For the moment, her most pressing resolution was that she could no longer work with Professor Devon if he insisted on teaching the deception rune. She knew it could jeopardize her chance to stay at Prevan, but she couldn’t in good conscience enable Devon’s thievery. Her father was well, and surely the Sha could not punish her for boycotting sacrilege. If resigning from her position affected her status, she would simply have to find another way to stay, because Mother Shu knew she wasn’t yet ready to leave, to say good-bye.

Professors normally returned to their offices the day before classes resumed—with the exception of Mainard, of course, who seemed to need no break at all. So on the last day of the hiatus, Yenni made her way to Devon’s cramped office in the basement of the administrative tower. From the doorway she spied him frowning over some text, mumbling to himself and scratching notes on a piece of paper. She knocked on his open door.

“Yenni Ajani!” Devon cried, and gave her a relieved smile. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. Come in, come in!”

Yenni was about to sit when she felt the air vibrate with ach’e.

“Ab-alfar by source’s path,” pronounced Devon.

He suddenly appeared on the other side of the desk, a few paces away from Yenni. She pulled instinctively on her speed runes and darted back.

“Oh, my apologies,” said Devon. His face was red with exertion and his chest heaved slightly. “I take it you’ve yet to see a demonstration of Yasna’s Teleportation, en? Advanced magic, that.”

Advanced indeed! The Yirba had a rune to do something similar, but only her parents, her brother Dayo, trusted lieutenants, and of course their Masters knew how to draw it. Yenni had begged Dayo to teach her, but he had never relented. It was up to their parents or the Masters to decide if and when she ready to learn a royal rune.

“You said something I did not understand in that spell, Professor. Aba . . . abala . . .”

“Ab-alfar,” said Devon. “It means through space in San-Uramaik.”

“San . . . what?”

“The ancient language of incantation,” said Devon. “Advanced spells contain words in San-Uramaik. There are even powerful spells that can be cast only in San-Uramaik. It was the language they were born in after all. So Yasna’s Teleportation makes use of ab-alfar, through space, because it’s a means of using otherspace to move instantaneously from one place to another.” Devon leaned against his desk. “How went your break?”

“Very well,” said Yenni.

“Excellent to hear!” said Devon. “And I’m thrilled to see you this afternoon. I must admit—”

Yenni held up a hand, cutting him off.

“Before we continue there is something I must say.”

Devon blinked. “Oh?”

“Yes. If you insist on supporting the proliferation of the stolen Watatzi rune, I will have to resign as your teaching assistant and leave this class.”