It was more treasure than any of them had ever seen. A small pile of coins, some potions and a few weapons along with a pair of scrolls could hardly be considered riches but the fact remained that it was still more than they could say they personally ever possessed. To be fair, Arabess and Cal always had a few coins in their pockets, well at least they did whenever Cal’s gambling and scheming didn’t cause them to lose their allowance. They were well clothed and afforded what many considered generous consideration for books and expenses. Whoever their unknown benefactor was, they saw to it that the two of them wanted for very little in the way of common comforts. That’s not to say they lived in luxury by any stretch of the word but they were considerably better off than many who attended the Esoterica like their friend Eva, who was not left any kind of endowment or even An’ric, who’s monastic order provided for his necessities but very little else. 

“So we split the coins evenly. That’s easy enough.” Eva suggested.

“We can sell these extra weapons nobody wants. I’m sure we can get at least a few more gold.” Cal added.

“Yeah I’m fine with that.” An’ric agreed. “What about these potions?”

“You guys take one each. I’m good. I can heal myself.” Cal offered.

“Would anyone care if I took this cat’s eye pendant?” Eva asked.

Her friends looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders indifferently. “All yours Ev.” Arabess announced.

“What about you Bess? You’ve been rather quiet. Anything here you want?” An’ric asked.

“I don’t know.” She said a little hesitantly. “I really like that coral ring but I’m sure it must be valuable. If no one objects I’ll buy it from the group.” She said with a glint of excitement in her eyes. “It’s got such nice color.”

“Fine by me Bess.” Eva smiled.

“Yeah sure.” An’ric echoed.

“I hate to do this to you Bessie but I was kinda interested in that too.” Cal said. “It’s got a rich look to it.”

“Are you serious?” The young sorceress questioned, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah. But look. Fair is fair. I have some dice. High roll gets it ok?”

Arabess glared at him with an incredulous expression on her face. “You really want to do this?”

“Sure it’ll be easy. Tell ya what. Never let it be said that I’m not a gentleman.” He bowed low presenting the dice. “You can roll first.”

Arabess took on a frosty white pallor as her eyes emanated a frigid blue glow. She snapped the dice from his hand and launched them across the room.

“You know what?” She glowered. “Keep it!” She growled exposing a single canine and stormed away.

“Bessie, wait!.” Cal called after her. 

A wave of her hand caused a veil of fog to obscure her departure “Don’t call me Bessie!” She hissed to herself as she turned the corner into a stairwell.

Cal stood in the doorway stunned, unsure if she should follow after her. He turned back to their friends with his mouth agape. “What was that about?” He finally asked.

“Beats me.” An’ric said. “How about these scrolls?”

Eva side eyed the monk as she stood to her feet. She shook her head at Cal almost as if to say ‘if you don’t know…’ “I’ll go find her.” She offered, hopping to her feet and leaving.

Cal still hadn’t moved. It wasn’t his intention to upset his lifelong friend. In fact the only reason he even wanted the ring was so that he could give it to her as a gift, a memento of sorts marking their first real adventure together. 

“Ahh. Girls. Don’t let it bother ya brother. You know how emotional they can be sometimes. And Bess has always been prone to mood swings.”

“No she hasn’t.” Cal said almost defensively. “She’s only like that when someone hurts her feelings. It’s how she protects herself.” 

“She’ll be ok. Eva will bring her around. Don’t worry.” An’ric said reassuringly. “In the meantime…scrolls?”

“Arabess is the only one of us studying magical devices.” His voice was slightly melancholy. “She should probably hold onto those for us. We’d probably blow ourselves up.”

“Yeah. Good idea. Don’t want that.”

………………………………………………….

Eva found her sitting against the flowering cherry tree near the pond in the rear courtyard. She knew she would. It was her friend’s favorite spot on the grounds. The raven haired sorceress still wore a scowl as she stared angrily out across the water. Eva stood silently for a few minutes waiting for her friend to acknowledge her. When she didn’t, she decided to break the ice herself. 

“You know they call it a ‘dream catcher’?”

Her friend’s eyes shifted slightly toward her.

“Call what a dream catcher?”

“The cherry blossom tree you’re leaning against.”

“You read too many books.” She frowned. “Like that jerk Calixtus.”

“Wow.”

“Wow what?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call him by his full name. He’s in a lot of trouble huh?”

Arabess didn’t answer. 

“May I?” Eva asked motioning to the ground near her friend. 

Arabess was staring out across the water again . She didn’t say anything but shrugged her shoulders and half curled her lips. 

“Want to talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

The girls fell silent again.

“Why would he want a ring obviously meant for a girl?”

Eva was about to say something when Arabess cut her off.

“I’ll tell you why. He’s an inconsiderate jerk who probably only wants it to gamble it away or …” The young sorceress became quiet, unsure she should say anymore, as a scowl worked its way across her face.

“Or what?”

“I swear if I see Kylee wearing it they’ll be scraping it of her frostbitten fingers.”

Eva laughed. “Come on Bess. Cal would never. I’m sure he must have a really good reason for wanting it. I can’t see him contesting your claim unless he had a really good reason.”

“Oh yeah? What might that be?”

“Well… I mean… He probably…” Eva shook her head. “I got nothing. But I’m sure he had a good reason.” Eva frowned a bit. “He better have a good reason.”

That forced the slightest crack of a grin to appear on her friend’s face. Arabess leaned her head against Evalise’s shoulder and went back to staring at the water. The two did for a while as some time passed quietly away.

……………………………………………….

It was late afternoon the following day when Arabess heard a light tap at her door. She had sensed a presence standing there for a few minutes before the knock came. She had already guessed who it might be. She walked over to the threshold and half opened the door.

“Hey Bessie.” Cal smiled.

“Hey. What?” She responded curtly, still holding the door halfway open, blocking the entrance.

“Can I come in?”

She paused a few seconds considering his request before taking her hand off the door and walking away leaving it ajar.

Cal took the cue as an ok and made his way in closing the door behind him.

“Missed ya at dinner last night Bess.” He opened a little sheepishly.

“Lost my appetite.” She said folding her arms.

“You weren’t at breakfast either…”

She glanced at an unmade bed. “Slept in.”

“And lunch?”

“Classes.”

“What classes? Lunch is during the common hour. There are no…”

An icy stare stopped him mid sentence.

“Hey Bess. I’m not sure what I did but…”

“Aren’t you? As smart as you are Calixtus, you expect me to believe you have no idea?” 

He sunk just a little. “Is it the ring Bess?”

“You knew I wanted that ring Cal!” She began to raise her voice. “What the hells?! Why would you do that to me? It’s a girl’s ring Cal. What the hell would you even do with it? Or does the Bardic College have you so in touch with your feminine side now that you’ll wear anything?!”

“No Bess. It’s not like that.” He was sincere. “I can explain.”

“Do tell.” She growled in draconic.

The young bard reached into his pocket and produced a small wrapped box.

“What’s that?” Arabess asked through slanted eyes.

“A gift.”He said holding it out. “For you.”

“If you think this makes up for it Cal…”

“Just open it Bessie.”

She snapped the box from his hand.

“Don’t call me Bessie.” She said through a harsh whisper. She held the box for a few more seconds.

“Go on.” Cal nudged.

Arabess sighed and tore the wrapping exposing a mahogany red cube. Her enhanced sense of smell told her immediately it was cherry wood, her favorite due to its pleasant scent. It had a straight, satiny grain with a ripple figure. It was quite beautiful. She undid the clasp exposing the coral ring inside.

“What?” She asked accusingly. “Did your conscience, such as it is, begin to trouble you? Now you want me to have it? You think a pretty box makes everything better?”

“No Bess. I always wanted you to have it. I just wanted you to have it as a gift from me. That was our first real adventure and I thought it would be nice for you to have something to remember it by… so you know… years from now you can look at it and smile.”

Arabess flushed red as a mix of embarrassment blended with stunned disbelief then bled into a somber happiness. She began to blink rather rapidly as her eyes moistened. A flash of guilt rippled through the emotional vortex that was her face. She inhaled sharply and if Cal didn’t know any better he’d swear she was about to exhale the frigid air of her breath weapon. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. “Thanks Cal. Thanks so much. I’m sorry. I should have known…”

“It’s all good Bessie.” He said, returning her embrace. “I’m glad you like it.”

She turned her face into his and kissed him quickly. Though only seconds it may well have been an eternity for both of them. She broke away and punched him in the shoulder.

“You’re still a jerk.” She grumbled.

“I know.” He nodded as he grinned. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful in the future.” He said with his smile growing wider.

“Yeah well…” She  replied, fidgeting nervously all the while failing miserably to look tough. “Good. See that you do.” She put the ring on her finger and held it up to the soft daylight of the retreating sun. “It’s…”

“Beautiful.” Cal finished for her though he wasn’t looking at the ring. “Ahem.” He shook his head. “We should probably head down for dinner. Eva and Ric will be wondering where we are.”

“Yeah. Good idea. She agreed. “Arabess brought the cherry wood box to her nose. She inhaled the sweet scent of the wood deeply and smiled before placing it carefully on her dresser.

Once in the hall she draped her arm through Cal’s and leaned into him slightly moving him off balance.

“So you liked the box?” He asked.

“Yeah. It was perfect.” She smiled.

As they found their way to the table, laughing and bumping into each other with their plates in hand, looks of confusion grew apparent on the faces of their friends.

“What?” Arabess said with a head tilt.

“You guys good?” Eva asked.

“Yeah why wouldn’t we be.” Cal answered.

“Well yesterday seemed…” An’ric had begun but stopped as Arabess reached over to Cal’s plate and swiped his biscuit. The coral ring on her finger caught his attention.

“Is that?” He asked.

“Oh this?” Arabess said flashing it with a bite of biscuit in her mouth. “Yeah Cal gave it to me as a gift. Wasn’t that sweet?” She turned and smiled at him. He smiled and winked in return.

Eva looked at An’ric who was already looking at Eva and they both shook their heads.

“What?” Arabess and Cal asked in unison.

“Oh nothing their two friends grinned. Nothing at all.”

Arabess slid a piece of skewered chicken onto Cal’s plate. “I can’t finish this.” She said grabbing his glass and emptying it. “Be right back. I’ll get us more.” She hopped up with the two cups in her hand.

Cal watched her walk away for a second before turning his head back to the table. He noticed his friends staring at him. “You guys ok?”

“Us?” An’ric asked. “You know you two are…”

Evalise elbowed him. “Supposed to meet us at the library tonight to work on our graduate thesis right?”

“Oh yeah. I know. We’ll be there.”

“Be where? Arabess said.”

“Library Bessie. Senior thesis.”

“Oh yeah. I should probably start that.”

“Did you say start?” Evalise asked.

“Yeah. Well, I know what I’m going to do. I just have to put it on parchment. Cal if you wouldn’t mind I could use your bookworm skills to help me find a libram about the dragon pantheon. I wasn’t allowed to keep the one I transcribed at Candle Keep.”

“You did what?” Cal asked. “You can’t do that? The rules…”

“Are stupid and the dragon told me I could.” She interrupted. “But then she told me I couldn’t. It was all a bit confusing. Anyway would ya mind?”

“Of course not. After dinner, work for everyone?”

They all agreed.

As An’ric and Cal got caught up in conversation Evalise leaned into Arabess. “I guess he had a good reason.”

Arabess smiled. “Guess he did.”