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Only, he didn’t know if she would let him.

5
    Jasn
    The college knew of Tenebeth. I have not discovered if they freed him.
    —Rolan al’Sand, Enlightened of Hyaln

    J asn made his way through the barracks, his mind churning. He could sense Alena in the distance, and knew that she remained deep in the forest near the female draasin they had healed, but not much else. Somehow he had to find a way to help her.
    The barracks was otherwise quiet today, and had been in the days since their return. Eldridge had stopped back in the barracks only briefly before departing, and now Wyath was gone, chasing after Eldridge as they searched for Bayan. That left Jasn feeling more isolated than ever. If he didn’t have anyone here to work with, what was the point of his presence?
    “Volth.”
    He spun at the voice and found Ifrit watching him. She had dark eyes and a sharp jaw, and he had healed her. That meant something had changed for her, much like it had with Thenas. His change was Jasn’s fault. Without Jasn choosing to heal him from the burns, would Thenas ever have managed to reach the elementals? Would Tenebeth have claimed the draasin?
    “Ifrit, now isn’t the time—”
    “Time? What do you have but time? Your instructor has barely come out of her dorm since you returned.”
    “She’s been unwell.” That was enough of the truth and all that he wished to share. Anything more and he would be open to questions he didn’t really want to answer. Besides, there was the strange connection between them that remained. Knowing that was his fault as well didn’t make it any easier to bear. And somehow, he felt the way that connection fed off him, as if stealing every bit of excess shaping energy he possessed.
    “Unwell. Then she should see a healer.”
    “I’m a healer,” Jasn said but immediately wished that he hadn’t.
    “Yes. About that.” Ifrit leaned toward him. “Your healing. Where did you learn it?”
    Jasn considered how much to answer. If he shared too much, she would only ask other questions. He didn’t know how much Cheneth wanted him to share, at least not yet. “I studied with Oliver in Atenas.”
    “Oliver,” she said softly. “That would explain your skill, I suppose.”
    “Yes.”
    “And what of—”
    He lost track of what she said next, noting that Cheneth’s door opened and the scholar popped his head out. The girl had remained in Cheneth’s dorm. Jasn wondered what they talked about, and why the old woman from Tsanth had sent her to the barracks to learn.
    “Volth!”
    He turned back to see Ifrit watching him.
    “Have you not been listening?”
    He grunted. “I’m sorry, Ifrit, but I need to see Cheneth before he leaves again.”
    She shook her head. “Don’t we all. Fine. We will discuss this later.”
    “Discuss what?”
    “Your healing.”
    With that, Ifrit turned and started down the street. Jasn watched her for a moment. What had changed for her with the elemental healing? With Thenas, he had been opened to the elementals enough that he caught the attention of Tenebeth. With Wyath, he claimed to have a new ability with the elementals that he didn’t possess before. And what of Ifrit? He had used the same healing on her. That healing… that had to have had some effects and had to be the reason she wanted to speak to him.
    He hurried and caught up with Cheneth. The old scholar moved carefully, almost limping as he headed away from the barracks.
    “Where are you going? You only just returned.”
    Cheneth paused and met Jasn’s eyes. “You question me now?”
    “I question everything now,” Jasn admitted. Nothing that he thought he understood was as it should be. There were powers in the world that he didn’t understand. Many of them, it seemed, with the elementals and what they represented.
    Cheneth pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Good. That is as it should be, Jasn Volth.”
    “What of the girl?”
    Cheneth’s eyes narrowed. “Now you ask about the girl? I thought