I'd Give Up The World For You

"I am concerned about Nico and Demetria," Ciara said with a slight divot between her brows, snapping Ira out of his thoughts. 

"I get Demetria but what about Nico?" he asked curiously. 

"He is a wild card. We do not know if he will attack the king or not. He has no magic so won't he need our help? I don't wish to be involved in an unnecessary fight but I also don't wish to see him hurt." 

Sarabeth rolled her eyes. "You guys don't notice anything, do you? He'll never listen to reason. He has a massive crush on Professor Gallagher. That's the only reason he agreed to any of this. He's going to take her word as law. If she tells him to attack the king, he'll attack the king and get burnt to a crisp in the process."

"There has to be something we can do!" Ciara insisted. "Some way we can stop him from doing that if the king doesn't turn out to be the enemy Professor Gallagher has made him out to be."

"I don't know how strong Rukelion Blaze's fire magic is. I could try and envelop Nico in water but if he's strong enough he could potentially evaporate it," Ira said grimly. 

"And I could wrap him in shadows but all that would do is hide him. He would still be there and if the fire was used indiscriminately he could get hit. I don't know what else we could do."

"There is the old 'knock him out so he can't do anything stupid' route," Sarabeth suggested. "I can develop something that will put him to sleep but it will take a few weeks at least. I'll have to really crack down if I want to be done before we leave for the capital."

That sobering thought made them all go quiet for a moment. They didn't have much time and they had to come up with two separate plans of attack in case things were different than they had been told. 

They had to be prepared to take the king down but they also had to be prepared to retreat with all of their lives intact. All of it was dependent on what they saw when they snuck into the castle. Which they would only be able to do because of Ciara's darkness magic. 

"Ira, are you going to tell your mother you're coming in advance?" Ciara asked suddenly.

He shook his head. "No. Knowing her, if I do that she'll hide whatever evidence there is of her being in danger so I won't worry. The best way to find out what is actually going on is to show up unannounced even if it is rude."

"I see. That makes sense." 

"You two get out. I need to get to work," Sarabeth said as she pulled on a pair of gloves. 

As they had been talking they hadn't realized she had already begun taking out equipment to work on making something that would put people to sleep. She didn't waste any time, did she?

Ira and Ciara left without another word to her. There was no point since she was clearly in the zone already, muttering to herself as she examined different potential ingredients. He rolled his eyes at how quickly she went into Mad Scientist Mode. 

Ciara looked at him seriously once they were kicked out into the hall. "Do you want to work on your magic some more?"

"No. I need to get some actual studying done. That history exam is only a few days away and I haven't had time to look over my notes at all," he said ruefully. Keeping up with schoolwork while doing all of this magic training was tiring. 

"I haven't studied yet either. Why don't we do it together?"

Ira smiled at her. She was a rather studious person and would likely be a helpful study partner, though he tended to do these things alone. He had no reason to refuse. 

"Sure."

Ciara returned his smile shyly and the two of them set off to find a good table in the library to get to work. There were quite a few exams between now and when they headed to the capital. This would be the last one before finals but there were also essays and other projects to complete. End of term assignments were no joke. 

The two of them studied for over an hour before taking a break to get something to eat from the cafeteria. While they were in line he remembered something he had wondered earlier. Now that they were alone he figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. 

"Ciara, why are you helping out with this? You have no real reason to."

She shifted uncomfortably and wouldn't meet his eyes. "I have sufficient reason."

"What is it then?" Ira asked, confused. 

"I…I wanted to help you. I thought Sarabeth was tormenting you at first and was concerned but after finding out what was going on I still wanted to be of help." 

"Why?"

Ciara sighed and spoke so quietly he almost couldn't hear her. "I thought if I helped you that you might be my friend. A silly thought, I know. But I am not very talented at making friends and I figured it would be the most effective method."

Ira stared at her for a moment trying to register that. She had wanted to be his friend? She was willing to risk her life for something as simple as that?!

"Ciara, that isn't a good enough reason to put yourself in danger!" he protested. 

She shrugged, still not meeting his eyes. "I think it is. I don't receive letters from home often because of the distance and I've been rather lonely out here. I noticed you always kept to yourself so I thought we were the same. That is why I wanted to be your friend." 

He had kept to himself but it was more because he couldn't be bothered with people. It seemed that she genuinely wanted connections with others but didn't know how to go about it. That wasn't the same thing at all. 

However, Ira didn't feel it would be prudent to say that. Instead he said, "We are friends. And not only because you're helping me either. Out of everyone I have met here you are the most comfortable to be around. I tolerate Sarabeth but I actually enjoy your company." 

Ciara finally looked up at him and she had the widest smile he had ever seen on her face. "Really?"

He nodded, his chest feeling oddly tight. "Yes. When this is over I still want to spend time with you…but only if you're interested."

"Of course I'm interested! It is an honor to be your friend." 

Ira felt his face heat at her words. Now it was his turn to avoid eye contact. They didn't say anything else as they got their food and found a place to sit down but after they had finished their food he figured he should ask her more about herself. He was the one who said they were friends, after all. 

He meant it too. He liked Ciara. The only other person in this world he liked was Miss Veronica. 

Most of what he knew about her came from offhand comments when they were in the middle of doing something else. Or that one time in the greenhouse when they had plenty of time to talk while volunteering. 

"You're from Oxalis, aren't you? Can you tell me more about what it's like there?" Ira asked, genuinely wanting to know. "My parents traveled all over this continent but they hadn't been there since before I was born so I don't know much about it. The only place in the east I've been is Carid." 

Ciara nodded with a bit of a wistful smile on his face. "I am. Some days I miss it so much it hurts but talking about it might help. My homeland is beautiful but small. The landscapes aren't as diverse as here in Mirea either because of its size. 

"Our country is made up of a ring of mountains with a valley in the center. Most of us live in the valley since the snow is worse in the mountains but there are a brave few who do. Primarily people set up camps there in the summer to mine the ore and jewels up there then return to the valley come winter…"

She went on more animatedly than usual as she continued telling Ira about her homeland and he was content to listen to her go on. Listening to her gave him a similar feeling to the one he had when he listened to Miss Veronica talk about flowers. 

Perhaps it was because they both seemed to be at their happiest when they were talking about something they loved. Ciara was normally so quiet too. Seeing her talk about something with such passion was strange. Not the bad kind of strange though. He liked seeing this side of her. 

She was a nice person, if an odd one. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know everything. Being curious was perfectly normal for him but he had never been this curious about another person before.. He wasn't sure what it meant but he wanted to find out.