Orenda found that she quite liked the solitude of the school over the holidays. The students and the staff had gone away, leaving her all to herself, but still, she knew that Quiroris was watching her, so on the first day, she bid her time and avoided contacting Bubbider until she had a better understanding of the new comings and goings of the place. It did not do one well to take risks because they got overzealous.

Still, as darkness descended over the room she sat on her bed with her staff lying beside her and reached out to the magic that flowed through her, concentrating on Ali. What she saw unnerved her.

He looked to be in great pain, and there was a fear in his eyes that she didn’t understand. She could only see his face, but his hair and the new hoops on his ears bounced as if he was moving. His eyes were wide and blown open, and the makeup he wore did not disguise the circles under them. He had lost a great deal of weight and his cheekbones were visible under the flesh that had once held his full cheeks.

He shook his head in her direction, but said nothing, and Orenda knew that whatever was happening, he did not want her to see it, and definitely could not speak to her. She waved her hand quickly and the flame, with him inside it, disappeared.

Afterwards she found she could not move. It shook her, to see him change so much, and she realized that it had been months since they had last spoken. She had no idea what Lady Glenlen was doing to him, no idea what he was going through. She shouldn’t be sitting there, in the schoolhouse, doing nothing. She should be trying to save him!

But that would jeopardize his mission. That would put him in even more danger.

Orenda didn’t know what to do, so she clutched at her chest and wondered what his face had looked like when she burned the symbol into his neck. Had he looked so bad then? Was this worse than that? What were they doing to him?

She stood and made her way to the mirror over the basin to look at herself. Despite what she had feared, she was not beginning to look more like an earth elf despite living among them. Her frame was still large, both taller and wider than the other students, though now less of it was muscle and more of it was fat, which she correctly attributed to her sedentary lifestyle. But she was not one of them. She did not look like them. Her profile was still strong, her eyes were still set at a slightly different angle, her flesh was still dark and her hair was still a stark, bright red.

She was not one of them. She was an elf, but she was… she was one of the good ones.

As she gave herself this assurance the tightness in her chest began to alleviate a little, but she jumped when the door to the room opened.

“Orenda,” Quiroris said pleasantly, “I wanted to make some arrangements with you, for meals and such.” He took in her startled appearance and asked, “Oh dear, are you alright?”

“I was thinking,” Orenda said, trying to make up a lie on the spot, “Of trying to pierce my ears. But I think it may hurt to just shove them through the skin.”

“What were you going to… why? Why are you doing that?” He asked with concern that seemed genuine.

“I was gifted this pair of earrings,” Orenda took the box from her pocket, “And I should like to wear them.”

“Oh,” He said, “Who gave you-”

“Your curiosity knows no bounds,” Orenda pulled the box back and stuffed it back into her pocket.

There was a long pause as he considered this, but he eventually agreed, “Fair enough. Just… can I ask if it was a student? Were dragons bringing you things again?”

“It was a boy named Tolith Glenlen,” Orenda rolled her eyes, “Whom I suppose was under the impression he was supposed to get gifts for everyone.”

“I once pierced my ears in the barracks at the military academy, at the capital,” Quiroris told her, “It was a terrible mistake. A friend of mine, Kailu, swore that he knew how to do it; he told me that all you needed was a sharp needle and, I quote, ‘A whole bunch of rags’. The end of that story is that they got terribly infected and I had to let it grow up and then get them professionally done.”

“Did it hurt?” Orenda asked.

“The infection hurt,” he said, “But if the piercing had hurt I wouldn’t have them all up and down my ears. The cartilage hurts a little bit.” He shrugged, “But I suppose we all can take a little pain for vanity. Elves are meant to be adorned.”

“I can’t afford to have them done professionally,” Orenda told him, “Someone took all my money.”

“I don’t know that you’ve learned anything from your etiquette classes at all,” Quiroris told her, leaning on the doorway. “I can take you into town tomorrow to have them done, if you like.”

“Why would I go into town with you?” Orenda asked him.

“The same reason you would stay in this school with me, I suppose,” Quiroris said, “I imagine, Orenda, that despite how terribly you treat me, I’m the closest thing to a guardian you have.”

“I don’t need a guardian,” Orenda told him, “I’m not a child.”

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“You are when it suits you,” He accused. “Sometimes you’re a powerful mage who could set my guards aflame, and sometimes you’re a poor, innocent child who had a terrible accident.”

“What did you want to talk to me about?” She asked him with a scowl.

“During the breaks, I normally don’t have the kitchen staff make a full spread, because I, well, and a skeleton crew of security, are the only ones here. I don’t think it’s worth them putting all the extra work in, so I was going to invite you to take your meals with me.”

“No,” Orenda said, “thank you. I suppose I can eat with the humans.”

“You absolutely will not,” He said, massaging his temples, “Orenda, I really need you to stop fraternizing so much with the servants. It’s below you. You have to learn how to act.”

“Then I’ll eat in the dining hall,” Orenda told him.

“Then they’ll have to clean it every day,” he huffed, “Honestly, Orenda, just… just come when I call you to meals, alright? Don’t make everything a fight. The dining room isn’t going to be open in the morning. Everyone went home today.”

“Except us,” Orenda snapped.

“This is my home,” He told her, “I have apartments behind my office.”

“I thought as much,” Orenda told him, “Which seems odd to me. Don’t you have any family? Or any adult friends to spend the solstice with?”

“Normally, yes,” He shrugged, “But I wasn’t going to leave a little girl alone on the solstice, Orenda. I’m not a monster.”

She stared up at him, and he smiled.

“I’ll be upstairs, if you need me. Breakfast is still at six. We’ll go out to see about your ears afterwards, if you’d like.”

He made his way down the hall with a spring in his step, tapping the floor with his ridiculous walking stick, and Orenda stepped forward to push the door shut.

Orenda was contemplating this invitation when the flame in her lamp sprang to life and Ali’s face appeared in it. He looked more cautious than usual.

“Can you speak?” Orenda asked in a whisper.

“Yes,” he said, and Orenda noticed that his voice sounded off, wrong, as if there was a pain in his throat, “I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Orenda told him, “You look awful.”

“There’s nothing to report,” He told her with less emotion than Orenda thought he should feel, “I’m sorry, Rendy. These scries are dangerous. We shouldn’t talk when there’s nothing to report. Did you find something out?”

“Quiroris invited me to his apartments,” Orenda told him, “And I know for sure he was there, the night the fire elves fell. He worked under the Emerald Knight. He claims he’s a real person. And I’ve met a boy named Tolith Glenlen, Lady Glenlen’s son.”

“Holy shit,” Ali said and seemed to wake up a little, “You’ve been… god, you’ve been putting in the work, Rendy.”

“So you think I should go? To Quiroris’s apartments?” She asked.

He hesitated, eyes darting back and forth, then leaned back as if watching for someone.

“No,” He finally answered. He shook his head as if making up his mind and continued, “No, Rendy. Don’t do that, at least not yet. You’re too young. I… when I volunteered I thought I was old enough, but… it’s… it’s a lot. It sticks with you. Give it… what are you, like… twelve, right?”

Orenda nodded.

“Don’t go yet.”

“You know something you’re not telling me,” Orenda accused.

“Because you ought to have at least a couple more years of… I don’t know Rendy, of that concept of innocence that we pretend exists. God, I’m sorry, I can’t keep my head straight. We work out all the time and we’re throwing this big twelve day long ball, and we’ve got a lot of “guests” and I’m super high right now. I’m tweaking real bad.”

“Tweaking?” Orenda asked.

“Yeah I… it’s called ‘frost’. It’s supposed to keep you awake but when I researched it before I came here I learned the real reason she gives it to them, to us, I mean- god, Rendy, I’m one of them now, I, I can’t scry my mom because,” He took a deep breath and Orenda knew he was willing himself not to cry, “It keeps you from growing. Or, at least, not as fast. It keeps you young and ‘cute’ longer. But it kills you. It’s doing that by killing you.”

“Ali, they need to pull you out of there,” Orenda said with as much authority as she could muster.

“No!” He snapped, “No, she’s starting to trust me. I just need more time. I have to get her to let me into that room on my own. I have to find out what’s in there that’s calling to me! I’m not risking an escape right now. I think I’d be ok if I could sleep. After the solstice, we won’t all be working every goddamn night, and I’ll be able to sleep again. I won’t have to take all the frost if I’m allowed to sleep. I just have to get through the next two weeks.” He seemed to have been talking more to himself than to her, but his eyes, then his face snapped back to the fire in a movement so fast that it looked unnatural, that it scared Orenda. “Don’t let him get you alone, that Quiroris guy. Don’t go into his apartments alone. Don’t trust any of those earth elves, Rendy. But do try to get closer to the Glenlen kid. That’s the only kid she talks about, so I think he’s the only one she has. You might be the one who has to kill him.”

This information hit Orenda particularly hard. She had never really considered Tolith a bad person or a liability. And he was in the same class she was, so he couldn’t be more than a year older than her, at most. He may even be younger.

“We follow the path of order,” Orenda told him, “We don’t kill children.”

“I… yeah,” he admitted, “You’re right, Rendy, you’re right. I can’t think straight. I… I don’t think I’m as strong as I thought I was. Bubby told me to pull out, too. But I can’t. I just… I just have to be stronger. I can do this. I just have to wear her down. Look, I need to go. You’re doing a great job. I gotta get back in there before he wakes up.”

“Who?” Orenda asked.

“Captain Liatumal,” Ali explained, “He’s in charge of a ship for the Urilian navy that we know has been used to transport slaves. I’m actually glad I was assigned to him. I need to get back. I’m working.”

“Happy Solstice, Ali,” Orenda said.

“Oh,” he laughed, but there was no mirth in it, and it frightened Orenda, “Yeah, Happy Solstice, kid. Goodnight.”

Orenda waved her hand, the connection broke, and Ali was gone.