Page 99 of Obsidian and Frost

He was wearing dark jeans rolled at the cuffs with a pair of scuffed boots. A plain white T-shirt was layered with a gray button-down, the sleeves shoved up to his elbows. His ears were more metal than skin with all the earrings hanging from them. His black, shoulder-length hair was mussed up like he’d just rushed out of bed.

He leaned his hip against the desk at the front, and looked out at us as he sipped from his coffee, taking his sweet time before releasing a satisfied sigh, then putting the cup down on the edge of the desk.

Then he pushed his ass onto the surface. “Lenos Caldrith. Sorcerer. Unity Council member. Been practicing for ninety-years, so despite the mid-20’s youthful exterior you’re all seeing, I’ve got some experience under my belt. So, rest assured, you’re in excellent hands.” He executed a hand flourish. “Call me Lenos. Formalities aren’t my thing.” He smiled. “Works out well that I’m coming in with that attitude considering the dry material we’ll be covering in this class. What are they calling it….” He snapped his fingers and a document levitated before him. The class syllabus. “Ah, right, dry title too.Inter-Realm Relations: Treaties and Cooperation.”

Hmm.He was certainly an interesting character.

More than that. He was perhaps somebody I could actually work with.

When the time was right.

I wasn’t quite ready yet. Things weren’t in place.

Suffice to say, I wasn’t just continuing on with my vigilante activities on the down low for the sake of it, or for some adrenaline high, or to play judge, jury, and punisher like Ryker had believed.

I wasn’t that short-sighted.

I always had a plan.

And this was no exception.

It had just been a long time in the making due to the nature of it.

“This class isn’t about history. It’s about fallout,” Lenos went on. “Power vacuums. Backroom deals. People who smile while rewriting your rights. We’re talking about how inter-realm cooperation has been used to broker peace, rewrite oppression—and the darker and more complex side to all of this.”

He shifted on the desk until he was sitting cross-legged on top of it.

“The Dracoryn Realm just suffered through a civil war, the results of which extend beyond the confines of that realm. There are draconic expatriates being assisted by the Shifter Stabilization Unit, territorial alterations. There has been fallout from the Severance, issues with the Dark Fae Realm with their refusal to outlaw free-will-violating magic. A whole lot. And all of that is in the here and now. That is what you need to be aware of, not some look back at history, but the current state of things and the complications that come along with managing it. The processes, the high-level decision-making and policy development.” He winked. “We’ll have no fools here. Be informed. Be aware. Be prepared.”

He slapped his knees to some sort of improvised melody. “So, today’s lesson will have real-world application. Inter-Realm Crisis Treaty Simulation. You’ll work solo, because I want to see as many perspectives as possible. And I want to see how you all think, where you’re at, what I’m going to be working with here for the next year. You get to pick from two scenarios.”

He flicked his fingers and with a spark of beige magic, a screen materialized stretching from the floor right up to the ceiling.

“First option,” he said, with another hand flourish. “Realm Border Reformation Dispute.After the war in the Dracoryn Realm, many dragons who’d suffered under HouseTitanus’ control left the Realm.Tension Point:The Guardian Movement's Inter-Realm Relations Division pushes for formal treaties; House Vortimer wants temporary magical sovereignty; Unity Council demands transparency. Meanwhile, the Shifter Stabilization Unit is working to realign existing shifter settlements and resources to accommodate displaced dragons.Deliverables:Draft a treaty between the Guardian Movement, House Vortimer, and the Unity Council. This treaty must include at the very least: territorial boundaries and control agreements, expatriate rights and magical status, transitioning from short-term damage control to long-term sustainability.”

He brought up another screen. “Second option. Dark Fae Sovereignty vs. Magical Ethics Crisis. The Dark Fae Realm continues to permit the use of violating and identity-altering magic—spells capable of unmaking, rewiring, or suppressing an individual’s core essence. While the Guardian Movement has flagged this practice as a critical threat to inter-realm stability and individual rights, it cannot lawfully intervene without violating Dark Fae sovereignty. The Unity Council is pushing for diplomatic pressure and public declarations of magical ethics, while the Dark Fae Realm refuses external regulation.Tension Point:How do you protect vulnerable beings in this realm while respecting borders and tradition? Is there a path to establishing minimum ethical standards across all realms? The Unity Council wants to institute a cross-realm Magical Ethics Accord to ban or restrict such magic from crossing realm boundaries. The Dark Fae Realm claims any outside interference is a breach of culture and magical tradition.Deliverables:Draft a treaty between the Dark Fae Realm, Unity Council, and the Guardian Movement. This must include an agreement on whether—and how—these magics are restricted or disclosed outside the Dark Fae Realm, possible paths for reform without violating magical culture, andthe establishment of a cross-realm ethics council, or rejection thereof, with justification.”

He snapped his fingers. “Begin. Should you require guidance, let me know. I am here to support you. We will work on these treaties for the few weeks, then dissect each one.”

Not a bad assignment.

A lot of work, sure, but I’d never minded that.

Not if the goal was worth it.

But if this professor thought I’d merely work within the framework of the current status quo, he had another thing coming.

If there was one thing I’d learned from my fucked-up life over the years, playing by the rules was rarely an effective way in which to achieve any lofty goal.

If there wasn’t a clear way through, you needed to fucking well make one—barriers be damned.

I headedthrough my little house toward the bedroom.

I needed an extra boost of my serum to be able to pull off what I’d arranged tonight.

But before I could make it to the threshold, a sharp rap sounded on the front door.

He was early.