After her two-and-a-half hour lesson in preparing herbal tinctures for various purposes, Meli returns to the dining hall for lunch, half-hoping and half-dreading that she'll run into Gregor again. But there's no sign of him, so she eats her modest lunch (tomato soup and a small loaf of bread) in solitude.

With her hunger satisfied, she then makes her way to the northeast side of the quad, where a three-story brick building in an older style with guardian gargoyles at its top corners awaits her. She ascends the steps to the entrance, hoping the person she's looking for is available.

On the second floor of the building, Meli gently raps on the doorframe of an open entrance to a tiny, cramped office filled with sunlight and books of all sizes and ages. "Professor? Are you busy?"

Florian Reyes isn't...or so he says while his attention seems to be wholly focused on something he's writing, scarlet eyes peering at his scribbles over a pair of half-moon glasses. "What do you need, Melisande?" he asks kindly, dipping his quill pen into an inkwell.

"May I shut the door?"

This gets Florian's attention. He carefully sets the quill aside. "I'm assuming you're not here to talk about your studies, then."

Meli shakes her head as she pulls the door shut behind her. Florian is her advisor for her research into a revived field of the healing arts based on the concept of the Mzaraph Legra, or Purifying Fire, recently found in an ancient El-Haferan manuscript of the same name. At twenty-nine years on the edge of thirty, Florian is young as far as professors at Kradinos go, and his wavy gold-streaked orange hair with a face of gentle features obscures his true age even further. But he is still a respected figure in the field of ancient lore...as well as Meli's most trusted confidante.

"I saw the Wise One this morning," she says.

Florian blinks. "Do tell," he says without any trace of sarcasm.

Meli takes a seat in the well-worn chair in front of Florian's desk and describes her experience with the Wise One, including what he had said regarding Princess Thea's possible assassination by Ramesh and the future of Weyard if that were allowed to happen. Through it all, Florian regards her with an intensely thoughtful look. "You truly believe that this is the Wise One of legends?" he asks when she's finished.

"I realize how outlandish this all sounds," Meli says, clasping her hands in her lap. "But at the very least, I believe he is worth regarding."

"Have you acted upon this information yet?"

"I asked Gregor Alerio to arrange a meeting with the princess, but...it didn't end as well as I would have liked."

Florian smiles knowingly. "He offered to do the favor upon the condition that you would marry him."

"We hadn't even formally agreed to anything before he turned the conversation into another lecture session about me finding a husband before I withered away and such!" Meli grumbles in a rather unladylike way. "Such a subject never fails to irritate me."

He laughs. "Well, I do think it would be good for you to find at least a life companion at some point."

Meli frowns at him. "Don't tell me you're going to bother me about this, too?"

"Oh, no, you know I believe that your choices should always be your own, with as much outside input as you're willing to allow." Florian reaches for a large, gently used book from a side shelf and props it open against the edge of his desk. He takes off his glasses and sets them on a stack of books on the floor that's level with the top of the desk before rifling through the pages of the book in his lap. "It's just that the healing profession is hardly the gentlest on those who enter into it, Iris bless them. It would be good for you to have the extra emotional support."

Meli shakes her head. "My path and my meditations will be all I'll need."

"There's no one anywhere in Neo Valeriam that you might have even the slightest inclination of wanting to marry?"

There is, actually. He's sitting in front of her right now, running a finger down a page of Second Edition of Myths and Mythical Patterns Around Weyard by Vespar T. Kasyha, engrossed in perusing the text and fully oblivious to the fact that she's admiring how he looks without his glasses, particularly with that contemplative expression of his. "No one at all," Meli declares in a voice louder than she'd intended. "What are you looking for, if I may ask?"

"I wanted to briefly check if there were any other stories that feature a snake as a divine being of importance." Florian flips a page, checking the other side, then flips back to his original page. "This book traces patterns in the different myths that float around Weyard, trying to make sense of any commonalities. It then cross-references those patterns with claims from individuals who have supposedly communed with these beings. But the only entry I can find regarding wisdom and a snake is about Coatlicue Serpentessia and her mortal lover Tlatzin."

Meli glances up at the ceiling in a moment of thought, leaning back in her seat and re-twining her fingers with each other. "The myth does say that Wisdom was born from the mingling of Tlatzin's blood and Coatlicue's tears, but translators are undecided about the metaphorical intent of the specific reference. And the rest of the Anemosian myths don't mention Wisdom as any sort of individual persona, although it's a secondary attribute of Pochetl." She glances at Florian. "Are you trying to find a precedence for this particular Wise One?"

"Yes, though I'm already suspecting that I'm stoning the wrong crow here." With a sigh, Florian closes the book and sets it aside. "You appear to have had a rather lucid, relatively rational experience with a divine power, the Wise One or someone else. Are you confident about that?" At Meli's nod, he continues: "Then the question is not who this being is, but instead how you can use the information he has imparted to you in a way that will minimize the consequences should this information be faulty in some manner. Treasonous as it may sound, I think the best way to go about this is to keep everything as quiet as possible. Otherwise you'll have half of Neo Valeriam looking at you rather oddly. Did the Wise One say anything about keeping this a secret, by the way?"

"I don't believe so. He just wanted me to make sure that the princess wouldn't be killed."

"Does Gregor know?"

"No. If I ever speak to her Highness, though, he may find out from her."

"Considering that your little negotiation sessions went a little awry, talking to the princess may be delayed for longer than you can afford. You'll have to settle for figuring out where Ramesh currently stands and assess the situation from there. You'll see him on Scythesday afternoon, won't you?"

"Tomorrow? Yes." Meli frowns. "And I thought the name 'Scythesday' went out of use fifty years after the Rise. Can't you call it 'Sun's Eve' like everyone else? It really is a very morbid name."

"I'm afraid I can't. I must keep up the pretense of being as traditionally fatalistic – or is that fatalistically traditional? – as the rest of the old folk around the academy in order to be able to sit here in this office and say such things to you."

Meli barely manages a quasi-stern glare before she giggles softly. "Even Professor Skythorne calls it 'Sun's Eve', and he has to be in his nineties by now! You can't possibly hope to convince me that you're older than him."

"You assume that I hope for anything more than a way to eat three decent meals a day," Florian responds with a smile that stops Meli's heart for half a second. "Speaking of which, I do need to get some lunch; I've been working since before midmorn. Will you join me? We'll visit the usual."

"I've already eaten," Meli says regretfully. She starts to say that she would be glad to join him anyway, then bites down hard on her tongue. Not only would it be improper to offer herself in such a way, but it would be even more so considering the task the Wise One has just passed down to her! To be so frivolously selfish at a time like this is unforgivable. And besides, perhaps she'd bothered the professor enough...

"Have you? That's a shame. I was hoping you could keep me company regardless – there were some things I found about the myth of Ba'aela that I thought you might be interested in discussing."

Every muscle in Meli's body freezes. She thanks Iris that she'd been staring at the corner of Florian's desk at that moment instead of Florian himself. Eternity passes but it's only three seconds before Meli gets up from her chair. "I thought you said you didn't hope for anything more than a way to eat three decent meals a day," she says, turning to leave.

Florian chuckles. "You don't think that your presence would constitute my having a 'decent meal'?"

"I think I'd best be leaving anyway," she says as casually as possible, ignoring the sudden tightness in her throat. "I might be able to visit Ramesh today, you know. I've visited the Mud Quarters enough times on my off-hours that my presence wouldn't be anything to be suspicious of, and there's still enough daylight for me to change my clothes and then travel to there and back in relative safety. So good day to you, Professor." And Meli walks out the door.

O-O-O

To Meli's surprise, there's a folded note at her feet when she opens the door to her room at the boarding house.

Dearest Melisande,

I beg you to forgive the dreadful way I acted with you earlier today. I stepped completely beyond my boundaries when I should have known better. I apologize to you from the bottom of my heart, since upsetting you is never my intention whenever I speak with you. (However, you must understand how frustrating this situation is for me, knowing that the one I love may be fated to an unhappy, lonely life, and all I can do is simply stand by. Nevertheless, I shall keep my tongue tied from now on, and watch over you as best I can.)

I hope that you are still willing to let me take you to Ildelia. Thea, unfortunately, is not available tonight, but you will want to visit my manor at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon. She and Minayo will be there.

I remain sincerely yours,

Gregor

The melodramatic tone in the first part of the letter evokes an irritation in her that talking with Florian had chased away, but Meli is also immeasurably relieved that Gregor pulled through for her. She makes a mental note to act more cordially towards him from now on, though she knows full well that he'll interpret the change as an interest in him and react accordingly. Still, it's a small price to pay for working towards the salvation of Weyard.

Her relief quickly drops to worry when she realizes that the meeting time with the princess conflicts exactly with the time she has to report for work in the Mud Quarters tomorrow. That means I'll have to visit Ramesh today, if I want the best chance of stopping him before he goes through with the assassination. Ramesh's inaction is only assured for today and tomorrow, according to the Wise One. After that... Meli sighs and tosses the letter onto her writing table. She then goes through her clothes chest to retrieve a faded purple shirt and skirt that are even more modestly styled than her current outfit. It won't do to be fancy in a place like a Mud Quarters; it's ostentatious and rude, not to mention impractical. After that, I can only hope that wisdom will come to me again.