“My name again? In the upper corner of the air?”
Aden peered down at her over his long, whiskered nose. “Are you mocking me?”
“No, no. I would never dare. It is an honor to have you seated over my exam. My name is Isabel Bielsa.”
“Isabel? Isa is short for Isabel?” His face spread into a true smile. “I-S-A-B-E-L?”
“Yes, did you not realize that?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Isabel Bielsa.” He said her full name to himself, rolling it over his tongue. “That’s fascinating.”
Isa smiled in confusion. She was quite tired of men complimenting her appearance, but no one had ever called her name fascinating before. “Fascinating?”
“I-S-A-B-E-L and B-I-E-L-S-A. Those are the same letters in both of your names, just scrambled in different ways. That’s so clever.”
Isa laughed. It was a quiet laugh, a genuine laugh that started in her stomach and melted her face into a smile. “Yes, yes, it is. I’ve always thought it was quite unique, but no one else has ever noticed it before.”
“That’s probably because you’ve never met anyone quite as wise as myself.” Aden sniffed again, returning to his professor persona.
“Is that one of the exam questions?” she asked. “If so, my answer is no, I have never met someone quite as wise as you.”
“Excellent, I’ll give you full marks on that question.” He puffed out his chest, lifting his shoulders high. “Now, for the real questions. Can you name the three most influential writers from each of the five kingdoms?”
Isa answered his question quickly and easily.
“Which of these is your favorite and why?”
The questions continued, some of them frivolous but most of them serious. Isa laughed as Aden slipped in and out of his character, joining her in conversation when they hit a particularly interesting topic.
It had been some time since her mind had been challenged in such a way, and she enjoyed the process of remembering her studies and parsing what she thought of them.
When Luca knocked on the door to deliver the noonday meal, they finally stopped to eat together.
“Is that really what the exams were like?” she asked.
“Yes,” Aden responded, “except with much less laughing. You would have passed them easily.” He set down the carrot he had been munching. “I am sorry you were never invited to take your final exams in Chendas. If I ever make it into the Circle of Scholars, I will ensure that you get the chance to do so, even if it has never been done before.”
“Thank you,” she said. The smile on her face, however, disappeared as she realized what he had said. He must have momentarily forgotten that he would never have the chance to vie for one of the enviable chairs in the Circle of Scholars.
His downcast eyes told her that he had just remembered his unfortunate circumstance as well.
“This helped, though,” she said, hoping to distract him. “Even if it was a fake exam, it lessened the sting of having missed out on the real one. Thank you.”
That brought his eyes back up to hers. He blinked frequently, as he often did when looking at her. Somehow, it did not bother her as much in that moment.
“I wonder if someone will write a legend about us, someday,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Here we are, striving for the impossible. Me, against an absurd curse. You, against a necessary power that is unjustly threatening your father.”
“I’d rather not have a legend written about us,” she replied. “Not if it is going to end in sadness, though I can’t see how it won’t.”
“Yours is not a hopeless goal,” Aden replied. “You are continuing to make progress on the Floutast, and the villagers are starting construction on the new bridge. We can ensure that you, at least, have a happy ending.”
Isa looked at the man sitting across from her. His bushy dark brows were furrowed in concern, and his yellow-brown eyes were focused on her. Instead of wallowing in his own despair, he was thinking of her.
Even if she did get the Floutast back in time, she wondered if she would feel like she had accomplished a happy ending. “I am beginning to understand the choice that Andrew had to make,” she said, referring toThe Queen of Silverreign.
