When Ezo woke in Kammon’s old quarters, he was alone. Ezo dressed quickly and helped himself to the food on the table as he waited for Kammon to return. He didn’t know where the other man disappeared to. Ezo walked around the room between bites of cheese and boiled egg and rummaged through the shelves and drawers. Kammon left a few things behind, but it was all schoolbooks and worn clothes. Nothing of importance.

Ezo finished breakfast and washed his face. He wasn’t good at waiting, and Kammon knew that about him. As much as Ezo had been told to stay away from the University, Ezo was bored and there was only so much he could do sitting in Kammon’s old room without him.

He decided to take a trip to the stables. There wouldn’t be too many people there, and he could make sure they were treating Rile well. That was his best chance at avoiding anyone he didn’t want to run into. He pulled gloves on to hide his hands and walked to the door.

Kammon locked it when he left and Ezo smiled at the precaution his lover took. Kammon might be a pain in the ass on a good day, but he tried to look after Ezo. It was endearing when it wasn’t infuriating.

Ezo unlocked the door and replaced it with one of his own - a puzzle for Kammon when he returned.

He walked down the corridor, trying to remember the way out of the labyrinth-like hallways. He must have taken a wrong turn because he ended up in a large room where the students gathered for a lecture.

Ezo turned away from it and, hopefully, from any teachers roaming the halls. He didn’t know the habits or schedules of the University, but this was the exact sort of thing Kammon wanted him to avoid.

He might not always agree with Kammon, but Ezo came to the university once before to get their help, and they’d turned him away without even an audience. Now, he was grateful for their ignorance and glad he’d never been subjected to their ‘teachings’. He had a feeling he’d have been as problematic a student as Kammon had been.

He fumbled his way through side doorways and didn’t stop until he ended up in a completely different part of the building. It was, however, someplace he longed to visit. The library.

Ezo walked through the door and was immediately awestruck by the shelves of books. In the center of the library, a grand chandelier lit all three stories. Ezo could see himself getting lost in the columns that surrounded him. If there was an answer to his questions, it had to be here.

That wasn’t necessarily true, though; history had often been rewritten. He’d have never known how much if he hadn’t found Riverkeep. The history that Distria taught was not the whole truth. The magic they taught was not the same as they’d always taught, either.

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He headed away from the main floor where the students and staff wandered and spoke in whispered voices. He found stairs nearby and headed up to the second level, where he was less likely to run into people.

He ran his fingers over the edge of the books, impressed by the sheer number of volumes the University had collected under a single roof. He could spend a lifetime reading here and love every moment. It made him ache to return to Riverkeep, though. He still hadn’t talked to Kammon about it. He wasn’t sure what held him back, but it wasn’t the right time to tell him. If he trusted anyone else with the secrets of the private library, it was Kammon.

He thought briefly about Alvrey and wondered how the players were doing. He regretted the way he’d left things with them. Alvrey and Jaroh wanted what they thought was best for him, even if they’d been wrong.

When he and Kammon were done with the University, they should try to find the players.

The books Ezo passed were specific to each element, ranging from theory to practical uses of their magic. Some were dedicated to protection and attacks for the students who wanted to become War-Sworn.

Ezo continued searching until he found a volume discussing exceptional cases of power. It was primarily a collection of rumors from outlying villages, stories of elemental magic used in ways that the Imperium considered impossible. The Imperium sent an Imperator, but he determined that all the accounts were false. It was an old journal, and Ezo might have put it back, but he found a section about effigies. The investigator was sent to verify a sighting of an effigy and went into great detail about everything they knew about them.

Since Ezo’s understanding was based entirely on Kammon and Ember, he took it to a table in the corner and sat to read.

Kammon had always been reluctant to talk about his past. Ezo hadn’t pushed too much, but he wanted to pick Kammon’s brain about his experience with Ember and how it compared to the information here. Had he felt the creature emerging from his own magic? Had he known something was happening to him? Or had Ember’s emergence surprised him?

Ezo had so many questions. The book only raised more. He also wanted to find books about the bond. Surely, they had volumes about that as well.

He stretched his back as he closed the book and looked at the surrounding shelves. Only then did he realize someone else was at the table with him.

The man was a few years older than him and dressed in the formal clothes of the War-Sworn. The navy blue jacket was so much like the gray one that Kammon preferred that Ezo immediately disliked it. Ezo had always known that Kammon’s coat was an approximation of the War-Sworn uniform, but over time, it was just a part of Kammon, and he’d forgotten. The next time they stopped in a large city, he would make Kammon get a new wardrobe. And a jacket that wouldn’t remind him of his past and the actions he tried so hard to atone for.

The man looked up from his book and smiled at Ezo. “Light reading?”

“You can never learn too much, can you?” Ezo said, trying to avoid getting into a deeper conversation. He didn’t know who this was or his connection with the University, but since he was War-Sworn and in their walls, it was safe to say he was no friend of Ezo’s.

“I couldn’t agree more,” the man said. “I’m Voth.”

He stood and moved over to offer Ezo a hand. He ignored the hand, but stood and picked up his book. “I’m just passing through.” He returned the book to the shelf and put it where he’d found it. He could feel Voth watching him, though. He left the library and decided to come back later.

Besides, he didn’t know how long he’d been reading, and he was getting hungry. It was time to figure out what sort of trouble Kammon had gotten into without him around.