The sun was going down when I woke to a knock at my door, mom poked her head in and called my name.

“Yeah?” I mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and yawned.

“Your dad and I are heading back to the capital. I’ve been asked to go back early, apparently there’s been a number of increased attempted poisonings lately.” Mom sighed, before coming to lay on my bed next to me, like she’s done countless times before.

“I hate this for you.” She said suddenly.

“What?” I snapped fully awake at that.

“This isn’t the life I imagined for you, at all. Nor for your brother or sister.” She said, a few tears escaping her eyes. Mom crying wasn’t something that happened often. “Elidyr has opted to join the Astral Mages as one of their advisors, ultimately tying our family in with them now, Alisdair is working later and later every night forging weapons for the army, and you’re joining the army.”

“I didn’t know.” I said softly, rolling over.

She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. “I’m not blaming any of you, I just hate this for all of you. After all the work my parents and your dad have done to make this part of the country safer, I was hoping it would be enough to keep you all safe. Allow you to live your dreams that you had as kids.”

“Alisdair joining the Hunter’s Guild, Elidyr becoming a painter, me… well, I still wanted to join the King’s Army, just as a magic knight.” I shrugged. “But, like Shalana and Torgrud said, we live in uncertain times now. All we can do is keep moving forward.” I sniffed, fighting off a few tears myself.

“They’re right.” Mom said, kissing me on the top of my head. “Just promise me you’ll be careful and you’ll come home.”

“I promise to be careful. I can’t promise I’ll come home, but I’ll do my best. I’ve got two months of training before being assigned my role in the army and then two years of patrol, and depending on where I’m assigned my patrol, it should be relatively safe.”

“Even with the war?”

“They don’t send fresh recruits to the front, not yet anyway.” I said, shaking my head. “I’m hoping that doesn’t change, unless the king calls for a ceasefire.”

“He’s not going to.” Mom shook her head. “Elincia has tried to convince him time and time again, but he just won’t listen.” Sometimes I forgot the queen and Mom were childhood friends just like Igraine and I are.

“First this senseless war that we started, now the banning of magic, what n-”

“Don’t ask that question.” Mom said sharply. “Don’t ever ask that question. That always makes things worse.” She flicked me in the nose.

“You’re right.” I held my hands up in surrender, grinning.

“I know I am.” She said, picking up my stuffed lamb and smacking me with it. “Well, I’ve gotta go. Go tell your dad bye.” She got up and held a hand out, pulling me to my feet.

“Yeah yeah.” I bumped shoulders with her before following her out of my room to the front hall.

“Bye kid.” Dad said, pulling me in for a big hug.

“Bye Dad.” I held on for longer than I normally did, suddenly sentimental thanks to Mom. I let him go and gave my mom a hug too.

“Come see us when you get to the capital, we’ll eat a big dinner before you leave for your training.” She said as dad opened the door, grabbing their suitcases.

“I will.” I said, waving as they walked out, a mechanical carriage was waiting for them. The driver got out and helped them load up, and I shut the front door as they drove off, heading back back to the cesspool of a capital. I traipsed back up to my room. I still had a week before I would leave for the capital to go into training for the King’s Army, but I packed my belongings and left, heading into town to Torgrud’s tavern. Being alone was not something I was fond of.

~~~

I ran through the trees, jumping massive knots of roots and small streams, feeling the wind in my face, tangling my green curls into knots. It was a beautiful day, cold and crisp winter air, the birds were quiet for now, and the clouds in the sky promised a bit of snow later.

I screeched to a halt at the edge of the forest, right before the field of grass marking the edge of the forest and the start of the human’s domain. At the edge of the forest, I raised my hand and tapped the ward, watching as it rippled and opened, just far enough for me to slip through into the sunlit grove. As soon as I stepped through, the ward closed behind me, showing me a mirage of the forest.

“Rivi!” I turned as I heard Rinko running towards me, arms full of flowers.

“Rinko!”

“Do you see all these?!” She excitedly showed me the bundles of flowers. “Egen said she found a massive garden full of flowers like these! She’s been watching the garden to see if anyone tended to them, but it’s only a little old lady. She said she loved her garden and didn’t want to do anything with it, but Egen said she would sell the flowers for her if she wanted, so Lady Emilia agreed. That’s what Egen said we needed to call the old lady, Lady Emilia. I don’t know if she’s actually a lady, but she smiles so prettily when we call her Lady. Come on Rivi, come see!” Rinko said, rushing away from me.

I blinked a few times, unsure if I heard her correctly. “Doesn’t she already know Lady Emilia?” I shook myself out of my daze and ran after her, tripping on a couple of roots of the apple trees that stretched out in front of me.

“Come on Rivi, keep up!” Rink said, pausing to wait for me to catch up.

“Sorry, I’m coming!” I snorted a laugh and picked up my pace to keep up with her

We ran a short way further and Rinko took a sharp left, down a path I’d crossed a few times before.

“Beth came here yesterday and helped us clear a path to Lady Emilia’s cottage, with her permission, of course. I think she’s lonely. She’s been out here for so many years with no visitors, I think she just wants a little company. She said as long as we stayed out of her way and didn’t make a mess of her garden, we could do as we pleased. So, naturally, Beth baked her a pie and made some tea and they’ve been chatting up a storm all morning.”

“That doesn’t sound like staying out of her way.” I laughed and shook my head. Lady Emilia always put on a facade, pretending she didn’t want company, but as guardian of the Deepwood Forest, she craved the company of, well, anyone. She’d talked about how lonely it was sometimes, when I’d come to pay her a visit. My friends were all friendly, and could be a bit much sometimes, but I really enjoyed their company.

The cottage was very pretty, flowers filling all the window boxes, the carefully pruned trees and shrubs lining the sidewalk and front of the house perfectly, it looked like it had fallen out of a story book. Immediately, I felt something was off about this house, but I couldn’t figure out what was off about it. I’d come here several times before, but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was wrong.

I followed Rinko to the door, glancing quickly at everything around. The birds and squirrels were still chirping, I didn’t feel any magic spells on anything, but the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up.

“Rinko… Did something happen here?” I asked, looking around.

“Rivi, what’s wrong?” Rinko asked, suddenly serious.

“I don’t know… But Rinko, something doesn’t feel right. I’ve been here before, but...”

“She did say she’s kept it hidden from outsiders, but she thought it was time to welcome a few visitors. She had a visitor earlier, but she took care of the problem, but beyond that, nothing’s happened. Though, if anything does happen, we have you here now, right?”

“Of course, but…”

“Rivi.” She turned to me, fully. “I promise you, it’s okay. If she was going to harm us in any way, she would have already. We’ve let our guard down around her several times already. Besides, you said you’ve been here before, right?”

“I have, but Rinko… What was the first snack I shared with you?”

“What? Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?”

It was something Captain Teodric taught me to do if I suspected anything was off. Ask them a question only they would know the answer to.

“Just answer the question. Please.” I shook my head.

“It wasn’t a snack, it was a cherry walnut cake for my birthday, which you didn’t like because you don’t like cherries or walnuts.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I said, relaxing only marginally.

“Rivienne, could you please lighten up? Ask her yourself if you’re that worried.”

“Fine, fine.” I said, holding my hands up in surrender.

Rinko sighed and stepped into the house. “Lady Emilia, it’s me, Rinko. I’ve brought my friend I was telling you about.” Rinko called.

I stepped into the house after Rinko and looked around. Everything was the same as it always was. Clean counters in the kitchen just to the right, potted plants in an abundance everywhere, potions neatly organized on shelves, books neatly lined up against the walls.

“Hello. It’s nice to see you again.” I said to a short, stooped woman, her curls pinned up very neatly on the top of her head, her white dress perfectly straight, not a wrinkle in sight.

“Ah, my favorite aspiring mage.” She said, winking at me, as she shuffled to a seat at the table, her many amulets clinking as she moved.

“Here, let me help you with that.” Beth said, coming up behind her and pulling the chair out so she could sit.

“Your friends have been spoiling me very much, Rivienne. Have you figured out that new spell you’ve been working on yet?”

“Aha, you are the heron that watches me from the pond.” I grinned at her.

“Ah, very astute.” She smiled wider. “I’m glad you recognize me in both of my forms now. Now, as for your uneasy feeling about the house, I heard your conversation,” She said, before pointing to the wall behind her. “I wrested this house back from that creature there just the other day.” She said, pointing to a goblin seething in the cage on a shelf above the counter. “I had gone out for a short flight and the wretched little beast had moved in and made a mess of the place, ruining all my books and dishes.”

I remembered reading about the Goblins, they used to have a very good reputation for their abilities at creating beautiful creations from junk, before the Astral Mages took control after the Astral and Umbral War and banished them to the forest. The reasoning written in the books is vague at best, so I knew they had done their best to cover up the why of it all. Yet another reason for me to dislike the Astral Mages.

“May I?” I asked the Goblin, motioning to the door.

“Don’t let it out!” Beth shrieked. “It’s an awful little beast, you should’ve seen what it did to the house!”

I didn’t listen to her and opened the cage anyway. I grabbed a chunk of quartz I’d found embedded in the dirt under a tree root a few days ago that I’d shoved in my pocket and had been carrying around with me ever since. I held it up to the goblin and smiled at it. It cocked its head to the side and looked at it, its eyes sparking in curiosity.

“Were you after a shiny to sell?” I asked as he reached out and touched my hand, connecting its thoughts with mine, like the animals sometimes did.

“Shiny for Mikrok?” Mikrok asked.

“Shiny for Mikrok.” I said aloud, laying it in front of him.

“You save Mikrok. Mikrok make present for new friend.” Mikrok smiled bashfully at me.

“Well, thank you very much Mikrok. Would you like help getting down?”

“Mikrok can jump.” And Mikrok did jump. He jumped and landed neatly on the counter, the chunk of quartz in his tiny hands.

Mikrok closed his eyes and hugged the chunk of rock to himself and sat there, holding it for a moment.

“Mikrok hears your thoughts, knows your heart now. Mikrok sees turmoil and gives you an answer to your questions.” The chunk of quartz started glowing a blindingly brilliant white so I looked away until the light vanished.

“Mikrok presents a topper for your wand, a necklace adornment, whatever you choose, yes. Preferably wand, you’ll need it, yes yes.” Mikrok nodded enthusiastically, holding the now polished and gleaming quartz stone out to me. All he had done was polish it so it sparkled in the sunlight. I pulled my wand out of my pocket and held it out to him, which he took from me and attached it to the end of the stick with some silver wire he had pulled from his pocket.

“Mikrok wishes to apologize for making messy place, Mikrok only wanted shiny. Mikrok is sorry.” Mikrok said, nodding.

Lady Emilia stood and walked over to us and took his hand in hers. “In my solitude, I had forgotten the kindness of the gobbies. I hope you will forgive me for treating you so badly.” She said, smiling.

“Lady Emilia is a witch. Mikrok forgives Lady Emilia. Witches and gobbies must find shinies together.” Mikrok nodded sagely.

“Witches and gobbies will find shinies together again one day. If what you showed me was true. Our friend here will make certain of that.” Lady Emilia winked at me.

“Um…” I was positively, thoroughly, entirely confused.

“Gobbies can see the future sometimes, but can only share it with us witches, in exchange, we would find shinies and junk for the gobbies. It’s been so long… I can’t believe I had forgotten that much about our past.”

“For you, for freeing Mikrok and giving Mikrok a new friend.” Mikrok said, standing and handing me my new wand which had turned completely silver. “New friend Rivienne find Mikrok more shinies, wand will grow powerful with Rivienne.” Mikrok said, helping himself to some pie left on the counter.

“Goblins don’t lie, so, Rivienne, you’d best get to finding new shinies for Mikrok. I can’t share what I know about your future, but just know that you’ll always have friends here, in the Deepwood Forest.” Lady Emilia said, a distant look in her eyes. “Rinko, Beth, Rivienne, Fate has a funny way of working to bring people together. I pray to the gods of old for your fateful visit. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I have a shiny hunting trip to plan with my new business partner.” Lady Emilia said, standing up perfectly straight and walking from the room, as we watched, her form shifted to a much younger-looking version of herself.

“Shiny hunting trip! Shiny hunting trip!” Mikrok sang and danced, wiping pie filling from his mouth.

Bewildered, I took it as my queue to leave. Just like that, I had reminded a witch of a former business venture, reunited a goblin with his love of shinies, and received a wand as thanks for it all. Today was a very strange day indeed.

I walked to the door and Beth, Rinko, and I left, headed back to the tavern. I listened as they told me of their adventure for the day. How they’d gotten some time off and wanted to come find me, since I’d left the tavern before the sun was even up that morning. I’d wanted to enjoy my last day before I had to leave, so I’d gone to my cave and made myself a wand just because. Mostly to keep myself busy and because I’d read that wands were used to help stabilize spells. There were a few spells I’d had a hard time with and wanted to see if a wand would help me.

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I was so ready to leave for the capital, but the hours ticked by slower than ever. It was still early afternoon and there wasn’t a whole lot to do. I ended up asking Torgrud several times to give me something to do even though he kept insisting that I enjoy my last few hours. He’d given in after a while, and had me rearrange the tables out on the floor. We’d had an influx of customers and needed as much table space as possible. After a few unwanted suggestions from a few of the drunken hunters, I’d pulled out my wand and used my magic to make the entire tavern much, much bigger. Being on the edge of town, there wasn’t much else around us except the other guild halls, but there was plenty of space between the tavern and the next buildings over.

I added a third floor of rooms to the top, lengthened the bar and the back rooms, the outer walls, and even the cellar. I slid to my knees when I finished the spell, drunk on my own power, and laughed.

“Rivienne! What is wrong with you?!” Shalana barked, as she knelt down, putting her hands on my shoulders. Her voice was muffled in my ears, but I knew she was beyond angry with me.

“I made it bigger, there wasn’t enough room for more tables and we needed more.” I shrugged, my entire body rattling from my mana depletion. I laughed nervously, holding my hands up to look at them. I couldn’t see straight, but I felt good, giddy even. “What do you think, Torgrud?” I asked, stupidly attempting to stand up. The only reason I didn’t land on my head was because Shalana held me up and sat me down in a chair.

I jerked my head back as I felt a sharp slap to the face from her.

“Pull yourself together.” She said as some of her mana flowed through me, effectively sobering me up. I’d never used that much magic at once before, but… part of me wanted to do it again.

“What were you thinking?” She asked, when I was thinking a little more clearly.

“Like I said, we needed more space.” I shrugged, finally noticing Torgrud out of the corner of my eye, a deep scowl on his face.

“Your reckless abuse of magic is going to one, get yourself killed and two, give the Order another reason to come back out here. Is that what you want?” She said, angrily.

“Of course not.” I shook my head. “We’re beyond the veil, they won’t bother us anymore. Especially not with Lady Emilia’s creations blocking the way.” I said, referring to her mechanical and rock golems she had placed along the border.

“That’s not the point.” Shalana snarled. “You don’t know your limits and the Order isn’t afraid to march back out here.”

“So, what, we’re supposed to live out here, cowering in fear of what they might do?” I responded angrily. “If they want us to stop using magic, then they’ll have to kill all of us. I highly doubt they’re stupid enough to risk the wrath of the entirety of the Deepwood Forest again. Have you seen what the fae are capable of? The dragons? The witches? The elves should they come out of hiding?”

“They already have. Remember what happened before they put up the veil, hm? Are you willing to risk losing any more of our people for you foolishly playing around with something you yet understand?”

“You said it yourself, there’s already a rebellion rising up in the shadows.”

“Yes, but we’re not ready. If you continue to recklessly use your magic like you are, the Order is bound to notice and return before we can gather up enough might to counterattack. Alot of this hinges on you being able to have a decent amount of numbers on our side within the capital. Rivienne, I thought you were smarter than this.” She waved her hand at me before standing. She shook her head at me before leaving the tavern, the door slamming behind her, making me jump.

“This is not even remotely close to what I wanted when I asked you to rearrange the tables.” Torgrud said, gruffly. “You’ve done enough. Go nap before you leave.” He said as he walked behind the counter to the back rooms.

“We’ll… uh, take care of the tables.” One of the hunters said from just behind me.

I nodded and stood, walking up the stairs to my room, not looking anyone in the eye. I felt like a child, mad at myself for making them mad at me. I really thought it would help.

I walked to my room and opened the door, walking to the window and opened it. I pulled myself through the window, gasping as I slid on the slick moss on the windowsill and almost lost my balance.

I sighed in annoyance when I remembered I’d added another story to the tavern and could no longer climb onto the roof easily. I looked around for another handhold in the stone and grabbed onto it pulling myself up, before grabbing the next handhold. My foot was leaving the ledge when I felt someone grab it. I shrieked as my hand slid off the wet stone and I fell, grasping at anything I could grab onto.

I grunted as hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me back into the room and dumped me unceremoniously on the floor.

“I swear, it’s always something with you.”

I looked up as James was shaking his head at me, an amused glint in his purple eyes.

“What the hell,” I growled. “I was fine until you grabbed my foot.” I sat up, pulling my knees to my chest.

“Sorry, but Torgrud sent me to find you and I was not climbing up after you.” He sat next to me, leaning against the wall.

“Lemme guess, your brothers will be up here soon to yell at me too.” I rolled my eyes and sighed, resting my cheek on my knee. “I would deserve it, of course, but I really thought… mm, no, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Yell at you for what? Improving the tavern? No, they were actually really impressed. Doubly so when Torgrud said it was you.”

“If only Shalana and Torgrud shared their enthusiasm for it.” I leaned back against the wall and stared up at a spot on the ceiling.

“They do, but apparently you really scared Shalana. Again.” James snorted. “It takes a lot to do that, consider me impressed. Anyway, what were you planning on doing on the roof?”

“Sit up there and listen for the dragons’ song like I usually do and watch the sun set.”

“It’s still really early for the sun to be setting.” James bumped shoulders with me.

“Ugh, fine. I just wanted to throw a temper tantrum and admire my new view. I have no idea, anything to get out of this stuffy tavern.”

“Why not just head to the capital? Rhett said he wouldn’t mind going with you if you wanted.”

“He doesn’t have to be back for another few days, though.” I sat up and leaned back against the wall, stretching my legs out.

“He knows, but, well, you know how he is. Overprotective as always.” James smirked.

“I don’t need his protection, but… maybe having someone to travel with would be nice for once.” I sighed.

“Oh, we’re well aware of how capable you are, we’re just worried about what Elydir might do when you get to the capital. You’re also not exactly the most patient person, nor are you good at talking your way out of anything.”

“Don’t remind me.” Thinking back to the many times Elidyr and I had gotten into an argument and she’d always walk away with an even bigger chip on her shoulder knowing she’d won the argument even if she was wrong.

“There are other things you’re good at. Don’t get caught up in what you can’t do.”

“Gods, you sound like Torgrud.” I grumbled, knowing he was also right.

“Sorry.” He grinned sheepishly.

“No, you’re not.” I rolled my eyes, before leaning my head on his shoulder. We were quiet for a bit, listening to the birds chirp in the trees outside the window.

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing? Joining the knights and all that.” I asked, sure he and the others were sick of me questioning my own decision all the time.

“You’ve always had this dream of becoming a magic knight, ever since I met you. It was one of the first things you talked about, actually. Remember when you fell out of the tree and yelled “Magic Knights don’t cry, so neither can I!”?

I laughed, more from embarrassment of that day than anything. “I do remember that. I’d gotten so sick of Elidyr calling me a cry baby.” I shook my head, remembering how James and Rory had all but jumped out of the tree to make sure I was okay. Luckily, I’d only managed a few scrapes on my palms and elbows, but I was fine.

“I miss when she was fun to hang out with. The adventures we’d go on.”

“You and me both. I wonder what happened to her to make her such a stick in the mud.”

He nodded in agreement and we fell silent again. I shivered in the cold air from outside so I stood and closed the window. I sat back down and leaned my head back against the wall.

“The magic knights are no longer part of the army, since their imprisonment, but maybe there’s still something I can do until I’m eligible to become a royal guard.”

“Executed, actually.” James said, so quietly I almost missed it.

“What?” I snapped my head to look at him.

“They were all executed not long after the veil was put up.” He glanced down at me before looking away.

“All of them?” I whispered, thinking of Odelia, one of the most powerful mage knights in Reilu Tuuli.

“All of them.” He said quietly. “I thought Torgrud or Shalana had told you, I’m sorry.”

I felt sick to my stomach, despair threatening to swallow me up. Executed. For what? I took a deep breath and held it, willing my racing heart to calm down. There wasn’t anything I could do to bring them back.

“You see why we need you in the army?” James said, laying his hand on my shoulder. “We need an inside person, someone without loyalty ties to the Astral Order.”

“It won’t work, Elidyr is part of them now, they know who I am. Besides, how many people do you know that have green hair like mine?”

“It will work. The Order will probably never trust you, but if you can prove to the army that they can trust you, you’ll be able to climb the ranks and gather enough knights loyal to our cause.”

“You do realize they’re being called the King’s Cowards now, right?” I muttered. The hunters had been talking about it, people blaming the knights for not standing up to the Astral mages. What could they have done, though.

“Rivienne. Join the army and find out for yourself what you can do.” He said, standing. “If you need anything, Rory will be around. If you want to free magic again, you have to get out of Deepwood. So go.” He held a hand out for me. I grabbed it and he pulled me up to stand beside him. “You have what it takes to make a change. Trust us. Please?”

“Fine. I will.” I shook my head, walking to the bed to grab my suitcase and picked up my rapier from where it was leaned against the wall.

“You’re not taking your halberd?”

“I… don’t have it.” I shook my head in annoyance.

“Your tome?”

I nodded, turning to him.

“Well, I think you should make that another goal. Find out where they’re keeping the tomes and artifacts and then we’ll plan a break-in.” He grinned.

“Do you remember the last time we did that?” I snorted a laugh.

“The time Sam’s bomb he made got confiscated and we tried to get it back? Yes, I do. We were also what, 8? 9?”

“Meaning I was 7, so yes. It was failed from the start. We sent you up first since you were the smallest and you fell through the roof.”

“Right onto the guy’s desk that he was working at.” I giggled, still able to clearly picture his face of surprise. What happened after wasn’t so funny, but you win some, you lose some.

“Now that I think about it, wasn’t Alisdair able to get the bomb?”

“I think he was, but I don’t remember who accidentally set it off.”

“Probably Rory if I had to guess.” James snorted.

“Probably.” I shrugged, amused.

“Hey, if you two are done, it’s time to go.” Rhett said from where he was leaning against the doorway. “It wasn’t Rory who detonated the bomb, I remember Sam running back to us to tell us to leave.the house before it blew up.”

“How did you manage to get out of the house? Didn’t we leave you upstairs?” James asked, turning back to me.

“I jumped from the window when I realized you were all running outside. That was the day I found all those artifacts.” I grinned as realization dawned on his face.

“That’s where you found them? You told us you bought them.” He burst out laughing.

I shrugged. “I figured Elidyr and Rhett would’ve made me return them all.”

“You’re right.” Rhett said, shaking his head at me, his green eyes glinting in amusement. “Those were worth a fortune.”

“Even more now since they’re a black market item.” I grinned.

“Don’t even think about it.” Rhett sighed. “You don’t have a need for gold and they’re worth more in use than being sold. Besides, you probably still don’t know their full capabilities. If you ever get the chance, take them to the artificers in the southern kingdom’s capital, Tulipalo Tuuli. I bet they would be able to help you out with their origins and purposes. While we’re on the subject, however, just how did you manage to convince him to let us off?”

“I… rebuilt his entire house.” I said quietly.

“So the tavern wasn’t your first time… how many other times have you rebuilt something? Do you realize the kind of power you have to have over different elements to get the buildings exactly like they were before? The kind of power you have to have to not only rebuild from nothing to-”

“Time magic.” I squaring my shoulders. “If you want it back like it was, just reverse the time on the object itself. If you want it bigger or better, multiply what you have. Like, here,” I said, walking to the wall and tapped a stone. “If you look at the pattern here, it’s the same exact pattern as this one.” I pointed to the one next to it. “It’s still a lot of mana, but not anywhere near as much as it would be if I had to pull stones up out of the ground itself.”

“How…” Rhett stood there, gaping at me, suddenly at a loss for words.

“How long have you been able to do this?” James asked, his eyes wide in surprise.

“I tried it the other day on a bow, which worked a lot better than I thought it would. It’s just a matter of taking runes and arranging them-”

“Runes?” Rhett said, suddenly angry. “Do you realize how dangerous runes are without-”

“I’m not a child.” I snapped at him. “I’m aware of the dangers and I’ve been using a lot of caution with them, contrary to what you might think. It’s no different than someone using a magic circle without knowing what each rune means or does. Now, like you said, if you’re done yelling at me, it’s time to go.” I said, storming past them, suitcase and rapier in hand.

Throwing caution to the wind was my strong suit, but I wanted to prove to them that I knew what I was doing. Sure, I ended up using most of my mana earlier, but magic wasn’t without its risks. How were we supposed to know our limits if we didn’t test them? I had a long way to go to prove to them how capable I was. Maybe my time as a knight would help.

I ended up traveling alone, not wanting to wait around for anyone. Not even to say goodbye. It did me a lot of good, walking in silence through the early spring afternoon. I felt horrendous for not even saying goodbye to Rinko and Beth, but they had enough on their plate as it was. They didn’t need to worry about why I was in such a foul mood again.

Luckily I wasn’t far from the outskirts of the capital, only about a 2 hour walk. I waved to the guards at the gates who let me through. On this side of the city, there was no question of who I was. My parents’ manor was dwarfed by the cathedral just up the street, but no other manor stood taller than it did here.

I couldn’t help but notice the whispers, however. I looked around behind me when I watched numerous people hurry across the street when they saw me. “Elidyr’s sister.” “The mage.” Careful, they’ll arrest us for associating with her.” “How could Lady Elidyr have a sister like that? Elidyr swore off magic years ago, why didn’t the second Nightingale?” I felt like ice had stabbed me in the heart. I hurried down a side street and ducked behind a low wall, opening my suitcase and pulled out my long cape I kept just in case. It was impractical, but it was warm and had a deep hood I could hide my face and hair in easily. Three months and people were already damning those that were associated with magic.

I snapped my suitcase shut and hurried down the street, ducking down back alleys to avoid the main roads, taking the long way around to the manor. Luckily, I didn’t encounter many people and the few I did, scurried away or ignored me outright, busy with their work.

The looming dark facade stood tall, mirroring the dread I felt within me. I stood just outside the gates and stared up at the tall, dark spires. Quickly growing darker in the fading light. It was a gift from the king himself but I had so many awful memories growing up here. Elidyr would morph into a completely different person every time we came back here from the holidays in the Deepwood Forest. Truth be told, so had I, trying to fit in with her and the other noble children.

Mom and I had gotten into the nastiest argument about it to which she’d slapped me and then sent me to bed without dinner. Finally making me realize exactly what kind of monster I’d become when I tried to fit in. It was then that I’d stopped going to social gatherings when I could, opting to instead go to the training grounds to practice with other knights if Teodoric was busy.

Princess Igraine had taken a notice and would often disappear to come find me. Somehow she’d managed to continue being herself. I figured, if she could do it, so could I. We trained together on occasion, further strengthening our friendship.

“Ah, Lady Rivienne.” A tall, middle-aged man stepped through the gates in front of me.

“Hello Ogbert. It’s been a while.” I smiled at him, relieved to see a friendly face.

“It has, indeed. 7 months and 8 days to be exact.” He held his hand out to take my suitcase from me.

“Leave it to you to keep track of all that.” I laughed, handing him the suitcase as I pulled my hood down.

“Tis merely a guess, my lady.” He winked at me. “Now, how have you been?”

I tried to put on a happy face for him, but failed miserably when my shoulders involuntarily drooped.

“It’s the same here, I fear.” He said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, steering me through the gates. “At least there is one bright spot in all the doom and gloom. The others will, no doubt, also be happy to see you’ve returned.”

It was all I could take and couldn't even fight a single tear that started pouring from my eyes. “It’s awful Ogbert. The magic has grown stagnant here already, I don’t know if I can do the right thing to fix it, I try to help and it all goes wrong, my friends are mad at me again, and I didn’t even say goodbye to anyone.” I blubbered, reverting back to the crybaby I’d always been.

He set my suitcase down and pulled me in for a hug. “I don’t have any answers to give you, but the least I can do is allow you to cry and to let you know that we see you. We see you for who you are. We see your heart you’ve closed up behind your walls. We see you.”

I pulled away and wiped my eyes on my sleeve and sniffed. “Sorry.” I mumbled.

“Don’t be. We hear the whispers too, the rumors about you. I assume that’s what’s upset you so?”

“Not the only thing, but yes.” I sighed. “What’s happened here?”

“It’s late and you could use some rest. Your parents were called to the palace almost as soon as they got here, so the dinner they had planned to eat with you had to be cancelled.”

I nodded in understanding, knowing that they were busy and a lot of it was out of their control.

“Come to the kitchens, we’ll have stew together if you’d like.” Ogbert said, opening the front door for me.

I stepped through and took my cape off and adjusted my green tunic so it lay correctly.

“I think I’ll-”

“Lady Rivienne!”

“Emma!” I reached out as one of the maids all but threw herself at me in a hug.

“Oh I’m so glad you’re back.” She said, letting me go and taking my cape from me. “Come eat with us, please? We’ve all missed you and I don’t want you to be alone right now. Oh please?” She pleaded.

"Fine, fine." I shook my head in amusement, glad to be back.