The Writers' Circle

Hot off the press. I've literally just finished typing this up so feel free to point out anything that doesn't quite fit.

Hope you enjoy it.

Part four coming soon.

JD

* * * * *

	Tam sat alone in his sparse quarters. It hadn't taken him long to pack what little he owned but he couldn't bring himself to face Suki just yet. They had both shared passionate dreams of travelling to the great city of Mekanikus, about which they had heard so many wondrous things.
	He felt like crying but, for some reason, the tears weren't forthcoming. It was as if the joy he had previously felt at the completion of his exams and the despair that had followed it had simply cancelled each other out leaving him feeling empty and drained.
	Reaching up he seized the dark Stones that hung on a cord around his neck and gripped hard, if only to reassure himself that he could still feel pain as they dug into his palm. The Stones were what had got him into this mess in the first place and he cursed the day that he had ever been given them, though even as he thought it he knew that he was being irrational - no-one could choose their Stones.
	The tulai visited all of the new-born of Gaea at birth to assign them their Lapiti Stones - a physical reflection of a being's true nature. For Tam they had all been in blacks and purples and had denoted him as a future black mage as a result. It was an outcome that had been all too infrequent amongst the magically gifted tulai in recent times.
	Tam sighed deeply. There was nothing that he could do about it no matter how much he stressed. Eldwin had done his best and his final words echoed around Tam's mind.
	Make the most of this opportunity.
	With a final, weary sigh Tamson stood and headed for the door. He knew that Eldwin had tried hard to find him a placement with the others in Mekanikus but he doubted that Suki would be quite so understanding.

* * * * *

	The students' common room was deserted as Tam entered it once more that night. The revellers had long since gone back to their rooms to prepare for the exciting time to come and Tam was glad that there were none there to notice his distress. The room was covered with the remnants of the exuberance that had existed here not long ago. The moonlight that entered through the high windows of the building striped the floor within in patches of dark and light and alternatively hid and revealed the scattered chairs and occasional forgotten items that littered it.
	"Are you ok, young man?"
	Tam turned hurriedly in surprise at the voice to see Professor Apora. The strict, old tulai was paused in his task of tidying up the mess of the common room to gaze questioningly at him.
	"Erm, I was just, erm."
	"Take your time, young man," said Apora in the face of Tam's nervousness.
	Tam hurriedly gathered his wits in front of the teacher.
	"Have you seen Suki?" he asked.
	The teacher looked thoughtful for a moment.
	"Not recently," he said. "Have you tried her room?"
	"She's not there."
	Again the teacher looked thoughtful.
	"Try the gardens, then," he suggested. "I saw her head out there before, but it would be a while ago now."
	Tam thanked Apora and headed for the gardens himself. They were in full bloom at this time of year and were a riot of colour, tinted by the light of the moon. Even at this time of night, dedicated bees could be seen buzzing lazily between the pollen-laden flowers. The scene was truly serene and silent.
	Except for the soft, stifled sound of someone sobbing.
	"Suki?" said Tam as he came upon the girl. "What's wrong?"
	"You're not.going.to Mek.with us.are you," Suki sobbed.
	Tam sighed. How had she found out?
	"Rore.told me," the girl continued as if she was reading his mind.
	Tam cursed inwardly. Rore was Professor Eldwin's aide and the head of thaumaturgy was yet to discover how much of a gossip and a trouble stirrer he had in his assistant. No doubt the tulai would hardly have been tactful in his revelation either.
	"Eldwin did all that he could," Tam reasoned. "It's no-one's fault that I'm not going with you. It's just the way it is."
	"And how's that.supposed.to help?" Suki asked bluntly between sobs.
	Tam looked at her shaking back, mystified as to what he was supposed to say. Girls could be so confusing at times.
	"What can I do, though?" he asked.
	Suki didn't respond except to shudder slightly as she attempted to suppress the fresh assault of grief that welled inside her. Tam watched as her upper body rose and fell in a stop-motion staccato and he reached out to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
	"It's going to be ok," he said.
	Suki looked at his hand and then up to meet Tam's worried gaze.
	"How is it going to be ok?" she asked.
	"It just will," Tam insisted. "This isn't the end. It just feels like it because we're going away for a long time but it isn't really. We'll see each other again."
	"I don't want you to go."
	Tam looked down at his distraught friend and noticed how beautiful she was despite the evidence of her grief. Her features were delicate and accentuated by the lilac flower that she often wore in her hair and her white dress of the light mage glowed softly in the moonlight.
	"I don't want to go either," he admitted. "But I don't have a choice."
	He eased himself down to sit by his friend and shivered slightly as she rested her head on his shoulder.
	"Are you cold?" she asked.
	"No."
	There was a pause as they both enjoyed the moment.
	"Tam?" she asked after a while.
	"Yes?"
	"I'm gonna miss you."
	Tam sighed.
	"I'm gonna miss you too," he said.
	He let his head slump to gently rest on Suki's and they allowed the tranquillity of the scene to wash over them as they each contemplated their futures, praying that their paths would cross again somewhere in the future no matter how long that moment would take to come.