The Unskillful Thaumaturge

LIII

Aidan Singh was running.

And for good reason. His History essay was due at ten o'clock precisely, and he needed to get to his professor's office within five minutes to keep his A. He pounded heedlessly down the hall, holding the essay and clutching his jacket around himself.

He didn't notice when a door on the right side of the hall swung open and Lillian stepped out. Her eyes widened in alarm just as Aidan realized he was about to run into her. He tried to stop, but found himself barreling into her side. Lillian cried out as he knocked her over and landed heavily on top of her. Stumbling, he rose to his feet instantly, but the damage had been done.

Lillian winced, pushing herself up on one elbow. When she tried to stand up, she cried out and fell again. Aidan offered his hand, his eyes wide with concern.

"Are you okay?"

Lillian nodded, though he could see that she was at least partially lying.

"I'm sorry I was running. I have to turn this essay in." He indicated the now-crumpled sheet of paper he held in his hand.

"Go turn it in, then," Lillian snapped. Aidan took on a wounded expression as he darted away.

Lillian anchored both hands on the floor and pushed herself up onto her knees. She used her left foot to lift herself off the floor, then tested her right foot on the ground. She must have twisted her ankle again. A twinge of pain shot through her leg as she turned her foot from side to side. She winced again and hobbled back into her dorm room, climbing awkwardly back up onto her bed.

Daria watched her concernedly. "What happened?"

"Aidan knocked me over," Lillian grumbled.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay, I just twisted my ankle a bit."

Daria walked over to the bed and gently touched Lillian's ankle.

"The other one," Lillian explained. "Please don't touch it. It hurts."

Daria sat down and stared Lillian in the face. "I want you to tell me if you're going to be okay. I don't need you to lie."

Lillian grimaced and held a hand over her ankle. "I did the same thing a little over a week ago. It was almost better. I'll be fine, I just might limp."

Daria held out a hand. "Want me to help you up?"

"I'm good," Lillian replied, sliding off the bed. She made sure to land on her left foot, so as to avoid further twisting her injured ankle. She hobbled over to her desk and sat down gingerly, pulling out a worksheet and beginning to scribble on it.

"Where were you going?"

"I was going to get a drink of water."

"Oh." Daria didn't seem to know how to respond. "Don't you have a water bottle?"

Lillian grimaced. "I left it in the physics lounge."

❦

Dakota swept his gaze appreciatively around the arena, nodding in an approving manner. "This is good. How did you find this?"

Ashley shrugged. "It was here."

Dakota didn't say anything, just nodded.

"You like it?"

"How do you get out?"

She indicated a set of crumbling stone steps built into one wall. Dakota seemed impressed.

"As long as you stay between her and the steps, you should be fine."

"How do we get her in here?"

"You missed the best part. Look up."

Dakota stared upwards, eyeing only thick fog. Far above, a walkway slanted across the arena. "What about it?"

"Put the mirror on the bottom of the walkway," she suggested.

"Oh," Dakota realized. "I see what you mean. That could work quite well."

There was silence for a moment as Dakota pondered this. When he spoke, it was about the girl. "Do you think it'll scare her?"

Ashley shrugged. "Probably, yes. But she's pretty resilient. She'll get through it. The first thing you should do is start explaining it to her. Don't start with this." She pointed at her eye. "Start with this place."

"I was going to," he said peevishly. "I've been planning this for quite some time."

"How long?"

Dakota shrugged. "A little under a month."

"That's 'quite some time'? You of all people-"

"It's long enough," Dakota cut her off. "Please don't talk to me about that."

"Fine," Ashley concluded resignedly, kicking at the edge of the mirror on the ground.

"Speaking of the mirror, will you put the other one in my office?"

"I can do that later today."

"It should be later today," Dakota snapped. "My meeting with her is tomorrow."

Ashley's eyes widened. "So soon?"

Dakota nodded.

"It is February tenth..." She trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Is everything else ready?" Dakota asked.

"What do you mean, everything else? There really isn't anything else."

"There isn't?"

"I'll do the mirror right now. The arena is here, you know what you want to say, and she just hurt her leg."

Dakota nodded. "How badly?"

"Twisted her ankle."

Dakota smiled. "Even better."

"Why even better?"

"Because now I know she can't run."