“But—” he began, but there was no stopping her in this mood. She marched him out into the snowfall There was another snowstorm just starting, not a violent one, but from the way the fat flakes were drifting down through the air, and the look of the sky, it was going to pile up deeply before it was over. He found himself hoping that it would be so deep that classes would be canceled and he could spend the whole day reading alone in his warm, safe room.

Well, Lena was not going to let him do that just yet; this much was clear.

She pulled him along the path that led, not to Heraldic or Bardic Collegium, but to Healers’. Alarmed at what this might mean, he began resisting. “Lena—just ’cause I don’ like t’ mingle with folk, that don’ mean I need a Healer!” he exclaimed. “Serious, now, I’m fine—”

To his intense relief, although she kept tugging, she giggled. “Silly! I’m not taking you to a Healer for you, I want you to meet my friend Bear!”

“Bear?” Bear? Who would name someone that? And why? The name conjured up a big man, intimidating, fierce and frowning. Dangerous. He must have a temper. Why did Lena want him to meet such a person? It would be worse than—

“Bear!” Lena called, waving her free hand. The figure bent over some dormant rosemary plants, all huddled in a green cloak, straightened and peered at them through the falling flakes.

And every bit of Mags’ apprehension melted like those snowflakes falling on the hot brick of the ovens.

This young man, with a pair of ground-glass lenses perched on his nose, could not be less imposing. He was a little taller than Mags, and looked to be about a year older, and he did indeed look like a bear—but a sleepy, affable bear, with a round face, untidy short brown hair, small but friendly eyes, a pug nose, and a generous mouth that looked as if it smiled often. He stood with a little bit of a stoop, as if he spent a lot of time hunched over. When he smiled at Lena, Mags had to smile back. There could not have been a sweeter smile in all three Collegia.

“I was just making sure the rosemary was going to be all right,” he explained to Lena, and looking over at Mags, made him feel welcome with the same smile. “So this is Mags? It must be interesting to be a Mindspeaker. Some of the Healers here are, too.”

Bear didn’t give Mags a chance to reply to that.

“Come on inside,” he said instead. “Lena said she would help me with studying the same things she’s helping you with. I arranged to have some supper brought up to my rooms, so we won’t have to go out in the cold.”