“Well to start with, I’d like to hear what you think of Healer Bokar here,” Vega said, tilting her head in his direction without taking her golden eyes off Aida.

“He’s a great teacher, and the sponsored assignment he gave me was extremely informative,” Aida said pleasantly, refusing to blink. Was Vega petty enough to shade a professional colleague? Did she have the same prejudices against poisons that Bokar had talked about? “Have you ever had the privilege of working with him?”

Vega blinked, but her smile remained on her face. “Unfortunately, I can’t say that I have. Fortune Favors Clinic doesn’t deal with poisons.” An undercurrent of obviously floated in the empty space over the table.

“That’s unfortunate,” Aida said softly. She lowered her gaze to her food in disappointment. “I would have thought you, of all people, would appreciate the value of incorporating knowledge and perspectives from different backgrounds.”

“Well, we have our hands full just maintaining the health of all our patrons.” The smile had dropped from Vega’s voice. “It’s a bit much to expect us to open another branch just based on the opinion of a student.”

“I wasn’t talking about me,” Aida said earnestly, looking up at Vega with wide, innocent eyes. “I just thought that you with your admirable rise up to such a respected clinic would be advocating to incorporate other disciplines in an effort to improve treatment.”

Fury was brewing in Vega’s eyes, but it didn’t spill across her face. “And as I just said, the way our clinic is run is no business of a student.”

“Of course,” Aida nodded deferentially, keeping her eyes lowered. “I was just wondering, and not questioning the efficacy or quality of the treatments available at your clinic.”

“That’s quite all right,” Vega said politely. She paused to take a sip from her cup. “I can see you wonder about a great many things, and are not shy about verbalizing your curiosity. Is that how you are so easily able to attain support from Healer Bokar and Professor Kozu?”

“Curiosity is a characteristic of intelligence! It’s no wonder Aida’s performed so well,” Bokar said enthusiastically, interrupting the sparks that flew between Aida and Vega.

Aida seethed as Vega smirked at her. Bokar was expounding about how curiosity led to breakthroughs, but the only person listening was Levan, who nodded along in agreement.

Vega’s insinuation was gross and completely unfounded. Aida didn’t have enough practice in throwing barbs in a professional setting, and she knew if she kept engaging she would eventually explode.

Levi’s words floated through her mind: “Lean into it. Give the people what they want.”

Aida took a deep breath, closing her eyes to Vega’s aggravatingly triumphant expression. Trying to defend her own honor wasn’t working, so what did she have to lose at this point?

“Healer Bokar’s words are too kind,” Aida said demurely. “I just feel so blessed to be able to attend Maglica Academy.”

Aida smiled wistfully, ignoring Vega’s shark teeth. Levan and Bokar returned her smile. “If I hadn’t been so fortunate as to have this opportunity, then I wouldn’t have been able to meet and learn from Professor Kozu and Healer Bokar. I can only imagine how bleak my original future would have been,” she sighed.

Aida nudged Levan. “What about you? Are you happy you got to meet and work with Healer Teena?”

“Oh, sure, of course,” Levan said quickly, nodding his head in the way that young people did when they were trying to impress someone they didn’t know. “I really enjoyed my time harvesting herbs…”

Vega’s jaw stiffened, though she didn’t let her bad temper through. “I enjoyed working with you as well, Levan.”

Aida felt a little sorry for Levan as he brightened at the meaningless praise. He doesn’t deserve being a pawn.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Moon Day was spent hanging out with the leads and Lily and Vanita. The girls had gone home for the Festivals, so they made up for their first-of-the-month picnic the star cycle after.

“Kuri is amazing,” Sue was raving. She was on her knees, her empty plate in front of her on the ground and punctuating her story with energetic punches. “She’s so powerful, and we cleared the forests around Maglica—” Sue snapped her fingers, small plumes of flame bursting “—like that.”

“You didn’t burn down the forests did you?” Aida asked, amused. Like everyone else, she was relaxing after their meal underneath the shade of a brand-new willow tree at the edge of the Lake. “Or did Levi and the other Woods have to regrow the forest for their sponsorship assignments?”

“Only the monster variety,” Sue conceded. “There were a lot of pests feasting on the herbs, so we had to support the Healers who went out for gathering.”

Aida giggled at the thought of Sue and Kuri rescuing Vega and Levan. Vega’s pride would undoubtedly be hurt if that happened.

“I’m so jealous you got to work with Bokar Evins,” Lily said mournfully. “I was looking for his name on the list of assignments, and didn’t see it anywhere. Then I saw you guys eating lunch together!”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I can put in a good word for you if you want,” Aida said, smiling. “I think you two would get along really well.”

“Please! And if you are interested in growing vegetables, I’ll introduce you to Rheyna Limpiks,” Lily promised.

“How about you?” Aida asked Vanita, who was lounging next to her. “It looked like you were headed out with a Border Strongholder?”

Vanita sighed. “It was mostly scouting work. Which I understand, since it’s our first meeting, but it was unfortunate because it was nothing special. We didn’t find anything, obviously, since so many practitioners were out and about.”

“I would have loved scouting for nothing,” Levi grumbled. “I thought going with a zen garden Affiliate would have been relaxing, but she kept pushing me in order to ‘find my limits.’” He gestured at the willow tree they were under, as well as all the other fresh and spry landscaping plants that now edged the Lake.

“Thank you for your service,” Sue said importantly, saluting him. “You made this place so much prettier.”

Aida had to agree. Even though Levi was complaining, she didn’t believe that he could grow so many plants with such care if he didn’t actually want to improve the look of the area. The additional plantlife served to completely transform the Lake, interrupting the dread she used to feel whenever she looked at the scene where Ezra was hurt.

“Did you scout mostly near the school?” Caleb asked Vanita. He had also gone with a Border Affiliate, but it seemed he had gone further. When Aida saw him for dinner, he had rips in his shirt and pants.

Vanita nodded sympathetically, having also seen his state when he returned. “I still think it would have been smarter if the Affiliates had partnered together on the scouting missions further away from the school. Travel in groups of four instead of only in twos.”

“They likely didn’t anticipate that level of danger this close to the school,” Ezra said quietly. “And if it was a scouting mission, they weren’t expecting to engage in combat.”

“That’s silly though,” Aida said indignantly. “After all the news that’s been circulating in town, you’d think they would have taken more precautions.”

“It wasn’t the Affiliate’s fault,” Caleb said hastily. “He was taking every precaution to make sure we were safe, but the nature of being so far away from everyone else increased the chance of being attacked…”

Aida pursed her lips, but couldn’t come up with a justifiable comment. At least Caleb and the Affiliate had returned to school safely - better than her trip with Caleb. She glanced over at Ezra, who was watching the Lake’s surface quietly. “How was your assignment?”

“Fine,” Ezra replied. “Construction is always construction.”

“At least it’s easy, eh?” Levi rolled over, poking Ezra with his elbow. “It’s not like they asked you to do anything beyond your abilities.”

Ezra shrugged.

“Are there any Affiliates you’re interested in working with?” Aida asked. He had mentioned he didn’t want to work for his family, but never explicitly said what he wanted to do.

He exhaled, his silver hair glimmering as it caught the breeze. “Out of all the Affiliates present, I believe the Strongholders would be the ones who would be able to provide me with the time and resources to conduct my studies.”

Levi muttered something that vaguely sounded like “book insect,” but she ignored it. “Then why didn’t you talk to any of the Strongholders? There’s no way they would turn down the chance to mentor rank 1.”

For some inexplicable reason, color bloomed in Ezra’s cheeks. “…I’ll get around to it.”

Puzzled, Aida looked around at everybody. No one else seemed bothered by Ezra’s reaction, though Levi caught her eye and shook his head imperceptibly.

“Okay, well…” Aida took a deep breath. “I know it’s too early to commit, but I really enjoyed working with Healer Bokar during my first assignment. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but…right now, I think I’d really like to go to Burston City after graduation to work at the Relief for Health Clinic.”

Aida’s words were met with wide-eyed silence. She looked around nervously. Lily was the first to clap, her characteristic grin on her face. “Yes! I support you!”

“They have a potion division there, right?” Levi asked thoughtfully. “That could be a really great place to earn baen.”

“Are you sure you want to associate with poisons, though?” Sue asked carefully, her lilac eyes large and worried. “If you really want to, I support you too, but I’m just worried that people will think…” she clamped her lips shut, looking around at everybody else for help.

“Don’t worry,” Aida said gently. “I know what the risks are. But no matter how you look at it, if I learn something important, there’s a chance I can use it to do something transformative with it, right? If we never try anything because we’re afraid, then we’ll never do anything amazing.”

Aida’s words were met with silence.

“I agree with Aida,” Lily said in a stage whisper. Vanita patted Lily’s head, smoothing her pale hair down. Lily nodded decisively. “That’s also how I’ve been feeling, but I couldn’t put it into words like that. Everyone thinks I’m weird because of my interest in ‘useless plants,’ but they don’t see that what we need could be right in front of us!”

Aida smiled at Lily. “Everyone’s too focused on only sticking to what is proven, huh?”

“Completely! Ezra might be able to discover something new following all this structure, but what about the rest of us?” Lily demanded. “No offense, Ezra.”

Ezra nodded indifferently.

“I, for one, thoroughly encourage your experimentations,” Levi declared. “Bonus points if they actually pan out to be life-changing discoveries.”

Caleb and Vanita both nodded, smiling. Sue’s eyes were watery, and she blinked rapidly at Aida. “That was beautiful, and I know you have it in you to make it work!”

“I mean, it’s only the First Moon - we still have until graduation in the Sixth Moon, so a lot of things can change,” Aida said quickly, feeling her face heat. “I just…I felt really good about working with Bokar yesterday.” Like she could trust him to actually be invested in her growth. Not a conniving, backstabbing authority figure like Vega.

“It’s a good thing the school has the policy that says the Affiliates can’t work with the same student twice in a row for a solo assignment,” Lily said in satisfaction. “Otherwise I’d never get a chance with Bokar.”

“Sounds like you have direct professional competition,” Levi joked, prodding the soles of Aida’s sandals with the toe of his boots. His eyes twinkled mischievously. “You know, zen gardens are also an important fixture of maintaining client health. You could meet with the lady I worked with yesterday - I promise I won’t be competing for that contract.”

Aida stuck her tongue out at Levi, as everyone else started comparing the Affiliates they had met with over the week. She was amused by the horse trading they were attempting - as if they had any sway over the Affiliates’ decisions.

She caught Ezra’s eye, who was silently watching the bartering with quiet exasperation. Shaking her head with a barely suppressed smile, she looked away from him, avoiding his eyes.

She hadn’t noticed until now, but she realized she hadn’t really talked with Ezra one-on-one ever since the Old Moon Festival passed - and for reasons she was unwilling to dive into while in public, she felt her heart squirm.