Eleanor marched through Hierrsé''s nigh vacant halls, catching snippets of idle gossip as she zipped by lounging Dragonfangs too lazy to make the journey to the mess hall. From rumors of Lavisa’s participation in the upcoming tourney to the deadly encounter in the labyrinth. Despite the faculty''s best efforts to suppress the flow of information regarding the incident, word still got around. How she rared to give the wryrms a stern talking-to. They might''ve feigned ignorance, but she knew them responsible. She''d been a wyrm, too. Little eluded their notice. Including the silent affections of students who branded themselves subtle.


    A grimace crawled onto her lips. They knew everything. She loathed when they pretended not to know everything, especially now of all times. She''d gone through the painstaking effort to divert detection through the use of Toem. From the moment she had descried them in the labyrinth to the solution of blood she''d misted them in to to ward detection as they hauled the blonde back to the nurse''s office, no one—not even the divers currently present in the area—could''ve possibly learned of their presence. Much less remember if they so much as whiffed the mist.


    Accidents such as this weren''t completely uncommon. They had contingencies in place should they occur, but none had ever involved the king’s daughter of all people. At best, he would forgive them for their oversight; at worst, he’d withdraw royal funds.


    Funds… Eleanor sneered. She hadn''t the constitution for mathematics, but she had a feeling losing such an important backer would have lasting consequences. Or at the very least, tarnish their reputation as the foremost Juneac?o institute in the Westerlans.


    “Ellie, sweetie,” came a frail, level-headed voice.


    Eleanor paused mid-stride. Beside her stood Sierez, Hierrsé''s Deputy Headmaster. The awfully sprite limper who wore a smile easily enough these days. “Good afternoon, Master," she said, hand to her chest as she performed a curt bow. "To what do I owe the pleasure?”


    “Certainly not your legs. You’ve any idea how hard it is hobbling after you?” he asked.


    “Forgive me, Master.”


    “Apology accepted.” Sierez adjusted his cane so that he could stand comfortably. “Now then, I''ve got a little interest to discuss with you.”


    “I’ll do my best to be of service.”


    “Good, cuz this relates to the incident.”


    She cast a furtive glance either way, then, once she was certain the duplicitous Dragons were nowhere within earshot, she leaned close and whispered. “Did you find it true?”


    “I won’t give names, but it was a first-year Dragonfang. I s’pose that doesn’t come as much of a surprise.”


    “Hardly. They know too much for their own good.”


    Sierez rubbed his chin. “I s’pose that’s true.”


    “And that’s what bothers me so. Dragonfang was home to the swift, not the deceitful! A House so keen that their wit was a match for a blade, yet they do naught but exchange words for gold.” Eleanor stifled a sigh, though her abject disappointment bled through with a vehement shake. “Do you know what they do with it, Master? They grow fat. Weak. And it’s all because they profit from discord. Imagine that: Those who promise to preserve peace, perpetuating chaos. Good blood, have you already forgotten about the old wyrms who stole that Fadenician skill book? The same one written by their founder. It is the only other treasure they claim, filled to the brim with the Lost Art, and yet Dragonfang claims possession of it? How do you justify such objectionable duplicity?”


    “Ellie, there isn''t much good in airing out your frustration. Goes nowhere.”


    "I understand that, Master. I do. It''s just that—"


    "Dragonfang rightfully earned the honors of her Tome. You know that as well as I do; as they do, too. They played the game and lost. If either side cared enough, they''d wager another Bet, but that tome''s never served anyone. Even if it promises great power." He nodded to himself. "I take it you''ve been seduced to a gander?"


    She squared her jaw. "What wyrm hasn''t?"


    "Did you make sense of it?"


    That, her oaths did not permit her to answer. Assuming the shame too great to utter, Sierez continued. "Irregardless of the past, I''d not take simple gossip to heart."


    “Simple gossip?" The words spilled from her lips, hollow. "This is not simple gossip, Master. These children thrive off of rumors. Leading to the neglect of their studies and bodies, yet when all is said and done, do you know what happens to them?”


    Sierez twisted his head. “Can’t say I do. I never hear much trouble coming from them.”


    “That’s just it: Nothing. They graduate as any other student does, but never with honors. Theirs is the bare minimum. Never exceeding nor lacking what is to be expected. They teeter on the edge of mediocrity, knowing they could live like kings and queens so long as they pretend to care. I shan’t suffer that. I tried. Why can’t they?” Eleanor fumed.


    “Ellie.”


    “Yes?”


    “Focus. We can discuss the fall of your ‘great’ House later.”


    A face-melting heat rushed to her cheeks. “O-Oh, my apologies. I did not mean—”


    “As I was saying,” Sierez interjected calmly, “our recent discovery came as a surprise. A boy from the Isle. Fine enough student, but just like Taní, he requires discipline.”


    Eleanor squirmed. For D’Histell to be punished after what he’d endured… Yes, she''d chastised him for his rule-breaking ways, but she couldn’t help it. She was angry—no, furious that his good dead had nearly led to his death. No Juneac?o, no matter how true, deserved death. Much less a boy who''d yet to Awaken.


    During her brooding silence, Sierez flashed her a warm grin. “You’d rather he not suffer, do you?"


    Eleanor lowered her head, ashamed. “No, Master…”


    “Order has to be maintained, Ellie. He broke an important rule. One meant to keep the first- and second-years safe. If I let him off, then everyone would notice. Him getting hurt wouldn’t scare them; it’d embolden them.”


    “I suppose that’s true.”


    “If it’s any consolation, he only has to do some groundskeeping. Nothing strenuous, mind you. Wouldn’t want him snapping his leg or banging his head against something.” Sierez suddenly frowned and mumbled to himself. “He does do that a lot.”


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    “Do you…” The clean white tiles of the school floor filled Eleanor’s vision. “Do you have someone assigned to oversee him?”


    “That’s why I came to talk to you.”


    “Pardon?”


    “You see, this recent string of events has taught me one thing: That Taní boy is as prone to accidents as ice is to melting under the sun. Doesn’t matter if he’s alone or with company, he just stirs up trouble. The other instructors have taken notice. Safe to say, they don’t like it. His slipping grades aren’t helping either.” The methodical tap of a cane filled the pause. “The kid doesn’t have much going for him, but he deserves as much of a chance as any. You believe that too, right?”


    She’s heard of him through his teachers. His constant tardiness, near-illegible printing, odd answers, and poor performance. Not to mention his hostile relationships.


    They believed him a miscreant with a flippant disregard for the values of the Juneac?o. She had thought the same, too, when she’d first met him. Needlessly cold as she was.


    But that tender heart that melted the ice? His kindness, the way he smiled… A blade could not replicate those effects, nor could the realm-mending touch of Sedd mimic its warmth. Divine as it was.


    Children wanted to be heard. They were loud, impatient, impulsive braggers with a pretentious streak who believed themselves special. All because they thought themselves the greatest thing to ever exist, but that was never the case. She was no different. Her instructors praised her for a presumed host of blessings, yet here she was all these years later. Stuck on that same island.


    A "talented," no-faced woman.


    Perhaps the heart couldn''t compensate for a lack of inherent talent, but a lack of talent was not indicative of one’s potential. They only needed to try, and if some Seddless child could brave the depths and hold his own against a myriad of beasts that would’ve torn a greater student to shreds, well… Maybe there was still a chance. Slim as it was.


    Didn''t they deserve as much?


    “Master,” Eleanor breathed a shaky whisper, “I know not why he struggles. I speak to him every day, though I’ve gleaned little beyond the surface. I’ve taught, punished, and failed countless students like him over the years, so why? Why is this different? Why do I feel as I’ve failed?”


    Sierez hunched forward, stroking the arch of his cane absentmindedly. Not once did he stir, setting himself to the stretch of hall beyond. Brooding, as he always did during their first days together. “Just means you finally found the one that made you care.”


    Eleanor’s throat tightened with heat, and when she failed to muster a response, he continued.


    “Do you know why Juneac?o choose their squires? Cuz they aren’t teachers. They teach, but not because they want to. We’re just parents bringing others up because they don’t know how the world works. Why what they’ll do one day will be more important than anything else, even if they can''t see it. Keeps the blood fresh. You know what’d happen if we didn’t?”


    “The Fall,” she said through the lump in her throat.


    “Exactly,” Sierez said. “We’re preservers. Not law keepers, scholars, or even historians. We’re the Stabilizers of the Firmament. The thing that keeps it together even as it unwinds beneath us. Just like it’s been doing ever since the Desolator died. We don’t bring life; we help it endure. That is why our codes are sacred.” His ministrations came to an end. “You hesitate to teach, but is it because you’re reluctant to put yourself before hopeful eyes or cuz you don''t see any other way?”


    The answer immediately came to Eleanor. “Neither. I’ve never cared for the students under my guidance. I only do what is expected of me.”


    “Then you teach out of duty, not favor. You realize that our ways are sacred, and so you trust this institution to produce well-meaning Juneac?o, correct?”


    “Of course, Master. I’ve complete and utter faith that the students here—no matter how callous—will be the ones to drive Vale?o to a new age of prosperity.”


    “But you never cared for teaching. You did what you had to cuz you lost the faith of our king. Lunarkin you may be, children—even discarded squires—know better than to seek tutelage from a failed guardian. So, you did the next best thing and became a master to all.”


    Eleanor dipped her head, the weight of it pinning it in place.


    “Ellie, when you don’t care, you don’t try. Every student’s the same. Boy, girl, rich, poor. Nothing they do matters. They show up, they pass; they don’t, they fail. When you’ve no interest in the efforts of your students, you see them as pawns. Giving the customary experience you can barely tolerate.” Sierez tapped a finger against his cane, producing a clear loud clink. “But Taní? He’s different. Don’t get me wrong, he’s as terrible as they come, but the way you’re feeling? That just means you care. And that’s the hardest thing anyone can do. That goes doubly for you.”


    Icy dread arrested Eleanor’s heart. Interacting with children, training…she used those as a means to pass the time. To give her life a sense of purpose, something that would drive away the plague of memories, but that simple-minded kid? The same boy who bumped his head to no end and almost made her want to break? The highlight of her stay? He illuminated the dreary expanse she feared to call her mind.


    And now, his expulsion drew new. The same person who granted her life meaning beyond the monotony of teaching, gone forever.


    She’d return to her placid state as the academy’s trophy. A Lunarkin with nothing to prove; a pigeon content with its gilded, poisoned feeder.


    A stifling surge of heat seized Eleanor’s chest. Overwhelmed, she fell to one knee. Desperate. “Master, please. I—I don’t know what to do. Taní is…I… He’s a student, yes? So how do I do it? How can I help him? You’ve always told me that the steady path is one and true, but I don’t know which one that is. Please, show me, Master. If only this once. Just… Just show me, please.”


    “Come, Ellie. Don’t kneel in the middle of the hall. It’s unbecoming of you.”


    She refused to budge and bowed her head. If this much couldn’t convince him, she didn’t know what would.


    “Really, seeing you kneel is hurting my knees. Can you get up? You never even let me finish.”


    “Master, I beg of you. If not as your squire, then as a Juneac?o. Ple—”


    “Enough. Just…enough. You’ll be charged as his tutor, henceforth. Now stand before you draw Dragons,” Sierez ordered, a grouchy edge bleeding into his words.


    Eleanor whipped up to face him, her eyes wide. “I beg your pardon?”


    “I can’t just have anyone help him. That Nimmian’s a slacker, and I’d rather not exacerbate His Majesty’s ire by availing the boy Lavisa. Seeing as you’re his only other friend that’s actually reliable, I was gonna choose you.”


    “F-Friend? I’m not—”


    “Ellie, he’s the only other person you’ve uttered more than a single sentence to in the last ten years. In a willing conversation, no less. Have you even been listening to half the things Dragonfang has said?”


    Eleanor suppressed her disgust. “No, but I’d rather not.”


    “Great. Then rise.”


    She slowly rose to her feet, a blur of motion at the side catching her attention. There, just around the corner, was a head peeking out. The violet cloth on their shoulder betrayed their allegiance.


    A Dragonfang.


    They withdrew into the hall a moment later. Great. First her pathetic plea, and now this? What agonizing rumors awaited her in the coming days?


    “Here’s your list of duties,” Sierez said, handing her a scroll of parchment. She unwound it as he continued to speak. “You are to review his daily lessons, shorten them into a palatable format he can make sense of, walk him through his every question, aid in improving his calligraphy, and please, for the love of God, teach him how to read faster. No one should take ten minutes to read one page. No one.”


    Eleanor flattened a wrinkle on the list. “Where would that leave me with my classes?”


    “Build your schedule around it. You got free periods, don’t you?”


    “Well, yes, but I—”


    “Think it’ll be very helpful? Why, yes. It is. Refresh the subject matters of math and literature. It might enrich your conversations with young D’Histell.”


    Eleanor sighed as she rolled up the scroll. “Very well. Thank you for the opportunity, Master. I appreciate it. Truly.”


    Sierez hobbled down the hall, a giddy kick in his step as he chuckled to himself. Suddenly, he came to an eerily smooth stop, one in defiance of his ancient war wound. That''s when he spoke in that measured, authoritative tone of his. “Oh, and one more thing: You’re in charge of this year’s dive. Be a dear and see to her safety, will you?”


    Fuming, Eleanor crushed the scroll in her grip, silently cursing her old master as he fled with a giddy laugh. Decades later, and he still drowned her with work.