Dreamstorm, Chapter 2, Final (Patreon)

Last sneak peek of this book for the nonce! You will have to read the rest in a few months, when it hits the stands. I hope you've enjoyed the preview! :)

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“I admit,” Jahir said, “I never thought I would find you here, alet.”

Kindlesflame rose from his chair, laughing, and waved to the seat opposite his. “Sit, Jahir. It’s a pleasure to see you, and even more of one to surprise you.”

“I’m not sure why,” Jahir offered. “As when I first arrived, everything was new to me, and you witnessed much of my struggle with it.” He crossed the airy room, finding the cleanliness of its lines both lovely and unlikely. Such high ceilings should have combined with the hardwood floors and the minimal ornamentation to create echoes and problematic temperature control. The magic of the Alliance could be subtle as well as overt.

The chairs were set on a balcony overlooking a wooded ravine, and beyond them: mountains. It was glorious; Jahir paused at the rail to stare at the vista, inhale the coolth of the morning, still damp from the mist burned off by the sun. The scent of pine was so strong it was almost as if he’d bruised the needles in his hands. “Oh, but this is beautiful.”

“Isn’t it?” Kindlesflame had moved back toward the kitchen, but his voice carried clearly. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Something stronger?”

“I cannot know how you need the latter, with such views.” Jahir looked for the bird he heard whistling but couldn’t spot it. “Coffee would be good, thank you. It’s cool out.”

“More so here than in the middle of the city,” Kindlesflame agreed. “One of the things I like about it. I’m not much of a cityboy.”

Jahir looked over his shoulder. “I beg your pardon? Says the man who was dean of a university college?”

The Tam-illee laughed. “Yes, I know. I love the bustle. But when the day’s done, I want to put it to bed. Get some quiet in.”

“And that is how I find you here. On sabbatical.”

“You say that like it’s some rare disease.” Kindlesflame sounded amused. “Don’t tell me, Healer… is it terminal?”

“Is it?” Jahir asked, turning inward.

“Iley Everlaughing!” The Tam-illee brought two mugs with him and set them on the table before dropping again into his chair. “Dire, alet. Very dire. I’m not dead yet, you’ll note.”

“But you are not working either. I didn’t think you would be ready to retire.”

“I’m technically not retired,” Kindlesflame said over the rim of his mug.

“Ah.”

“…just considering it.”

Jahir stared at him, then took up his own mug and had a seat across from his mentor. “I feel this requires explanation, and yet I would not ask.”

“Which is nearly as obvious as you ever get about personal questions, so you must be concerned.” The todfox grinned. “It’s not serious, I promise. But I’ve been at the university for three decades now. I’m allowed to wonder if it wouldn’t be good to have a change of pace.”

“I see now,” Jahir said, warming his fingers. “As when you went from the dean of the medical school to the head of its clinic.”

“Yes. Chasing a new perspective on things. You calcify, staying in one place. We’re not meant to be sessile.” Another smile. “You understand that better than most of the people I know, I imagine.”

“Yes,” Jahir agreed. “So does this sabbatical constitute a sufficient change of venue? Or will you move on, do you suppose?”

“Depends on if anything comes up,” Kindlesflame said. “Until then, I’ll probably do some lecture tours. I get enough invitations to talk at conferences to stay on the road all year if I wanted, and in the past I’ve had to turn most of them down. I enjoy being out, and it’ll be good for my curriculum vitae.”

“And… your family?” Jahir asked, delicately. “You have never mentioned them.”

“And this looks like a bachelor pad, is what you’re suggesting.” The Tam-illee chuckled. “That would be because I’ve been single again for a good two decades. Maybe I’ll meet someone while I’m out on the circuit. No, I have nothing to tie me down, alet, and a great deal left to learn and experience. The clinic’s been wonderful, but it’s time to hand it off to someone else for a while.”

Jahir exhaled, settling himself. “Rather a large change.”

“It is, isn’t it? But I’m excited. Which is as good a sign as any that it was time to shake things up a bit. Which brings me to you, ah? What are you planning to do with all those continuing education credits you’ve been accruing like some kind of dragon on a hoard of gold?”

The mental image was striking, and amusing. “I had no idea you were tracking my progress.”

“It’s hard not to keep your hand in,” Kindlesflame said. “I looked after you mentioned one too many esoteric topics.” He cocked a brow. “You are going somewhere with all that extra education, aren’t you?”

“Is it so obvious…”

The Tam-illee laughed. “Yes? To you too, I assume. You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?”

Was he? When he and Vasiht’h had settled into their permanent location on Veta, he’d begun taking extra classes for the pleasure of learning, and because their licenses did require some amount of continuing education. At the time he’d pulled up the course list for a generalist healer-assist degree as inspiration, but he had long since ceased to notice, when consulting it for what he should take next, that his actions would inevitably result in him having completed the theory portion of the degree.

…which he had. “It was not my intention. I was merely pursuing my interests.”

“And your interests have landed you with all the credits necessary for another degree,” Kindlesflame said, mouth curving. “So is it that you intend to work your way through every degree in the known worlds, because you love learning? Or is this a more specific obsession?”

Jahir tried not to wince. “Calling it an obsession seems…”

“Accurate?”

“Prejudicial,” Jahir chose, ignoring his mentor’s amusement and his own chagrin. “But it’s a moot point, as without the practicum I cannot receive the license.”

“True. But you can sit for the written exam and then arrange to do the practicum at your local hospital.” Kindlesflame leaned over and set his mug on the table. “They’ll log your time for the licensing board and as long as you get in the requisite within five years, you’ll be fine.”

“I… I beg your pardon?” Jahir asked, startled. “They would permit me to go about it backwards?”

The Tam-illee chuckled. “There are multiple routes into the license. You’ve been working on the educational institution model, because that’s what you know. But there are apprenticeship programs as well, plus the on-the-job training model, which is where they take people who’ve either had experience and need the theory or vice versa and arrange for them to get what they need. You’d be going in under that model, and for that you take the theory exams to prove you’ve got the book learning down. Then you have five years to get in the practicals.” Kindlesflame laced his fingers over his abdomen, slumped in his chair. “Assuming you have to do much of that. They might apply your Selnor experience toward it. It won’t get you all the way there—psychiatric residency isn’t the same—but the fact that you worked a medical track in a critical care unit will weigh in your favor.”

“God and Lady,” Jahir said, startled. “You mean to tell me I might be credentialed as a healer-assist within five years?”

“Two, probably. It takes most people less than that but they work at it full-time.” Studying him, Kindlesflame nodded. “You’re going to do it. Good for you.”

“I have not said—”

The other man snorted. “What’s stopping you? Having that in your back pocket’s a good thing, and it’s not like the continuing education for both is going to break your stride if you’ve managed to accrue one and a half times the credits you need for the degree in your downtime. It would be a handy thing if one of your clients starts having a seizure, or you discover one of them has a medical issue that might be interfering with their ability to make the most of your therapy.”

What good he could do on his homeworld as a modern healer! Some part of him had been cherishing that future, the one where he returned with the fruits of the Alliance’s many excellencies. And how badly did the Eldritch need medicine. The faltering birthrate, the appalling number of deaths in childbed, the avoidable deaths from accident and the more mysterious ones from illnesses no one could name or explain… his world needed researchers, doctors, specialists in pharmacology, hospitals, and midwives….

But he wasn’t planning to go home to stay, not for many many years. And he had no idea what Vasiht’h would say if he discovered his partner had been secretly pursuing an alternate degree. No amount of protestation on Jahir’s part that it hadn’t been an entirely conscious decision would offset his partner’s anxiety about the wherefores of the situation. Jahir sighed.

“Now that’s a long face for what sounded to me like good news.” Kindlesflame’s brow went up. “What’s inspiring it?”

“I like the life I have now,” Jahir said slowly. “I do not relish the prospect of disturbing it.”

“No reason this should,” Kindlesflame said, unconcerned. “They offer the exams quarterly in all the Core sectors. Go visit, take it, leave. Then volunteer at your local hospital—which you’ve already been doing—and eventually you end up with a license. What needs to change?”

“That sounds… minor enough.”

“The exams take three days,” Kindlesflame said, folding his legs. “And inevitably the licensing boards schedule them in the prettiest places they can find. It’s ideal for vacationing.” He grinned. “I almost envy you.”

“Perhaps you can become a proctor as one of your ‘changes of perspective’?”

The other man laughed. “Not a bad idea. But speaking of which… I’ve noticed you eyeing the view. Would you like to take a hike through the backyard?”

“Oh, absolutely!”

As Jahir rose, Kindlesflame said, “Seriously, my student. You’ve done the work, and the credits are good… for now. But they’re going to expire if you don’t use them for something, so decide soon whether you want the paper to go with the knowledge, mmm?”

“I promise to consider it,” Jahir said.