Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Evin felt wary of the Cosmic's directness, but ultimately, this was what he wanted to happen. "Yes. I have a secret. And like all people do, I'm unwilling to reveal it so casually. Please be understanding."

"I'd like to agree, say, 'Of course, people are entitled to their secrets, but you must understand we can't just teach you our magic without certain knowledge."

Evin had nothing to say in response, silently urging the Cosmic to speak.

"The magic of the Cosmics is many things. But predominantly, it is one of precision and control. Not the precision of carpenters or seamstresses - who can be considered precise by some – but the precision of surgeons and mathematicians who know that the slightest of mistakes can lead to the most wrong of results."

"Not the shabby thing that Chanters call control, but true control. Control of every detail of one's spell. Your will must be present during the entirety of your spellcasting process, and that is law. Nothing must slip your mind, or be left for the World energies to handle," Abe finished.

Evin nodded heavily, thinking that the Voice would be delighted to hear something like this, "I've hidden the details from you, but I can confidently say that I understand your needs. I believe I've already shown that through your questions."

It felt weird to Evin, to be acting so pompously and using such big words, making him wonder if the Voice was speaking on behalf of him, or him speaking like this, due to the Voice sharing its mind with him. Evin wondered what the difference between the two cases were.

"Yes. We've seen hints of that during our conversation. You show the traits of someone who understands the importance of such things. Rith here even thinks you're a Cosmic reborn in the skin of a human… but that's the problem. We can't understand why you know of these things and that confuses us."

Rith continued, "And we can tell that you find ulterior motives behind the questions we ask you. You artfully steer the debates from the topics you don't want to discuss, focusing on different, yet still very interesting topics to make it seem natural. It is unsettling to us to see such traits in a 10-year-old child."

Evin pondered on the words and realized what the two were getting at. They thought that he was one of the Children of the Empress. Evin remembered the conversation he had with the Voice. The two later considered naming Evin as a Child of the Empress, but gave it up, because they couldn't really guess what would happen afterward.

<What would happen if I confessed myself a Child to the Cosmics?> Evin asked.

<Don't confirm, or deny it,> the Voice ordered. <Just urge them to trust you.>

"And that is my secret," Evin replied simply. "And I ask you to trust me despite that and teach me."

Rith and Abe exchanged looks and asked for privacy. Evin, of course, didn't mind and waited as the two spoke behind a spell of magic which functioned as a veil of against sound and vision. Evin waited in silence for the two to finish, not even speaking with the Voice during the time.

Finally, the two seemed to have finished speaking and looked at Evin with resolution.

"Your classes can start from tomorrow. Rith here will be your private teacher." Abe stated simply. "When can you absorb a World Shard?"

"I absorbed an Ivelisi Shard nine days ago."

"Good. You can absorb another tomorrow and be ready for some practical lessons, then," Rith took over the conversation. "Can you show me your schedule? I'll only need four hours of your week."

"How long will the studies last?" Evin asked.

"For you? A lifetime," Rith purred smilingly. "But with me, two years. If I deem you impossible to teach, less than that."

And thus, Evin's days were decided. Abe left through a portal, saying that he was going to report to his superior. Rith and Evin spoke about the details of their tutelage and Rith left the room, saying that she was going to rent some place to sleep in for two years.

The Voice reminded Evin that he was supposed to meet Leanne after the meeting was over, so he changed his clothes and realized that Leanne never told her where he was supposed to meet him. He walked over to her classroom, found it empty, so decided to walk towards her house. It wasn't a long walk.

The guard outside saw him and told him to wait until a servant came to fetch him. Bee, Leanne's favorite slave, came out of the door and brought Evin to the Lanesbreau household's dining table.

Evin saw Leanne sitting beside a lean, handsome man, who, in Evin's humble opinion, spent way too much time on trimming his moustache into that perfect shape. He wore a tightly fitting jacket and trousers, both made of expensive dark-blue velvets. To complement the color, he wore many accessories made of gold on his body. A golden pocket watch, a golden bracelet, a golden pin, and a golden ring.

"The Duchess is quite pleased with the way the Chairman instigates rivalry in the Academy. She believes it would breed strong students for our future," the man was saying.

Evin immediately didn't like the man.

Leanne noticed his entry and called out apologetically, "Good evening, Evin. I'm terribly sorry for leaving you back there. But I had some things to do back at home."

"It's alright. The talk took way too long, anyway."

"Sit over there," Leanne pointed towards a chair. And, gesturing at the man, she introduced. "Meet Terrence Lanesbreau, my husband."

With the introduction, Evin's mind stilled.

'Husband?' Evin thought dreadfully.

<This should be interesting,> the Voice seemed to sneer and after a second, Evin felt its mind impose itself on his once more. It was the fourth time today.

'Of course, she'd be married…' Evin realized, feeling idiotic.

Even though he realized during the day's events that Leanne only thought of him as a child, he still couldn't ignore the heartache he started feeling.

"Oh! This must be the young prodigy of Greater Ankelite!" Terrence exclaimed as he stood from his seat and shook Evin's hand. "I must say, when I first spoke about you to the Duchess, she looked positively shocked. And that's a rare sight, my boy! A rare sight!"

Evin pushed down his dislike for the man and how he called him his boy and greeted back, "Nice to meet you, too, sir Terrence."

"Oh, just call me Terry. I used to be like you, all formal and polite, but thanks to Lea here, I learned to at least act a bit more casual with my close ones. Though it doesn't really help, since I'm almost always with the Duchess, ha-ha," Terrence laughed jovially.

Evin wondered if that was the man's idea of a joke, and he also wondered why the man mentioned the Duchess every two sentences.

"Sorry to ask, but what do you do?" Evin asked, making himself sound childish and dumb just in case. "I don't mean to offend you… Um, I'm just curious, because you mention the Duchess so often. You're talking about Duchess Klavd, right?"

"Yes, yes. Of course, it's Duchess Klavd," the man replied, sounding offended that Evin would even bother asking a question like that. "But don't worry about sounding rude. I'm the Duchess's secretary, you see? And to offer you some inside information, the Duchess is definitely interested in meeting you, but can't quite summon you in her estates, as that's quite unbecoming of her station," Terrence finished with a wink.

The man was saying some haughty stuff... but it sounded cheap to Evin, who had just entered a tutelage that was bound to help him meet the King himself. But, he didn't wish to flaunt the fact to Terrence.

"Ah, that is pretty impressive," Evin said simply, though he was feeling awfully cold inside.

"Well, we can talk about those stuff all we want later. Do you want something to eat, Evin?" Leanne smiled at Evin, but her eyes looked dull to him.

"Sure. But I already had dinner, so something small would be nice," Evin replied.

Out of curiosity, Evin wanted to sit on the same table with Leanne and her husband, to see what kind of marriage they shared. So far, things looked bad to Evin. The man seemed infatuated with the Duchess instead of his wife; and Leanne looked positively tired of his presence.