Elegy for a Star

“I hope you can all understand why I am frustrated,” Kofi explained from the front of the briefing room, “And I would hope that you are all frustrated as well. This was a hit to our entire team.”

“More concerned about Gwendolyn, ma’am,” Mairaela replied, “It’s unfortunate that we’ve been set back, but she’s our friend and her health is more important.”

Kofi let out a sigh and rubbed at her forehead, “I am concerned for her too.” She ran a hand down her face and said, “But we have a job to do. The world is at stake, and if we don’t do it, Gwen will die along with everyone else.

“If we aren’t doing work, we aren’t going to be allowed to stay at Kravana, or in the Corps at all.”

Tess frowned. That wasn’t what she wanted, of course. She was torn between duty and friends. She knew what she had to pick—friends of course—but it was a difficult sacrifice regardless. When Gwendolyn made the opposite choice, she broke. Tess’ heart ached at the thought of the pain that Gwen must have been experiencing. Pain that Tess wished she could have healed. If only she’d known. If only she’d been more aware; less self-centered.

She shook the thought from her mind. That was the pressure that Gwendolyn must have been putting on herself. There was no problem with how Tess behaved. There was no problem with how Gwendolyn behaved. She had a mental disease. Too much pressure; too much stress.

“We need to do something to bring up our numbers,” Kofi said, looking around the room, “And speaking of numbers, where is Joyona? I thought she would only be late, not absent.”

Mairaela frowned, “She’s been exhausted lately. Sleeping a lot. She must’ve slept through the morning.”

Kofi pinched her nose and let out a sigh, “This is unacceptable. You two know this isn’t alright, yes?”

Tess and Miraela nodded their heads. Mairaela explained, “We’ve just been under a lot of pres-...”

“The Void is full of pressure. We need to learn to handle it. Combat should be hard, not our time at home,” Kofi explained.

Tess couldn’t argue with it. Maupoissant was making a lot of sense, even if she didn’t want to admit it. How were they going to handle all of the dangers of the Void when they couldn’t handle passing a class, or a letter from a father?

For a moment however, it made sense. In the Void, everything was a danger. Everything could be handled physically. You could cut, punch or incinerate a monster. The solutions to mental and emotional trauma were not so easily handled. She wished she had the courage to say that to Maupoissant.

“What can we do, Captain?” Mairaela asked, “We want to be here. We want to fight. I think we’re just going stir crazy. It’s been months since the Void exercise. We need to test the things we’ve learned.”

“And to do that,” the Captain replied, “We need to show the higher-ups that we can be professional. So far we have done the opposite. Once we can get assignments, successes will only lead us to further assignments. We’ll be on a roll after that.”

Tess spoke up, “Is there anything that we can do to gain points and get an assignment?”

“A few things,” Kofi replied, looking over a book of notes, “There is a sorcery duel, but none of you are Wyrden.”

Tess raised her hand, “Captain, can I please be assigned to that?”

Kofi looked Tess over and shook her head, “I’m sorry, but no, Tess. If you showed and could only do rituals, we would likely lose more points out of embarrassment. We cannot risk that.”

Tess sucked at her teeth, already plotting how she could get into it anyway. She did it with the Void exercise, right? She could do it with this, too.

Maupoissant continued, “One of you could teach a course, or be a teacher’s assistant for a course.”

Miri appeared, invisibly settling into a seat beside Tess, “You should teach a class. I’ll just tell you everything you need to know.”

Tess raised her hand, “What classes need to be taught?”

Kofi looked over her list, “Courtish History, Umbral Omens, Oddities of the Tul, The Cenean Massacre, The Heroic Divine-...”

Miri snapped her fingers, “That one! That one!”

Tess raised her hand, “Could I teach that one? The Heroic Divine?”

Kofi looked Tess over, “How would you know about that?”

“I’ve been reading all about them in the library,” Tess lied.

Kofi nodded her head, “Okay. So long as you aren’t reported by a student, you should be fine. Read up on it every moment you have.”

Tess looked relieved, “Thank you, Captain.”

“There’s the military ball coming up,” Kofi replied, “Attendance will earn a small amount of points. I expect you all to be there. Joyona too. We’ll have a fitting for your dress uniforms tomorrow. Please, make sure that she is there.”

“What else can we do, Captain?” Mairaela asked.

“Spars. Spars, spars, spars,” Kofi replied, “We need to start sparring regularly. Ideally without actually stabbing your opponent once the fight is done.”

Tess didn’t like these little jabs at Gwen’s predicament, but she supposed she couldn’t blame the Captain. She was under pressure too. Everyone here seemed to have someone’s thumb pushing down on them.

“We also have a decision to make,” Kofi added, “As to whether or not we keep Gwen in the party.”

Tess’ heart leapt, “We can’t go without her. She’s practically our leader.”

Mairela nodded her head, “We need her, Captain.”

Maupoissant nodded with a sigh, “Was expecting you to say that. Just… consider it. What’s good for you may not be best for Gwendolyn.”

The door opened and in came Ylla of all people. What was she doing here? She was wearing common clothes, her hair looking immaculate as always. The tighter clothing flattered her lovely figure. Ylla caught Tess staring and she fanned a wave with her fingers.

Mairaela looked sour over her appearance. Her lips were tight. Tess could tell she was trying to keep from speaking up.

“This is Miren Tel’Ranyre,” said the Captain.

Miren? What happened to Ylla? Tess scowled at her. Miren just shrugged a little when the Captain wasn’t looking. She was content with her little deception.

“She’s going to be joining our party,” Maupoissant explained, “Hopefully you’re all acquainted.”

Miren nodded her head, “We’ve all met. Tess and I are good friends, actually.”

Mairaela gave Tess a look that said, “Seriously?”

Tess shrunk in her seat a little bit, frowning.