The Unskillful Thaumaturge

XLI

Lillian ran her finger down the table of contents in her thaumaturgy textbook, watching as Professor Perid attempted to explain thaumaturgical theory to a confused class. For once, being a physics major was an advantage, and Lillian understood the concepts easily, feeling as if they came naturally to her.

Actual thaumaturgy, on the other hand, seemed practically impossible.

Her tablemate, Aidan, tapped her shoulder, and she turned to look at him.

"Does that say h squared?" he hissed.

Lillian nodded imperceptibly, then flipped open her thaumaturgy textbook to chapter two and returned to her note-taking. The basic premise of telekinetical theory seemed to be that work and energy didn't provide a complete picture of the actual amount of effort, and the derivations and mathematics involved with predicting how much energy was necessary in various telekinetic situations depended not just on the total difference in energy, but also the specifics of the situation and the efficacy of the thaumaturge. And, for once, she actually enjoyed the homework.

Perid was oblivious that the rest of the class seemed lost. She continued to explain how concepts worked and provide examples on the board, almost as if she hoped the class would catch up. Indeed, there was a collective sigh of relief when she finally finished working through the most complicated example yet, only to turn to the class and announce that nothing so difficult would be included on the first test.

When Perid finally set down her marker and began gathering up her notes, Lillian was the first out the door. She was anxious to get through her classes so she could meet with the DIAO again to discuss the case. She found herself idly wondering if they had made any significant progress, though she knew Galena would have called her if they had discovered anything important.

She hurried down the stairs, pushing open the doors of the thaumaturgy building and jogging toward the math building. When she reached her Differential Equations classroom, she threw the door open, catching it just before it banged into the wall. Walking to the front of the class, she set her backpack down, leaning it against the side of the table, then flopped into a chair and pulled out her notebook.

❦

The key twirled between Dakota's fingers, sparkling in the ethereal light. He wore a resignedly helpless expression, switching back and forth between absently staring out the window and gazing intently at the key.

Ashley's right. You need to stop focusing on this and start working on things that need attention.

"Like what?" Dakota asked irritably.

Like figuring out how you're going to get her to trust you.

"You realize she doesn't have a choice."

The voice was silent.

"She's there and then she's here and then she falls. No way out."

But you have to let her out at some point. And then what's to stop her from telling the DIAO? You need to be able to convince her to trust you. To keep things private. She's already afraid enough of you as is.

"What do you suggest I tell her?"

She needs to trust you. You could always tell her everything.

"No..." Dakota mused. "That would only make me sound insane. I think I'll start by telling her where she is."

This is going to be complicated. She isn't going to trust you all at once, you need to gradually build that.

"Dakota!" Ashley's voice wafted down the stairs. "You have a visitor!"

"Where?" he called back.

"Your office," she sang.

"Oh-" Dakota cried, and sprang up, racing out the doorway and along the pathway. After entering his office, he realized that someone was knocking, politely and insistently, on the locked door.

"Dakota?" He recognized the voice of Dr. Samantha Hests, and hurried to open the door.

For once, she wasn't wearing a hat. Her dark hair hung down to the center of her back in a long, messy braid. She stared at him for a moment, seemingly confused as to why he was so out of breath.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"What took you so long to answer the door?"

"I was on the phone," he lied.

Her eyes narrowed. "I was going to ask if you wanted to have lunch again today."

"Um..." Dakota considered the possibilities. "Okay. What time?"

"I'm kind of busy today... I know it's lunch, but would around two o'clock work?"

"Sure," he replied. "Where?"

"Same place as last time...?" she suggested tentatively.

"See you there." He smiled and shut the door, exhaling a sigh of relief. Clearly Dr. Hests had been suspicious as to why he was out of breath, then again, he always looked out of breath. She would have a hard time formulating a theory as to what he had been doing. He snorted, setting an alarm on his phone to remind him of lunch.

Dakota locked the door from the inside and then walked back to the corner of his office.