Thankfully, their first class was no great distance from the dining hall, and they arrived with time to spare. As soon as Evran entered the room, he habitually looked toward the back row, to where a cute girl often sat. There she was, though today she looked far more angry than cute. Selsey glared back at Evran as he took the seat nearest the door. He buried his face in the desk and stewed in a well of shame and regret.

  “You know, Professor Grist will be livid if he sees you like that,” warned Lerrum.

  A soft voice came from behind him. “Yeah, he’ll probably force you to drink some foul concoction to wake you up,” said Kaila. She’d been sitting there the whole time, and Evran felt a little guilty for not saying hi. He also felt something else. The strange sensation of warmth he had felt the previous night had returned.

  As Evran turned around to greet Kaila, a large oaf of a man burst through the door with a silver cloche in his pudgy fingers. He wore a fiendish grin his students knew to fear.

  “Silence, silence!” shouted Professor Grist. “Good morning, class. I have some very exciting news I wish to share with all of you!”

  He spoke with a melodramatic flourish. Someone was is deep trouble.

  “Last night I came across a very rare and very valuable potion ingredient just lying discarded on the floor of the dining hall. Can you believe it?”

  Grist paused for a moment to allow his victim to marinate. He slowly lifted the cloche to reveal a modest pot containing the mangled remains of a once-precious flower.

  “Oh, no…” Evran muttered under his breath.

  Grist smiled deeply. “Now, I am sure by now all of you are now very well aware of what plant this is. Lover's bloom! When I inquired as to how it got there, I heard some deeply disturbing news. It turns out that one of my students — my students! — whom I hold in such high regard, violated the most sacred rule of my classroom. Can anyone tell me what that rule is? Anyone? Anyone at all? Mr. Wright?”

  “Professor, please…” Evran’s plea fell on uncaring ears.

  “Answer the question.” Grist replied in a severe tone.

  Evran took a deep breath and started. “Don't eat potion ingredients...”

  “...unless you know everything there is to know about them!” Grist finished. “Well done!”

  “Professor Grist, hasn't he suffered enough?” said Lerrum.

  “Like hell he has!” shouted one of Selsey’s friends from the back.

  “Enough!” Grist glared at the girl in the back. She withered back into her seat. Evran noticed no change in the professor’s exaggerated smile. There would be another victim.

  “Now, can anyone tell me the effect of consuming a petal of the lover's bloom can have on a person? Ah... Ms. Krewt?”

  Kaila? But she hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “The petal can be used as an ingredient in a love potion,” Kaila responded quickly, her voice trembling.

  “True, yes… but that is not what I asked, is it? What effect can be felt when consuming the petal in its raw form?” Grist pointed to another student who had raised his hand. “Mr. Hall.”

  “It can produce mild feelings of infatuation and euphoria when the subject is touched.”

  “Correct! Well done, sir!”

  Pieces of a puzzle Evran failed to even notice fell into place. Wait, what did I do with that petal? I must have swallowed it at some point. Then, that strange warmth I’ve been feeling… that’s from the petal? And Kai knew all about it? But nothing she did was weird. It’s what any good friend would have done. Then it hit him. She’s never hugged him like that, though.

  Evran’s head was racing. He turned around and made brief eye contact with Kaila, who promptly buried her face in a fortress of arms all her own. He could still see the tips of her pointed ears peeking up from the palisade. They blushed a bright crimson.

  The heartless professor continued. “Now, as you can see, two of the main petals on this flower are conspicuously absent! I have it on good authority that one of them was spat out, but the other is mysteriously unaccounted for. I do wonder what became of it... Anyway, today we will be taking this rare opportunity to brew love potions.”

  The class gasped. He wouldn’t actually let them, would he?

  “Well, infatuation potions, really. When you're my age, I hope you will all have the wisdom to know the difference.”

  “Sir, is this something you should be teaching us?” asked a student. A few of the girls jeered at him for the heinous crime.

  “Perhaps not, but this potion just so happens to incorporate the transmutation technique we studied last week. It's too perfect an opportunity to pass up. And we will of course be brewing the antidote as well. I suspect someone here might be in need of it.”

  The class split off into pairs and spent the remainder of the class at their alchemical stations trying their hardest to brew love potions. Some possessed an excess of eagerness toward the task, but Grist kept a watchful eye on all his students. Evran’s mind brewed something else altogether, but Lerrum gladly picked up the slack of his distracted friend.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  ***

  “Excellent work, everyone!” Grist exclaimed. “I will now go around and watch as you dump the contents of your flasks down the drain.”

  A collective groan filled the classroom.

  “I expect you all understand why, though I do hope you all had fun today. Mr. Wright, Ms. Krewt, please see me after class. The rest of you are dismissed once I verify your flasks are empty. And you’ll be as dead as the Gods should any of you be foolish enough to attempt to smuggle any love potion out of this room.”

  Professor Grist went around the room ensuring every last drop of love potion had found its way down the sink. He was taking quite a risk with his students, which they all seemed to acknowledge on some level. They still hated him.

  Evran waited at Grist’s desk while the rest of his class streamed out behind him. Kaila made her way beside him, but she couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact. He thought he should have felt the sting of her avoidance, but he could only feel the petal’s false warmth. Grist finished his rounds and returned to his desk.

  “Ah, Mr. Wright. I do hope I was not too harsh with you, but I have good reason to be. There are far worse ways to learn this lesson,” he said menacingly. “Drink this, and you are dismissed.”

  The professor offered Evran a thin vial containing a yellow-green liquid. He pressed it to his lips and caught scents of anguish and despair. Synesthetic odor was never a good sign. Evran threw his head back and quickly downed the antidote, doing his very best to avoid splashing his tongue. A bitter chill replaced the petal’s warmth, leaving Evran with a profound sense of emptiness in his heart.

  “Well done, lad. Most fall to their knees and bawl their eyes out, but I only see a few tears.”

  “Um, you wanted to see me, too?” Kaila asked shyly.

  “Let us wait for Mr. Wright to leave. We have something important to discuss.”

  Eager to be on his way, Evran rushed out the door. Lerrum stood waiting for him in the hall with an uncharacteristically angry look on his face.

  “That was out of line, man.” Lerrum said, loud enough for Grist to overhear.

  “Come on, let’s just go.” Evran smiled and gave Lerrum a thankful nudge with his shoulder. Lerrum nodded, and together, they set off to their next class.

  ***

  The last of the boys’ footsteps echoed down the corridor. Kaila stood still and watched as Professor Grist busied himself at his desk with some paperwork, already preparing a notice of tardiness. It would be a long conversation. She nervously fidgeted with the clasp on her satchel, recalling the look she saw on Evran’s face when he found out about the petal’s effects. Gods, that was embarrassing!

  “That should do,” began the professor. “Ms. Krewt, what is your relationship with Mr. Wright?”

  She wanted nothing more than to tell him off for even asking such a question, and had it been any other professor, she’d have done so. Instead, she hung her head and answered. “We’re friends, that’s all. Good ones, I guess.”

  Professor Grist relaxed in his chair. “Oh, do not misunderstand me, girl. Just because your uncle asked me to look after you while you receive your education doesn’t mean I have any intention of involving myself in your torrid love affairs. I should think you’re old enough to manage on your own, but to think you’d stoop so low as to use the petal of a lover’s bloom. My, my!”

  “That wasn’t my intention at all! I didn’t even know he swallowed it!”

  “Relax, my dear girl. I only tease.” Grist sat up and leaned his elbows on his desk. “We have guild business to discuss.”

  “Oh!” said Kaila, her ears twitching with excitement. “You have an assignment for me, then?”

  It had been several months since her last assignment from her uncle’s guild. They called themselves Revivalists. Their true aim was to resurrect the dead gods, but in practice they spent most of their time studying the fallen world. How does one resurrect a god, anyhow? Her uncle was a prominent member, and she’d been happy to assist him with his work ever since she came to live with him a decade ago.

  Professor Grist grinned menacingly. “Indeed, I do! And it involves your new boyfriend!”

  “Evran? What in the skies could the guild want with him?”

  “Well, it’s not so much the boy, but his father. You see, the guild has recently received intelligence that his father may have been an Avatar of Yeneb.”

  She narrowed her eyes in disbelief. The gods may have died with the end of the last world, but their avatars remained. Some lucky few adventurers would stumble upon a fragment of a god’s power within a labyrinth. Upon taking that power unto themselves, they were reborn as avatars.

  “I find that difficult to believe,” said Kaila.

  “As do I,” responded Grist. “Tell me, what all do you know of Evran’s family?”

  “He doesn’t like to talk about them, but from what I’ve gathered, they’re all dead except his younger sister. He had an older sister who was executed for a murder on one of the Sygel Islands, and his father and older brother went missing on their way to rescue her. As for his mother, she died in a labyrinth. From the way Evran speaks about it, it sounds like it was his fault.”

  A sense of guilt crept over Kaila. Here she was revealing intimate details about her friend to a man he disliked. Evran deserved better.

  Grist nodded in agreement. “That’s pretty much all we know, as well. Still, the guild seems quite convinced about his father. Your mission is simple: get closer to Evran and find out all you can about the father and his whereabouts.”

  Kaila felt conflicted. She was eager to once again be doing work for the guild, but in doing so, she’d have to betray a friend. “I don’t know… Evran is my friend, and I feel like I’d be doing wrong by spying on him.”

  “I see,” Grist muttered. “It is not as if the guild is always ruthless in its ways, I assure you. I grant you full discretion in the manner in which you conduct your investigation, provided you maintain our secrecy. That said, the guild is expecting great things from you. You can blame your doting uncle for that. Please consider your bright future with the guild over the fickle feelings of a boy you’ll likely never see again after graduation.”

  Grist was right. Kaila swallowed her pride and steeled her resolve. She would find out everything she could about Evran’s dad, but she would do it her own way, not Grist’s. She would do whatever she could to protect Evran’s feelings, and with half of his family missing, perhaps he might appreciate her assistance in finding out what had happened to them. At the very least, maybe she could bring him some closure.

  “Understood. I accept.”

  Just as she’d resolved to carry out her duty, a new thought popped into Kaila’s head. She pouted at Grist.

  “What now, girl?

  “If you wanted me to get closer to Evran, why did you completely sabotage my chances by telling him about the petal!” Kaila shouted indignantly.

  The professor doubled back with laughter. “My dear girl, you have much to learn about the minds of adolescent boys! I promise you, Mr. Wright has spent the last hour thinking about you and not much else. If you wish to seduce the boy, I have made it very easy for you to do so.”

  “Ugh, you’re the worst!”

  “Indeed! As for your mission, I recommend a quick visit to the Navigator’s Guild. They keep excellent records, and you might be able to get some insight into the father’s ill-fated journey to rescue his daughter. Now, I’ve kept you far too long.” Grist held out a note of excuse for Kaila. “Good luck in your endeavors, Ms. Krewt. May they rise again.”

  “May they rise again.” Kaila repeated as she snatched the note from Grist’s claws. Even with the excuse, her next teacher would not be thrilled with her lateness. She darted out of the alchemy lab and raced to her next class.