If advancing quickly creates weakness, why do we praise those who manage the fastest of paces?

  Rapid advancement without effort, without challenge that aligns to the Path, limits growth. Your Energy and Path shape themselves from your experience. Your selections depend on your efforts. To race without effort, to progress without challenge, is to gain empty power.

  The elite are those who chase challenge, who push themselves to their limits while gaining Energy to match. They rarely slow, they rarely hesitate. Their Path sees their progress and rewards them.

  The easiest path may be the fastest, the hardest path is barely slower. Effort is rewarded twice over, by speed of advancement and by the rewards once they do.

  ~ * ~

  Fay caught herself humming as she finished tidying up the lab. She hadn't been using it as much in the last few months but made a point of showing up at least once a week so she could put the place in order. Why she bothered when it was clear no one else cared was beyond her, but as long as it was her lab she'd make sure it was tidy.

  She knew she was humming, she knew she was smiling for that matter, and she didn't care if anyone noticed. Tomorrow they were going to the coffee shop. Not just any coffee shop, but the one where Anya and Seb first talked. The one right next to where he'd given her the hoodie.

  They'd told her the coffee was good there, that no one would notice if she acted a little different from most people in the Shallows. She'd noticed a few glances once or twice when they were out, especially when Anya was helping her pick out clothes. They'd both told her to ignore the glances, that it didn't matter.

  But the glances did matter, it meant they noticed her. Anya noticed her, Seb noticed her. The saw her as Fay and they wanted to be her friend. Strangers noticing her was different. She didn't know if they saw Fay or Phelann, if they cared or were indifferent, if they would be friendly or dislike her.

  She realized she'd stopped humming as she walked down the hall, her thoughts about strangers were ruining her mood. She was going to be happy, she was going to spend time with her friends and enjoy every moment. Why were strangers getting into her head and bothering her?

  Pushing the thoughts aside she made her way back to the dorms. She stopped smiling as she walked through the hallway, stopped humming. She knew they would notice her here, she knew that someone would talk to her if they saw her smile.

  She knew what they'd ask, what they'd talk to her about. Everyone was talking about the changes Family Velli was making. Everyone was curious about what it meant. Prince Mahk may have said no changes were coming but it turned out some were. Changes his sister had wanted to make but had never gotten around to, changes for the better, so people said.

  House Velli wanted everyone to know about their education system, about their career opportunities. If they'd helped cover the cost of your studies they wanted you to make sure everyone knew. Which of course meant all the Great Families wanted you to know. Suddenly it wasn't enough that you had a Path, that you had a career. It mattered which family had helped you, even if you did not stay in touch with them in any way. It mattered if you worked for a Great Family, if you were part of their world.

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  Fay wasn't part of their world, she wasn't part of their family. She hadn't gone to one of their schools. She hadn't known the families had their own schools, that the families would help their graduates find mentors and positions. No one had ever told her, no one had told her anything about the WidePond.

  She'd made it to the Seer Headquarters, she'd requested training and become a Seer student. She'd never left the compound while they taught her, she'd barely left before she went to the Shallows the first time she met her friends. She had no affiliation, she had no connections. When the asked her what she thought of the families, of their efforts, she had no answer. She wasn't going to tell them what she'd seen, what she'd found out about how Velli operated. Seers, even Senior Seers weren't supposed to look into the families, not without an official request.

  She glanced around her room then looked down at the bag she'd packed while lost in thought. It wasn't everything but it was enough. Bit by bit she'd brought her things to her new suite. Bit by bit she'd emptied this room of the few traces she'd ever left in the first place. All that remained were a few changes of clothes, enough that she could stay here overnight if she had to. Enough to maintain a presence if anyone bothered to look.

  ~ * ~

  Unpacking the last of her things Fay smiled as she looked around the room. The closet was barely half full and less than half of what was in there were outfits she had brought with her. Anya kept insisting she needed other options, that she needed something to wear that she'd enjoy. So now she had all kind of clothing, most of in colors that weren't shades of grey.

  She had makeup, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with it, but she had it. Anya had brought her to some woman who tried to explain, tried to show her. She understood the motions, she could even recreate what she'd been shown, but she didn't understand. She wasn't someone who used makeup, she wasn't someone who wanted to be noticed.

  She had her bed, she'd only slept on the couch once since and that was Seb's fault. They'd been talking, she couldn't remember about what, maybe Weregild? Anya had said goodnight and wandered off and they'd kept going. She'd ended up falling asleep on the couch at some point and not even realized until the next morning. She'd fallen asleep in front of Seb, she'd stopped answering him, she'd-

  No, he'd told her it was fine. He'd pointed out she was under the blanket, that he'd noticed and hadn't wanted to wake her. He'd even apologized for not noticing she was tired. Why would he apologize for her making a mistake like that. She hadn't fallen asleep when talking about research since she was younger than he was now. She wasn't one of those Seers who couldn't discuss something for days on end.

  She even had her own bathroom, she didn't have to share it, didn't have to worry about someone else being in there, or waiting for her to be done. She had a bathroom all to herself. She had this whole suite to herself and she had friends.

  Tomorrow they would have coffee, tomorrow she'd see where Seb lived when he gave Anya the hoodie. She'd get to go to their coffee shop and see where they sat. She was curious, the coffee shops they'd been to so far were so plain, so dry, so cold, but they made it sound like this one would be different. That it was different somehow.

  Tomorrow she'd know, she'd see it for herself. If she ever had to write a report, if she ever had to update the EDN with information about Holding Syl's beginnings, she'd be able to say she saw it for herself. It wouldn't be just another report based on a record based on someone saying they saw something. It would be her, Senior Seer Phelann, who had been there.

  She was humming again, she almost wanted to sing, but she couldn't remember the words. She knew she used to know them, that they used to be sung to her when the day was a happy day, a good day.

  She frowned and sank onto her bed. She used to know the words, she used to try to sing along on happy days. Today was a happy day, tomorrow would be a happy day. Why couldn't she sing the song, why had she forgotten.

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