A few days passed, ushering in the new week and the official beginning of the ascendant meeting. For the next two weeks, the six men and women would spend several hours talking about whatever it was that took two weeks to discuss, and then finally things would go back to normal. Pria already couldn't wait.

Healing her people's injuries each night was gratifying and, she hoped, gave them some measure of comfort. But beside that, she could do without walking the vastness of the tower to get anywhere, the feeling of constantly being lost, the snide remarks from the apprentices at dinner, and the overall inconvenience of actually living in a tower with enough people to justify all its space.

She wanted to go back to just Viris and the aspects—and that was another thing. Storm season was coming to an end which meant there were hardly storms anymore. She hadn't had tea with Viris in a while—not that he had time for it with all the extra food he had to cook but absolutely refused Pria's help with. And with Rahu's time fully occupied by the other ascendants, the aspects had to pick up the slack. Pria could still practice in her usual spots, but the aspects were always running—flying, they didn't have feet—which meant they didn't have time for helping her.

It almost frightened her how comfortable she'd gotten with her usual schedule and activities. She even missed babysitting Nine, and it had only been a week. She tried to think of what Cestra would say, but nothing immediately came to mind.

Pria still took to wandering around the tower after she was done practicing her spells for the day. Since Rahu was preoccupied with the meeting, she figured it couldn't hurt. So long as she didn't go into any rooms that held monsters or more temperamental experiments, she would be fine. She still hadn't completely forgiven the tower for bringing her to the room of eyes that first night.

She tried the door she was closest to, a simple wooden door on the eighteenth floor. She'd quickly learned that metal doors were indicative of something more sinister lying in wait, so she only tried her luck with the wooden ones. Besides, the tower wouldn't let her into a room that was too dangerous.

The door was locked, but that was unsurprising. It was probably a study or a more mundane lab. Studies were better for her purposes since they had more books for her to read, though laboratories always proved to be more interesting. She could see the process for making new spells and got a glimpse inside Rahu's mind.

Not that she needed that. She already knew he was unfairly good at magic, and she'd read enough of his annotations to know his thought process. But it could still give her a clue on how she was supposed to end his life, so that was useful, too.

Tilting back her head, Pria asked, "Can you open this door for me?"

The tower shuddered, and she heard a light click. Smiling, she opened the door and stepped inside.

There were no lights in the room. Pria struggled for a moment, concentrating and finally managing to summon a little glowing ball of her own, the current limit of her illusion magic. The light revealed a small lab ringed with counter space.

Her gaze was immediately drawn to the corner of the room. She shut the door behind her and moved over, scrutinizing the large jar tucked against the wall. It looked like a little whirlpool, spinning endlessly inside the glass. She shuffled through the pages surrounding it, struggling to read the notes in the low light of her orb. Making out the handwriting was difficult as well. She recognized Rahu's cramped writing, but each stroke was darker and thicker, making letters and words bleed into each other. Like it was written in anger.

There were diagrams depicting essentially what was in the jar—a self-sustained whirlpool. It took her a moment to puzzle out the writing that stated it was created using storm and enchantment magic. That part seemed simple enough.

She continued through the different pages, reading the magical ratios and manifestation techniques, until it finally clicked. The vortex was supposed to be able to leave the jar as well to be used as a weapon, but it had failed in all trials. It existed in the jar and could even exit it. It was at that point that the spell quickly failed, the water simply getting everywhere.

That's why the notes were frustrated. One of the trials had ruined most of the pages of notes and data, forcing Rahu to make a record of that and then redo all of the pages. Pria smirked and set the notes aside. She carefully picked the jar up, and, when the whirlpool kept right on spinning, twisted its container between her hands. The spell might have failed at its intended purpose, but it still made an interesting little bauble.

The door opened behind her. Pria started, nearly dropping the jar in her hand. She just barely managed to catch it again before it could shatter on the stone countertop. Wincing, she put the jar down and turned, ready to meet Rahu's anger.

Except, it wasn't Rahu. In the weak light of her orb, she recognized one of the apprentices she had to eat with at dinner. She thought his name was Uthor, but the only thing she really knew about him was that he laughed the loudest whenever someone made a joke at her expense. A bold action from someone who looked like a jester with his skinny arms and legs and pale skin like white makeup.

His brow rose when he spotted her, surprise flitting across his face. It was quickly wiped away by a smile. "Oh, hello there, Pria," he said and made a show of looking around the room. "I'm afraid I'm a bit lost. See, I've been trying to find a good place to practice my spells, maybe even somewhere the tower can't see." His smile widened—trying to be charming, she was sure, but it just made him look unnerving in the dim light. "You wouldn't happen to know anywhere like that, would you?"

She did, but she wouldn't tell him that. Or any of the apprentices. Faye wanted a place like that too, and now Uthor? She resisted the urge to laugh. "No."

His smile twisted to a frown. "Really? I would have thought—" he cut himself off, and Pria arched a brow at him. "Nevermind. Say, now that I'm here, you wouldn't mind if I had a little look around, would you? I've never been in one of Rahu's labs and—"

He kept prattling on, but Pria tuned him out. She'd gotten good at that over her time at the tower.

The nerve of this man! Did he think she was stupid? Just because her knowledge of magical politics and regular politics was spotty at best, he must have thought her dim-witted. Or maybe he just saw her as gullible? Disloyal, perhaps? Well, he would be right about that one, but only toward Rahu. Besides, she disliked this boy much more. Rahu, she could tolerate. Him? Not a chance.

"You're not allowed to be in here," Pria said, interrupting whatever he was saying. She understood now what Viris meant. It had never been a warning about the servants, only the masters.

She wished she could just turn a blind eye to his trespassing. But ultimately, any magical secrets he squirreled away to whichever ascendant was his master would become her problem when she had to fight them and free her people. By defending Rahu's experiments from prying eyes, she was really helping herself.

And she also just hated the apprentices. Training with them left her with a bad taste in her mouth.

The boy shut the door. Under the light of Pria's orb, his pale face looked like a distorted specter. There was still a trace of a smile curling his lips. It only made him look more sinister. "What are you going to do about it?"

If Pria could face Rahu down in all his cold rage, she could handle one apprentice of a wayward ascendant. "You're not allowed to be here," she said again, crossing her arms and raising her chin. "Leave."

"Everyone knows Rahu just likes to have a plaything every now and then," the boy hissed, moving closer. Pria did not move back. "You're just a servant. You're completely replaceable. He won't miss you, you know."

"How do you think this will play out?" Pria snapped, glaring at him. "You try something, and then what?"

Uthor shrugged. "Well, I figure if Rahu's little toy mysteriously disappears, no one will bat an eye. I mean, it's unlikely anyone would even look for you"— he grinned, dark eyes glinting— "much less find you. It's a big ocean out there, you know."

Pria swallowed hard. Staring him down wasn't working. She talked big, but she still relied on Viris or—unfortunately—Rahu to deal with threats like this. She would even settle for Qwo and Dree. But it was just her in a small room, an apprentice looming over her.

She nearly couldn't believe it. He thought she was human, and yet he was still treating her like this.

He didn't even bother with his magic. He stepped forward, swinging a fist toward her face. Pria ducked back, grabbing the whirlpool jar and throwing it at the ground between them.

It wasn't her enchantment, so she couldn't control it without madness magic to shift bonds around. Would Rahu be able to sense the spell being used? She didn't know exactly how enchantments worked, but she didn't need to. The vortex burst from where the jar shattered, expanding to nearly the size of the room and shooting straight toward Uthor.

The boy threw his hand out, and a shield popped into place in front of him. The water surged at him, and Pria heard the telltale shattering of a shield breaking. There was a grunt followed by the sound of a body hitting stone, and Pria knew the spell connected.

The vortex persisted for only a moment before it fell in a cascade of water, drenching the room. Uthor was slumped against the opposite wall from Pria. She let out a slow breath and tried to quell the shaking of her hands. She—she needed to get Viris or one of the aspects—

Uthor let out a groan. Pria froze as he rubbed at his head and picked himself off the ground. His clothes were completely soaked, and his nose was red from the chill of the water, but otherwise he looked unharmed. "Nice trick," he said, smirking at her. "But it's not yours, is it?"

Gritting her teeth, she curled her hands into fists. Well, she could use magic, too. She hadn't been studying very long, but that didn't matter. It was about intent.

Strength too, and a lot of practice, but she couldn't afford to think like that right then.

She wanted to defend herself and hurt this boy. Those two burning desires manifested into a bright flaming lance beside her, turning the water near it into steam. She could feel it sapping at her strength like she was trying to move through mud, and she sent it flying toward Uthor before the flames could lose any of their own.

Uthor's expression twisted as he snapped his fingers. The water in the room snapped back together, forming an orb right in front of Pria's spear. The two crashed together, sending searing steam billowing out into the room. Pria cried out, hitting the wall and curling against it as it hit her flesh and burned. She struggled to raise a shield to block it. She was so tired after summoning one attack that didn't even work that even with all her intent, it took her two tries to conjure a shield big enough to block all the steam.

She didn't see Uthor, but he must have done something because all the steam drew back once again, forming a sphere of water in the center of the room. He still had a shield surrounding him—shields that he easily raised on the first attempt and kept up even now with not even a drop of sweat on his brow. He snapped his fingers, summoning three orbs of light to illuminate the room.

Pria had to let her shield drop, too exhausted to keep it up. Air rushed toward her, stinging the burns on her arms and face fiercely. She wanted to cry from the pain, but she refused to give Uthor the satisfaction.

He stepped over to her, smiling again. "There now, that wasn't so hard. Magic tends to work better when you're an actual apprentice that's been studying since you were young. Your parlor tricks," he waved a hand around the room flippantly before resting it on his hip, "never stood a chance." He raised his other hand to his chin, tapping one finger. "Now, what to do with you? I could make it look like you lost control of a spell, or I could just throw you into the ocean. That kinnara might look for you, but he won't find anything. Even if he does," Uthor shrugged, "no way to prove it was me. And then I can roam as I please."

Pria tried to say something, but opening her mouth aggravated the raw burns on her mouth and throat. She wheezed, clawing at the stone beneath her, but even that hurt the injuries on her hands.

Uthor curled his hand, and as he did, a short blade formed in his fist. He cocked his head at her. "I would say it was nice knowing you," he said, "but it wasn't. Goodbye—"

The tower shook and the door slammed open. Hope rose in Pria's chest before it was unceremoniously crushed again. Rahu stumbled through the door, brow furrowed and gaze flitting about the room. He stopped short when he took in the situation, staring at them with wide eyes.

She wished the tower brought Viris. By the divines, one of the other ascendants probably would have put him in his place. But it had to bring Rahu, the one person who always told her to just stay out of his way. Would he just walk away from the situation? Leave her to die? She wasn't even supposed to be in this room.

"What are you doing?" Rahu demanded, stalking forward and managing to loom over Uthor despite being the same height. He raised a hand and the jar reformed on the counter behind him, the orb of water slipping back inside, the vortex resuming its endless swirl. He lowered his hand and Pria's injuries vanished, the cold sting of healing magic laying over her skin and repairing it. She let out a shaky breath, rubbing at the phantom pains on her face and neck.

Rahu was angry, but it wasn't at her. He motioned for her to come closer, and Pria, for once, was happy to do so.

Uthor's mouth worked like a fish out of water. "Sir! I just—I mean, she's just a servant, and I asked her a question and she just—she attacked me!"

Rahu appraised him for a moment, eyes hard. He didn't look away from Uthor as he asked, "Is this true, Pria?"

She glared at him, not that he was looking to see it. "No."

Rahu nodded like he expected this response. "You're right, Pria is a servant," he bit, reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. She resisted the urge to brush it off. "She is my servant, and by hurting her, you have attacked my entire household. You seem so eager to offend my name, Uthor, surely you'd agree to duel me or my aspects?"

Uthor paled, shaking his head furiously and raising his hands. "No, I—I meant no disrespect, I swear."

"No, you only thought that you could get away with it." Rahu stared down at him, lip curling. "Would you like to be the one to explain to Ascendant Krist why she is being forced to return home?"

Uthor's eyes widened. "You can't do that! The meeting—"

Rahu cut him off with the wave of his hand. "She can participate via illusion and madness magic."

"No, please, she'll drop me as an apprentice," Uthor pleaded, gaze darting around the room. "It's really not that big a deal."

"You don't get to decide that." Rahu's glower was cold enough to freeze the stars. "Get out of my sight before I make you disappear."

Uthor didn't say anything, all but running from the room. His summoned lights flickered out, but Rahu conjured four more, one at each corner, without even raising a hand. He deflated then, shoulders slumping with the weight of exhaustion. Pria didn't think he used that much magic, but maybe he did.

"Are you alright, Pria?" he asked, glancing at her and quickly looking away again.

Slightly bewildered, she nodded. "I'm okay."

She waited, but he didn't rage at her for being in his lab without supervision or even for simply being there at the wrong time. He just nodded back. "If something like that ever happens again, just leave. Get me or Viris if you can. I was only able to be here this time because the tower forcibly pulled me from the middle of the library and pushed me here." He rubbed at his brow with one hand, eyes closed. "It really does like you."

She didn't know what to say. Should she say anything? "Thank you," she tried, but he shook his head.

"Don't thank me for this," he breathed, dropping his hand and meeting her gaze. His eyes glittered, and Pria found herself unable to look away from their intensity. "Just... wait a moment."

She did, nodding again and trying not to feel awkward in the silence. It only took a few seconds for one of the aspects to rise up through the ground.

"Hey," Nour greeted them, drifting up so he only floated by their knees. He pulsed and floated closer to Rahu. "You were pretty mad a second ago. What happened?"

"One of the apprentices attacked Pria."

Nour's edges flared red. "Wow, really?" he bit. "Did you kill them? I can if you don't want to."

"No, Nour," Rahu said evenly. Pria couldn't help but find his bloodthirstiness on her behalf a bit endearing, especially considering he offered to do the deed himself. Nour never offered to do anything.

"They will be leaving the tower shortly," Rahu continued. He gestured to her. "I just wanted you to escort Pria in any future excursions around the tower until the ascendants leave."

After a beat, Nour's light slipped back into its usual yellow. "I can do that. But if you want them dead, I can get rid of the bodies."

Rahu sighed, but Pria smiled. "Thank you, Nour," she said. She wouldn't take him up on it if only so that she didn't anger Rahu. And, for once, she found she didn't want to anger Rahu. Not because she was afraid of him but because she didn't want him to be angry with her. Uncomfortable with the thought, she stepped away.

"Right, then," Rahu muttered and headed for the door. He stopped just before he left and glanced at her one more time. "Just be more careful," he said slowly. And with that, he was gone.

Pria watched him go, but she couldn't figure out his ploy. He helped her. Even though she'd been somewhere she wasn't supposed to be, he didn't even admonish her for that. He was kicking out the offending party and threatened to fight him.

What did he want from her? For once, she didn't think he wanted anything. He called her part of his house. She was a member of his fold, and he defended her. She didn't know what to do about that, but it didn't matter. She couldn't afford to like Rahu.

She was still an elf in the household of an ancient ascendant. She still needed to steal his secrets and do away with him if she ever hoped to save her people. She couldn't afford to like him.

So why couldn't she stop?