Imara looked to Hyl and took in the silence of his figure. He had training, and she guessed that some of his assignments ended in death.
“Argus, you are distracting as hell when you are around me. It is wonderful when we are together, but I can’t imagine concentrating when you are next to me. Also, I can’t work out at the college if I am understanding Hyl correctly. This is a very competitive course, right?”
He nodded. “I took it years ago, but I can’t imagine that it has changed much.”
Imara stroked Mr. E and looked around. “Thank you. I will take you up on that offer.”
Adrea grinned and clapped her hands. “Excellent. When do you start?”
She bit her lip. “My course starts in thirty-nine hours.”
Adrea nodded. “Good. I will lay in some extra supplies.”
Hyl chuckled. “It isn’t a tea party.”
Can I go and play with the rabbits?
Imara looked down at a sheepish Mr. E. Don’t chase them. They are not food.
I know. They glow with power. The damned kitten wants to play.
She set him down, and he went bounding over to the bunnies on the grass. There was a moment of introduction and then black tumbled around with white and grey.
Adrea blinked. “He is a very fun familiar.”
“I know. He isn’t fond of being a kitten unless he is standing in a banana cream pie. Perhaps coconut in a pinch.”
“Is that good for him?”
“He isn’t an actual cat, so yeah, it’s fine. He gets a little gassy but is blissed out for days. The bunnies just looked like fun to the beast brain that comes with the fluffy body.”
Hyl looked at her. “He won’t be able to be with us while you train.”
“That is fine, as long as he can run around and play here, he will be fine.”
Adrea smiled. “While you are here for training, can you start on that stone? It is weighing the area down.”
“Oh, sure. If I can get some pebbles from around here, I could even start taking it apart tonight.”
Argus grumbled. “No. Not tonight. You have already changed colour in your extremities; no more spectre manipulation tonight.”
Adrea got to her feet. “Right, speaking of pebbles, I will give you something to use to make a portal.”
Imara sat in surprise. “Right. I will have to make a portal.”
It isn’t hard. I can show you the best book.
She glanced at the critters and stifled a laugh as Mr. E rode the much larger Blueberry around the yard and through the gardens.
Argus was chuckling, and Adrea let out a snort when she returned. “That is something I am going to remember.”
The way it was said, it was as if the space was going to remember it.
Adrea wrapped an arm around Hyl and leaned forward with her hand extended. “Here you go. Four stones from Ritual Space. Set them out in a box formation, step through a mirror, and you will be here in no time. Only a first level transport chant is needed. From here, I can boot you home.”
“And when the training is done, I bring them back?”
Adrea grinned. “If you like. If we get along, you can keep them for visitation purposes.”
Imara looked at the small black rocks. “What if someone steals them, tries to break in here?”
“Well, first, you are going to text me to let me know that you are coming. But the stones are also keyed to you and your familiar. No one else can get in on your ticket, so to speak.”
Relief flowed through her. “Right. Yes, thank you. That is a relief.”
A small paw clawing at her jeans got Imara’s attention. Blueberry had a small drawstring bag in his teeth with R and S entwined on it. “Just in case I forget. Thank you, Blueberry. Did you throw Mr. E?”
She looked around, and the kitten in question was napping in a pile of bunnies. That was a lot of fluff.
“He is out for a few minutes. Have some tea. Recover from your evening.” Adrea didn’t look much older than Imara, but she seemed to have centuries of calm.
Her host poured the tea, and Imara held the delicate cup for a moment, inhaling the herbal scents that were soothing and invigorating at the same time. A first sip said that the tea had the same properties.
Imara drank the tea and felt a tingling down her left arm. The gravel abrasion from the fight was going from angry red to pink as she watched. “Okay. So, healing potion?”
Adrea sat and poured her tea from a different pot. “No, just herbs from Ritual Space. I, myself, can’t use any magic. I am just a curator.”
Hyl snorted. “Yes, she is a curator of everything you see around you. It all comes when she calls, one way or another.”
Argus looked at Imara. “I know that feeling.”
She smiled brightly at him. “I text. I don’t call.”
The group laughed, and Imara finished her tea.
Imara sighed on the ride home. “Sorry that we had to take the detour, but I am delighted that I got a tutor out of it. I had no idea that this course would involve breaking and entering.”
“Imara, promise me that you won’t be involved in illegal activity.”
“I promise. I am only going to engage in the exact requirements of my course.”
“Will you quit the course?”
“No. There is nothing comparable for credits.”
“Will you promise me you will be safe?”
She smiled. “Always. I have plans, you know.”
He chuckled. “Yes, I know.”
She stroked Mr. E and pulled tufts of white fluff from his midnight fur. It was a strangely serene drive home.
Reegar was waiting for her when she entered the hall. “Why were you out so long?”
“We found the problem and fixed it, but then, we needed to store it somewhere safe, so we had to go there and time got away from me.”
She grimaced at the babble, but it was all accurate.
The hum and click from the floor above indicated that Bara was still awake. “Is she still weaving?”
“She has taken to it. She has started looking into specialized fabrics, but the selection of options is very limited.” Reegar pointed to the table nearest the library. “Sit, and I will get you some tea. I want to hear all about it.”
She smiled. “Yes, of course. At least you won’t balk if I have to do something illegal.”
“The test for the stealth magic? Yes, I am aware of it. I have had a few incursions here to try and take my stone from the building. Those were in the days before you arrived, and so I had to resort to poltergeist methods and calling campus security.”
“So, you won’t mind if I study for the exam?”
He grinned. “You have had an interesting evening if someone outlined the exam for you. Start at the beginning.”
She started at the beginning, and just as she reached the fight, Bara came down and pulled up a chair.
The mention of Ritual Space earned her a gasp, and when she detailed the requirements of the exam, Bara sat up with a jolt. “I have just the thing. I am working on an adaptive fabric, and it takes a day just to make a small strip, but I should have enough to cover you in a month.”
“And Mr. E?”
She blinked and grinned. The kitten in question was passed out on a spell book. “Of course. Right, you would take him with you.”
“Yeah, he won’t train with me, but he will be with me on the day.”