The Currents of Magic

Chapter Thirty-Four

Meyer nodded, looking around the room. Most of the Ajah had already arrived, and the room was abuzz with conversation. Ander was standing a few yards away, arguing with Reed, and near the front of the room Damian was sitting alone, his eyes staring down at the desk in front of him. For a moment Meyer felt sorry, but then his gaze traveled over to Jaeda, who smiled at him, and Meyer's chest filled with a light buoyancy that dispelled all other emotions.

"Attention, wonderful Ajah class!"

Meyer looked up. Jebb was standing near the front of the room, an exaggerated smile stretched across his sallow face. He brought his hands together, and Meyer was quite sure he saw a faint trace of powder rise into the air.

"Let's everybody please find their seats," continued Jebb. "I'd like to introduce our special lecturer for today."

The noise in the lecture hall slowly died down, and clustering tempests spread out around the room, finding open seats. Ander dropped down in the chair next to Meyer, mumbling about Reed not paying his debts.

"As you may already know," began Jebb. "Planar Tyndle has fallen ill with a late summer cold..."

"Sure," muttered Cade sarcastically. "A late summer cold—that's definitely a common malady."

"Doesn't matter," retorted Ander rather loudly. "Anything that keeps Tyndle away is a godsend."

"...In his stead," continued Jebb, "our very own Planar Adryn will teach an intriguing lesson on incantational history. I'm sure all of you will find the lecture immensely interesting..."

Meyer stopped listening at the mention of Adryn, immediately glancing around the room. He would have to edge around three rows of desks before cutting across the front of the class to reach the door...

But before he could decide upon an exit strategy, Adryn entered the room. As usual she was wearing an airy half-robe, and dark pants. She was carrying several sheets of paper, and she smiled cordially at Jebb as she entered.

"And here she is," said Jebb. "I'll stop boring you and leave Planar Adryn to her lesson." Jebb tiptoed dramatically to the exit, closing the door behind him with a loud thud.

Meyer clenched his jaw, and sunk down in his chair. Unless he wanted to cause a scene, he would have to endure the lesson with Adryn. At least the room was filled with thirty other tempests.

Adryn ambled to the front of the room, placing her paper on a small desk, and pulling over a chair from the near wall. "Good evening Ajah," she said. "Is everyone comfortable?" As she spoke, Adryn sat down in her chair, straightening her posture. "Hmm," she continued. "I do always find some of these seats to be rather rigid..."

She reached into her pocket and dropped a gray lump onto the floor. She whispered inaudibly, and the lump transformed into three dozen pillows and a pile of mats. "Please," said Adryn indicating towards the pillows. "Be comfortable. There is no need to sit behind confining desks."

With the exception of Ander, nobody moved, but when Adryn nodded approvingly as Ander went about pushing desks aside to construct an elaborate pillow nest, a few other tempests approached the front of the room to collect cushions. Soon the room was filled with the noise of desks and chairs sliding against the floor as the majority of tempests began moving to rearrange themselves. Some propped pillows against the wall, and other pushed chairs together so they could rest their feet in front of them. Meyer sat down in the back corner of the room without a pillow.

"Wonderful," said Adryn, once everyone had found a comfortable position. "Now I believe we are ready for a lesson on the history of incantations." Adryn stood up and began pacing across the front of the room.