"I wish I could have joined. Maybe next year."
"Next year then." Ash said, trying not to let it get to her. This wasn't the island, when her friends had life of their own, they might not overlap. The population of the university was far beyond the population of her small island. People were bound to have varied activities and interests.
Mayra asked, "did you get a call from the library?"
Ash shook her head. "I might not."
"Then what elective are you going to pick?"
"The high priestess said that she might be able to help me look into my abilities. So I might consult her about it."
Mayra's eyes lit up. "that's great news. That's better than aiming for a moon blessing and trying to cultivate it anew."
Ash couldn't mirror Mayra's enthusiasm. "I hope so. I don't know what I am doing anymore. What I came here to do has been flipped over. Old Madame is comatose, there was an attack, the high priestess refused me a moon blessing and now the council."
Mayra squeezed her arm before removing their interlocking elbows. "That's what life is for everyone. You just had everything laid out before you since childhood so you find it hard to adjust."
Ash sighed, "how do you do it? Go on not knowing where life is leading you."
Mayra smiled at her warmly. "We go on with faith. Faith that the moon goddess and in your case the night goddess will put us on the path that we are meant to be."
Ash never put her faith in anything or anyone except herself. She didn't know how to out her faith in something else. But Mayra was already moving away, "I will see you at the dorm. Stay in touch and keep me updated about the drama."
Ash laughed. Mayra's entire motivation in life was the drama of other people's life and all the better of it was love drama. Ash said, "wait for me after your class. Let's visit the old Madame together."
With a nod of agreement, she went down the staircase and Mayra left through the large double doors in the front.
Down in the hall, Ash put her bag on the table and took the chair she had last time. Karlene was in a corner, ignoring her, Sven was absent and Bree sat at the head of the table, going through some papers.
In her presence, Bree looked up. "You are early. How was classes?"
Ash looked at Karlene and said, "someone threatened me to keep away from their boyfriend but nothing else out of the ordinary."
Bree left her spot and sat next to her. "Show me your arm."
Ash shook her head. She wore long sleeve for this very purpose. "I am alright. The high priestess took care of it."
But the look of deep concern did not wane off from Bree's thick brow. "You are not the first to get attacked Ash. This is serious."
Karlene was suddenly sitting across from them. "Attacked? You didn't say you were attacked. You said you had a bad encounter."
Ash smiled at Karlene's off handed exasperation. Bree scolded, "it is nothing to smile about. Last year, before the finals, a kelpie was found drained of blood at the edge of the backwaters and her boyfriend had no memory of the incident."
Ash was quick to add two and two. "Is that why you have been unpopular with the other races? But how does this connect to you?"
"My glasses was found in the kelpie's hands. We were able to save her but it has not been good ever since."
"The kelpie has not woken up to clear your name."
Bree sighed. "It's been a headache. I can only hand over the mantle to Bree for the club activities and look to Karn or Vance to continue the council."
Ash did not want to dig more. She, too, had the feeling something wasn't right about the golem's attack but she couldn't speak about it yet. Bree, however, had different thoughts. "unlike before, we have something to go on from."
Ash did not want to persue the matter anymore but it was out of her hands and not about her at this point. She did not give her opinion on the matter. Instead she asked, "I have another thing to ask."
Bree waited for her. "Since the council has turned into a club, do we still support the student body and handle matters between the student body and the college counsel?"
"We do. Do you have something to represent the counsel?"
"Not the counsel, the chancellor. The dwarfs working on the underground construction have their tools wearing out and falling apart but multiple requests to the chancellor have gone unheard. He is either pushing them to come through you or it has simply slipped him because of a lack of organization in his office."
"Since you knw him personally, you can put it in front of him." Karlene suggested but the two of them ignored her.
"We should put together the proper paperwork and hand it in as representatives for the dwarfs. It will gain their favor." She said, resisting the urge to tell them about the return favor that the dwarfs had promised her. She didn't known dwarfs like she knew the races that were on the island. It was best to wait for the favor to be returned before bragging about it. She should also find a way with the goblins meanwhile to have the dwarfs get used to the frenemy's company early in their cooperation of the council.
"We must put in the proper papers and go through the proper channels to get the job done in the first place." Vance came in through the side, his eyes on Bree. "And, do it without the need of a favor." he added, taking a seat next to Karlene but avoided looking at her altogether. Ash felt like they were in a game of avoidance. He avoided her, she walked away from him, he refused to look at her and now she refused to address him.
Though none of it could suppress the slight tinge of something she felt at his righteousness. To anyone else she could have told that they couldn't afford to hand out free favors but to Vance she couldn't speak a word.
Karlene asked, "where is Karn? He isn't coming with you?"
Akiye came in behind him instead, "I have a list of all the warlocks and witches that were on the backwaters that night, compiled by the closeness of their location to Ash at the time."
Ash had a sudden thought and reached out for the list. Akiye gave it to her. Ash's eyes scanned down the list of names, all unfamiliar and found what she was looking for. She passed list to Bree.
"Anyone stands out to you?"
"None. Akiye would know better." she said. As Bree turned to talk to Akiye, Ash turned to Karlene, "could you please help me find the right seal and papers?"
Karlene scowled at her but stood up, "we have a form around here somewhere."
She went to the end of the table and Ash was about to follow her when Vance spoke, "here. I picked it up from the golem."
A thin long knife slid across the table to her. She looked and Vance and found his eyes on Bree instead. With a heavy feeling in her gut, she picked it up, pressed the button, turned it into a hilt that looked like a siren's shoulder scale, added a, "thank you," and followed Karlene to the back of the table. Once the form was in her hand, she busied herself with work, paying little heed to the proceedings of the meeting.
She went slower than she needed to, to avoid sitting in on the discussion about the golem attack. Any insight she had to offer, Akiye offered too. Vance filled in where he could. Karn and Sven came in last, having gone through the entire length from the fence to the backwaters and back, with no success to any signs of the witch or warlock's identity.
When she was done with the proposal, she put it in a new file and stood up. Everyone turned to her. Bree asked, "what do you think?"
Suppressing all the reluctance she felt toward talking about the matter, she contributed her necessary bit and left the meeting room as quickly as possible. The warmth of the night sky and the darkness, cocooned her into a liberty to explore her own thoughts.
As soon as her chair dragged out from under the table, Vance's head turned to her. Bree and Karn followed close after. In a moment, everyone was looking at the princess. Vance felt the pressure on his chest. The pressure to speak when she did not want to. Vance found himself scrambling for words that would take the attention away from her. Her emotions had been muted while she was working. The sudden attention was like a shock to him.
The princess took it in stride and address them all at once. "I was absent from the previous incidents, so I cannot say anything about the suspects. Considering that the person who attacked the kelpie and made the golem are the same person, a witch or warlock, would have to use pretty dark magic to drain someone off their blood."
Vance felt the pressure on his chest lighten but he found her eyes, carefully trained on the table instead of meeting any of them. She was still holding something back, something she couldn't say in the room. Vance quickly diverted the attention away from her.
"We can start by looking at the list and inspecting or testing the witches and warlocks here for any signs of erratic magic or dark magic." Vance tapped the list and turned everyone's attention away. Unlike others he looked at the princess and found her collecting her work, eyes lost in though far from this room.
"Excellent insight," Karn said and added, "if by any chance everyone on this list turns up negative, we can start looking at the two things independently."
Vance didn't think that was necssarily the courrest course of action. There was still a long list of suspects at the backwaters other than witches and warlocks who could make a golem. And the way Ash hesitated to interrupt Karn, she didn't agree with his assessment either. If only he knew, what she was really thinking, he could take the investigation in the right direction.
Or that is what he told himself, as he moved away from the group and said, "I need to head back first. I will see you at the meeting tomorrow," and asked Bree, "anything you need me to look into?"
And so he left the meeting and headed to the reception. She would have to pass here to head to her next class. In a few moment, she walked through the reception, looked at him once and went on her way, not even offering a courtesy of a smile. Vance hesitated. He was the one responsible for keeping her at a distance. And she was smart enough to pick it up and accept he fact. Now that he needed to talk to her, he did not know how to approach her.
Soon, she was out of the door. Karn came hurrying after her and paused, "what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for Drew. What about you?"
Karn looked through the door but said nothing. Vance laughed once, "you talked to her once. Why are you hesitating now?"
Before either of them could take a step forward, Sven raced past them, "hey guys. Bye guys and came to a stop by the princess. The princess looked over once and smiled warmly. Sven threw out a hand to hang on her shoulder but she said, "keep your hand to yourself."
Sven laughed and Ash's smile grew.
Vance felt her real delight. He looked at Karn and his narrowed eyes, surprised that while he had been hesitating over one wolf, "another has already swept her off her feet."