It's taken me a horrendously long amount of time to get this one out, but as a little bonus - chapter one has been completely revised! Unfortunately, I'm preparing to move, so Chapter 3 may be a long time in coming. Anyway, enjoy!
CHAPTER TWO – in which our two protagonists meet
Despite the peaceful afternoon, Saedi tossed and turned through most of the night. She couldn't quite put a finger on the cause. It could have been the bed – it was just a taste too small and her feet hung off the edge. It might be nerves, or the simple fact that she was trying to sleep at night, when usually she would have been wide awake. Her insomnia might have been caused by any number of things, but a small part of her thought the answer lay in Silvermoon itself. She felt a vague sense of disquiet always. Though the buildings were lovely, the gardens beautiful and the accommodations luxurious, they could not hide the taint of fel corruption that seemed to be present everywhere. Saedi didn't want to admit to herself that she was uncomfortable here, but it bit at her. She had thought that amongst elves she would feel almost as at home as she felt in Darnassus, but she had clearly been wrong.
Shifting herself against the pillows, she sighed at her own naïveté. Of course she would never be comfortable in the surgical cleanliness of Silvermoon, even without the demon-magic filled air. There was also another, more petty reason for her discomfort – Alyce. Much of her life until this point had been spent amongst Draenei, Tauren, and her fellow Kaledorei, and to them she had been a dainty little thing. However, despite her 'petite' size, she still towered over most humans, and of course dwarves and gnomes; but one really couldn't compare oneself to a human, no matter how pretty. Elves and humans had too little in common, but here, amongst those who were practically her own kin… She felt… overly large. The delicate, small boned blood elf woman made her feel bulky and clumsy. Alyce was a songbird and Saedi was a barn owl. She sighed again and turned over in the bed that was almost comfortable.
As a distraction, she opened the small window to let in a little fresh air. What wafted in was cool and smelled of rain, and reminded her so much of home it pained her. She thought of her garden, and how it would look in the moonlight after such a rain, beads of water dripping from lush green leaves, and fell asleep fantasizing about what she would plant come spring.
The next morning she was summoned once again to audience with Lord Theron. This time, however was in a larger and more elaborate room, and there were several others with him. One was Alyce, who stood by her father's side. The second was Grand Magister Rommath, who nodded at Saedi as she entered. Theron began to introduce her to the Magister, but she was distracted by a fifth prescence in the room.
A tall man lounged in an elegant chair, exuding boredom. He completely ignored Saedi, which gave her the perfect chance to examine him closely. He had long red-blonde hair brushed back from his face, and a tuft of beard on his chin. His skin was pale but ruddy, which spoke of ill health and too much time indoors. He had two silver rings in the cartilage of each ear, and poisonous green eyes. He couldn't have been very old, but he had lines on his forehead and around his mouth. They were the kind of lines that came from frowning too often. His lips were full, and the corners turned down in a permanent scowl. He might have been handsome, but the unpleasantness that positively oozed from his skin hid any trace of attractiveness. He wore elegant red robes, but they didn't seem to suit him – the hand he had propped his chin on was ink-stained, and he would probably be more at home in a dusty study than in the sunny audience chamber.
She couldn't fathom any reason for this person to be here, especially when it was so obvious he didn't remotely want to be there. That question was almost immediately answered by Lord Theron
"You have already met my daughter," at this Alyce bowed slightly, "and this is my son, Magister Carson Theron." Lord Theron gestured at the man slumped in the high-backed chair. Saedi bowed to him, but the man did nothing to acknowledge her presence other than look at her. His eyes were full of contempt when they met hers, and they traveled slowly over the rest of her body. Her throat tightened and her stomach lurched uncomfortably when his eyes rested a moment too long on her breasts. He then returned his eyes to her face, sneering slightly, and then looked away, ignoring her completely. Saedi stiffened at the affront he silently presented, and she felt her cheeks burning with anger and embarrassment as she turned back to Lord Theron and opened her mouth to speak.
"I am-" she broke off and cleared her throat, "I am honored to meet your family, but might I ask..?" She broke off again. She flushed at her awkwardness, and cursed the man who had disconcerted her so.
Lord Theron seemed to read her mind, and there was a twinkle of merriment in his eyes when he replied. "My son is an accomplished alchemist, and has been given many awards in the field of magic as well as herbalism and their uses."
Saedi struggled to keep her face from showing her confusion. Why was he telling her all this? To impress her? In the corner of her eye she saw the younger Theron frowning at his father in mystification.
"This, among other things, has lead me to conclude that he is the most fitting candidate to evaluate the research you have gathered in Darnassus. He shall accompany you to your city, and report his findings to me, and the council.
Saedis eyebrows raised in surprise, but that was all she allowed to slip out. She inclined her head to Lord Theron, "An excellent choice, I am sure." She turned to Magister Theron and began to outline the main plan for the journey. He had sat bolt upright at his father's announcement, and was glaring at him. His hands gripped the arms of the chair so tightly his knuckles were white. He seemed prepared to ignore Saedi completely, but eventually he turned his flashing green gaze to her face.
"…and in your company we may travel to Thunder Bluff by airship, but from there we must fly."
His eyes darted around vaguely, and he seemed to shake himself. "Yes… yes, of course. I will have a dragonhawk sent along."
A very uncomfortable half hour was spent arranging minor details, and Saedi was glad to escape the room.
She was short for a night elf. Even though he was quite tall, the night elves he had met when he was younger had stood head and shoulders over him, even the women. She probably wasn't much taller than himself. She was slim and fit, with long legs. Her hair was cut short, just brushing her shoulders. It was white, an unusual color amongst her race. She was a unique specimen– her face was not as square, her eyes not as angled as most kaldorei. Her skin was a creamy off-white, rather than blue or purple, also unusual for her kind. She wasn't beautiful in any traditional sense, but she was very striking.
Carson had little personal interest in her – he wanted to have done with this mess and return to his classroom. He was annoyed that he had been called away from his tasks (he was always so busy), and he did his best to completely ice the situation, so that it would be over as quickly as possible. People rarely stuck around when they didn't feel welcome. He was lost in thought when he dimly heard his father introduce the little creature.
She bowed a little stiffly to him. Good, she was already uncomfortable. He made a show of looking over her as one would a horse. He saw her flush with embarrassment and turn away. 'Not so stoic now, are we? Silly thing.' He vaguely heard his father listing his various achievements, but he was preoccupied with thoughts on the next day's lessons.
He was abruptly brought back into the present by the words "… He shall accompany you..." His spine stiffened, he sat up, startled and angry. He was searching for something to say, anything that would allow him to escape, but his intellect failed him. All he could do was curse inwardly, over and over. He managed to quell his emotions when she began to speak directly to him.
When the basics were outlined for the journey, he stormed to his office and sat down positively seething. He spent the rest of the afternoon trying desperately to find a way out. He did NOT want to leave Silvermoon, and did NOT want to spend weeks wandering around with some earth-mother hippie druid. The idea was inconceivable. He refused absolutely to go, and was determined to find his way out of the situation.
Saedi's tour was continued after her audience with the regent. Alyce showed her many rather uninteresting buildings before an impressive arched building caught her attention. It cauight her so quickly that she interrupted her guide's long monologue about the Magister's Hall.
"Is that your library?" She asked without thinking.
"Yes…" She seemed a little put-off.
"I'd like to see it very much, if you don't mind. I remember it vaguely, and I'd like to see it again."
"Have you visited our city before?" Alyce looked surprised, and a little angry.
"Once, but I was a child. It has been a long time." Saedi smiled as reassuringly as she could, though for a moment or two she was a little afraid. There was something not right brewing behind those deep green eyes.
Then she smiled, and the shadow disappeared. "I see. Why don't I draw you a map to it so you can come back on your own, that way you can spend as much time as you like there. The knowledge contained there is meant to be available to everyone, but faction tensions have made it difficult for non-horde members to obtain it. We do have lending libraries in Rachet and Booty Bay, however." Her smile became a little wry, "Not that goblins have much use for them."
Saedi laughed appropriately, and thanked her. With that, they promptly moved on. The building Alyce had been speaking about when she was interrupted turned out to be the Hall of Magisters, where that organization did most of its work.
"…and, incidentally, where my brother teaches." Saedi was again taken unawares, and stared at Alyce.
"He teaches? Teaches students?" Saedi realized how stupid she sounded, and bit her lip. She was managing to ruin the entire situation, and was giving a bad impression. She couldn't believe her own incompetence.
"Of course he teaches. There's great competition to become one of his apprentices." Alyce was looking at her oddly, as if Saedi had asked if plants grew.
"My apologies, he just doesn't seem the type-"
Alyce threw back her head and let loose a tinkling laugh. "I see. Yes, he does teach. I'm not sure he enjoys it, but as one of the most powerful magisters in the city, it's practically required of him."
"That seems a little… unfortunate." She chose the word carefully.
"For him or his students?" Her companion winked conspiratorially. "Would you like to peek in on one of his classes?"
Saedi wasn't sure what to say. "I – I believe it would be very interesting." 'and revealing,' she thought to herself.
They entered the building and went up a flight of stairs. Another flight and a long hallway brought them to a little balcony overlooking the large, traditional classroom. Magical apparatuses lined the walls, except for the one at the front, which was covered in sliding slateboards. A handful of young mages in their acolyte robes stood at various marble-topped tables. Each students table was piled with books and papers, and bowls of herbs and reagents.
Carson himself stood at the front. He was gesturing animatedly, and intermittently sketching on one of the slateboards with a limestone pencil. His wording was intensely complex, as were the diagrams and formulae covering the boards. Though he wore shabby and stained robes, his students obviously held him in awe, wincing when he raised his voice on one point or another.
Saedi managed to glean somehow that they were coming to the end of a discourse on portals. After another few minutes he stopped abruptly, and stood gazing silently over his students, arms crossed. There seemed to be an unspoken message in that gesture, because the acolytes began scrambling to complete their mysterious task. They rustled papers, measured reagents, made hurried calculations. At last, portals began popping open throughout the room. Each one he examined in turn, making small comments about each, but never offering praise.
One student's portal puffed and sparked, and then imploded with a flash of light. She struggled to re-cast the spell before her professor noticed, but it was too late. She trembled as he approached and examined the reagent she was using. Then he shifted through the bunch of papers on her desk and perused a few of them. Anger clouded his face as he found what he was looking for. He flung the offending sheets onto the worktop and pointed at a specific spot on one of them.
"Look at this calculation. Does it look correct to you?"
The little apprentice stuttered when she spoke. "Whi-which p-part?
"This part, right here. The coordinates are in the wrong place. You've also completely muddled the polarity process. Have you been listening at all to any of my lectures?" He was demanding, insulting. He loomed over the little creature, like a dragon preparing to make the final blow to its prey.
"I-I'm sorry s-sir, I must've m-made a m-mistake – It w-won't happen again, I promise, sir, please -" He slapped her face with the palm of his hand, stopping her mid-sentence. He turned silently away from her and walked back to his podium. Saedi could see the young woman's eyes watering, her cheeks red.
"I have told all of you this time and time again – you cannot afford to make mistakes. Errors, no matter how small, can cost you your life. If you do not have the discipline to learn the use of magic correctly, I suggest you leave and stop wasting my time." He cleared his throat and turned to the chalkboard. "Now, returning to the lesson…"
Saedi had seen enough. He disgusted her absolutely, and she did not relish the idea of spending nearly two months with him. 'You'll have to grit your teeth and bear it. He's a beast, but once this is over, it's over, and you'll never have to see him again. Besides, this is important. ' Struggling to keep her disgust from spreading to her face, she followed Alyce out into the Elder's Walk and on to the Bazaar, where they spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the wares for sale there – clothing, trinkets, relics from bygone eras. There was even a stall run by a one-eyed troll selling rare and mysterious weapons that both Saedi and Alyce spent a good deal of time ogling over.
Before she returned to her rooms for the evening, Alyce drew a map to the Silvermoon Library, and she was determined to visit it the next day. She wanted to see it once more before she left, as it would probably be the last time she would be able to in her lifetime.