By Fifthday things finally seemed settled down. Rolf sent a letter apologizing to Francine for the trouble he caused her and promising not to interfere in her relationship. She was pleased as punch and showed it to Matthew, who was less convinced but had nothing to point to as proof of its untruth.

After Ginny’s conversation with Harlane the day before and her tardiness to Cobalt Coda training after her outburst, which led to Azure’s dressing down later, she had second thoughts about going to the party with Tabulain, but the wheels were already set in motion, and she thought it would settle things with Amalie one way or another.

She also received some letters from Old Sanctville in the post, which were a surprise, to say the least.

The first came from Lucien Prenticict; she opened it not knowing what to expect but wasn’t so surprised by the contents.

    I wrote you three letters after my party before I realized my mother was simply taking them from me and not sending them to you. I have taken measures to see this one delivered.

    I hope it finds you well. I was very pleased to see you at the party. Your beauty and ability are unparalleled; I think of no one else. I spend each night lying awake with visions of you dancing in my mind, and each morning, once I have awakened, it is thoughts of you that propel me to achieve greater heights than I have before.

    I will excel far beyond anything my brother has ever even thought of achieving. All he thinks of are other women and his boats. I have the same magically enlightened mind as you. I spend my days reading, studying, and training to be admitted to the Chalice. I will become worthy of you.

Ginny had picked up on Lucien’s mood at the birthday party, but this would be a difficult tightrope to walk. Amalie hated her, Lucien was in love with her, and she hoped Harlane was too, though real love usually took a little longer. This was a different beast altogether. How was she going to respond to this? Maybe she wouldn’t respond at all, at least not yet; she needed to get Harlane’s opinion about this first he knew his brother better than she did. Ginny felt strongly toward Harlane, but she wouldn’t have sent him a letter like this even now. The next one came from the Hansina estate.

    Please, will you extend the courtesy of your forgiveness? I was wrong to cause a scene at your house. You were entirely right. If I had something to say, I should have just said it to you or him at a more appropriate time and place.

    I hope you can also see past my foolish decision to ignore the advice my Grandmother gave me. She advised me Francine was already otherwise spoken for and that I should focus my attention elsewhere, but I let my past feelings cloud my vision of the future.

    If you could see your way to starting over, I think we could still be great friends. You may not believe me, but that night at Dregs proved it to me.

It seemed to her that this was just another ploy on the countess Hansina’s part, but it didn’t matter. If it was settled, then so much the better. She didn’t anticipate actually taking him up on his offer, but she sent a cordial return letter.

    I appreciate your apology, and I accept. If no further problematic events transpire we shall say no more about it. The heart can be a cruel and mysterious mistress, issuing unreasonable demands. I won’t give you a full pass, but I can’t entirely hold it against you, I suppose. Heartborne dreams aren’t banished with the issuing of marching orders; they fly on their own winds.

    We will just have to see how compatible we are as friends. The final promotion and awards ceremony off the unpleasantness and the siege of Old Sanctville is coming on the fifteenth of Solember. I assume I will see you then. The pen set you gave me has come in handy and netted me several compliments and covetous looks on top of it.

She was getting along well in all her classes. Her project was coming along; she was making headway on her reports and had met with little resistance so far. Cobalt Coda recruitment and training had been going smoothly, especially since Tristan had been replaced with Blaise. In the first week, Tristan constantly fought for control, whereas Blaise was much more willing to work together as equals.

Their interview had been enlightening. Ginny was learning that a vast array of skills, powers, and innate spells were spread throughout the genetically enhanced population. While the fact they are gifted at all may be inherited, it so far didn’t seem that specific traits were heritable. Blaise had one of the more unique sets of gifts, and it was somewhat revealing for Ginny to speak with him. He had enhanced speed and could look at others and focus deeply to discern their health, magical energy, and several other biological factors represented by colored auras.

When he attempted to use this power on Ginny, he was shocked and nearly blinded by her magical power levels and even surprised by the amount of vitality she possessed. He shared the fact that Ginny had colors surrounding her he’d never seen before and therefore couldn’t explain to her at the moment, but he didn’t use it often. He had used it the most he ever had during the Unpleasantness, which seemed to make it stronger. Ginny could see a shining silver cross appear in his eyes when he activated the sight, but it disappeared as soon as he stopped concentrating.

They had spent all week teaching the Cobalt Coda Recruits to administer interviews. For this exercise, they were put in mixed pairs and trained on ways to detect whether or not someone qualified as Angel touched through a verbal interview and a cursory physical examination. This wouldn’t be the end decision on the matter; confirmation would be needed with a blood test, but this was one duty of a full-fledged Cobalt Coda Knight.

Another thing she’d learned was that, like any other skill or trait, using these gifts strengthens them. This is part of why the enhanced members of the Cobalt Coda needed to use their powers in training to get them under control and bring them up to their full potential. It was also imperative that the non-enhanced members learn how to trust and work together with enhanced members. Their lives depended on it.

Though questions always loomed large in her mind. The first and largest was, “Who made the enhancements?” The elves worshiped Spectronomer. It was unclear whether it was just the concept of Genetic code and the Elf who discovered it that was the original Spectronomer or if there was some elder elven deity who gifted them this knowledge, but at some point, humans had been tampered with on such a basic level that it’s never gone away; it’s only spread.

Others swirled constantly: What was the original purpose? Are there more subjects enhanced besides Elves and Humans, can unenhanced members of a family line already shown to have this genetic mutation somehow have it triggered? Could it be reversed? Could more traits be unlocked in the same subject?

Francine was impressed at the fact Argento had actually been developing his traits through this training. He had been Angel touched his whole life, but he’d never gotten any better until now; his dad had refused even to acknowledge they existed. He could now see twice as far in the dark as he used to, and he could withstand an ice-water bath when, before, he just didn’t need a jacket in the winter months. Ginny, in turn, was impressed at how well Francine was doing. She had ceased complaining during practices and had started actually practicing on her own time.

As she sat making notes on the obstacle course run Azure had planned for the next week, Tailoring the spells she would cast to the powers and gifts in each group that would go through it, Ginny felt like she was really making a difference and helping to shape the course of the Empire.

CH13~Check the Post

An Imperial Education

By Fifthday things finally seemed settled down. Rolf sent a letter apologizing to Francine for the trouble he caused her and promising not to interfere in her relationship. She was pleased as punch and showed it to Matthew, who was less convinced but had nothing to point to as proof of its untruth.



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CH13~Check the Post

An Imperial Education

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An Imperial Education

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