Light of the Heavens

XVII. Quiet Words

Vassa watched Seben work with a faint smile. The young woman had her shady corner of the Ashen Tower's grounds and a stack of books half her height as reference material for what she was doing now. She knelt over a large, complicated network of glyphs, scribbling and shading with a fury that left her dark hands and forearms utterly covered in bright white chalk. She'd even smudged it onto her forehead with the back of one hand, perspiring just enough from the heat for it to thoroughly cling.

As far as Vassa could tell, Seben hadn't even realized the mess she'd made of herself.

The apprentice fire-speaker spent most of her days in lecture, learning more and more about the theory of controlling djinn and the many, many different rituals used to connect the power of the elementals to thousands of different tasks and duties. Defense was the most straightforward, essentially pointing the djinn at the enemy, but there were innumerable other uses from what Vassa had pieced together. She was not permitted to attend the lectures, so she relied on Seben's explanations and what she could piece together in the library late at night.

Naji hovered in the air nearby, always close to Seben's side, his form currently that of a slim, humanoid figure made of flickering flames. When not stirred to rage, he could shape his heat and size into something less alarming. Most still gave him an exceptionally wide berth courtesy of his unshackled presence. He listened to Seben, but they had yet to test if he would continue listening when enraged.

At the moment, the djinn seemed curious, circling slowly around Seben as she worked. That was his general demeanor most of the time. For creatures treated like animals by the people who conjured them, Vassa found it impossible to overlook their fascination with the world they were pulled into. Naji was Seben's kindred spirit in that: both of them wanted to understand the world of the other.

Vassa flicked a pebble at him, lips twitching into a smile behind her mask. "Your heat will only make it worse," she said.

Naji drifted closer to her, his answer a crackling of flames from the area that might have been a mouth. As far as Seben had told her, they could not speak, even if they were around humans enough to understand their master's language. He flickered, tilting his head at her.

The masked woman doubted he could understand her verbatim, but he grasped her amusement as genuine and non-threatening, which was something at least. She always kept her voice gentle when addressing the djinni, more out of fondness than fear. Anything so willing to protect Seben without ulterior motive was a pleasure to be around.

"I think he likes you more than me," Seben said, looking up from her work. She ran the back of her hand across her brow again, adding to the white smudge.

Vassa laughed at that. "I doubt that," she said as she moved from her position leaning against the wall. "He is far too genteel to be enamored with me. I merely provide entertainment when you are preoccupied." She glanced around. The area around them was deserted, students retiring into the Tower for dinner and rest or study into the late hours. The lessons were concluded for the day, the only reason Seben had such free time on her hands. "I must say, we are fortunate not to have an audience. You are not currently the regal figure your people expect."

Seben looked down at her hands sheepishly. "It did make a lot of mess."

Vassa let her internal debate rage over whether to warn Seben of her face or wait for amusement's sake. She paid no mind to Naji drifting behind her. The djinni was only circling around to peer at Seben from over Vassa's shoulder. He didn't like direct eye contact, but was easily fascinated. "What are you laboring away at so industriously?"

"Well, I've been trying to make a sort of sustaining focus. I haven't tried to direct Naji's flow, but there's a chance that even without the collar, I could accidentally make only him pay the cost of whatever task I set him," Seben explained, sitting back on her heels. "He's got substantially more...oomph than I do, but I want to pay at least part. It's only fair."