Abaddon's Mark

Chapter Three

Maeno looked up as he heard Naena say, "Hello Feon," and he had just enough time to suck in a breath as she added, "Goodbye, Feon." She stepped into the room as Feon stepped out.

She held two books in her arms and had a concerned sort of look about her.

"You first," she said.

Before she settled in the chair AT his desk, books atop her lap. Her hands settled on the books, and she perched rather than relaxed.

"What are you doing?" he asked slowly.

"Seems Graydon is my sword. Means high society and the like. Can't be imperfect, that'd be a damned crying shame."

"You're scaring me."

"I'm angry. Let me do this."

"Ah," Maeno said.

It was one of those times. When Naena would huff and puff and be absolutely perfect until she truly realized how hypocritical it was for these things to be expected of her.

Then she'd crack some skulls.

"Well, me first then," he said carefully as he glanced about the room. "Well. I had fun."

"What kind of fun?"

"The kind that had me waking up outside in a rain barrel," Maeno said. "I was not in trouble, however, Foyet—"

"Who is Foyet?"

"A servant assigned to make sure I didn't get lost. See he ended up hanging from a gargoyle's tail up on high. Well, that got him in a little bit of trouble. Seems the poor bugger broke a trellis as he climbed up there."

Naena smiled, which made Maeno smile as well.

"You are supposed to endear yourself to them, not make enemies."

"Aren't you the one who got in a fight with Lady Pan on your first meeting?"

"The woman said teaching me things was pointless, a waste of time because I would simply be dead soon," Naena's lips settled into a firm line, her jaw gritting before she gave her head a little shake. "A foolish thing."

"She obviously doesn't know you well enough yet," Maeno responded. "No, I had a good time. That was the most trouble I got into. Their gift was redoing my ink. Oh, here, let me—"

He stood and pulled off his shirt. He turned his arm toward Naena, showing off both her spell and the sleeve. The ink of the sleeve was completely different than it had been before. As it turned out, the spells had been improperly written.

"When you're inking you need to know the ink. Where it's come from, who made it, what bits make it up. Know it better than you know your own spell ingredients. Inside and out, just know it all. Preferably, make and do your own inking. Once you have what you want, you need a skilled hand, steady as could be, and someone you trust with your life. Lugh, like most Seven, employ a blinder artist. He can see what he's doing but not who he's doing it to. After the work is done, he doesn't remember. He's brilliant. Does work for mages and the Seven."

"Why did you get it started then?" she asked. "Before, I mean."

"It..." Maeno sighed. "Someone in Hellfire told me to. Everyone has sleeves, so I get it. Seems the right sleeve is normally filled in school and the left done after. Most of these spells are absolutely useless. I mean what they're wearing into the formal and the like? Useless. They can use those spells, but they have to pour so much magic into it that it eats them up inside. Literally."

"Theon has full sleeves and has used them multiple times."

"His ink... I don't know who did it, but it's scary. The others, I can read some of it now. And I'm not talking the students, I mean the faculty's sleeves, I can read some of those. I can't read Theon's. No one knows how he does what he does because it's as if part of the spell is missing."