“Just gonna have this to load up for tonight.”
“Uh, do you want to reschedule?” Jennifer asked, finding the grueling workload of their internships coupled with actual class work exhausting, since she wanted to finish strong academically.
Unlike most students, Jennifer planned on attending college while working at a guild as an intern. It wasn’t that guild witches avoided higher education; it was more like we streamlined coursework with online degrees. The added education made it easier to negotiate salaries when getting bumped up from an acolyte to a paid enchanter.
Still, my administrative casting degree—basically a glorified diploma in magic comprehension—didn’t do me much good when I left the guild life. Alas, it was the most popular degree for guild witches to obtain. It had a straightforward pathway, it was offered online by nearly every college program in the state, and guilds came to expect it since it provided fundamental applications for casework.
All the same, Jennifer wanted more. She had an interest in engineering, and if she wanted to balance the two goals, that meant she had to put in more studying in her third year than nearly all her peers. A lot of them focused on lighter courseworkto make room for their heavy internship obligations. Not Jennifer, though.
“I don’t mind rescheduling,” Jennifer said, adding a twinge of guilt because part of her wanted to go study. But another part of her never wanted to open a book again.
“No, because if we reschedule, then we’ll keep pushing back date night,” Carter replied. “I was thinking a light stroll through the park, catch up, and then part ways.”
“So I can study, and you can do your evening trainings?”
“Precisely.” Carter smiled.
It turned out Gladiatrix had her interns put in even more work than I realized. These evening trainings were meant to help her interns find new applications to their magic casting that they hadn’t previously unlocked. Even if she was out of the city working another mission, Gladiatrix had a whole team of support to fill in and work with her interns for the night.
Despite both their minds drifting elsewhere, they enjoyed the company of each other and the night lights of the park. It was nice to know neither Jennifer nor Carter had become deterred by their busy schedules. It was even nicer seeing them find time for each other, grow together, even if they spent most of their time apart.
Oftentimes, young love such as this would burn out and splinter close to graduation. I had no idea what the future held for these two, but I believed they’d make it work.
“Layla, play nice,” Guild Master Campbell said, though her sly smirk suggested the opposite.
“Of course, guild master.” Layla nodded, then returned to reprimanding the acolytes who filed their forms incorrectly.
Campbell’s thoughts twisted through her complex agenda for the day, though she took a minute to admire Layla’s ambitious attitude. It seemed Campbell had a soft spot for the mean girl whose cutting comments were more ruthless than her sharp claws.
“Tia, Katherine, a word.” Campbell breezed by her assistants’ desks, where her interns often worked too.
“Yes, guild master?” Katherine pushed the paperwork she had handled aside, giving Campbell her undivided attention.
“I have another meeting planned with Cassidy Gardner, and I’d really appreciate you both joining me again.”
Tia smiled, eager at the prospect, while Katherine merely nodded with agreement.
“She quite enjoys your talents,” Campbell continued. “I think she has a soft spot for enchantment branches.”
I scoffed. She didn’t think it. She knew it just like everyone in the industry knew Cassidy Gardner worked in selling and distributing illegal enchantments.
“The most important part of being a successful guild master is wooing powerful patrons,” Campbell explained. “This ensures the guild has enough funding to act independently.”
“Well, aren’t guilds already independent?” Katherine asked.
“Yes and no,” Campbell said. “Some guilds take on too much federal funding, which in turn makes them pawns to the state. Our guild strives to remain empowered enough to make our own decisions and never be forced to act on every mandate or directive simply out of fear of losing financial stability.”
She was right and wrong. Honestly, neither system was ideal. After all, Tobias Whitlock funded many of the best guilds in the city for years and had them in a chokehold for his whims over anything else. So, it really came down to answering to government bureaucrats with a million layers of red tape or allowing elitist snobs to dictate their personal desires onto the guilds they funded. I didn’t know a better system, but hopefully, one day someone would find it.
“You know, Cassidy was particularly intrigued by your grimoire,” Campbell said, gesturing for Katherine to pull it out.
Katherine unbuckled the straps on her thigh holster and lifted up her weathered leather book.
“I was thinking perhaps you could let her get a peek at a few of those pages,” Campbell said, reaching out to touch the grimoire. “I’m certain there’s a few old spells in there that’d certainly appeal to her fancies.”
“No,” Katherine shouted.
It startled Campbell and Tia, sending a surge of surprise through me. Honestly, though, hearing Katherine raise her voice left me stunned. I’d never seen her have even a small outburst in homeroom or any of her classes.
