Calanthe had ran her way up the steps of the Library two at a time. She was supposed to have a tutoring session and was late. That had seemed to be a theme lately. And so here she was. But in fairness learning from her uncle was far more interesting than anything she could find in the Library. But she needed Shrine instruction as well, and so here she was striding through the Library.

Making her way deep into the library she finally made it to the area for the planned meeting. Her eyes landed on a woman sitting at a table alone. She looked well put-together, and so Calanthe made the easy assumption, striding up to the woman with apologies on her lips. "I'm so sorry I'm late, thanks for waiting!" Sliding into a seat across the table she smiled. "So Calanthe Beckett reporting for duty!" Learning was important and she was plenty glad to stretch herself to do it.

If Devi heard footsteps against the marble floors, she did not react to them, far too engrossed in her text to be bothered by some scholar slipping through the stacks. The sound of the chair scraping out from under the table across from her, however, was enough to bring her attention up from the page.

Devi watched the slender Arynnite slide into the chair, out of breath and apologizing for her tardiness to a meeting she was entirely certain they had not agreed upon. Surveying the girl with a barely-there smirk, Devi finally brought her hands up in a flat steeple beneath her chin.

“And what duty would that be?”

Calanthe settled her arms on the table looking at the woman with a confused head tilt. But then it dawned on her, this must have been some kind of test because she was late. That was the only reason she could think her instructor would ask such questions. And she was a little too distracted by her tardiness to think about the fact that this might not be who she was supposed to meet.

"The duty of every young Arynnite, to study enchantments and make an impact in your chosen area." Smiling at her answer she peered at the book on the table. "Soul harvesting techniques today then?"

She was young; that much was apparent. Chin rested atop her hands, Devi surveyed the girl with an almost keen interest, gaze dropping to the text under her hands before returning to…Calanthe, was it?

“The history only,” she remarked, offering the correction after another moment of silent contemplation. The tome on the table was a far cry from a practical manual. Straightening in her chair, Devi very nearly smiled. “Let’s hear it then: what is your ‘chosen area’ of study?”

Far be it for her to quell the enthusiasm of an over-eager, sorely misplaced enchanter in the making.

Her eyes widened in excitement at the prospect of the things hiding in the tome on the table. Certainly it would be rather interesting if this tutor had selected it. That was their job right? To pick something like this? "Fascinating."

Calanthe steepled her fingers together, not really sure how to answer that question. She felt herself being pulled in every direction these days. Her Uncle Evander had plenty of ideas for her, her aunt Calliope others. And for herself? Well she just wasn't sure yet which was almost more infuriating. "That's a great question. One I'm not sure how to answer yet. But that's okay because I still have time. Well besides Shrine, but that's not really a chosen area."

But she had time, at least that's what she kept telling herself. "How did you pick?"

Fascinating? Even Devi would not have gone that far. The text was a dry one, but elucidating. Ultimately, that was all it needed to be. Rather than say as much, Devi lifted a bemused brow, one that said ‘Indeed’ without wasting the time or breath required to utter the actual word.

It occurred to her that, at some point, she should inform the girl she had found the wrong table and that—elsewhere in the library—there was undoubtedly an irritated tutor awaiting a tardy student. But Calanthe had, for the time being, captured her interest. Shrine, was it? How bold.

Rather than comment on the choice, Devi sank into the back of her chair, dedicating a genuine moment of thought to the question she’d been asked. “I suppose that’s a reasonable question,” she conceded. “I’ve always appreciated the…efficiency of a well-crafted enchantment. Our utility and practicality are what set apart. From Lorendale, Nevemere. Even one another. In a sense, these are qualities that make a thing—” or a person—“truly singular. I suppose you could say that singularity spoke to me, and once I realized that—” Devi shrugged, an idle smile tugging at the corners of her mouth—“I dedicated my life to it.”

What she failed to mention was that she had far loftier ambitions for her life, that one day she intended to be appointed Minister of Goods, to sit on the Queen’s Cabinet. Not because her name was Talik, but in spite of it.

To Calanthe everything was interesting. Anything new was interesting. She enjoyed the reading, the experimentation, everything with enchanting was intricate. It was what she lived for, even if it was just the history of soul harvesting. Maybe it seemed odd or annoying, but the young arynnite had no time to care about things like that.

Listening to Devi it was fascinating to hear what her tutor did with her skills. Studying efficiency might have seemed boring to her aunts and uncles, but it was important work. Certainly everyone had their place in Arynn Frey, the kingdom far better than the rest.

It gave her questions though. "Well-crafted, makes sense. The souls from people, those must rank high on that list no?" Her head was titled with interest, fingers playing at the edge of the book.

“On our list of singularizing qualities?” Devi mused, turning the thought over in her mind with an almost blithe interest. “I suppose we’ve proven that much rather objectively.” While she rarely had need of a human soul herself, Devi had enough first-hand experience with the material to know just how potent it was.

Her gaze fell to the scholar’s hand, creeping eagerly across the table. A thin smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Were I your tutor, that would inevitably make for an engrossing topic of debate.” Amusement made the corners of her eyes crease as they narrowed on the girl across the table with the full weight of her meaning.

"Mhmm, interesting." It made sense of course, and now that she knew how? Calanthe didn't see herself wanting to use anything less. She wanted perfection from herself, and that was it, so be it. Besides if a tutor agreed....

Not a tutor then. Of course with her luck that's how things were going. Putting her elbows on the table she pushed the palms of her hands into her eye sockets. "I'm sorry I wasted your time." Calanthe from a few months ago would have just laughed and apologized, walking onwards. But she was tired and exhausted, and it was just all a little much. "Did you ever do anything like this when you were trying to learn?"

There were few things in the world Devi Talik valued more than her own time. It was an inherently precious commodity, a finite thing that would inevitably expire one day without pomp or circumstance or warning. To waste any of the seconds between the present and that final, unknowable end was, as far as Devi was concerned, unconscionable.

Fortunately, Devi was a rather keen arbiter of her own time. Where and how she spent it was more a matter of course than a rule, but never without cause or intent. Watching the girl across the table succumb to the revelation of her mistake, Devi grinned. It was a subtle, restrained gesture, governed by the same fastidious perfectionism that directed the angle of her posture or the measure of her stride.

“No,” she admitted plainly, surveying the girl with a discerning eye. “But I daresay my circumstances were somewhat different than your own.” Devi considered the girl a moment longer, weighing a litany of unseen factors against the obvious, enjoying the mental exercise her calculations afforded. “What was it you were hoping to learn from this lost tutor of yours?”

Calanthe had been drowning for a while now. But she pushed through, she was a Blackwood, and she didn't really have any other option. Especially with her father gone, a lifeline she didn't even know she needed. It didn't matter though, pushing through was the only option, showing anything like weakness was not becoming. And she enjoyed it anyways, the constant hours, all the studying, and especially the time with her uncle.

"Maybe, that's not an excuse though, my apologies." Nodding her head she pulled herself together, looking at the woman across the table smiling in victory. And it then set in she didn't even know the woman's name who she was bothering. That was certainly rude in anyone's book. "I think today was..." Trailing off she pictured the schedule in her mind. "Today was about reasons shrine enchantments fail. Although something tells me I'm a little too late for that." She was already late, then add this detour?

“Well, then.” Devi leaned back in her chair, folding her hands over the book on the table. “I suppose this lesson will have to suffice.”

She paused, arcing an expectant brow as her gaze dropped from the wiry girl across from her in search of parchment or ink, silently prompting her unwitting student to ready her notes. Whether the girl moved to assemble the requisite materials or not, Devi would begin a moment later, in the matter-of-fact cadence of a practiced lecturer.

“Shrine enchantments,” she pronounced the word with unfettered disdain, “might deteriorate for a number of reasons. The same is true of all enchantments, I suppose, but shrine-work is the most untenable. Care to hazard a guess as to why?” Devi prompted the question with another discerning look across their narrow table.

To say Calanthe was surprised was an understatement. Most people wouldn’t waste their day in such a way unless it was literally their job to teach. It was good for the kingdom really, spreading knowledge to the younger generations.

She did pull out parchment and a quill, although it was mostly for show. Taking notes had never made much sense to the young Arynnite. Considering there was barely enough time to learn everything she almost never had time to re-read a lecture. Most of the time she would write a couple short-hand notes at the end to summarize what she had learned. But the pile of them in her room mainly remained untouched.

”Shrine enchantments,” not spoken with any of the disdain her guest lecturer had, ”are extremely complicated and often take longer and thus it’s easier to misstep during the enchanting process. Those missteps can lead to deterioration or breakage from outside forces.” She liked to know what she was up against while enchanting. And while personally she found shrine enchanting superior that didn’t mean there were no faults or problems.