A Unique Course of Study
Ryn Xaven resisted the urge to fidget as he sat in the high-backed wooden chair in Aurienda--no, Mistress Aurienda's--well-apportioned office. He had to fix that title in his mind if he wanted to impress her. Mentor Gaskon had subtly implied she was a hardass.
Still, her office was pleasant. Aurienda had a huge oak desk whose surface was so smooth it lacked even a trace of splinters. Behind that bookshelf rose a glass window the side of a door overlooking the Meditation Garden of the Primal Academy. That window filled the room with warm light on days when the persistent gray clouds didn't threaten.
Bookshelves ran along one wall, and those shelves were filled with books that were unruly enough that it seemed like she actually consulted them from time to time. Many mages collected books to have them, but Aurienda might actually
read
them.
Ryn wondered how many of these books contained spell forms, and if he'd be allowed to freely peruse them. He'd drawn and channeled ether many times before he reached the age of eight and already knew multiple spell forms, including
flame burst
and
brilliant spark
. Ryn was still working on
stop
and hoped to master it in another few months, but it continued to vex him. Time ether was neither easy to draw nor channel.
He'd just turned to take another look at the books along the wall when a sound like metal striking metal echoed down the hall, followed by another.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Ryn wasn't sure why, but the sound of that repetitive, alternating clicking set his heart racing before he realized it. Those were footsteps. Those were Mistress Aurienda's footsteps. What kind of boots was she wearing? He'd never heard any boots that echoed like that.
She was obviously coming to instruct him in... something. He turned to face her desk and sat up straight. He debated between shoving his hands in his pockets and balancing them on his knees and decided... knees. He didn't want to look like he was trying to conceal anything from his new instructor when she arrived.
The clicking grew closer. Then it stopped, and the thick oak door to Mistress Aurienda's office opened with a long, taunting creak of hinges. As his new instructor stepped into the office with him, Ryn craned his neck to look.
Mistress Aurienda clicked inside and stopped. The door closed. Even with her across the office, Ryn already knew this woman would stand taller with him even if he was on his feet. It felt like she towered over him already, not just in height but in confidence.
She had short dark hair just past neck and wore spectacles with gold frames. He'd seen few spectacles in his time--only mages in the academy wore them--but hers had rounded corners and thin lenses that gleamed in the midday sun. She examined him as well.
He wasn't sure if she liked how she was eying him, like she had spotted a particularly shiny bug in the Meditation Garden. Her eyes left his and traveled down his body, then back up again. He could
feel
her gaze on him, evaluating his readiness for their lesson.
He also couldn't take his eyes off her. She wore a white-button down blouse that should have been modest, given it was buttoned to her collar and tucked into her tight black leather skirt. Yet the shirt strained so desperately against her large breasts that it was difficult to look anywhere else. Her boobs had to be close to the size of his head, yet her waist...
Her waist flowed into some of the shapeliest hips Ryn had ever seen on a woman. She might be almost twice his age (thirty-two, if the rumors he'd gathered from the other students were true) and as he covertly surveyed her, he couldn't help but be a little confused.
Though Ryn rarely disrespected his instructors (he actually liked most of them) he was well aware that many students in the academy called Mistress Aurienda "the Stone Goddess" behind her back. She was absolutely gorgeous... and absolutely celibate. Given how attractive she was, Ryn could only imagine this was because she simply wasn't interested in sex.
Aurienda was perhaps the only adult mage Ryn knew of to never take a bonded partner. Even Mentor Gaskon had a partner, though he rarely spoke of her. Ryn wondered if Aurienda was ever lonely or worse yet, horny, then decided it would be best not to speculate about such matters... especially given how attractive she looked in that blouse and skirt.
He snapped his head forward to stare out the window behind Aurienda's desk. He definitely didn't want his new instructor to catch him ogling her on his first day. Even so, the image of her tall heels remained seared in his mind like they'd been branded there. Her dark boots came to her knees and tipped her forward dangerously.
With her inspection of her new student apparently completed, Aurienda walked into his line of vision behind her desk. The clicking of her heels continued to both entrance and alarm him. Something about the sound suggested danger... and was unacceptably arousing.
Once behind her desk, Aurienda pivoted with military precision and placed her palms at precisely two equal points on the desk. She leaned forward, and with her backlit by the window behind her, he realized to his shock her blouse was not as opaque as he'd thought.
He couldn't see boobs. He could only see a hint of pale skin through the slightly translucent material. Yet he wasn't supposed to see skin. This woman was his instructor, and also thirteen years older than him! He was only nineteen, and she was thirty-two.
When she spoke, her lovely voice was calm and businesslike. "Thank you for coming to meet with me today, Xaven."
Ryn offered a neutral smile. "I wasn't given to believe I had a choice."
Had Aurienda smiled? He could imagine a hint of a smile, but he didn't know her well enough yet to decide if it was there. She spoke again before he could decide.
"The reports from your other instructors were quite complimentary. They stated that you eagerly apply yourself to your studies, you take direction well, and that you are quick to understand and demonstrate your understanding of new topics. I hope, should I instruct you, you will do the same with me."
"I certainly intend to. Though... I am curious about one thing."
"Yes?"
"Mentor Gaskon wouldn't tell me anything about what we were going to study over the next three months. In the past, I've always been able to read ahead on the topics in which I'll be instructed and prepare myself. So, I feel a bit... underprepared. At the moment."
Aurienda offered what was obviously a warm smile. "That is to be expected. As to your question, the reason no one has told you what we will be studying together is because this particular course of study is considered... controversial... in some quarters."
Controversial? That sounded interesting. He was immediately intrigued.
As Aurienda spoke, her spectacles gleamed. "I need not tell you how rare it is for an academy to get the chance to train a primal conjurer. The Executrix has selected you for special instruction outside our usual curriculum, and she has chosen me to personally provide that instruction. Yet before we begin, I would like us to agree to some ground rules."
He frowned as he considered her unusual request. "Like... safety regulations?"
"In a sense. As I said, no academy in the Cridor Republic has trained a primal conjurer in decades. Because of the unusual nature of this course of instruction, these ground rules are important. If you will not agree to the stipulations I offer, I will not be able to instruct you. Please consider each rule carefully before you agree."
Ryn felt a rush of excitement. In addition to being one of the most experienced nature mages at the Primal Academy, Mistress Aurienda had another specialty: traveling the Firmament. Even experienced mages like Mentor Gaskon and Mentor Caladan rarely traveled into the Firmament, as its dreamlike nature made it hard to understand.
Was Aurienda going to teach him to enter the Firmament? To leave his body and travel to a realm of pure ether? A realm where a mere thought could conjure miracles... or nightmares? Mages weren't supposed to learn to do that until after they'd graduated and passed their Firmament Trials... but he was no normal mage.
"I'd like to hear the stipulations before I agree. But so long as they're reasonable and within my abilities, I don't see why I'd say no."
"Excellent. I would ask you agree to three stipulations before I begin your instruction. I will list each stipulation individually. Then, I will ask you to agree to it."
Ryn had nothing else to ask, yet, so he remained silent. He'd found that instructors appreciated students not simply blurting out questions, especially if there was a chance the instructor would answer that question sooner rather than later.
Aurienda watched him calmly. "We will consider your agreement to each stipulation a pact between us, and as with any pact, should either of us violate it, we will be disciplined appropriately. I would not ask you to make such a commitment lightly. If I violate our agreement, I will be disciplined in the same manner as you. I will never ask you to do anything or answer anything I will not answer myself."
That
was a bit terrifying. Discipline at the primal academy ranged from a couple of hours in the cells (the cells were nice, but the silence was boring) to being left on rations of bread and water for days (while smelling delicious academy food) to even, for the worst offenders, losing credit for entire classes. Few broke the rules often enough to be slapped with that punishment.
Ryn knew he could never be expelled... he was too important and rare a mage for that... but that didn't mean his life here at the academy couldn't become a lot less comfortable. Yet despite the danger, every word out of Mistress Aurienda's mouth left him more and more curious about what she was going to be teaching him. This sounded like forbidden knowledge.
