“The section in Belle Complex for overflow faculty is under emergency construction. Initiate Fours too excited for the start of their last year.” The clerk shrugged. “All of our other options are full in the meantime. The best I can do today is the prospective students’ rooms.”
Eunny shook her head, mouth twisting with a wry grimace. “Already paid my dues. Prospies are in the thick of it.” She snorted, a touch of fond humor replacing her disdain. At Ollas’s blank look, she added, “Get the prospies sloshed, then surround them with a bunch of baby mages learning body magic in earnest for the first time, all puffed up thinking they know how to mix up a hangover remedy. It’s not pretty.”
The clerk disguised what Ollas was pretty sure was a laugh with a delicate cough. “I’ll put you on the waitlist.”
Eunny bobbed her head in thanks.
They stepped away from the desk to make space for the next person in line. Gransen nudged Ollas. Then nudged him again when Ollas didn’t react. “What?”
“I have an idea,” Gransen said.
“No.” The word was out of Eunny’s mouth before he’d finished talking. “Sorry, Granse. Force of habit. You were saying?”
“We’ve got space, right, Olly?”
“Uh.” An odd blend of horror and hope surged within him as Ollas gleaned his friend’s intent. “Yes?”
Eunny’s head whipped toward him, a questioning look in her eyes. Brown eyes were the most beautiful, he’d always thought, and Eunny’s above all others. They were also scary as they narrowed in his direction. But then her lips twitched.
“Going to milk those injuries for all they’re worth?” Her attempt at sounding wry failed when she gave a cackle. “Want me to stick around?”
Yes, always. Not that he could ever say as much.
“We have the adjoining room free,” Gransen said. “I mean, there’s all your old teaching stuff in there, but we can shove that to the side.” He handed Ollas’s bag to Eunny. “I’ve got to go. Ollas can give you the details.”
He waved, his grin suspiciously large as he tried to convey something to Ollas, only Ollas was too dazed at the sudden turn of events to understand. A swooping sensation looped through him. Made his knees go weak, had him gripping his cane with renewed strength.
Eunny noticed. “Steady on, there. You sure you’re up for our greenhouse thing?”
“I was—” He could drop the papers off later. “Yea. I think I just need to sit for a second.”
They made their way outside. Ollas followed her to the university’s large courtyard, pausing where the road diverged. Several paths split off to the different magic regions while one carried on straight to the main gate and back down to Sylvan. Ollas lowered himself onto one of the benches scattered around the courtyard, stretching out his aching leg. People filtered past all around them, students and university staff alike. The campus had the charged atmosphere that always preceded the start of fall term, an excitement and sense of freshness unique to this time of year. Spring term had its own energy, but it didn’t quite match the anticipation that came from a summer off. A young woman, who Ollas recognized from the Initiate One Crop Planning Basics course he’d taught a few years ago, twirled around one of the decorative statuaries, singing out, “Home!” A few more of his previous students followed, waving and murmuring greetings of “Hi, Professor Nevin.”
Ollas waved. The ball of tension that had been building in him lessened some, a soft smile spreading across his face. He’d enjoyed his Adept Two research up in the mountains, but had missed being able to teach with regularity.
“Feeling’s mutual, isn’t it?” Eunny murmured.
He glanced at her. She wasn’t looking at him, her face upturned to the gray sky as clouds sped across the Valley. It was easier to regard her this way. In profile, her sharp gaze aimed at something else. It gave him a quiet moment to simply look at her. Note a flicker of concern on her face. Eunny nibbled at her lower lip, a sense of weariness creeping in that she’d hidden before.
In that unguarded moment, Eunny looked vulnerable. It drove his lingering doubts and insecurities aside as he was overwhelmed by a desire to fix whatever troubled her. To save her, however he was able. It was a compulsion, sudden and hot in his chest, a need to see her laugh again, carefree and happy. The Eunny Song he’d always known, until one moment of stupid, selfish weakness had taken a part of her away.
She tilted her head to the side, caught him looking. The seriousness vanished, replaced by a casually raised eyebrow. “What?”
The rush of courage ebbed, leaving a sense of bitter regret in its wake. Eunny didn’t need protecting, least of all from him.
“Nothing.”
She sighed. “Tell Gransen thanks, but I’m fine. It should only take you a few weeks to be mended enough. I can walk up?—”
“You should take it. The room,” Ollas said softly.
“Oh?” A smile played at the edges of her mouth. “Convince me.”
Butterflies tickled his belly. Ollas forced himself to look toward the Grove’s giant tree lest he read into her smile. “It’s the Grove. The room Gransen mentioned was supposed to be a single, but something happened during construction. It’s connected to our unit now.”
“What’s it like living there?” she asked. “The Grove. Aside from when I stormed your place, I’ve never been in the residential areas.”
“Pretty quiet. Doesn’t have any dedicated prospective student housing, and only Initiate Fours get room options. Everyone else is Adept levels or higher.” Her interest was piqued, expression thoughtful. He pressed on, grasping for what he loved most about the Grove. “There’s always something going on in the Heartwood. People are cooking or baking with stuff they’re growing for class or a project, and they always have extra.”
