“I am going to the Seminary tomorrow.”
Her body exhausted and her mind drifting in the half-state between awareness and sleep, Selena did not immediately react to Latimer’s announcement. The words tumbled around inside her head for a moment until her brain finally latched on them.
Then she was wide awake.
“You will physically go there?” she asked, propping herself up on an elbow.
Latimer made periodic reports to the High Masters through a pair of enchanted mirrors, an old wizard trick that had been around since before the Wars of Sundering. As far as Selena knew, her teacher had not left Castle Nelesti since he brought her home more than one year ago.
“Yes,” Latimer answered. “There is much to discuss, and the High Masters cannot fully harness their powers of intimidation when using the mirror spell. Besides, the Mastermage himself will be present at this meeting, and four people sharing one mirror is no easy feat.”
Selena had often pondered the man who ruled the Assembly of Magic. Mastermage Keptune, Rellen the Younger, was the son of the archmage who created the Assembly and constructed the Seminary of Wizardry. Latimer had hinted that the Mastermage was nigh immortal. What did a spell-caster of such authority and power do with his days? she wondered.
Selena sat up straight and adjusted one of the many pillows Latimer insisted were crucial to his nightly comfort. “Is this meeting about me?”
Latimer wound a few strands of her hair around his finger and released the curled lock. “Of course,” he replied, sounding as though the topic was almost too boring for words. “I am here for a reason, you know.”
“Yes, I think you just demonstrated that,” Selena teased.
At first, Latimer looked annoyed, but then the customary grin graced his face. “The Assembly is interested in my other talents…what I have been teaching you outside of the bedroom.”
“Your classroom and bedroom are one in the same,” Selena pointed out, indicating the spacious chamber on the other side of the bed curtains. “But I suppose the Mastermage would not approve of our extracurricular activities.”
Latimer grunted. “Too true, my dear. Too true.”
The man went quiet again, which further piqued Selena’s interest. Not only was Latimer making an unexpected visit to the Seminary, but he seemed preoccupied by the prospect of it.
“You are not in any sort of trouble, are you?” Selena asked quietly.
The wizard chuckled and folded his hands behind his head. He was naked from waist up, wearing nothing except for the sheet that covered his lower half and the colorful ring he never took off. He was not as muscular as Lucas, but he was masculine in his own way—like the refined splendor of a statute.
“The Assembly does not know the full extent of our relationship,” Latimer said. “Not that it will matter much to them soon.”
“What do you mean?”
Latimer chuckled and brought his hand down to caress her arm. “Do not be so anxious,” he coaxed. “I merely meant that while the Assembly frowns on teachers…fraternizing with their students, the point will be moot because before long I will not be your teacher anymore.”
“You think the High Masters are going to replace you?” Her heart raced with panic.
“Do not be ridiculous,” Latimer said. “If I am not terribly mistaken, the reason I was summoned to the Seminary is so I can give a final appraisal of your magical acumen.
“The simple fact is I have taught you all I can, Selena. You have learned the craft more quickly than any wizard I have ever heard of, and so I daresay the Assembly will want to reassign me soon. They do not like to squander their resources, you see.”
Although Latimer had been part of her life for a relatively short time, she could not imagine her days without him. Scarcely finding the strength to speak, she asked, “What will become of…of us?”
“That is the crux of it, is it not?” Latimer said with a long sigh. “Once the Assembly has decided I will be of better use to them elsewhere, I will be reassigned. Who knows where my next mission will take me?”
“I do not want you to go.”
Selena’s voice was so soft she feared he had not heard her. Finally, he said, “And do you think that I am eager to exchange this”—he gestured at the area around him—“for the road? Do you think I would trade your company for that of some whelp who will probably never accomplish anything worthwhile with the gift?”
“Have you no choice in the matter?” Selena spat the bitter words, not looking Latimer in the eyes. It felt exactly like the time Lucas had told her they were better off splitting up. She had no control. Once again, others pulled the reins to her life.
“I could quit,” he said.
At first she thought he was being flippant. When she turned to glare at him, however, she saw that the easy smile had evaporated. Latimer Lanthrop looked as sincere as she had ever seen him.
“You would leave the Assembly for me?” she asked.
A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Not quit the Assembly entirely. I could quit my job with the Assembly.”
Selena considered this while the butterflies in her belly continued to flap and flutter. “What about your aspirations to climb the Assembly’s hierarchy?”
“What about your own?” he countered. “The Assembly has plans for you, Selena.”
“Because of my nobility,” she said, “not because of my own merits.”
Latimer ran the palm of his hand down her cheek. Cupping her chin, he turned her head to face him. “For as long as I have known of the Assembly, I have wanted to become a Senator. I thought my happiness was linked to my achievements within the Assembly.
“But now I am certain that I could be happy anywhere so long as I am with you.”
Selena felt the skin of her face and neck burn, and for once she was not bothered by her blushing. The two of them had never confessed their love with words, and yet Selena was suddenly certain that she loved Latimer and that he loved her.
“Could you ever marry a man of my low standing?” he asked, his hazel-brown eyes mere inches from hers, their lips almost touching.
“Of course,” she whispered. Before she could say more, they were kissing more passionately than ever before.