"Novice Isas?"

He looked up from his notes at the call of Dedicate Carmine. Blinking as he focused on something other than the pages of his book and the papers he was filling for the first time in hours, he stood as she approached.

"Yes, Dedicate?"

"This is our new student. She is a novice here at Winding Circle, now." For the first time, Isas focused on the girl standing behind the dedicate. She was perhaps a year or two younger than his seventeen years and was short and skinny, with long dark reddish hair that hung down across her shoulders in braids. Her brown eyes were wide, though her chin and mouth were set stubbornly and she met his gaze squarely.

As Dedicate Carmine rushed off to intercept two students she saw with open trays too close to her precious notes, Isas stuck a hand out over the desk. She looked at it a moment, suspiciously, before she shook it. She had calluses on her palm, but her skin was soft.

"I'm Isas," he said.

"Niva."