He sits on the floor, leaning against Scyelen's leg a bit, and reaches up to hold her hand. "A little better the last few weeks, I think. It's been hard for her here - nobody had any idea she was a Void mage, and they still don't know how to teach her. She's figured out a few things on her own, though, now." He pats her knee fondly.

"Really, you figured out some Void magic all by yourself?"

(Scyelen manages to squeak out a, "Yes?")

"That's incredible!" Henrietta affects a pout, even though she's still smiling. "And here I thought I'd swoop in and get to be your savior by delivering unto you the sacred knowledge! Oh well. I still have a gift to give you." She reaches into a concealed pocket in her dress and pulls out a small black book, held shut by a golden clasp with a pentagram etched into it. "This is a re-translation of the Founder's Prayer Book. Or, as I now believe it to be, the Founder's spellbook."

"Oh, wonderful. I was expecting to have to go questing for something like that."

Henrietta smiles at him, approving. "You still might, but this should give Scyelen a good head-start, at least. Especially if she's already figured out some things herself. From what I could ascertain, this book contains the technical descriptions of four pure Void spells of increasing class: The dot-class Explosion, the line-class Dispel, the triangle-class Transpose, and the square-class World Door."

Scyelen is shaken out of her self-recrimination by the revelation that she was right about Explosion being an actual Void spell. She reaches over to take the spellbook carefully, awed.

She flips it open to peak inside, and gasps when she recognizes Henrietta's handwriting. "Did you... make this for me?"

(Henrietta nods happily.)

"-World Door? Is that what it sounds like?"

"I'm not sure what it sounds like! That section was particularly difficult to translate, but I think it creates a portal between two different places, somehow."

"Maybe I should take a look at the original - I'm from a different world, my magic is slightly different, and I can do translation with it. And it'd be nice to be able to go back, at least to visit."

"That certainly sounds like a useful talent."

She taps her lip thoughtfully.

"Perhaps I could arrange for you and Scyelen to view the original holy relic, if I'm clever about it. I doubt that would help, though, unless you yourself are an expert in Void magic. The difficulty was not in understanding the Founder's Tongue."

"Not yet, then." He rests his head on his summoner's knee. "I can share that particular spell, when Scyelen's ready."

Henrietta nods and then smiles at Raafi's gesture. "It's good to see you two are getting along so well."

"It's not that hard to. Scyelen's a sweetheart."

Scyelen makes another little incoherent noise.

"He's lying," Scyelen finally mumbles, mustering something vaguely resembling a teasing tone. "But he means well."

"Am not. We had a bit of a rough start, that's all."

Scyelen peeks up at Henrietta with a tiny smile, and a little roll of her eyes. Henrietta giggles and bumps their heads together, and it's hard for Scyelen to remember that she's supposed to feel guilty about this when her old friend is right there sharing this inconsequential moment with her.

They're very cute. It's good for Scyelen to have a friend her age, too.

"I think I'll leave you two to catch up; I've got to be up early, after all. Dawn devotions," he explains to Henrietta. "Can't miss them. All right, sweetheart?"

Scyelen nods. "Okay."

She gives Raafi a little wave as he lets himself out, before returning her attention to Henrietta.

He heads back to his room and settles in for the night.

(They're going to have to talk about homosexuality being a thing, aren't they. At least that's a relatively easy one.)

Meanwhile, "Scyelen, could I possibly ask of you an extremely personal favor?"

"A-Anything." Scyelen stammers.

Henrietta smiles. "It's just, I've thought of our reunion often. We were so close, once, and I miss that closeness, Scyelen. So could I possibly trouble you to spend the night here, with you?"

Scyelen turns several interesting shades of red at this question, but when it comes to Henrietta there is only one answer she can give. "Of c-course."

Henrietta makes a happy noise and hugs the other girl tight. "I'm so glad."

And then Henrietta is stripping, saying something about how she doesn't want to get her dress wrinkled. Or her underthings. And reminding Scyelen with a giggle that she always hated pajamas, so she's not surprised Scyelen doesn't have any. And before Scyelen is entirely sure how it happened, the two of them are bare to each other beneath the sheets.

For a while, they simply cuddle, Scyelen quietly terrified that Henrietta will notice... the wetness. At least, until Scyelen notices, feels, a... wetness... not her own. Her mind stutters, shock ascending over fear. Henrietta is... pressing against her, moving, rubbing.

Scyelen starts stammering, incoherent noises of shattering belief, only to be cut off as Henrietta presses a hand over Scyelen's mouth.

"Shhh, it's okay, it's just you and me; you trust me right?"

Slowly, Scyelen nods.

"This'll just be a secret between girls, okay? I've wanted to do this with you for years, now. I wanna be this close to you tonight. Is that okay?"

Scyelen starts nodding, and Henrietta starts to remove her hand... but Scyelen moves on sheer instinct, pressing her face into Henrietta's palm... and by some miracle, Henrietta understands, and tightens her grip with a giggle instead.

In the morning, when Raafi gets up to do his devotions, Siesta is just outside Scyelen's room, holding in a poorly-contained squee. "So cute so cute so cute!"

"They are, aren't they."

Siesta beams at him.

"Good morning, Raafi! Oh, you should've seen it. Well, no, that would be inappropriate- Only maybe not, because familiar?" Siesta sounds uncertain on this point. "Anyway, the princess and Miss Scyelen are saying their goodbyes."

"Aww. I've got to go to devotions, but I bet they're adorable."

The door to Scyelen's room picks that moment to go thunk thunk.

"We're, um, done now, you can come back in, Siesta," Scyelen's voice calls softly through the wood.

Siesta gives Raafi another smile before slipping away into the room.

And he goes off to commune with Fharlanghn.