“So will I get my own room?” Volkmar asked as the tower came into sight.
Adrissu blinked. It had not occurred to him.
“Of course,” he answered, mentally rearranging some of the rooms in the upper floors of the tower. One of the larger ones, certainly, but he’d have to find a new place for the equipment that he stored there—it was mostly glass items, vials and jars that stored bulk alchemical ingredients, like salt and stone. Most of it would probably fit in one of the smaller rooms that held some of his older, out-of-fashion clothes, which he probably should get rid of anyway. Even with his magic, it would probably take the better part of the afternoon to move everything around. “It will take some rearranging, but that’s no issue.”
He could feel Vesper’s attention in his chest as they drew nearer; she must have heard them coming. Sure enough, when Volkmar opened the door to the tower, she was right at the entrance, peering up at them—if her physiology would have allowed it, Adrissu was sure she would be grinning.
“Oh!” Volkmar exclaimed, carefully stepping around her. “I forgot about you, little one, I almost stepped on you! What did you call her? Viper?”
“Vesper,” he said.
“Vesper,” Volkmar repeated, still looking down at her. She lifted her head up off the ground, her tongue flicking against his forearm. “Sweet girl. I’ll just be a minute. Okay?” Her head bobbed, and he burst out laughing. “Did you see that? I swear she just nodded at me.”
Adrissu stifled a smile. She certainly had. “I did see.”
He showed Volkmar to the room that would be his. He had decided on the largest room on the third floor, just above his own. The room was dark and cool to better preserve the materials within, but as they entered, Adrissu strode to the large window on the far side and opened the thick curtains to bathe the room in sunlight.
“As you can see, I was using this room for storage,” Adrissu sighed, gesturing around to the various crates and shelves. “But I can get all of this out before sunset.” And to emphasize his point, he flicked his wrist, magically lifting the first crate into the air. It floated through the doorway out into the hall; Volkmar watched him with wide eyes, his lips parting as his mouth hung open.
“That’s amazing,” he said, tearing his gaze away from the crate to look back at Adrissu. The wonder in his gaze was almost childlike, and Adrissu found himself entirely flustered.
“Telekinesis is quite simple, really,” he said, forcing his tone to remain even, as he set another crate floating out of the room.
“Could you show me how?” Volkmar asked.
Adrissu hesitated, and the crate faltered slightly as it floated through the doorway. Ruan never had any interest in learning magic, and even less aptitude for it, so he suspected the same would be true of Volkmar. But as he glanced over at the human, his eyes were so eager in a way Ruan’s had never been. They were so different, but his heart ached all the same.
“Of course,” he said, forcing himself to smile back at Volkmar.
But he seemed to sense Adrissu’s hesitance, adding quickly, “You don’t have to. I understand you must get tired of teaching all day.”
“On the contrary,” Adrissu said. “As the headmaster, I do very little teaching. I would be happy to give you private lessons, but it’s important to know that arcane ability can vary wildly in humans. It’s possible you may simply not have the ability to do more than the most rudimentary tasks.”
“I still want to try,” Volkmar said, softer this time, but with the same bright expression. He flushed slightly, and added in an even smaller voice, “I want to try everything. I feel like there’s so much I’ve missed out on.”
Adrissu’s heart could have burst. He wanted to promise Volkmar that hewoulddo everything, that together they would do everything, and that he would want for nothing ever again—but for all that it was true, their relationship still felt so new that he could not say any of it.
“I will do my best to teach you to the fullest of your potential,” he said, and a tiny smile spread across Volkmar’s lips.
“So do all elves have as much magic as you do, then?” he asked, eyes following the box of empty glass vials that Adrissu was carefully sending into the hall and through the opposite doorway.
“No,” he replied, smirking. “There is less variation in magical ability with elves, but it is still possible to have more or less aptitude. I am... particularly gifted. There are some who would match my ability and few that would exceed it.” That, at least, was not a lie.
“You’re powerful,” Volkmar said, still smiling, but his gaze became more heated. This time Adrissu laughed, bowing his head in mock humility.
“You don’t know the half of it,” he murmured.
Chapter Seventeen
Ruanhadneverlivedwith him full time, so it was a strange adjustment for Adrissu to acclimate himself to Volkmar’s constant presence in his home. Once they had moved all his belongings into the room on the third floor, though, Volkmar seemed to mostly keep to himself, as if he too were unsure of his standing in Adrissu’s life.
Adrissu had taken a week off from his duties at the school to spend that time with Volkmar and help them both adjust, although much of their free time together ended with them in his bedroom. That, at least, Volkmar had no qualms about. But otherwise he was nervous and asked permission for everything—to use the kitchen, to go on a walk, to hold Vesper.
“You don’t have to ask me these things,” Adrissu finally sighed. He put down a book as Volkmar hovered in the doorway of his study, having asked if he could bring some of the extra blankets that were in storage into his room. “You live here now too.”
“Well, it’s your house,” Volkmar protested, smiling slightly.
“I give you permission to do whatever you want,” Adrissu replied, and Volkmar laughed.
