Page 14 of Elemental Affections

“You belong here.” Eunny pulled Dae into a quick, tight hug. “I’m just in town. I expect enough visits to make up for four years of nothing.”

Dae laughed. “Of course. You’ll be sick of my face, you’ll see me so much.”

After promising to keep Eunny apprised of the job situation, Dae said her goodbyes and trekked back to her room. She was able to get the lock spell to work on her first try, which made her feel obnoxiously proud and mage-like. It took too little time to be fully unpacked, her desk organized to her liking. It wasn’t even noon. Classes wouldn’t begin for another two days.

Dae ran her fingers over the letter from Professor Vaadt. Now seemed as good a time as any, seeing as Vaadt hadn’t given any specifics for their meeting. Even if the professor wasn’t in, Dae could at least get a feel for the Towers.

She donned her cloak and ventured out, map in hand.

The water department called the shortest, squattest of the Towers home, which Dae appreciated, as it meant less space where she could get lost. She found Vaadt’s office on the main floor, tucked toward the back. The door was open, the brass nameplate declaring it as the office of Maryit Vaadt, Master Elementalist.

Dae tapped on the doorframe. “Hello?”

The professor looked up, brows pulling together as they tried to place her.

“Anadae Helm,” Dae said. “I’m the Vaadt Scholarship recipient. I received your note—”

“Yes, come in,” Vaadt said in a brisk tone. They motioned toward a chair in front of their desk.

Dae sat, folding her hands across her lap as Vaadt finished up with a ledger on their desk. They looked of similar age to her parents, somewhere in their fifties, long brown hair streaked with gray and secured into a low tail. When they looked up to study Dae’s face, there was a weathered quality to their light skin and solid features. A Graelynder in name, Vaadt’s Eyllic ex-pat roots were well-known. Dae wondered if the magical community and the relative isolation of the Valley made for a more peaceable life. Neither Graelynd nor Rhell would have been welcoming to an Eyllic, even though Vaadt had left Eylle decades ago. Yet the Order of Sylveren maintained the Valley as a unique, self-governing neutral zone, open to all who came with good will and intentions.

Open in theory, for whether it was the wellspring or the lingering spirit of Sylveren, the Child themself, the region was notorious for making those it deemed unsuitable feel unwelcome. The defenses of the land were many and varied, and not entirely known even to its oldest residents. Eyllic or not, Vaadt had the Valley’s approval.

“You’ve just arrived?” Vaadt said.

“Yes, this morning.”

“How are you liking it?”

“It’s…” Dae cast about for a suitable word, settling on, “Overwhelming. A little.”

“It can be at first. The Adept Ones all take place here in the Water Tower for the first few weeks.”

An absurd amount of relief flooded Dae, making her laugh. “That should help.”

Vaadt nodded once. “Now”—they leaned forward—“as I recall, your essay for the scholarship stated an interest in using your magic in service of the public?”

“Yes, I want…” Dae paused, collected her thoughts—looked into Vaadt’s steely gaze and said in earnest, “I want to do something good with it.”

“In what manner? My understanding of your work for Helm Naval Engineering was that you focused on maritime logistics.”

“I did, but that was more business of the mundane sort, nothing arcane. I think it’s too—too mired in bureaucracy. I know I won’t learn enough in a year to change the world, but I’d like something where I can actually grow and apply my skills as a mage. Something whereI’mcontributing in a way that’s meaningful.”

“Like environmental restoration?” Vaadt said. “The university is offering a multidisciplinary seminar this year. The focus is studying elementalist efforts in combatting magic-based land degradation. Rhell is certainly the primary example, but there are several areas where the work applies.”

The seminar Ezzyn had mentioned. Indecision churned in Dae’s gut, excitement crashing against a vague sense of refusal. It sounded perfect yet fraught. Work that interested her and repelled at the same time, because it awoke something else. That line of study would mean regular contact with Ezzyn. Learning with him,fromhim. All of the what-ifs of their past that she’d carefully locked away, those boundaries would weaken. Perhaps break enough for her and Ezzyn both to realize in real time why some things were best left as hazy memories and daydreams.

He would have authority over her, even if he was only a guest rather than a true professor. Their encounter at the teashop already told her how such a dynamic would work. His arrogance, that undercurrent of contempt for the girl he’d known and the woman he presumed her to be. The way he’d tried tohandleher financial problems. Years might have passed since her decision to stay in Central District, since she’d chosen an education—and a betrothal—that she didn’t truly want, yet those memories were still shared and raw.

“There are still a few spots open,” Vaadt said. “It would count for your Adept levels focus track requirement.”

“I-I’m interested,” Dae admitted. “But I’m not sure if I should add that in my first term. Do I have time to consider it?”

“Only through the end of the first week, same as any course you might want to add or drop.” Vaadt sat back. “Your goals are admirable. Consider how you want to establish yourself in the community here. Once that is clear, my role as your advisor is to help you achieve it.”

They chatted for a few more minutes over Dae’s initial courseload, then she left Vaadt to their lesson-planning. Dae wandered down the stairs to the multilevel atrium on the Towers’ ground floor, where a rare burst of sunlight glanced off the many windows. Vaadt’s words rolled around in her head.

How to establish herself and what that would look like seemed too big a concept, and yet … not. Easy, no, but straightforward? That was probably yes. She’d been setting herself to becoming Dae for months now. Becoming more than the Helm name. A mage, perhaps even one who could have a part to play in halting the devastation plaguing Rhell. Doing something that mattered instead of hanging on Brint Avenor’s arm and hoping some of her work would manifest in his next project.

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