Faris and Venka waited for what seemed to be an extraordinarily long time, and they were not wrong.

The thirteen mages were debating how to treat the results of the exam.

"They achieved stupendous results, they had to have been cheating, perhaps a gem, they stored energy likely, no mage that young should have that level of magic!" An older mage shouted, his long-hooked nose gave him a bird like appearance, which coupled with his sunken eyes, heavy brow, and overly large mustache gave him the stereotypical image one would imagine when thinking of an old accomplished wizard.

"We already searched them Magister Rakus, they had nothing on them, and we inspected their room, they spent the entire night, making weird movements and practicing physical drills like punches and kicks, again with odd flowing movements, but no magic transpired until in the morning when they cleaned themselves." A portly looking mage with a single spectacle rumbled the words, he wore what seemed to be fine business attire, and he had a badge over a chest pocket, a large ruby was rivetted in the badge. He harrumphed in annoyance. "They didn't even do anything somewhat interesting."

"Well perhaps we should have invaded their minds." A woman with flowing blond hair and pale skin tapped the pommel of her dagger, which had a sapphire emblazoned on the guard's edge, she wore what looked to be a hunter's garb, with green and gold filigree lining the hard, dark leather that was her armor. Her bow slung to her side and she leaned back on her chair, her dark brown leather boots on the table.

"To what end?" Another woman, an older woman with brown hair that had begun to grey spoke up, she wore a light blue robe, with white lining her sleeves and the bottom of the robe. "They have already done a great service too us in the defeat of Anya, something we can all say would have given any of us trouble." She pushed up her right sleeve, revealing a beautifully designed gauntlet, encrusted with a diamond, an emerald, and a ruby down the sleeve, a few of the thirteen gathered looked at the gauntlet with a mix of envy and awe. "This device, the ilumëo abr varden, the guardian of truth, was given to us by Rhunön, the great elven blacksmith as a gift to commemorate peace, as you know it allows me to detect traps and tricks as part of its enchantment, do you know what I saw?"

The leader, opened his eyes and looked at the older woman. "What did you see master Sona?"

Sona smiled and continued, "As soon as the test started the boy reached out magic to feel the two statues, he picked the left one, as tendrils of his sensing noticed that it was compromised, he began directing minute amounts of water and air into the statue, speeding up the onset of rust. When the girl began to cast her magic, I was momentarily blinded by the extreme use of magic. She's far more powerful than any of us, or any other human mage for that matter. The power she outputted was at the level of elves, if Vanir is anything to compare to, the magic flow was almost as great as his when he stopped the home from collapsing on those children." She chuckles, "But then the boy surprised me, after the explosion, he used his magic to borrow the heat and force ejected from the girl's spell, and used it to help him speed the rusting process, his last spell was simply the catalyst for pushing the weakened statue down."

"If that's true, I don't know what's more valuable, a human mage as powerful as an elf, or a human mage with that much ingenuity at that age. How strong is the boy?" The huntress looking mage asked Sona.

"Oh, he's weak, about as powerful as the average copper initiate."

This garnered shocked silence from the group. "Bergan, why did you deign to mention that the child's magical prowess was so low." The huntress turned to him with a look of annoyance.

"Well Celica," Bergan began, "It was because that's not really important if he was able to complete the task, and, I'm as surprised as you were, he was a lot weaker when I first met him." He paused for effect, enjoying the on-cue gasps a few of the mages made before continuing. "I had noticed he had been training himself physically, likely to increase his stamina and in equal value magical stamina, he was much much weaker when I first started him and the girl on physical drills, and even after that he'd get up in the middle of the night, and begin practicing something like those weird movements you observed and recorded. Though most of the time the movements I observed him doing were slow, deliberately so, the way he breathed when doing it was interesting as well. I tried to emulate his exercise once, but it left me much more winded that I would have thought with how slow and gentle it was." He shook his head, "Perhaps it was stamina training, as his magic began to increase each night after, of course by a miniscule margin, perhaps two days of not having to do the stamina building exercises did more for him than I would have anticipated."

Celica folded her gloved hands and took on an interested expression. "An exercise that built up his stamina you say? And he needed an extreme level of proficiency to use such a limited amount of magic to destroy the iron casts…"

"Oh, I know that look Celica, they will be admitted into the Researchers of Arcane Mysteries Guild." Rakus declared with a grumpy look. "Their talented time would be better spent there than at your foolish combat-centric guild."

"Oh, really Rakus? I disagree, your guild and its stuffy old men would suffocate them, they need a position where they can devote their talent and ability to the people, think of how quickly new infrastructure would be completed with their combined might." The portly man said, rubbing his fingers. "Time is money, and above the rest of you I can offer a lot of money.

"Life is not all about money Mortimer." Sona stated. "Besides, more than focusing on individual might or wealth, children that skilled are better off devoting their time to fostering this fragile peace we have formed, instead of a sword and fire, or a hammer and gold, a shield and healing should be the answer."

The mages began to bicker over which guild was most important. It got to the point that the black-haired mage with blue eyes raised his hand to silence the rest, they did so at his behest, he spoke slowly and confidently, to make sure they understood.

"They are extremely precious, a girl that powerful yet human is more than just a strong asset as a mage, it is a political statement to the other nations of Alagaesia of our power and authority, things that were slowly undermined due to the actions of the Black Hand and Priests of Helgrind, especially after the loss of over 500 mages found to be spies or turncoats. This new group of theirs, the Scarlett Heart is a threat we must do well to defeat together, we cannot bicker with each other and slow down the development of once in a million talents like this pair. I suggest that no matter what guild they chose, we make sure they at least get supplemental teachings from each of us."

"Then perhaps they should join the fifth guild." Rakus raised his hand to suggest.

Sona smirked, "I don't believe that man is taking anymore guild members, nor do I think many mages wish to join his guild, in fact, most of the spies were found to have been affiliated with his guild, so he had taken the position partnering with Surdan forces to defend the nation from the allied barbarian tribes to the south. I doubt the children would wish to face the scrutiny they might receive from making such a decision."

"He still takes in members, he cannot avoid doing so, as that would strip him of his leadership title, and he is too skilled to be someone else's underling. Regardless of the children's choice, are we all in favor of granting them the pearl title?"

The mages all nodded their heads. Celica added with a bit of mirth, "Not granting them that title would be like stabbing ourselves in the chest and leaving our necks clear for a common thief to slit our throat and swipe our coin purse. Of course, we are in favor Lord Daya."

Daya for his part smiled, his blue eyes twinkling, "thank you for the graphic simile Celica, I believe I understand your point." He turned to the rest of the group, "of course now comes to the matter of our diplomatic guests from Ellesméra, Vanir contacted me stating that he would arrive with them within the week…."

Faris and Venka paced nervously, they had been shut in a room with a single metal window, four men, two wearing the black and gold robes, one wearing a white and blue robe, and the last wearing a hunter's garb with a green and gold cape looked at them with terrifying intensity, any attempts to speak to them was met with silence, and any sudden movements caused their guards to twitch and reach for their wands or weapons, causing a stressful thirty seconds of Faris and Venka keeping their arms out to the open until the guards relaxed.

"This is stupid." Venka finally muttered as she sat on the floor. "I'm tired and hungry, and we've been here ages, what?! Are we being arrested; did I make a mistake?"

Faris wanted to comfort her, but he had no idea why they were here either, he in fact was a bit more worried, he didn't want his connection to Angela to be made apparent, given that he didn't know Nasuada's deal with Angela, he was under the impression that a single slip up would spell major trouble for the both of them. This mixed with his tiredness and exhaustion from casting the spells he did to destroy the iron dummy, a task he likely wouldn't have been able to complete weeks ago, left him groggy and foggy-headed. Eventually the guards began to shuffle their feet as a figure walked into the room.

"Bergan!" Venka shouted in relief.

Bergan raised his hand in silence before Venka could blast out any questions or comments. "Come with me." He said brusquely, before turning around and leaving, Venka and Faris turned to each other then hurried out after, eager to move their limbs after spending so long standing and sitting in such a small room. Bergan continued to not answer their questions, remaining silent, and worrying Faris.

What did we do? He thought. He had tried to be as subtle as possible with his spell, and Venka had only used a tiny fraction of her magic, he had felt as much, though Faris had ceased to be surprised by her magic's sheer size, even as it continued to dwarf his at slightly greater and greater margins, its explosive growth had slowed down a bit recently, but it was still steadily increasing. Hopefully they weren't trying to go after her. The two of them combined were strong, but not strong enough to take on 13 people who were each stronger than Anya.

They entered a large room, thirteen chairs formed a circle, and the emblem of the Broddring Kingdom in the center. Faris turned to observe each of the thirteen men and women. He already knew Bergan, who had situated himself on the second to last chair. The rest he had seen sitting at the head of the amphitheater when the test had been conducted. The man in the center of them before stood in the highest chair.

"I am Lord Durant Kuwat Daya," he stated. "After much deliberation we have determined that you two are worthy of achieving the pearl rank." He smiled at the relief in their faces and their relaxed stances. The rest of the thirteen seemed to relax, all except for Bergan, who remained taught and straight faced. Lord Daya began to speak again. "We offer our condolences for our rude treatment of you." He said, lowering his head.

"No please, raise your head Lord Daya, we understand that we had come on short notice, even if we have passed the test, it would have not been appropriate to rush your deliberation process." Faris bowed. Venka followed suit with a curtsy.

"You honor me with your patience and understanding, you children are quite wise beyond your years, it is just as well then that you have made it into the illustrious position of a Pearl Initiate." Lord Daya continued, adding a half smile. "I just wish to let it be known that our deliberations were completed as hastily as possible. I do not wish to take too much of your time, as you need to rest, but as you have just been admitted as our students, it is of utmost importance we allow you to move to our housing location for the students. And please, allow us to bring your belongings."

Faris smiled, "We don't wish to waste your men's valuable time and energy, Venka and I would rather we take the opportunity to gain our bearings as we return to the room our gracious Queen afforded to us in order to collect our belongings ourselves, it would be unseemly and rude to have other come to our rooms unannounced and collect our belongings, with the Queen not being aware of our quick transfer."

Lord Daya's smile widened. "Ah child, I see the logic in your words, and while it saddens me that you do not wish for us to take care of the burden for you, I can understand the wish to take ownership of your belongings and person, an admirable quality. Then make haste, so that we may fetch servants to lead you to your rooms."

They're trying to separate us? Faris thought as he spoke again. "Rooms sir?"

Lord Daya frowned, "Yes my dear boy, rooms, it would be inappropriate for a young man and young lady to share bed chambers, especially in a place of learning, we do well to keep such distractions at a minimum."

"Sir, our staying together is more a matter of comfort mentally than what you may be thinking." Faris began, putting on a sad face, "The… events that took place in our home were to be honest, brutally horrifying."

"Yes… I remember the descriptions of the bodies." Lord Daya nodded in genuine understanding, the destruction was reminiscent of the atrocities conducted during the war, and had been a telltale calling card of Anya's style of torture and killing. Anyone witnessing it for the first time would likely experience a traumatic shock.

"They were conducted by someone who had been claiming to be a State Mage." Faris continued.

"Are you doubting us?!" A woman shouted, she was dressed in hunting attire, and had an indignant look on her face. She looked like she was about to say more before being silenced with a glare from Lord Daya.

"As Celica put, do you not have faith in us? It was an unfortunate slip up yes, but we have purged all of our spies and turncoats, you are safe now."

Faris kept his face blank as he noticed Venka twitch at the word "unfortunate", controlling the timbre of his voice he evenly replied, "The… unfortunate incident happened not once, but thrice, Anya had been a spy, but as had been the investigators, who had almost allowed some rogue mages kidnap Venka, another traumatic experience, we had not even been aware of the two investigator's machinations, while it is true you caught them before they could enact some final plan, there is still a level of fear that we cannot merely get rid of. Surely, you could understand sir?"

Lord Daya had no choice but to nod. Faris's logic was sound, the State Mages had made several blunders that had cost Venka her parents and almost killed these two. It was a miracle they were still alive and they had a right to being indignant. His wanting to separate them though had little to do with keeping sanctity and more with being able to control them more easily, he could tell from a glance that they were emotional supports for each other, and without one another could be easier to manipulate. He didn't peg Faris for a clever person, and Venka had demonstrated a level of self-control he seldom saw in people of her personality type, he had thought she would crack and either break down or snap when he called her parent's death an accident, if things continued the way they did he would have no choice but to acquiesce to every one of their demands, if he did not get them to bend to at least one of his requests it would be hard to try and control them later on. So, he decided to try and push Venka once more.

"I understand your concern, but a painful fact is that sometimes, accidents do happen. We are not perfect, and we continue to strive to improve and develop the mages in our retinue. Surely one blunder wouldn't be enough to make you lose faith in us completely."

Fuck you. Faris thought as he continued to smile, Venka was biting back tears, and even now her eyes were glistening, he wanted to talk to her, to comfort her in some way, but the scrutinizing eyes of the thirteen were too observant, looking for any way to try and find them to be either too emotionally unstable, or in a relationship unhealthy enough that they could use that as an excuse to separate them. Faris didn't know their end game but he didn't trust any of them as far as he could through them magically, and that wasn't very far at all.

"My lord… it is a matter of…" Faris paused as Venka rose her hand slightly, grabbing his attention. She breathed in and out, her voice slightly betraying her emotion as she spoke.

"Lord Daya, when Anya had come to our humble village, she had praised my talents in magic, allowing me to partake in selfish desires and believe in a sense of superiority. At that time, Faris and I were at odds. When Anya had revealed her true colors, Faris had been the one to save me, Anya had paid attention to me, and belittled Faris, yet without him, we would not have overcome her. The same can be said with the secret attack of those 15 or so cultists." Her voice regained a bit of strength. "As we continued our journey here, we were delayed numerous times by Mages who had been using vile duplicity to try and take advantage of me, and it had been Faris's ingenuity that had saved us, I have faith in his friendship and respect for me. And while I do not agree with your concerns, I do understand them. I at the same time must stress…" She paused for a bit, trying to find the right words, before looking at Faris. He looked into her eyes, and saw the hurt, and anger, and indignation, it very much matched his own at this point, and he looked at her, smiling and nodding. Venka returned his smile, turning back to Lord Daya.

"I must stress… how stupid are you?" A few of the mages gasped as Lord Daya's face twitched.

"Excuse me?!" He spoke loudly. "How dare you use that tone_!"

"How dare you spew that fine bullshit!" Venka retorted, "A vast majority of Mages we had dealt with used everything in their power to manipulate and control me, I'm not so dense as to not witness more mages trying that now. You make us take your stupid test! Then you leave us in that dark and horrible cell! Leaving men to watch us like common criminals, then you expect us to waltz in here all polite and gracious?! We played your game, and you weren't happy about it. Fuck you! Fuck you!"

Lord Daya and the rest of the thirteen were speechless at the severity of the outburst, Bergan fought hard to hide his smile.

"I agree with most of what she said sir." Faris began, "Though I wouldn't have been so blunt about it, we have had a very trying two months, and could do well with a bit of rest before we are left here, and to be honest, I believe I speak for us both that we would rather lose our magical ability and be reduced to common people than end up as someone's extravagant tool."

"And what makes you think…" Lord Daya began, his voice reaching a dangerous low, "That I will let you go for this insult?"

Faris felt a bout of nervousness, but Venka grabbed his hand, he felt her mind reach out to his, and they began to intertwine.

"Because…" Faris began.

"Dickhead…" Venka continued.

"we'll kick your arse otherwise" They responded with equal unison.

"I believe that's enough." A familiar voice called from the corner of the room."

All heads turned to notice Hanna walking out of the shadows, holding a large mirror with Nasuada's face reflected off of it, and she didn't look very happy.

"My queen." The mages bowed, Faris and Venka just stared, still holding hands.

"Lord Daya, why did you try to rile them so? They are children, not even yet beginning to reach the traits of adulthood." Nasuada began, the reproach evident in her voice.

Lord Daya kept his face tight but blank as he replied, "My queen, I needed to be sure of their mental fortitude, a mage must keep his or her temperament, a slip of the mind could spell their doom."

"In that regard don't you believe you all failed?" Nasuada replied dryly.

"My queen?" One of the other mages inquired, an old man with a flowing mustache and beard, sunken eyes, and a long hook nose.

"Yes, sir Rukas, when the children allowed their irritation to be known at your harsh and unfeeling tone, you showed shock at their defiance and choice of language. And while their choice of vocabulary did surprise me somewhat, I could understand their anger, what I couldn't understand was why you all would be so puffed up and prideful in thinking you could insult these two who had been through so much and not expect the resolve they showed." Nasuada's brow furrowed, "Frankly, If the girl had not snapped, I would have spoken sooner. As it is, their logic is extremely sound, they have no reason to trust us given our track record, and even less reason to trust us after your pathetic display."

Lord Daya clenched his jaws, many of the other mages began to try and assert words of dissent.

"What have you lot been doing?!" Another voice called out, appearing besides Nasuada in the mirror was Trianna, she looked inflamed, the Mages all quieted down and bowed their heads. "I left this school in your hands because I trusted your judgement, but now I see you bullying children?!"

"But lady Trianna!" Rukas began, head still low, "You yourself disapproved of the wealth of amenities being afforded to these children, it makes us look too accommodating and hypocritical!"

"That was, until I recently learned of the accommodations afforded to the six other first year Pearl ranked students"

The mages kept silent now. "What you allowed them to have or do is comparable or even more of a compromise than what these kids, who passed the test meant for Diamond Rank mages, have asked for. You fear that their relationship is inappropriate? Would you like me to mention how your grandson has been acting Rukas? Or what your nephew did last week Mortimer? I'm still dealing with all the complaints." The large man with a spectacle shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Trianna's gaze turned to him. She sighed as she turned to Faris and Venka. "I on behalf of the mages offer my most humble apologies, we have been acting cruel and negligent to your needs, especially after all you have been through, I don't expect your quick forgiveness, especially after being subjected to this circus." She said harshly as she looked at the mages again. "But I beg for your willingness to join our school, I will give you my sponsorship as protection, if any of them begin to harass you or unduly treat you cruelly, it will be as if they have insulted me, and they will have to answer to that."

Faris and Venka merely nodded.

"Good, Hannah?"

"Yes, my queen?"

"Escort these two back to their room, they deserve a warm meal and a night's rest."

They received no interruptions as they left the room. As they made their way back into the castle, Venka allowed the tears to flow freely as she leaned on Faris's shoulder, he himself barely held back his tears as they made their way to the room. Hanna turned to them, her face a mix of pity, sadness, and indignation. "My brother had fetched me to alert Queen Nasuada and Lady Trianna that the mage council was acting strange and would likely do something to harass you in order to gain control over the two of you in an ignoble way." She looked down, "He likely won't be able to speak to you for a while, but he is, extremely sorry about this, if he were in a higher position…"

"It's alright" Venka said, "We understand, I'm not mad at him, I just…"

Hanna looked at the pair with sadness one more time before leaving the room, "Nasuada fetched some private guards she trusts highly, they are men and women who swore in the ancient language to serve her loyally, you can trust them to protect you, rest peacefully, we will bring some food in a few hours, I can understand not wanting to speak to anyone as you rest." She left the room.

Venka remained leaning on Faris's shoulder, her head resting on his chest, for a little while longer before tapping him and leaning away, he let her go easily, and she walked to the restroom. She stayed there for almost half an hour, Faris stared at the wall with a mix of impotent rage and exhaustion. No matter where they went someone wanted to use her, manipulate her in some way, he thought the mages in Ilrea would have been better, but they were no better than The Black Hand, the only thing stopping them from committing unspeakable horrors was likely Nasuada's hand, he began to feel like perhaps Nasuada was right, and mages should be limited. When Venka left the bathroom, she looked a bit fresher, likely dousing her face with water several times. She sat beside Faris, close but not touching. For the first time in a while, Faris remembered the dream he had were he had been dancing with Elva, only to find himself at the feet of Venka. He glanced at her from the side, to see she was looking ahead, he turned his eyes towards their large window, overlooking Nasuada's city, it was beautiful, and full of a well utilized combination of magic and science, as if Galbatorix had hidden one hundred years' worth of technological development only for it to be uncovered now, which was the case.

After an hour, Hanna came back with a few servants a boat-load of food. Faris's hunger was nearly unbearable, but he took the time to set the table and let Venka get the first pick, as he was about to inhale his supper, he looked up to see her picking at the food, her scarlet hair bobbing up and down as she absentmindedly stabbed at the piece of chicken.

"Venka…" Faris began, thinking of something. He reached into his backpack, and pulled out a piece of white parchment. "It's not a stone slate, and I wanted to practice it, but I didn't have the time." He showed her the parchment, and she stared at him blankly. Faris smiled embarrassedly as he closed his eyes and pictured his image on the Fairth. Solembum had taught him ways to remember things well, and using it he was able to remember everything from his previous life and tuck it away in a special corner of his identity. That didn't mean that was all he had photographic connections of. The image began to form, dull at first, but beginning to take focus and sharpen in view and clarity, Faris felt the tiny scraps of energy left drain out of him, fighting to keep conciousness,

I need to time these things better. He thought to himself, even then, his entire being was focused on recreating this scene with perfect clarity. Venka's eyes never left the parchment as she began to understand what she was seeing, her eyes glistening for the second time today. Faris continued, putting all his effort into completing the image, as the last detail was finally etched in, he slumped back, exhausted and feeling like a man starved for almost a week. He looked at Venka and gently handed her the picture he created. When he had come back from Angela's training for the last time, he had met Venka truly for the first time. Her and his parents had become friends and they had invited his family over, he remembered Venka's father, a man nearly as tall as his father, a retired soldier for the Varden, and her mother, a woman with kind eyes and a charming smile, Venka had been held by her mother, her arms draped around her neck as she stared at his family with a mix of curiosity and excitement, her trademark impish smile graced her cherubic face, he had always thought she was pretty, and had felt the warmth that radiated from her family, perhaps this impression was why the way they held each other in the picture felt like a precious scene. Venka began to cry as she looked at the picture.

"You dummy!" She sobbed.

Faris's heart dropped. "Oh no! I'm sorry, I meant it to try and_"

"I wasn't that ugly as a kid!" She began to giggle through the tears as she saw Faris's face shift from confusion to relief to rage to irritation, sniffing as she placed the picture on a nightstand. "Thank you!" She said, holding back the tears.

"Don't mention it." Faris replied, sighing in exhaustion. He looked down at the food like, well, like a starving man in front of a buffet, but before he could take a bite Venka kissed him on the cheek. He turned bright red as she smiled, turning nonchalantly to sit back down, and began to scarf down her food.

"It's really good, eat or I'll take it." She said through a mouthful, avoiding his eyes.

"You motherfu… why did you… but you… and I… ergh!" Faris's mind swam in confusion, but Venka's avoidance of speaking of what happened and his hunger got the better of him.

"You know what, you're right, it is delicious." He mumbled.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Venka added cheekily, smiling at Faris's irritation. She sniffed a few times as she returned to her meal, her smile still faintly on her lips as she reached for some more bread.

"Table manners…" Faris said, blocking her hand. "The bread is closer to me, so you have to say please."

She scowled and held out her hand. "Please…"

"There!" Faris smiled, attempting to piss her off, "Doesn't being polite feel great?!"

They ate in silence for some more time, before Venka finally spoke up again.

"I don't ever want to be put in a position like that ever again, I need to get stronger, better, smarter."

"Yeah," Faris continued, "I don't want to deal with pricks like that again."

"Hey Faris?"

"Yeah Venka?"

"…Thanks, I know you were trying to make things pass by peacefully, but then you let me snap at them, that was really, really, freeing, even though you probably knew it would end badly."

Faris smiled genuinely, "Venka, we're in this together, as long as I'm still alive, I won't let you become someone else's tool. Or let anyone walk all over our feelings."

Venka smiled ruefully, "Oh? And whys that?"

"Shut up and eat." Faris replied, scarfing down another hunk of bread.

They ate the rest of the meal in silence, stuffing themselves full before wheeling the carts out. Venka took a bath first, followed by Faris. They crashed on the bed, too exhausted to do anything else, just before Faris fell asleep he felt Venka reach for his hand, she was looking away from him, he smiled, and grabbed her hand, squeezing it reassuringly, and the two drifted off.

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Afterword:

*Author shuffles in awkwardly*

Hey guys, would you believe me if I told you that I'm stuck at work till Thanksgiving morning, thus giving me no choice but to devote al this time and energy to typing this story before I lose my mind with boredom?

No?

Too bad it's the truth. You'll probably see another chapter from me, don't stay up for my sake though, its healthier to get a good night's sleep.

Thanks to SullenWhiteDevil, Gerden360, and .s for your recent reviews! Feedback keeps me going.