He couldn’t easily separate Elianne from those duties, because the very first duty, the driving force of his rapid ascent from childhood to the world of adults, had been Elianne. He had destroyed everything he had built for her in one evening, but he had saved her in the doing.
She didn’t know why he’d done what he’d done. He was determined never to tell her. He knew it would make no difference, because the choice Severn had made on that terrible day was a choice that Eliannecould notmake. Not for herself. Not for anyone. And if, somehow, he could convince her, if she came to believe what Severn himself had believed, the guilt would destroy her.
He understood the weight of that guilt.
Rosen was at her desk looking distinctly unpleased with life. This was more or less her resting state. Her expression changed when Severn came into her field of view, her lips quirking up in what was almost—for Rosen—a smile.
“Kid,” she said, “you’re making the rest of us look lazy and useless.”
Severn stopped in front of her desk, glancing over his shoulder toward Mellianne’s. Mellianne was not yet at it. “Appearances can be deceiving.”
Her smile deepened. “You’ve been listening to Elluvian.”
“The Wolflord,” Severn replied, matching her smile. “Has the Tha’alani castelord ever entered the Halls of Law?”
“You’re going to give me whiplash if you change subjects that quickly. I highly doubt it. You want to check?”
He nodded.
“Helmat’s done the basic groundwork to get you your own mirror.”
“I have Elluvian’s.”
“Funny, that’s what I told Helmat. It’s not like Elluvian uses it often.”
“He doesn’t?”
“He does use it—but he uses it far less often than any of the rest of us. Barrani have perfect total recall when they want to do the work.”
Severn frowned. “Total recall of anything they’ve experienced or seen themselves, yes. Most of Records seems to be outside of either category.”
Rosen shrugged. “He doesn’t really like Records or mirrors.”
“Why?”
“Ask him. I didn’t get much useful out of my early attempts.”
“What did he say?”
“He doesn’t trust them.”
“Them?”
“Mirrors.”
“Did he say why?”
“I think he actually tried—none of it made any sense to me, and frankly, I didn’t want to get a longer, fuller explanation because it was all theoretical magic stuff. Way above my pay grade.” She grinned, then. “Which leads me neatly to the first point of the morning. You probably didn’t have much experience with magic while you were growing up. Even mirrors were strange and new to you.
“Helmat wants this to change.”
Severn nodded.
“So...classes. There are two. The first—and the most important—is practical magic.”
“I’m to learn...magic?”
“No. I saidpractical. The teachers will be long-winded, boring, and slightly self-important, but they’ll tell you things you need to know if you don’t want someone who can use magic to turn you into ash, dust, or sludge.”