Things moved quickly in the days following the impromptu war council. Aerion and Elise were gone perpetually, visiting nobles and making final arrangements for the time he would be gone. The city and manor were quiet and subdued during this time, and during the few times I saw beyond the walls, I drew even more suspicious looks than usual.
But the time came that Aerion left, and with him gone, the house lightened up. R'lissea and Selena were busy studying the ninth-level spell, so I spent a few hours every day with Sari instead, taking over her tutoring. I knew far less than Selena in the knowledge of Enusia, and was little help explaining the customs and time-worn understandings of mana and runes. But I could offer her insight and experience in using her ability, a tool she'd find far more useful than an understanding of what I believed to be a flawed, imperfect perspective on magic anyway.
