Mother of Learning. Arc 3 Incomplete

«Why am I arguing about this?» he asked out loud, though it was directed more towards himself than Kiri.

A sharp crackling sound that always heralded the voice of the station announcer stopped any further argument they may have had.

«Now stopping in Korsa,» a disembodied voice echoed. A crackling sound again. «I repeat, now stopping in Korsa. Thank you.»

«Oh thank the gods,» Zorian mumbled. Not only did arriving in Korsa mean three quarters of the journey was over, it also meant someone was going to join them in their compartment, thus giving Kirielle someone else to annoy.

Someone other than Ibery, though — he purposely avoided his usual compartment to ensure she and Kiri would never meet, since he had a suspicion a conversation between them wouldn’t end well. Kiri didn’t like Fortov any more than Zorian did, and she was a lot less tactful about it.

«So many people,» Kiri remarked, watching the throng at the train station through the window. «Are those all students like you?»

«Most of them, yeah,» Zorian said. «Though not all of them go to the same school as I do. There is more than one academy in Cyoria.»

«I thought mages were rarer than this,» she said. «Mom says you need to be really smart to be one. Do you think I could be a mage too one day?»

«Sure,» he shrugged.

«Really?» she asked, a mixture of excitement and suspicion radiating from her voice and posture. Zorian supposed she half-expected him to use his agreement as a set up for a mean-spirited joke or something along those lines.

«Yes,» he confirmed. «I don’t see why you couldn’t. You seem to be doing well enough in school from what I heard, so I don’t see why your intelligence would be a problem. And it’s not like our parents can’t afford to send you somewhere, even if it isn’t Cyoria.»

Kirielle didn’t answer, choosing instead to look through the window in silence and pointedly refusing to look him in the eye. He was just about to ask her what’s wrong when the door to the compartment slid open, distracting him.

«Byrn Ivarin,» the boy introduced himself. «Can I sit here?»

Zorian waved him in without a word. This was the guy who inspired him to seek employment in the library the last time they had spoken with each other. The boy had been quite talkative back then, so he should be perfect! Even if he was disinclined to talk to someone so young, he doubted Kirielle would let him ignore her, and he seemed too polite to just plain snub her to her face. Hopefully he would keep Kirielle busy till the rest of the journey.

«I’m Kirielle Kazinski,» his sister promptly introduced herself, «and that’s my brother Zorian. Are you a student like Zorian? Can you do magic?»

«Err, well… yes,» Byrn said, torn between desire to ask about the surname and a desire to be polite and answer Kirielle’s question. Politeness won in the end. «I’m only a first year, though, so it’s not like I have anything to brag with.»

Sadly for Byrn, he would have to wait for a while before he could ask about the surname — Kirielle was on a roll, and promptly assaulted the poor kid with every question imaginable. Zorian soon found out that Byrn was an only child of two first generation mages from Korsa, and that his family had pretty high expectations of him. Byrn was as excited to be away from his overbearing parents as he was about learning magic. That, at least, was something Zorian could empathize with.

«3 older brothers, huh?» Byrn laughed. «Poor you. Though… I kind of wish I had a few older brothers myself. My parents could have someone else to focus on every once in a while.»

«I know what you mean,» Kirielle said. «Ever since Zorian started going to the academy, mother has no one but me to pay attention to. It sucks.»

Zorian flinched in sympathy. He hadn’t thought of that, but it shed a great deal of light on Kirielle’s behavior for the past two years. Without Zorian there to act like a figurative lightning rod for mother’s criticism, Kirielle’s time at home probably took a sharp turn for the worse in his absence. A part of him was pleased that the little imp was forced to experience some of what he went through in his daily interactions with their family, but he mostly thought she didn’t deserve something like that.

«So, I’ve been meaning to ask,» said Byrn. «Your last name is pretty distinctive. Not that many Kazinskis walking around. Are you related to Daimen Kazinski by any chance?»

«He’s our brother,» Kirielle said.

«Really?» asked Byrn excitedly. «You know, I haven’t heard anything about him in a while. What is he up to currently?»

«He’s in Koth,» Kirielle said. «I think he found something in the jungle but… I don’t know. I don’t really talk to him all that often. He’s always traveling. You’re more likely to find out about him in the newspapers than by talking to me. Zorian knows him better than I do.»

Zorian shot Kirielle a quick glare for putting him on the spot like that, and on the topic of Daimen no less! The little imp just stuck her tongue at him. Hmph.