“I haven’t spent a copper piece on my tuition,” Tenser
said with a mischievous smile, as if he had just
shared a secret.
“What? No. But that are you taking a loan for the
full tuition? Do you realize you can be paying that
off for the rest of your life? They might even raise
you as undead and put you back to work paying it off.”
“I will have it paid in full after my first
adventure.”
“Your what?”
“Adventure!” Tenser said with great excitement, but in
a hushed voice, as if he had changed his mind about
sharing his secret any farther. “Who knows what
destiny will throw my way? Maybe I’ll loot the ruined
city of some lost civilization, rob a sleeping dragon
of its treasure trove, or steal an elven princess from
her father’s court. Or maybe all three. Regardless,
I’ll walk away from it a wealthy man.”
“That sounds like a lot of looting, robbing, and
stealing to me,” Ehlissa said without enthusiasm.
“Yes, yes, but I’ll be no common thief,” Tenser
countered with pride. “None of that is bad if it’s
done for a good cause.”
“And what is your good cause?”
“Well, I don’t have one yet, do I?” Tenser responded
defensively. “If I did, I’d already be out there,
adventuring. Haven’t you ever thought about using
your magic spells to live a life of adventure?”
“No…” Ehlissa confessed. Adventure was something she
knew of only from stories. She had been told some as
a girl, even though her parents were mostly practical
people with no time for nonsense. “Nonsense” is what
they would surely call wasting one’s education,
risking one’s life for ill-gotten riches, and sitting
in taverns with strange men. Then her mother would,
she imagined, become weepy and complain that Ehlissa
was trying on purpose to make it difficult for them to
marry her off to a good suitor. “Besides,” Ehlissa
said at last, “what use does a lady have for
adventure?”
“A what?” Tenser asked with a start.
Ehlissa noticed him scrutinizing her face for the
first time since they had met. “What?” was all she
could think to ask Tenser back.
“Nothing. Er…nothing,” Tenser said, turning away to
hide the blush in his cheeks.
Now Ehlissa’s cheeks were turning red too, but from
embarrassment and anger. “You did know I was a lady,
didn’t you?” she asked, boldly stating the issue
between them.
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