Chapter 10

It took little time for Max to fall asleep, though he still woke up just before dawn. At first, he felt a wave of dread that he'd likely be facing the wasps again today, but the dread was pushed to the back of his mind when he realized that today was his day off. He lay in bed, luxuriating in the fact that he didn't need to get up and do anything. After about fifteen minutes of laying in bed, he began to get restless and decided that he really ought to get up. He got up and got dressed, heading into the main room to find that Alva was sitting in the parlor, still wearing a thin nightshift and staring blankly into space. They looked up as Max entered. "Oh, good morning."

"Mornin'. Want to get breakfast? It's probably just about to start."

Alva smiled faintly at Max. "Yes. Something warm sounds good. I need a few minutes to get ready to go, though."

Max shrugged. "That's fine."

"Good. I'll be right out."

Alva got up from the couch, disappearing into their room. Max paced restlessly, waiting for them to come back out. When they finally emerged from their room, they were dressed as they always were, with all their ornamentation. They both went to the dining hall, finding it mostly empty. They took a seat, and began helping themselves to food.

"You know, Max," Alva said. "When we were in Ash last week, I heard that the Hyrens were going to be performing all week at the theater not too far from the Academy. They're supposedly a well-known group, from what little I know."

Now that Alva had mentioned it, he remembered one of the shopkeepers talking about it. He had dismissed the idea of going at the time, simply because he doubted he could really afford to go see it, so he hadn't paid it much mind. "Oh, uh, I dunno. Maybe?"

"Oh, come now, why not? We have all day to rest, which gods know we could both use. It would be a nice distraction, wouldn't it? Something to take our mind off the trials of our bouts with the Alius."

Part of Max wanted to go. If it was anything like the rare traveling troupe that passed through his village, it could be a lot of fun. "You can go, I don't know that I want to go."

"Are you serious? You'd rather sit around here than go see a good show?" Alva shook their head in disbelief, then gave Max a sly look. "I'll make sure you get a drink or two if you'll come with me."

Sensing that they were adamant about Max going with them, he suppressed a sigh. "Okay, okay, I'll go."

Alva seemed pleased. "Wonderful! Hopefully it turns out to be as good as they were claiming it would be."

The two of them finished their breakfast, talking lightly. They returned to the house and, for lack of anything better to do, played bridge for a few hours, Max having long since grown tired of playing before Alva called it quits.

They leaned back in their chair, stretching and yawning. "Do you mind if I take a nap?"

Max shrugged. "I don't care."

Alva gave Max a tired smile. "Thank you. Perhaps you could take a nap too. I'm sure you haven't been sleeping as well since we've started this whole thing either."

Max shrugged. He wasn't tired in the slightest. "Yeah, maybe."

Alva got up from the table, pushing their chair back under the table. They began removing various pieces of ornamentation, starting with their odd bracelets, and ending with the headdress. They set it all aside on the table, going to one of the lounge chairs and curling up on it. Max put his head on his hands, drumming his fingers on the table as he tried to decide what to do with his spare time. He got up and went to the window, considering going out and walking for the chance to be alone for a while, but a quick look outside told Max that if he tried to walk outside, he would get soaked.

"I'm happy to share the lounge with you." Alva said softly.

Max turned around, scrutinizing Alva. It was a strange comment to make, and caught Max somewhat off guard with what it seemingly suggested, as to share the lounge chair would require them to pressed up against each other to make it work. Max suppressed a shiver. "Thanks, but I'm not tired."

"Hm." Alva said, scrutinizing Max back. "I suppose I've got a few books in my room, if you'd like to read one."

Max sucked in a breath, a thrill of excitement stabbing him. "You have books?"

"I do. You're welcome to borrow one, if it'll help you not feel like a caged animal. Help yourself to them, they should be in the trunk by the door."

Max had to keep himself from running to Alva's room. He'd only ever read three books in his life, the few that his father had managed to bring with him or acquire after his 'exile'. He had read them often enough that he knew the contents by heart, and the prospect of reading an entirely new book was exciting. He stepped into Alva's room for the first time. The first thing he noticed was how much stuff Alva had. He'd seen their room only once before, and hadn't had time to process how bare his room looked compared to theirs. They had filled most of the floor space with trunks, some spilling their contents onto the floor. The one next to the door was open already, and he found that it was full of a great many things, few of them Max recognized. What he did recognize was the small collection of books taking up the right side of the trunk. Max ran his hand along the leather spines, in awe of the gold lettering decorating the spines. He'd never heard of any of these books before, so he picked a somewhat thicker book at random, taking it with him back out of the room.

Alva's eyes were closed when Max came back, so he sat quietly in one of the stools, opening the book. He was startled to hear Alva ask, without opening their eyes, "Which one did you choose?"

"Oh, uh," Max looked at the title. "Poisonous Roses. Strange, is it about roses?"

Alva chuckled. "No. It's about the captain of a merchant ship finding a curious artifact. I can't tell you more than that without spoiling the story." They said, cracking open an eye and smiling at Max. "It's one of my favorites."

"Oh, ok. Thanks." Max said, opening the book up again to the first page, and beginning to read it. He found himself quickly engrossed in the tale, eyes poring over page after page as he hungrily read on. Only when he stopped to rub his eyes did he realize that the room was cast in the yellow-orange glow of late afternoon. He looked over at Alva, and saw that they were still fast asleep. He didn't want to wake them, but he knew they would be very unhappy if he let them sleep through the show.

He sat the book aside, carefully leaving it open to his page. "Alva?" He said quietly. They didn't stir, so he said again, louder, "Alva?" Still having not stirred, he got up and walked quietly to the lounge chair they were laying on. Bending over, he hesitated before putting his hand on Alva's shoulder. "Alva? We're going to need to leave soon to get to the show."

Alva stirred under his hand, groaning. "Is it really time already?" They said, without opening their eyes.

"I think so." Max said it uncertainly; he wasn't completely sure when it was.

They opened their eyes a crack, sighing. "Probably could've slept another hour."

"Oh." Max said, realizing he still had his hand on Alva, pulling it away quickly. "Sorry."

Alva chuckled softly. "It's fine. I was sleeping better than I had in weeks is all." Alva sighed again, rolling over on the lounge chair to sit up and rub their eyes. "Oh well. At least we'll have plenty of time to find the theater. I'm not entirely sure where it is, but I don't think it will be hard to find."

It turned out that Alva was right. The theater in question was only a ten-minute walk from the Academy. The building itself was somewhat more opulent than the buildings next to it, even if it didn't dwarf the other buildings. By the time they got there, a small group of people were slowly filing into the building. Out front, a Kainer dressed in a purple velvet coat shouted. "Come see Graceful Ducks performed by the world-renowned Hyrens! This is not a show to miss, especially for only a penny a head!"

Max was relieved to hear that admission was going to be cheap. The two of them joined the crowd filing into the theater. They came to two Kainer men who stopped them just before going inside. "Penny a head." He said, holding out his hand.

Max started to fish out his coinpurse when he heard Alva say, "Is that for floor seats?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have any private booths?"

He glanced down at Alva's gold jewelry. "Sure do, they're a silver waite each."

Alva smiled at him. "That sounds agreeable." They said, dropping a thick piece of silver into his hand.

He smiled warmly at Alva. "Thank you, sir." He waved to a Kainer with thick gray fur, bringing him over. "Take these two to booth 3, and make sure they're comfortable."

The usher nodded. "Of course. Right this way." He said in a crisp voice.

The usher led them not through the double doors into the auditorium, but through a nondescript door at the side of the entryway. They climbed up some stairs, and then went down a long narrow hallway dotted by thick curtains. The usher pushed the curtain aside on one of them and held it open for them. "Your booth, sirs."

Alva nodded. "Thank you." And stepped past the curtain, Max following behind a beat later, feeling out of his element. The booth itself was small, designed to seat no more than four people. The lounge chairs near the brass railing were of plush burgundy velvet, and looking out over the auditorium, it seemed to Max that they were very high up, giving him a dizzying sense of vertigo, having never looked down from such a height before.

Max sat down in one of the two middle seats before he got sick from looking over the railing, Alva sitting down beside him. The usher came around to stand at Alva's side with his hands clasped behind his back. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"A bottle of red wine and two glasses would be wonderful." Alva said.

The usher nodded, leaving the two of them alone again. They looked out over the railing at the people gathered below. "It's a good thing I thought to ask for a private booth. We would've had a hard time seeing much of anything down on the floor." They said, gesturing to the growing throng of people standing on the ground floor of the theater.

Max didn't move from his seat, unwilling to look down. "I guess."

"It's a pretty good seat too. Halfway in the middle is the best spot, you know." They looked at Max, cocking an eyebrow. "Is something the matter? You look ill."

"Just not huge on heights." Max choked out.

"Oh, really? I didn't know you were afraid of heights, nor would I have guessed this would be high enough to cause any issue." They said, looking gravely concerned. "Do we need to leave?"

"Oh, no!" Max said hurriedly. "It's fine, I just made the mistake of looking over the rail. It's fine right where I'm sitting."

Alva was clearly not convinced. "Well, if you get to feeling really ill, let me know and we'll go."

Max heard the usher come back, setting a silver tray containing a small bottle of wine and two glasses down on a side table. He quickly popped the cork and poured out two glasses, handing one to each of them.

"Thank you." Alva said, taking a sip from the glass.

"Thanks." Max said, sniffing the contents before taking a cautious sip. It wasn't bad, but it was certainly tarter than anything Max would've chosen. Alva seemed content with theirs.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" He asked.

Alva shook their head. "No, I think we've got everything we need, thank you."

The usher gave them a short bow, and left.

Alva swirled the contents of their glass. "So, how's the wine?"

Max shrugged. "It's fine." He said, taking a deliberate sip.

"I think it's pretty good, for a 'free' wine. Perhaps I overpaid on getting us this balcony seat. Did I overpay?"

"I dunno." Max said.

"Hm, I forget you're not from here either. What about where you come from?"

"I, uh...I wouldn't know there either."

Alva gave Max a knowing look. "Ah. Right." They said simply.

"What?" Max asked, feeling vaguely self-conscious.

"Oh, nothing. I just forget that you come from a different world than I do." They paused for a moment, making a face. "Have you ever been to the theater?"

Max shook his head. "No. I've seen a few traveling troupes stop, but other than that, no."

"Then I think you're in for a treat. The performers must be half-decent if they are able to secure a place like this to perform in."

Max caught movement on the stage, and he looked and saw a Kainer man walk out onto the stage. He stood there for a moment, letting the crowd slowly quiet down. "Ladies and gentlemen," He said, Max surprised he could hear him so clearly from so far away. "welcome to the Illian. I hope you enjoy tonight's opening performance of Graceful Ducks, a play that I never get tired of seeing, personally. I'll tell you what, if you leave here without a stich in your side from laughing so much, then may God help your poor, shriveled soul. Regardless, I leave you now in the Hyrens' capable hands."

The crowd broke into applause as he strode off the stage, the curtain opening shortly afterwards to begin the play. The announcer hadn't been lying; within the first ten minutes, Max found himself wracked with nearly uncontrollable laughter. He knew there were many jokes made that he shouldn't have laughed at, yet he couldn't help himself. About an hour later, he looked over at Alva to find them curled up in their lounge chair, snoozing. His smile faltered as he wondered why Alva was so tired as to be able to sleep through the cacophony of laughs coming from the audience.

When it was over and the curtains closed on the cast, Max stretched in his seat, still grinning ear to ear. "Hey Alva, wake up." Max said, nudging them gently.

Alva startled awake. "Huh? Oh, is it over?" They sounded vaguely disappointed.

"Yeah. It was awesome! I've never seen such a good performance in my whole life."

Alva smiled at Max. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." They looked at the empty wineglass in their hand and laughed. "It's a good thing I'd emptied that, or I would've made a mess on the floor."

They sat the glass down carefully on the table. Max picked his up off the floor beside his seat and put it next to Alva's. "You must've been tired to sleep though the play." Max said, as nonchalantly as he could.

"Oh, I'd seen it before, so I wasn't that interested in it. They did do a good job with it, however."

Alva said it casually enough that Max almost believed them. Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling there was more to it than Alva was letting on. "They did."

Max debated asking Alva if they were having problems as they made their way out of the theater. Something wasn't right for them to sleep so much while supposedly sleeping at night. They walked in silence for a good five minutes, Alva swaying as they walked, Max guessing they'd had more wine than he'd noticed. He considered asking them if anything was wrong, but they spoke first.

"Max, I have a question for you." Alva said, quietly.

"What's that?"

"This is far too blunt of me to ask, I know, but...do you think I'm ugly?"

Max stopped, staring at Alva in horror. "What made you think that?"

Alva stopped, looking back at Max as if that was the one answer they hadn't expected. "You don't?"

"Think you're ugly?"

"Yes."

"No! You're kinda strange-" Max stopped himself, sputtering, "-in a good way! I didn't mean it that way. Your feathers are pretty." Max said, ears pinning back in embarrassment.

Alva stared at Max, a smile tugging at the edge of their lips. "Do you think so?"

"Yeah."

Alva turned back and resumed walking, Max hurrying to catch up a few moments later. They scrutinized him out of the corner of their eye. "Then why did you act like you were repulsed by me in the bath? You were far too interested in the floor for it to be accidental."

"Oh no, that wasn't it at all." Max said, trying to understand what exactly they were saying. "I just, er..." Max instinctively looked around to be sure they weren't being overheard, and lowered his voice to match. "...people don't get, er, naked with each other."

"Don't...?" Alva said, absolutely astonished. "Why not?"

"Well...er..." That seemed like such a silly question, yet Max struggled to put into words the answer. "It's just, uh, intimate, I guess? The only person I could imagine being naked with ever is a wife." This wasn't wholly true, but it was true as far as Alva should be concerned.

Alva was silent for several long seconds, then laughed. "That's...unusual. I would've never thought the mere sight of one's body would be so taboo. Especially in a place like a bathhouse, where nudity would be a given, I think."

Max didn't appreciate feeling like he was an idiot for trying to maintain something so fundamental. "Well...maybe it's different here, but at home, even though there's five of us living in a house, we still have private enough space to change clothes."

"Really? You're so against seeing one nude that you have spaces to even change clothes? I understand not simply walking around in public without clothes on, but in your private abode, with only family around? Why should you be worried about them seeing you nude?"

Max was revolted by the idea of seeing his parents naked. "Why would you ever want to see your parents nude?"

"Oh, I wouldn't seek it out, of course, but I've seen them nude numerous times."

Max had no idea what to say to a statement like that.

"What?" Alva said, taken aback by the intensity of Max's stare. "Why should someone be afraid to let others see their body? Barring some horrifying deformity, I can't think of a good reason to be so against it."

"Look, I just don't want to, okay?"

Alva sighed. "Alright, alright. Though it's really a shame for you to hide yourself so-" They stopped mid-sentence upon looking back at Max. "Okay, okay." They said placatingly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize how important that is to you. Still," They said. "you are beautiful, Max. You know that, right?"

Max didn't say anything, looking down at his feet and feeling buoyed by the unsolicited compliment. He could only recall a few times that anyone other than his family had ever complimented his appearance. He rubbed at his eyes, fearing tears.

Max made no effort to break the silence between them. Alva was now casting pitying glances at him, only making him more self-conscious of himself. "So, Max." Alva said lightly, trying to break the tension. "Why did you come to the Academy?"

"To learn how to use magic?" Max asked, confused by the question.

"Okay then, why did you want to learn to use magic?"

"Why wouldn't someone want to learn magic?"

Alva shrugged. "Because it takes time and money. Or more time with no money. What drove you to make the journey here and dedicate years of your life?"

Max rubbed his face, sighing as he thought of home again. "I had to come."

"Why?"

"My family would've been in danger had I not come."

"They what?!"

"They would've been in danger." Max repeated. He sighed again. "It's a long story."

"We've got time."

Max let out a calming breath, looking up at the night sky. "I don't know what it's like where you're from, but in the Anthem Mountains, life is...hard sometimes. The winters can be brutal, but if that were all, then it wouldn't be so bad." Max paused, looking over his shoulder instinctively. "The Draagen who rule over us aren't the best rulers you could hope to have."

"Draagen? Here? I thought they only controlled the southwestern edge of Daminska."

"Well, they're in the Anthem Mountains, as much as it seems to pain them to be there. They're always complaining about the cold. From what I've been told, they're a group exiled from their homeland, and the Monarchy offered them protection and land to spite the Daminskans. So, now they maintain the peace in exchange for what few resources the land has."

"So, what's the issue?"

"They're brutal, more often than not. At least, the overseers who keep an eye on our village are. They're never afraid to use their clubs for even the smallest of offenses. A perceived insult, a sideways glance, even failing to render proper respect to them were reasons to hit someone. Guess they just found reasons, really." Bitterness had crept into Max's tone. "And with how much they take of the yearly crop in taxes, making it through winter is even tougher than it could be."

"Wow." Alva said softly. "I'm astounded. But that doesn't explain why your family would be in danger if you came, unless having an extra mouth to feed was the problem?"

Max shook his head. "No, it's the opposite problem. I have no idea how they'll get the harvest in in time without me. I'm here because a magician, the first I'd ever seen in my whole life, pegged me as capable of being a magician. Well, once the overseers learned of that, it was suddenly 'imperative' that I came to the Academy, so that I could better serve Lord Dirsel as his personal magician." Max's swallowed hard . "And if I refused, they guaranteed me and my family would be locked in the birdcages that winter for treason."

Max fell silent, as his good mood was quashed by the reminder of what had happened back at home. Alva, too, was quiet, giving Max a pitying look. "I'm sorry." They said.

Max rubbed his eyes, which were gently prickling now. "It's fine. Not your fault."

They gave Max a sad smile. "You make my reason to be here look vain."

"Why are you here?" Max said, eager to get away from the topic of home.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was for love?"

Max cast a glance at Alva. "Maybe?"

"It's true. I don't know if I'd be here, were it not for falling in love with Ten Esper. The Espers basically own Tali Bay, since they control the docks. They make enough from getting a cut of the trade through the bay to have had several ties to the Brennans, the ruling family. The Kays are considered rich by most standards, but we're hardly nobles. We own our estate, and few trading ships, but that's all."

Max wondered what kind of place Alva's homeland was that owning an estate and trading ships wasn't enough to be considered nobility.

"Of course, Ten was, for all intents and purposes, off-limits. You see, they are the youngest of the Espers, set to inherit their family's wealth. Anyone of bonding age would be vying for the right to bond with them, naturally. It would be incredibly difficult to bond any higher, really. So, I'm sure you could understand that I, the third child of the Kays, would never dream of bonding with someone of their caliber. My older siblings, if they were sufficiently charming, and my parents sufficiently loose with their coinpurse, perhaps. I would've been lucky to bond into a relatively even family, if I'm honest."

"Now, my family may not be 'nobility' as such, but we have more than enough wealth to attend the elite's balls. I would go, even though my siblings had already cornered the better possible bondmates. The night of that ball, I'd spent the better part of an hour listening to Wenen Thatcher talk about their latest book on silverfish before I could extricate myself from them. Once they start talking about their studies, nothing will stop them." Alva sighed. "Anyways, I went outside to get away from everyone for just a minute, and lo and behold, there was Ten on the veranda, alone and staring off into the ocean. I almost didn't dare to approach them, but I decided that even if they wouldn't even consider bonding with me, they might be at least a good friend to have."

"It's funny, we didn't talk for a while. I had guessed they wanted space, like I did. But when they finally broke the ice, we just...talked. It was nice. Really nice. With nothing to lose, I just enjoyed some good conversation, taking care to not say anything to anger them, of course. I thought it was just a fun evening, but a week later they requested I come visit them. My family was flabbergasted, but none more so than me. No one could figure out what they would want from me. When I got there, I quickly realized that it was a purely social call. We didn't discuss anything serious, really. Comments on the weather, talking about books we read recently, that sort of thing. I enjoyed myself, though I wasn't sure how much Ten was enjoying themselves. They're inscrutable most of the time. Ten ended it after a few hours and I went home, perplexed. Ten started calling on me more often, first every few weeks, then slowly more often until it was rare he was calling on me only once in a week. The longer it went on, the more I started looking forward to my social calls with them. By the time a few months had passed, he said he wanted to bond with me. I couldn't believe it; I hadn't dared to hope for it, considering how impossible our bonding seemed, but they offered it. In the same sentence, they told me they loved me, and I could finally tell them how I felt. It was...magical how earnestly we both said it."

"With that, though, we had to figure out how to make it happen, of course. The other noble families wouldn't appreciate their children being passed up for someone like me, family wealth or no. We spent many nights trying to work out how to best present it, but even though Ten is a sharp knife when it comes to politics, he couldn't find a way to make it work without there being a kerfuffle. At least, until an Academy magician told me I could do magic. That changed everything. We at last had a good reason. You see, bonding with a magician, even one of lower birth, in the hopes of having children who could be magicians too, is at least a believable story, even if that had nothing to do with our actual reason to bond. That meant I had to come and learn to be a magician, to prove that I would be a valuable bondmate for Ten. So here I am, learning magic so I can go home and be with Ten, you know?"

"That's, uh, a pretty strong reason."

"Maybe not quite as strong as yours, but I won't let myself fail at this. To miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime, both in ascending to nobility and bonding with someone like Ten..." They sighed. "I just won't let it happen."

Max nodded. "So Ten's waiting for you back home?"

"They are. I just hope I can make it back in time before they're forced to bond for the same reasons we thought we could never bond."

Max understood the urgency. He thought Alva should count themselves lucky only having to be there a year; Max was looking at four by the time he worked his debt to the Academy off.

They arrived back at the house, the two of them going to bed without much delay. The next morning, Max awoke before dawn, and though he tried to go back to sleep, he was too anxious about what was to come. He laid in bed until the sun began to light his room before giving up, getting up and putting some clothes on. Having nothing else to do, he picked up Alva's book and continued reading until Alva came out of their room with the sun having long since risen, looking exhausted. They ate breakfast in comfortable silence, then went to the training room where Max took his dose of Focal, and waited with bated breath for the nightmare to come.