrated a disregard for the orders of the teacher in her very first lesson. She is a problem waiting to happen.”

“And? The first God-King on this sorry world was a summoner with a void affinity. Students disregarding the orders of a teacher would first and foremost be the responsibility of the teacher. Are you teaching void magic now, Jamila?”

The bloodless lips of the woman turned at the corners into what could charitably be called a smile. “That is not all. We received word from our border fortress in Thundersplit Pass. There has been a request for assistance with apprehending a fugitive murderess. And the description fits the girl.”

“Since when are we the lackeys of law enforcement of our neighboring kingdoms? Do you have the missive? How did this even reach the academy?” His brows furrowed in suspicion.

“Yes. Here it is.” The woman walked towards him and presented a rolled parchment with a broken seal.

Drathur Illimen read the contents at a glance. “She has to have really stirred the hornet's nest. You know that she has the endorsement of the von Graufurts due to her and her friend saving them from bandits on the road?”

“I did not. But the von Graufurts are only…”

“One of the noble scions you claim to prefer. I will have this looked into. Until then I will tolerate no premature actions. You might think me disinterested, but I always read the assessment reports that are sent to my office and she could be a rare prodigy. It would be a shame if such talent would be lost due to prejudice.”

“There are already students fearing for their well-being. That is also a priority!”

“Do you know what does trouble me the most?”

“Not in this context as you seem disinterested in the arguments I presented.”

“When I have some very talented students, students that could go far, be very useful for the academy and even Margrinar as a whole. And when those same students withdraw to their families without using their abilities, not making the most of their talents. And most such students don’t have any past to leverage.” He looked pensive as he said that. ”You will not take action without my explicit approval. Do I make myself clear?”

The wizardess nodded once, anger firming the line of her mouth. Then she bowed perfunctorily and left.

The magister went towards his shelves took down a book on heraldry and flipped through its pages. “Gentlewoman and wizardess Jamila Esmeralda von Nordstrom. Fifth in line for the small barony by the same name. Third daughter of Ulstaff von Nordmark.” He snapped the book shut. “The Nordmarks have been quite active of late. Wasn’t the failed ambush on the Graufurt heir also a possible plot of Zygmund von Nordmark’s brood? The old bastard no longer gets to do his own dirty work being the ancient relic he is. Sometimes I feel like he does not need a healer but rather a necromancer. Worth keeping an eye on, and with their pet academy project nonetheless.”

He made a few gestures and spoke a short spell. A small bird made of runes that quickly shifted to form a more realistic-looking sparrow appeared on the back of his hand. He brought the bird towards his lips and whispered. “Calvin, I have need of your services. Bring your apprentice I could use him too. It’s urgent but no emergency. Illimen”

With a fluttering of wings, the bird flew through the glass of the closed window and disappeared into the distance. Another gesture and the pipe that had patiently been hovering where he had left it flew into his waiting hand. He took a deep draft and looked outside at the students hurrying towards lunch.

Contemplating.