Stand Against the Dark | Glowfic Constellation

… It's possible it's the latter. She made it sound like she was sent to do some low-priority field work.

Evelyn can't really complain. She tries to keep quiet, in accordance with the atmosphere.

Once Farah is done, she asks, "The room is acceptable, Evelyn? And... My apologies for being brusque earlier. I don't want to hold you up from your journey to London very long. Tomorrow we will both be fresh and I have no pressing jobs. I have hope you will learn what I think you need to know in three days."

"I didn't really know how long this would all take," she responds. "The room is good, thank you." Smile.

"Very well. But if I dally too long, you will miss the current entrance period and have to wait four months - which may not be a bad thing, necessarily, but you are already older than most other entrants so you might wish to catch up."

"Is there a final deadline, where I'll be too old for the school?"

"It won't be until you're well and truly an adult, if there is one."

Nod. "And –" She hesitates. "I'm not all that sure what… things… are available, when I'm older. There's the standard route through the, uh, military, but then… I assume that leads onto other things, later on?"

"Hm. To be honest, as a Witch, almost any mundane job you would wish to do, besides perhaps being a noble Lord, you could take and do well. Using magic to aid your work or supplementing whatever failures you encounter with magical income. Serving as a courier or guard or using your particular magic, whatever it turns out to be, is the other main civilian option. For the military specifically, if you show promise you could very well be promoted to positions of command. The politics are a bit complicated, but the Witch sections of the UDF must be commanded by other Witches, even if they sit at a desk and do not use their magic. So there is a significant lack of Witches trained to command, and a lack of skilled administrators generally. The UDF is relatively new and does not truly know what it is doing yet, in my opinion. There is much opportunity there. Aside from that there are the special assignments I mentioned earlier - police, civilian aid, and research aid being the most significant."

Evelyn frowns. "… Why do the Witch sections have to be commanded by other Witches? – Is the UDF headed by a Witch?"

"The Unity Mother heads it, while she still lives, rest her soul. One-" She sighs a bit. "One of the greatest arguments that allow the UDF to exist at all are that Witches are independent of their countries - few Witches are truly beholden to their local lords. It has been this way for a long time, and Witches are better off for it. But this also means they are capable of being trusted to be impartial. If the Duke of Brittany was head of Albion's forces in the UDF, and a Neuroi were attacking both Bordeaux and Brittany, which do you think they would defend more stringently? With a Witch in command, one who is serving the world and not her home, all lords can contribute to the fight without feeling like they need to hold back and reserve strength to protect themselves. That's the idea, anyway."

"That doesn't sound like it'd make that much difference…"

"Trust and stability of power are the most scarce of commodities in politics. Scarcer than gold and diamonds, scarcer than mana. Besides that, nobles think differently. Almost none would have agreed to join the United Force, a truly world-spanning coalition rather than one of a few dozen lords, without a condition of this sort. Perhaps the Unity Mother should have seen the problems this caused coming ahead of time. Perhaps she did and this was the better option than letting the coalition die. Either way, here we are."

"– The nobles, uh, didn't want to be ruled by other nobles? Or?"

"Essentially, the nobles didn't want to be directed in such a huge war by other nobles, yes. Not all people have nobles and lords, but those are another wrinkle entirely."

Nod. "This might be for the better."

"I quite agree. But it still leaves us Witches with a command problem, discipline problems." She grimaces. "Little girls grow up hearing 'a Witch can do whatever she wants to'. That attitude doesn't usually take well to working as a team."

… Evelyn nods, again. "I don't think I feel that much different, really?" She pauses. "Maybe a little."

"Well, you need to get that out of your head right now. There are invisible walls for everyone. Things you can not say or do, lest you face consequences. In the world of peasantry, a man works and fights wars, a woman works and bears and cares for children. Anyone who deviates from the pattern takes on risks. In the world of Witches there are rules just the same. Fewer of them, admittedly. And now I have notes to write. If you wish to be a diligent student, you will either read the first twenty pages of that book or practice holding your mana-light more steady than a candle flame before sleeping."

"I do," she affirms. "I'll try that — it seems wise."

"It is also good practice for staying steady in flight. Very well then, I bid you good night."

"I hope you sleep well," responds Evelyn.

And then it's off to start reading the book before her bath.

(She feels so fancy.)