“—Arbiter Androsse. Sorry. Given the Arbiter’s reaction, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out that she was still, somehow, alive. I mean, look at you. You stayed here when the Academia was, in theory, obliterated with the rise of the Towers, and you’re demonstrably not dead.”

“She has not been seen in the High Halls?”

“Probably not. I have an upcoming meeting in the High Halls, and I will certainly be bringing this up there.”

“You have a meeting in the High Halls?”

“I was invited to attend a meeting with the Lady, yes.”

“It is to be hoped, given your deplorable manners, that the meeting is a private one.”

“Mostly private. An’Teela has also been summoned.”

“Expect that your questions will not be greeted with any great joy,” Larrantin said. His eyes weren’t indigo yet, but it was close.

“Azoria was a student here before the Academia’s long hibernation. Was she a student of yours?”

Starrante chittered; Larrantin lifted a hand, palm out, in the Wevaran’s direction. “She was a student of mine, yes. But she was predominantly a student of the Arbiter Androsse.”

“The Arbiters take students?”

“No. That is why it was considered significant. I would guess that the conflict between the two Arbiters stems from his decision in the distant past.”

“Was she a good student?”

“She was an excellent student: very focused and very driven. She was, in Barrani terms, a woman of astonishing ambition.”

“Ambition to do what?” Kaylin tried to keep any accusation out of her voice; when Barrani were said to be ambitious it usually meant bad things for anyone who was not said Barrani.

“To learn, of course. To absorb any and all knowledge not already in her possession. She was an impressive talent, magically speaking; she was considered the only natural choice for heir of her line.”

“I assume a head of line already existed.”

Larrantin rolled his eyes. “Of course. But not all families decide inheritance by careful assassination; I did not have the sense that there was anything but amity between Azoria and her father, An’Berranin of old.”

“Her line was wiped out,” Kaylin then said.

“Ah. I see that I have been remiss. I am less aware of the changes in familial lines than I once was.”

“Did you know him?”

“He came to the Academia to visit Azoria from time to time; this was also considered unusual. He was not pleased when she chose to take up residence here with the rest of the students—she was well within her rights to come to classes during the day and return to the High Halls when those classes were finished.

“But she felt the travel time diminished the time she could spend on her research, and in the end, her father agreed. She was unusual for a Barrani—she felt the passage of time almost as keenly as mortals do.”

What had Berranin done?