"You!" The man spat at me in accusation. I almost cringed at what would lie ahead. He was the one person I least expected. The courier gestured to me before leaving the three of us to ourselves. The thought of possible embarrassment crossed my mind and I glanced around at the startled onlookers uncomfortably. The man was going to be making a scene in front of dozens of gossip-hungry ears.

Taylyn echoed my thoughts, putting herself between the oncoming man and my still-folded arms, "Why don't we speak in a more private setting?" She offered. His eyes shot to her in distraction. The slight jump he made when she spoke told me he hadn't seen her move in front of me. I would have scoffed in mild humor if I had never met him. Alas, I had, and my mind turned to Maelorum for help in this situation.

Of course. He chimed. His tone silently thanked me for a request to change the subject. He made a purring sound; loud and pleading for attention. The onlookers immediately forgot about us to surround him again. Taylyn, the man, and I tensely walked against the gathering crowd. Cheers cried out behind us as Taylyn led us to an empty room.

The man's anger was overshadowed by my spell to ward off wandering ears outside. Taylyn held her hand up to stop him from saying anything until I finished. When I did finish, she lowered her hand and he continued.

"Why are you my teacher?" He spat. My jaw was clenched in outrage, and I was unable to reply with my usual tone. Instead, a smooth reply fell from my lips.

"I do not know you were to be my student, either." I said. Taylyn did her best to lighten the room, introducing herself.

"We have not yet met. I'm Taylyn." She smiled at him, though she faced both of us; our three bodies forming an odd triangle. The man looked at her, seeming to be slightly apologetic despite his stiff posture. Taylyn held out her hand in the common human greeting and he took it politely.

"Senick." He said, bowing his head respectfully. All I wanted to do was march to the Council and demand another student. It would not be difficult to convince them our partnership would be detrimental to both of us. Taylyn cleared her throat, getting my attention. I met her eyes, and they darted to Senick pointedly.

"We did not properly introduce ourselves before, I'm Radi." I forced. Taylyn only looked at me in satisfaction as I nodded my own head in greeting.

"No, we didn't. You were too busy killing my uncle." He shot back. I was taken aback by the bluntness of the comment, though his anger was no longer a mystery to me. It didn't require a genius to know Taylyn was surprised at the accusation. She turned to face me, a small look of betrayal in her eyes. I had seen it before, and I never wanted to witness it again. Severed ears were a small nuisance in comparison to what her face held in the wake of my revenge.

My own desire to defend myself against the human vanished under her gaze and I crumbled at the possible thoughts behind it. Instead of proving my innocence to him, Taylyn's judgement was all that I fought for. For a moment, I forgot Senick was standing next to us.

"I only killed him in self defense, he panicked and made for my life." I felt the quiet pleading in my voice, though Senick would likely not hear it. Taylyn, however, was still unconvinced at my statement.

"Why was he panicking, Radi?" She followed. My mind raced to explain myself. I could not lie to her as I could to the council. No one saw through my facades like Taylyn could; for which I was grateful. At this moment, however, I was merely a deer being eyed by a hungry dragon. The wrong move could seal my fate and Taylyn would lose what little hope I had yet to break in her.

"The truth? I felt Maelorum take note of a shadowed figure slip past the guards. I took a dinner knife with me to investigate, and as the man opened the door, I pushed it open before he could move out of the way. I caught sight of a dagger in his hand, and he urged, begged, me to believe him." I continued, mimicking the man's voice. '"They, they do. I saw it. I'm not lying. I'm not lying… Please, you have to believe me! He's trying to cover it up! The riders- please!'" I finished, my tone turned to mocking without my intent. Taylyn's face was riddled with confusion. Briefly, I wanted to just share the memory with her through our minds, but Senick needed to hear what really happened that night.

I unconsciously rubbed my fingers at the feeling of warm blood coating my hands. I had forgotten how unpleasant the smell had been as well, and my nose twitched at the reminder. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she questioned me again.

"And what you say is true?" She asked in our mother tongue. I nodded stiffly, replying in the ancient language to prove my point.

"I swear what I said is true." After a moment of watching her, I reverted to words the human would understand. "I attempted to get more information from him-" My explanation was cut off by Senick's assumption.

"-By torturing him." He interjected rudely. I felt my eyes flash to him before returning to Taylyn. My jaw was getting sore from me having to bite my tongue. I wanted more than anything at that moment to close the distance between us and rip his own out. Taylyn could sense my chained down anger toward him, though I was luckily unable to show it from my promise earlier.

Her staring softened, if only by a fraction. Something about my recount had finally given way to understanding as Taylyn's attention diverted from me. I felt grateful for the dragon's mercy. The man next to me would not be so lucky.

As Taylyn turned back to look at Senick, he continued to glare at me with his grey-blue eyes. She gave him a disappointed sigh, but said nothing. He seemed to remember who he had been speaking to, duty and respect trying to hide his emotions. We all stood silent, the air thick with awkwardness. I detested it, but nothing I could think of would allow me to speak it; again, I was unhappy about making that promise. Thankfully, Senick spoke first.

"So, since I doubt I'll have any choice in the matter, are we training today, or…?" He asked. It was then that he looked exhausted. Purple rings hung under his eyes, and his shoulders had taken a slight angle.

"No, we need to have a very long conversation before we begin. I need to…" My words caught in my throat and I amended my original statement, earning me a small smile from Taylyn, "gauge what you've been taught so I may know where to start." My voice felt distant to my ears and I hated it. There was no emotion behind them, no weight. My promise forced me to remain respectful and friendly toward him, which wasn't in my nature.

Taylyn's face turned toward him, her long hair covering what was left of it. "Do you have any questions for Radi, young Senick? Now would be the best time to voice them." She offered. There was no doubt she could feel my glare behind her. Now she was playing unfairly.

He shook his head, responding with a shrug, "Not right now, other than where can I setup my things for sleeping? I'm gonna be going to bed early. It was a long trip and all." He admitted. Taylyn nodded and gestured to the door.

"I'll show you where you'll be staying, and where Radi's chambers will be; should you need him."


Taylyn and Senick left Radi to his own thoughts, walking casually to Senicks room. Taylyn led the tense man with his internal questions going unheard. She took it upon herself to strike up a conversation. She had spent a lot more time amongst humans, and knew common patterns in social situations.

"How are you liking Ilirea, young Senick?" She asked innocently beside him. He glanced up from the walkway.

"It's fine." He muttered. She saw the dejected emotions doing their best to hide behind his eyes.

"May I offer some advice?" She requested. He looked over to her lightly, giving her a nod and a shrug. He knew any help was appreciated. "Go easy on Radi. He's going to be hard on you, and though it may seem harsh or straining; you must know he would not push a boulder so hard if he did not know it could move." Her words sparked a small sense of hope in him. He was here to train, after all, even though he wasn't completely convinced that Radi was so innocent.

"Yea, but-" She interrupted his diversion with an infallible smile, completely confident in her next words.

"If you are patient with him, he will learn tolerance from you. Just as you were sent here to learn, his duty -as any serious magician will agree- will be to teach you properly. His opinion of you will shift as he spends time with you."

Senick shook his head like a child not wanting to cooperate, "How can he have an opinion of me without knowing anything about me? He looked like he wanted to rip my face off." He huffed.

Taylyn smiled to herself, happy to influence his thoughts into a full circle, "You formed your own opinion of him before today, did you not? He has his reasons for how he feels, and you have yours. You must not let them get in the way of your studies."

"I'm not the one who killed his uncle, though!" He said, anger seeping back into his voice with furrowed brows. Taylyn's eyes turned back in front of her as she made a sound of agreement.

"While that is true, there are two sides to every story. I saw no intentional ill-will in his confession earlier. I believe him when he swore that was the truth."

Senick's stomach dropped as he realized he hadn't paid enough attention to his surroundings as they stopped in front of a door. It looked like the doorframe had been sung together, black vines with green thorns wrapped around and through the stone framing as if to ward off potential trespassers. It was obviously elvish, but not a shape nor design he had ever seen near Ceunon.

The dramatic display of personalization didn't go unnoticed by Senick. This was obviously Radi's chambers. Taylyn followed Senick's gaze up to the top of the door with a heavy sigh. He misunderstood the sigh as frustration, his own feelings priming him to make the assumption. Taylyn's sigh had been out of longing, only wanting to return to Radi and have him finish his tale. The past several days were nowhere near long enough to satisfy her overdue dose of Radi's company; including getting more information on tonight's news.

"I know-knew my uncle. He was never cowardly or anything. He had such a way with words, he could convince a blind man that it was in his best interest to buy spectacles. When I started reading, he taught me how to read glyphs for the ancient language so I could have the edge of knowing something most people don't. I never knew I'd be good at it. Before I knew it, I could reach out," Senick's hands extended, grabbing an invisible item, "and sense what people thought without them knowing it. He's the reason why I was sent here, and what cruel god would have me study under the elf who killed him?"

A heavy weight seemed to lift from Senick shoulders as his eyes glistened lightly in the dimming daylight. He hadn't eaten for several hours, but sleep was all he wanted right now.

Taylyn took his body language as a sign to lead him to his own room. Her hands moved to lock behind her back as they walked through the large hallway, "I would not doubt Radi is thinking similar thoughts. You two have that in common, at least." She smiled. He scoffed, a small tone of humor creeping into his own face. With a shrug, he gave her a small smile, the unshed tears gone.

"Maybe, but at least my ears look better." He said with a half-chuckle. Taylyn hummed a neutral reply, taking the joke for what it was; a joke. She knew Radi would be livid if Senick mentioned them. She stopped again in front of Senick's new room. He seemed surprised at how close it was to Radi's. They had only been walking for a couple of minutes from Radi's room to get to his.

"About his ears, I would ask that you do not bring the topic up with him. At least, not for awhile. It's a sensitive subject."He raised an eyebrow questioningly. She smiled, her refusal to answer unwavering as she motioned to his door. "This is your quarters, young Senick. Radi will expect you to be ready for tomorrow's lesson shortly after the morning sun is awake. He's an early riser."

Senick sighed, but thanked her. He was normally a night owl, often missing the first meal of the day because he stayed up so late.

Without further comment, Taylyn walked back toward Radi's room and Senick opened the door. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.