It wasn’t long after Aaron directed his attention to the front that a tap on the shoulder alerted him to… Lilie! And she was sitting next to him! A wide smile cracked across his face, and he gave her a wave, but was reluctant to talk; Varis would surely hear them if they did, and he’d hate to give the vampire any reason to be cross with him so early in the night, especially with the opportunity for redemption within reach.
Speaking of which, Lilie had brought Salem with her, who sat on her other side. Maybe he just wanted to sit next to Lilie, though Aaron had a sneaking suspicion he was looking for a little distance from him as well. Aaron offered a wave nonetheless, but promptly directed his attention to Varis as the lecture began. The first section of the lesson was simple housekeeping, but Aaron had to admit he was interested; he'd never been in a class with other people before, and working in groups was intriguing. Of course, his interest was overshadowed when Salem asked to speak to Varis after class. Did the man
actually have a death wish? Why on earth did he want to draw
more attention to himself after what happened last night? Aaron tossed Salem a subtle questioning look, but snapped back to attention as soon as he could, very conscious of the fact that Varis could see him.
Unlike many in the hall, Aaron didn’t bother taking notes; he knew the Treaty intimately, not only having had it drilled into his head by virtue of his education as a Starag, but having actively and enthusiastically studied it on his own. He’d thrown himself into it as early as he’d been able to wrap his head around it; not only was it the document that governed the world, but it was one of very few tangible relics of his grandfather, a remnant not only of his diplomacy, but also his intellect. Aaron knew the names of its writers like beloved characters from his childhood; Morgan le Fey was a legend to him, and Landar Starag, practically a god. He recalled the sense of wonder he still sometimes got when he read the Treaty, knowing that Landar himself had read over those very words, not to mention written many of them. It was the closest he’d ever get to meeting the man in person; no wonder he got a little prick of irritation when he saw a good number of students in front of him largely ignoring the lecture.
Nonetheless, hearing about the Treaty did wonders for Aaron’s mood. Even knowing the subject matter so well, he listened with rapt attention as Varis talked about it, interested to hear how he described it. Aaron was a little surprised at how enthused Varis seemed about the Guardianship Clause, though it wasn’t as if the vampire didn’t have good reason. The Guardianship Clause was a personal favourite of Aaron’s as well: Not only was it a legal work of art, as Varis noted, but the concept
behind it was absolutely
genius. Morgan le Fey had been able to consider vampiric nature alongside urgent human needs in her solution to the problem of overfeeding, balancing punishments with incentives to achieve results that neither could get on its own. Giving vampires specific mages that only
they had the right to feed from not only protected mages from being preyed upon at random, but incentivized the vampires who possessed them to care for them, as opposed to draining them dry and tossing them aside like the old days; after all, under the Guardianship Clause, a vampire’s food source was no longer unlimited, and had to be maintained. The Clause reconciled the needs of mages with the wants and jealous nature of vampires in such a way that both forced and encouraged vampires and mages to work together, and was enormously successful as a result; Aaron couldn’t imagine another solution which could have eradicated overfeeding in the space of only a few years. It was absolutely fascinating, and he was happy to see Varis giving it the credit it was due. Maybe he’d have them write a paper on it; Aaron had a few ideas for one already.
Article Three, while important - and a particular focus of Landar himself, as Aaron was well aware - was nothing new, but of course he listened nonetheless. Landar’s hatred of vampires was well known, and Aaron was sure it fed into his insistence regarding the severity of Article Three, alongside his fierce protectiveness over humans as a whole. While unpleasant to think about, Aaron couldn’t fault his grandfather for wanting to be so harsh on those who would harm humans; their protection, and the trading of mages in their stead, was the whole purpose of the Treaty to begin with.
Soon, though, Aaron’s more contemplative approach to listening was snapped into shocked attention at the mention of a punishment stricken from the record. ‘Solaris Pius.’ Of course Aaron had never heard of such a thing - things were stricken from all record for a
reason - but he certainly wasn’t going to start taking notes now. What was Varis doing? He shouldn’t have known something like this to begin with, let alone be recklessly disseminating it to a lecture hall full of who-knew-what sorts of people! A cold stone settled in the pit of Aaron’s stomach, and he shifted in his seat uneasily. Maybe he’d bring that up later, out of the public eye.
When Varis moved to the Starag Commandment, Aaron quickly turned his mind to that, eager to clear out the discomfort raging in his stomach. Luckily, it was another fascinating topic; as a child, he used to fantasize about being allowed to see the Commandment, and read it aloud like his grandfather had. Of course, that was a silly dream. For a while, though, he’d been cautiously optimistic that he’d be able to lay eyes on it one night as a custodian if he would be so lucky as to take his late grandmother’s place as mage to the Queen.
Aaron’s gaze grew somewhat cold as he watched Varis pace the stage. So much for that.
Questions were welcomed and asked, and Aaron’s eyebrows rose at the one asked by the Marivaldi Countess (or, that’s who he assumed she was, considering her seat). As for the answer, Aaron didn’t need to “venture a guess;” only seven people had ever laid eyes on the Starag Commandment, mage and vampire alike, since it was written. He’d learned that early on in his education, and he was surprised a Countess wouldn’t know. Inwardly, he shrugged. Maybe his Treaty education had just been hyper-detailed by virtue of who he was and who he served, or maybe she’d never taken an interest in it until now. He’d probably be wrong to assume everyone in noble circles took as much of an interest in the subject as he had, anyway.
Before any more questions could be asked, a loud
BANG turned just about every head in the room to the doors at the back, the hall erupting in whispers. The image of the man walking down the aisle, however, presented quite a challenge to Aaron as he did his damndest to stop himself from grinning. Strutting down to the speaker’s podium in sunglasses - sunglasses! The very thought was hilarious - was a vampire in an extremely upscale suit, swinging a bag that looked more expensive than Aaron’s whole outfit - and that was saying something. He looked vaguely familiar, and Aaron’s struggle to stay neutral only got harder when the vampire hiked himself up on the podium and confirmed Aaron’s suspicions. Eris Samael! The very actor who had depicted Landar Starag in an entertaining, but
laughably inaccurate movie about the events leading up to the Treaty’s creation. Aaron bit down hard on his tongue to stifle his laugh, especially since Varis looked
thoroughly unamused; he could only hope that Varis was more concerned with the actor on his podium than the mage at the back, inches away from losing it.
Aaron couldn’t even muster a response to Lilie’s question as he watched the scene play out, and he was deaf to any further comments or questions, so focused was he on keeping his composure. Searching for a distraction, he looked back down at his syllabus, only to have his composure threatened even more: the bastard was in his study group! The thought brought Aaron dangerously close to losing his battle with the laugh rising inside him. The blatant disrespect usually would have mortified him, but sun, moon, and stars to guide him, it was just so damn
funny! 
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