I'd Give Up The World For You

Drat! Ira had her there. Sarabeth was already mentally running through different ways to bring out the poison and potentially craft an antidote. This was a truly thoughtful gift so she couldn't continue holding things over his head. 

She sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you what you want to know about Katalya. Though I'm not sure why you want to know about it."

"…it's important," he said without further elaboration. 

Sarabeth hadn't expected to get much out of him. He was a notoriously closed book. 

"As I said before, my father is a colonel in the royal army on the western border. His post deals with threats from all of the western countries even if it is closest to Katalya. Close enough to see what happened to it from the tallest watch tower.

"Some lower-ranked soldier on watch duty shouted for someone to come see what was going on and my father was closest. In the distance he could see a surge of something gigantic that was green and brown coming out of the ground and tearing buildings asunder. 

"They went to go check out what was happening in the nearest town and found the place completely destroyed by gigantic plants that had either impaled people on giant thorns or crushed them. Every single person there was dead and there was no sign of who had done it aside from the fact that there were giant plants everywhere.

"My father's commanding officer, General Kip, sent a message to the royal army headquarters in the capital about what happened and you know what they wrote back? To ignore it! You have to know what that means," Sarabeth whispered conspiratorially. 

Ira's mouth became a grim line. "They were the ones behind it. As I suspected."

Her eyes widened. She hadn't expected him to already know that particular detail. "How did you know?"

"I can't reveal my source but an eyewitness saw what you described several years after the fact. Dried up plants and bones surrounded by rubble. It had to be plant magic and only the royal family of Mirea wields that." 

He spoke bitterly and Sarabeth realized that she hadn't told him anything new. Why had he wanted to know then? She didn't understand why he would bother to go to so much effort…unless he thought she had different information than what she offered. Oops. 

"Why are you even interested in all of this?" she asked curiously. 

Ira crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "It's none of your business." 

"Come on, it's not like I'm going to tell anyone!" 

"And why should I believe that?"

"Because we're friends. I don't rat out my friends," Sarabeth said firmly. 

She was too obsessed with chemistry for anyone to want to be her friend and she hadn't exactly been lonely but she couldn't deny that she had a better chance of figuring this stuffy guy out if she slapped a label on it. 

He looked at her like she was crazy. "You and me, friends?!" 

"Why not? I already know you get me since you were spot on with the natal lilies. It isn't like you have any friends either and you could probably use at least one."

Ira let out a heavy sigh and mumbled under his breath. "…she did want me to make friends."

She? The only 'she' related to this standoffish boy was whoever the letter had been from. But why would she want him to make friends? That was something parents fussed about, not potential lovers. 

Sarabeth doubted he would tell her who 'she' was if she asked but maybe she would find out with time if they did have the label of friends. She was certain that the mysterious 'she' had a strong influence on Ira and knowing who 'she' was may help her figure him out. 

"Alright," Ira conceded reluctantly. "I want to know what's going on with this country." 

"What do you mean?"

"Something strange is going on and it all started with the destruction of Katalya. The king of Mirea invaded for some reason and he had to have either water or wind mages with him in order to win against a bunch of fire mages. Then Mirea went to war with both of the countries that produce the most water and wind mages. 

"As if that isn't strange enough, the war in Zel seems off somehow. I can't talk to anyone Zelish but apparently they have some sort of secret about that war. If I had to guess, it was some sort of a farce. 

"As far as I know the Mireans won so why would all of the Zelish citizens be reinhabiting their homes less than a year later? Weren't they supposed to be wiped out? A good chunk of Aveleen was during the first war, though that one did last much longer," he mused.

Sarabeth wasn't sure what to make of that. It was strange that Mirea would go to war with people who may have helped them destroy another country. Even stranger that there would be a fake war of sorts.

"How do you know so much about magic?" she asked. 

Ira cupped his palms together and they filled with water as if poured from an invisible pitcher. A moment later he let it splash to the ground. 

She gaped at him. "You're a water mage?!"

"Yes but that's beside the point. I did research using a basic magical theory book before I had much control over my powers. I know that something strange is going on and it has to do with Mirea, magic, and the destruction of Katalya. The problem is that I'm not sure what." 

Sarabeth believed him. She didn't know what was going on either and it was going to eat at her. She needed more information. Extracting it happened to be one of her specialties. 

"You might not be able to talk to anyone Zelish but I'm a rather accomplished spy," she bragged. "I know exactly who to target too. You said this has to do with either water mages or wind mages. You're the only water mage here but there are four wind mages in this school. One of them happens to be in several of my classes." 

"Krae Duwaris," Ira stated rather than asked. 

"Precisely. He'd be the easiest point of contact. You have several classes with him too, don't you?" 

"I do."

"Excellent. Then do exactly as I tell you and everything should go according to plan. You seem observant enough since you managed to figure out I have an interest in poisons. Observational skills and the ability to sneak around is what makes a truly good spy," Sarabeth informed him. 

Ira seemed skeptical. "Do you honestly think we'll be able to get anything out of him or any of them? My source wasn't." 

"Maybe not by speaking to them but you would be surprised what people are willing to write in letters. We're going to have to snitch some of their mail from home without them being any the wiser." 

"…you honestly think they're going to be discussing that in letters from home?"

"Why not? When something big happens that's important enough to write about and war is pretty big," she said with a shrug. 

"But the war ended months ago!" Ira protested. 

"Still, it's the only plan we've got. Are you with me on this or not, Mr. Goody Two Shoes? I happen to want to know what in the world is going on around here. I don't care what I have to do in order to do it." 

He didn't seem happy about it but agreed and let Sarabeth teach him the finer points of spying before laying out their battleplan. She would handle the dorm rooms during everyone's Magical Theory class knowing they wouldn't be there by pretending to have a stomachache to leave her own class. 

He would keep them occupied after class as long as possible and then follow them to make sure they didn't go back to the dorms. It would be better if they had a way to properly signal each other but Sarabeth had never done anything like this with another person before so she had no idea how to pull that off. They were going to have to wing it.

Ira wasn't a fan of the idea. She couldn't help but wonder if he had ever winged anything in his entire life. He seemed far too meticulous for that. 

"I don't know about this, Sarabeth," he said slowly. 

She put her hands on her hips in a show of bravado. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"…everything."

"Don't be such a killjoy! Worst case scenario, I'll get detention. They aren't about to kick me out. I'm going to be the world's foremost chemistry expert by the time I leave this place and they're going to want the research of Sarabeth Storm to be credited to them." 

Ira didn't seem to know how to argue with that so he reluctantly let it go. "Fine. Do what you want but I can't guarantee being able to distract everyone. I'm not exactly known for my conversational prowess. They might be shocked if I even attempt to talk to them and either ignore me or walk away."

"That's a you problem, my friend! Figure it out. If I get detention because of you there's no guarantees my hand won't slip the next time we have a chemistry lab," Sarabeth said in a singsong voice. 

Since he had already told her not to screw up his grades he was even less happy about this. But it did seem to strengthen his resolve, which had been why she said it. 

They were totally going to be able to pull this off! Everything was going to be fine.. Ira worried too much.