Waking up somewhere unfamiliar was strange. It was unnerving, opening my eyes to a roof that wasn’t mine. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to miss home yet. I wondered what they had been doing while I was gone, but it couldn’t have been that different from every day. I had never left the village before. At any rate, I was sure they didn’t miss me.

Of course my mind had to wander there. I stared up blankly, trying to convince myself to get up.

Why is it that your thoughts become so prominent when you wake up? Bláithín fluffed her feathers out. I watched as she unfurled herself from her spot on the windowsill to blink at me sleepily.

“I don’t know. I suppose I’ll have to see if it’s the same for you,” I told her.

Oh, I bet I’m a lot quieter at thinking than you, she teased. Why must you blunder about in my head, bringing your messy thoughts with you? You humans are so strange.

“Don’t even start. I’ve barely known you for a day and I already know more than I ever wanted about you.”

She trilled in indignation, but resigned to her fate. Fine. You should get up, though.

“I know that,” I groaned. “But it’s hard.”

Thank you, Miss Obvious. I could tell easily enough by your reluctance.

Finally, I slowly stood up, wincing as my feet touched the cold wooden floor. I was dreading winter, though that happened every year. Still, I wondered what I would do. I had no idea how the Bards survived through it. I would have thought that they stayed in a town until it was warm enough to travel again, but they still came through every month.

Bláithín fluttered over to my shoulder as I began to leave the room. I didn’t know what I would do, exactly, but I supposed it was better than nothing.

Thankfully, I saw Elouan sitting alone downstairs, and I went to greet him. But right as I opened my mouth to say hello, he interrupted me.

“You didn’t have anything you wanted to do today, right?”

Baffled, I shook my head.

“Why are you asking?”

“Because I need to start teaching you the basics of magic eventually.” He smiled crookedly. “Better to start sooner rather than later.”

I nodded and sat down next to him, unsure of what to do. Bláithín started playing with my hair, messing it up entirely.

“Oh, come on, stop that,” I gently swatted at her.

Rude. She avoided my hand and continued pulling strands from my braid. Elouan laughed at us. Finally, Bláithín stopped so she could look at him indignantly.

“You two look like you’re having fun,” he chuckled and reached out his hand toward the vibrant bird on my shoulder. She nipped at him in response, but he deftly moved his hand out of the way and managed to start rubbing the feathers on her neck. She fluffed up and stopped attacking him.

He stopped petting her quickly, and she hopped to my other shoulder, away from him.

Stars, how irritating, she complained.

Oh, don’t give me that, I told her. You liked it, and there’s nothing you can do to hide it from me.

Fine. Don’t tell him, though.

I giggled at her sudden childishness before turning back to Elouan.

“Can Estel speak to you? Bláithín doesn’t seem to know how to be quiet so I was wondering if it was the same for you.” She gently nipped at my ear at my statement.

He laughed quietly before nodding. “Yes, though I suppose we can’t be any less irritating than them.” Bláithín looked at me smugly, but I ignored her.

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“When do we get started? Learning magic, I mean.”

He smiled crookedly, which seemed to happen a lot. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s too early to be focusing on that.”

“Oh, but doesn’t that make it an even better time to learn than usual? There won’t be anyone in the way if we start now, right? I have often found myself guilty of trying to catch the attention of Bards in the past, and I can’t imagine these people will be any different.”

He laughed again. “Alright. Let’s go, then.”

I stared at him as he got up and started toward the door. Nobody had ever listened to my suggestions before, no matter how persuasive I thought them to be. Still, I didn’t want to hold us up.

Oh, stars. I was finally allowed to say us. It felt nice, having a friend, even if it was one-sided. Bláithín didn’t say anything about my thoughts for once, which I greatly appreciated.

We quickly found our way outside of the village and to an empty spot. Bláithín flew off my shoulder and landed in the grass, though she looked unhappy. Elouan showed me how to properly pluck the strings of his lute and sent me away. I looked after him, confused, but he just told me to go farther.

“Why do I have to be all the way out here?” I yelled to him when I finally stopped at what he thought was a suitable place.

“I don’t want you to hurt me!”

I felt the blood drain from my face. I had known that magic must be powerful, but I hadn’t even considered the possibility that it would be that dangerous for a Bard to use. Still, I supposed it made sense.

“I’m ready!” I shouted to Elouan, hoping my voice would carry that far.

“Alright, focus on your feet while you play!”

“What?”

“Just do it, trust me!”

I shrugged before plucking a note. I focused on the soles of my feet, and the way my shoes sank into the frosty grass.

Immediately, I felt drained. I looked down and saw large flowers pushing their way through the cold soil and blooming. The grass around me in a large radius got a little taller and a little greener. I plucked a few more strings, and a vine snaked around my ankle. My hands felt softer and less cold, and I swore I couldn’t see nearly as many of my scars that I had gotten from small incidents.

But I was exhausted now, though I couldn’t figure out why. My legs wobbled before collapsing underneath me. My head pounded and before I knew it, Elouan was at my side, helping me up.

“Are you alright?” he looked concerned, though not as much as I felt.

“I-I don’t know. Was that supposed to happen? How do you not pass out every time you play?” I felt like asking more questions, but I was too dizzy. Stars, this couldn’t be normal. Right? This was so strange.

“You’ll be fine,” he told me gently. “You put way too much into that, but that’s what most of us do at first. You should have seen me the first time I tried channeling all that power. It . . . wasn’t pretty, though I wasn’t sure what to expect from you.”

I looked at him curiously and we started walking back to town. At least, that’s where I thought we were going. The world was still spinning and he had to catch me before I fell over again.

“What happened to you?” Oh, stars, I sounded almost drunk, and I didn’t like it.

He looked uneasy. “I almost killed someone. But she’s fine, so don’t worry about it.”

It was obviously something he didn’t want to talk about, so I didn’t pry. Bláithín finally came to land on my shoulder and she trilled a short melody. For some reason, I felt reinvigorated and stepped a safe distance from Elouan. I . . . wasn’t sure how close we were allowed to be without anyone misunderstanding, but I didn’t want to risk anything.

And now I was going back to dark places. I was happy. Nothing was wrong, and I was happy.

I wondered what Bláithín had done to help me out. Was it more familiar magic? Or maybe because she was a phoenix. I almost asked Elouan, but I knew I was probably a huge bother. Thankfully, Bláithín chimed in before I could doubt myself more.

Of course it’s ‘familiar magic’. You’re attuned to the same element as I am, so I can grant you some of my energy. Don’t worry about it.

But shouldn’t that hurt? I asked her, still confused.

Of course not! She scoffed. Do you not realize how much more powerful I am than you? It’s really nothing. Stop worrying.

I tried to stay quiet after that, though for once it wasn’t hard. Still I thought I saw Elouan send anxious glances in my direction. After another minute or two of walking, he stopped us, deep in thought.

The little town was still a short distance off, so I sent him a confused look.

“Er, I’ve never actually done this before. So do you think we should continue tomorrow or keep going? You look exhausted, and I don’t want to wear you out for tomorrow. We still have to get you to the Elders, after all.”

I stared at him. Nobody had asked me for my opinion before. I had always supposed it was because I was a girl, and a quite annoying one at that.

But it made me feel warm and happy inside, so I smiled at him.

“Let’s continue tomorrow, if that’s alright. I don’t want to be a bother.”

He smiled back. “Alright. Now, let’s go.” He started back toward the village with me trailing a short distance behind.

Stars, I had no idea someone could make me feel so happy but look so sad. I could tell there was so much I didn’t know about him. I had barely known him for a day, after all. Still, I didn’t want him to look so melancholy.

But of course, what could I do?