“It was pretty straightforward,” said Lee. “Harper made a deal with their chieftain, and now we have to clear out a burial tomb in exchange for them staying neutral.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“Did the kitten behave?”
“More or less. We had some bonding time while you were gone. His appetite is enormous! You wouldn’t believe how much time I had to spend pinching food for him.”
“I bet.” Lee bent over and scratched the cat’s head. “Toma didn’t come through the dorm by any chance, did he?”
“Not that I saw.” Tess frowned. “Maybe you should reach out and ask one of the instructors?”
“I don’t think Harper knows anything, and Eliza already asked Gen, but maybe Odarin knows the details. I’ll go pay him a visit after, but I really need to take a shower first.”
He ditched his winter clothing and after giving Tess a few more kisses, headed for the bathroom. Hot water and soap were miraculous inventions, and twenty minutes later, he returned to his room feeling like a new man.
“Care to join me?” he asked Tess as he pulled on a t-shirt and jeans.
“I would love to,” she said, smiling. “Can we get some food afterward? I’m starving.”
“It’s a date.”
Tess spent a minute fussing over the kitten and ensuring it had sufficient food and access to the outside world through Lee’s open window. The two of them left the dormitory walking hand in hand.
The sun was setting as they reached the First Tower, which cast looming shadows across the ground from the Zephaphine Islands hovering above. The door was unlocked, which was convenient, if a little unusual. The lights were off in the lobby, and Lee’s footsteps echoed as he made his way forward.
“Head Wizard Odarin?” he called. “Hello?”
The silence held for a moment, then a disembodied voice seemed to boom from every direction at once.
“Initiate Amaranth,” called Odarin. “Good timing! The arcane lift is unlocked. I’m in my study. Come on up.”
Lee glanced at Tess, who gave him a noncommittal shrug. He took the lift up to Odarin’s study and found him sitting in a chair across from a TV, video game controller in hand.
Appearance-wise, John Odarin fit the general description of what one might expect of a Head Wizard. He was in his late forties, blond and clean-cut with the physique and build of a former athlete. His face was currently scrunched up in deep concentration, eyes entirely focused on the screen.
“So, what can I do for you, Lee?” asked Odarin.
“I had some questions about my friend and dorm mate.”
Lee raised an eyebrow as he took in the game Odarin was playing. His avatar character appeared to be on a date with a very young-looking anime girl, and he was in the middle of selecting the answer to a question she’d asked him.
“Shoot,” said Odarin.
“It’s my friend Toma. He hasn’t been at—”
“Sorry, I meant shoot, as in… damn. I can’t remember what Kumiko-chan’s favorite season is. Was it summer or… did she say spring?”
“Um, Head Wizard Odarin?”
Odarin muttered something under his breath and set the controller down. “Ah, I’ll just look it up online after. Now, what were you asking, Lee?”
“Toma Fujino. Have you heard anything related to his departure from the school? Do you know if he’s going to be back soon or where he’s gone?”
Odarin exhaled and gave a small shrug. “I haven’t a clue. I think Lead Instructor Laughton would be the one to ask about that.”
“We already tried asking her, and she just gave a vague answer,” said Lee. “Do you think maybe you could see if she knows anything more?”
“I’d rather not,” said Odarin. “She’s kind of scary. Not nearly as much fun as Mattis was, either. And Mattis wasn’t that much fun to begin with.”
“It’s good to know you think so highly of me, John.”
Both Lee and Odarin flinched at the sudden sound of Gen’s voice behind them. She strode forward from the archway leading to the arcane lift, favoring them with a brittle smile.
“I just meant you’re, um—” Odarin sputtered. “Scary in a good way?”
“It’s quite alright,” said Gen. “I was merely stopping by to drop off the finalized schedule for the open house later this week. If you could look it over and sign to confirm, it would be appreciated.”
“Of course!” said Odarin. “I’ll do that right away. Just, uh, as soon as I finish the business I’m currently attending to.”
He reached for the controller. Gen turned her attention to Lee, still smiling that unnerving smile.
“Initiate Amaranth, I’d be more than happy to answer your question in full,” she said. “I needed to meet with you, regardless. If you would follow me…”
She led him outside and into the Nature Tower, which she’d apparently been using as her own lodgings with Mattis no longer in residence. Lee wondered if Willow, as the college’s soon-to-be resident druid, would eventually take it over. It was a little hard to imagine.
“Your friend is with his family,” said Gen as they entered the main lounge area of her residence floor. She pulled off her shoes and tossed them by the door.
“I’d guessed that much,” said Lee. “My question is more about why, and when exactly he’ll be back.”
“As to that, I cannot say. His father is an influential man. We don’t normally let initiates come and go from the college during the semester, but he emphasized their family’s unique circumstances.”
Gen gestured to the couch and Lee took a seat. The room’s layout was spartan, with only a few bookshelves and paintings giving off any sense of the character of the current occupant.
“Relax,” said Gen. “You aren’t in any trouble. I still have more to discuss with you in regard to your recent outing with Harper.”
Lee remembered then the missed call he’d had from Zoe. He waited until Gen was out of sight before pulling out his phone. Zoe had sent him a text in the time since, and he chewed his lip as he read it and thought about what to do.
ZOE: Any progress on checking into Savoire Solaire?
He spotted the sword hanging in its scabbard from a weapon rack by the door. It seemed a touch lazy and misleading to send his sister another photo of it, but he made a mental note of where it was positioned when not on Gen’s waist.
LEE: Not yet. I’ll keep trying.
He heard the sound of running water and looked up in surprise. The door Gen had disappeared through was still slightly ajar, and steam began wafting out of it near the floor. She was taking a shower.
“Is this a power play on her part, do you think?” whispered Tess.
He shook his head. He heard Gen call his name, and somewhat reluctantly rose from his spot on the couch and made his way over to the open door.
“You can come in,” she said.
Could he really? Lee chewed his lip, feeling all but certain she was trying to get under his skin, or at least throw him off balance. He stepped into the bathroom. Gen was already in the shower, and the opaque sliding door left her silhouette blurry, though still naked.
“Tell me about your meeting with the frost troll chieftain,” said Gen. “You were gone for longer than I expected you to be.”
“Harper hasn’t already reported this back to you?”
“She’s a busy woman,” said Gen. “I didn’t feel the need to impress myself upon her time.”
She turned around in the shower, her buttocks briefly sliding across the glass with a tiny squeak. Lee couldn’t make out any lurid details, which somehow made the situation even more arousing in a weird way.
“Kukachuk, the chieftain, met with Harper. I wasn’t there to hear their conversation, but she said they came to an arrangement.”
“Is that so? Whatever did it involve?”
“The frost trolls wouldn’t ally themselves with the Melting Pack in exchange for us exploring and clearing out an ancient buri
al tomb known as Kuh-Matton.”
“Very interesting.” Gen ran her hands through her red hair. Lee heard the sound of globs of soap splattering onto the shower floor. “Is that all?”
“We started exploring the tomb. It was apparently the imprisonment site of one of the frost trolls’ ancient enemies, the Unavowed Queen. We returned to Primhaven before making it more than a few rooms in.”
Gen turned the water off. She pulled a bathrobe and a towel into the shower from a hook adjacent to the door. When she came out, her hair was done up with a towel, and she was more or less covered down to her thighs.
“Thank you for indulging me. That was quite refreshing.”
She led him back out into the lounge area and began pouring them both a drink from a decanter filled with clear liquor on her coffee table. Lee’s eyes drifted back to Savoire Solaire. This time, Gen noticed.
“My most prized possession,” she said, with a smirk. “Would you like to know how I came into ownership of it?”
Lee almost said yes before thinking better of it. “I’m more interested in the enchantment. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Gen flashed a proud smile. She leaned forward as she passed Lee his drink, her robe billowing open for a split second.
“Savoire Solaire is sun-blessed,” said Gen. “Any wound inflicted by it is impossible to recover from without fulfilling… certain criteria.”
“Sounds more like a curse than a blessing.”
“I suppose that depends on which side of the edge you find yourself.”
Lee moved closer, sipping the liquor. He couldn’t quite place its taste. He sat down on the couch next to Gen, his knee brushing up against her bathrobe-clad thigh.
“So even something like a small cut on the palm would be permanent?” He held his hand out.
“It would be troublesome. However…” Gen set a finger down on the center of his palm. “…there is a way to recover from the wounds inflicted by it.”
“How?”
Gen’s eyebrow twitched upward. “I would need a good reason to share that kind of information. Tell me, Lee. Can you give me one?”
He hesitated for a crucial instant, and the moment—whatever it had been—passed. Gen stood up, drink in hand, and walked around to the other side of the couch.
“I’ve asked Harper to take part in an exhibition duel for Primhaven’s upcoming open house,” said Gen. “I’d like you to help her prepare for it.”
“Of course.”
“That will be all for now. You can leave.”
Lee finished his drink, set the glass down, and slowly made his exit.
CHAPTER 17
Lee took a meandering route back to his dorm, still sorting through his thoughts with Tess at his side.
“She’s playing games with you,” said Tess.
“I’m aware. I just wish I knew how to score points in them. I have no idea what she wants.”
“I think it’s safe to assume she doesn’t trust you completely,” said Tess. “Maybe this is her way of testing what you’ll do when she gives you openings.”
“Openings for what, though?”
Tess turned her hands up and shook her head. Lee did his best to put the encounter out of mind as he reached his dorm. He heard voices coming from within his room and his hopes for Toma’s return surged as he threw the door open.
“Come on!” snapped Eliza. “I was petting him first!”
“I’m a druid in training,” said Willow. “I can’t help it if the kitten prefers my company over yours.”
“It didn’t make a choice, you scooped it up the second it…”
Both girls turned to stare at Lee in surprise as he entered his own dorm. He folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe.
“I apparently forgot I was hosting company tonight,” he said.
Eliza’s cheeks turned red. Willow grinned.
“I… stopped by to see if you, um, had eaten dinner yet,” said Eliza.
“I came with her because you two are the only people my age I know at this podunk college,” said Willow.
“We were waiting outside, but then, we… um… the kitten.” Eliza looked down at the tiny, cute furball and smiled as it let out a squeaking meow.
Lee heard Tess make an annoyed noise from behind him as Harold began nuzzling himself in between the two girls, purring beneath the touch of their petting fingers.
“How about I catch up with the two of you?” he asked. “I have a few things to take care of, first.”
Eliza and Willow left after lathering the kitten with a few more minutes of attention. Tess immediately went to the tiny creature, scowling at the backs of the girls as they exited the room.
“You should ask permission before petting someone else’s kitten,” she said. “It’s only polite.”
“Is it really that big of a deal?”
“It’s the principle of the matter.”
“You get more jealous over Harold than you do over me.”
“Maybe you should try being soft and fuzzy,” said Tess.
“Oh, please.” Lee watched her holding out a hand, which Harold walked right by. “He doesn’t even know you exist.”
Tess’s shoulders stiffened, and she shot a wounded glare at him.
“I meant that—”
“I know what you meant.” Her expression softened, and not in a good way. “Maybe he doesn’t… know I exist. I’ve thought about it before, you know. I just didn’t really think it mattered as long as I could help him get food and give him a place to sleep.”
She shrugged and brought her ethereal hand down along the kitten’s back again. It shivered and danced out of her reach.
“Tess, I’m sorry,” said Lee. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s fine,” she said. She sighed and collapsed onto her butt, lips pulled together in a cute, unconscious pout.
“Do you want to come with me to dinner?”
“No. Not tonight.”
“Okay.” He pulled her into his mystic stream and kissed her head. “I’ll bring you something if I see anything you’d like.”
She didn’t answer him, and Lee left his dorm feeling like an asshole.
***
Dinner with Eliza and Willow was like a game of tug-of-war, and he didn’t much enjoy being the rope. He finished his food early and excused himself back to his dorm with a big slice of chocolate cake in tow.
“Hey,” he said. “How’s Harold doing?”
“He wanted to go explore, so I didn’t stop him,” said Tess. She was lying on his bed, facing away from Lee. “He probably would have just gotten scared if I’d tried to, anyway.”
“I brought you chocolate cake.”
Tess sat up instantly, a small smile stealing across her face before she could reconvert it back into a pout. Lee grinned as he sat down next to her, pulling her into his mystic stream and passing her the fork.
“You can’t just… bribe me with cake,” she said, through a mouthful of the sweet treat.
“Of course not. I figured I’d give you a back rub afterward to sweeten the deal.”
She gave him a playful scowl. Lee put an arm around her shoulders.
“It better be the best back rub ever,” she said.
Tess ate quickly and stretched out on the bed once she finished. Lee pulled her t-shirt up and over her head, watching her brown hair fall in a scatter as it fell free from the neckline. She had a bra on, which his fingers immediately darted toward.
“I think I should probably take this off, too,” he said.
“This is a back rub, not a front rub, mister.”
“It could be both. Just say the word.”
He was straddling her, and he shifted downward slightly, pressing his crotch against her petite butt. He was used to how his mystic stream worked, so much so that he sometimes took it for granted. Tess’s body was as warm, soft, and compelling as any living woman. Even more so to him, given that she was, well, Tess.
> “Mmm,” she cooed as he began massaging her shoulders. He made another play for her bra, and the playful swat with which she counter-attacked came an instant too late to stop him from undoing the latch. He grinned as he slipped it to the side and over her shoulders.
“There. Isn’t it much more enjoyable without that annoying strap in the way?”
“I… suppose I can give you that point.”
He let his hands wander downward, gently caressing her lower back and then her butt. He pushed his crotch forward again as he slid his attention back up, rubbing the side of her abdomen, teasing the edges of her naked breasts.
“You would be fired so fast if you ever tried to work a job as a masseuse,” muttered Tess.
“That would depend on the nature of the establishment I worked for,” he countered. “I’m sure there are some businesses where my technique would fit right in.”
He started grinding into her and leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on her neck. He slid his hands completely underneath her breasts and felt an odd surge of arousal at the sensation of her nipples against his palms.
“I’m telling your manager,” whispered Tess. “I’m going to tell them you got too handsy and demand my money back.”
“I’ll tell them it was your fault. Certain parts of your body were just irresistibly pinchable.”
Tess let out a pillow-muffled squeal as he gave one of her breasts a small squeeze. She giggled and rolled onto her side, shielding her breasts and shooting him a mock glare. The effect was undercut by a traitorous, dimpled smile.
“You paid for our premium package, ma’am,” he said. “I just want to give you the full service.”
He started pulling her yoga pants off. She wasn’t wearing panties underneath, which was no real surprise. Lee was in the middle of discarding his own clothing when Tess shot a concerned glance toward the open window.
“I need to leave it open for Harold,” she whispered. “Anyone outside could peer in and see us. Well, you.”
“That’s why man invented blankets.”
He grabbed a sheet, tossed it over the two of them, and returned his focus to Tess’s petite, naked body. She made a soft noise as he pushed into her, and then another as he began thrusting in earnest.
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