Lily hadn’t realized she was dozing, but a blast of heat from below woke her suddenly. It was followed immediately by shouting.

“Adelina! Put her down!”

Lily dropped suddenly, not quite falling but descending quickly until she hit the snow. She struggled to sit up, and failed. She was still so cold. Her limbs felt like noodles.

By the time Lily managed to turn enough to see, Adelina was standing in front of her. Sunica stood not twenty feet away, breathing heavily.

“Relax sis, I was taking her back to your place. Can’t you see she’s freezing?”

“What did you do?! If you hurt her, I swear I’ll–”

“I didn’t hurt your pet human! She did this to herself.”

“Wha-? Like, she got on your bad side?”

Lily tried to speak up and tell them to stop fighting, but she couldn’t seem to make her voice loud enough for either of them to hear her.

“No, literally! The idiot ran face first into a frozen river and fell in. Now would you help me get her inside before she freezes over?”

“Tell me what you’re here for first, or hand her over to me.”

“This isn’t the time! She’s in danger, you moron. Talk to me inside.”

After another moment of hesitation, Sunica ran forwards and helped lift Lily up. Sunica’s body was so warm! Lily almost couldn’t take it. But she managed to croak out a few words.

“Thanks Sunica. I’m sorry for the–”

“I’m the one who’s sorry. But shush. Talk when you’re not knocking on death’s door again okay?”

Lily nodded in response. Sunica apparently could carry her with relative ease. That surprised Lily. She wasn’t exactly a light person, being 5’10’’ and slightly overweight.

It only took a couple more minutes for Sunica and Adelina to push open the door and hastily lay Lily down on the couch. Sunica turned and started grabbing objects seemingly at random.

“Oh hells. Oh hells what do we do? I can heat up some water? This is just the first night all over again!”

“Calm down. She’ll warm up now that we’re here. She should get out of those wet clothes though.”

Both balaur girls turned to look at Lily. She felt warmth rush to her face. She spoke in a quiet and nervous tone. She hated how her voice sounded in moments like these. But, she definitely did not want someone to change her clothes for her right now.

“Sunica, if you can dig out my old clothes and give me a few minutes of privacy, I think I can change.”

“Ah, um. Right. Adelina, could you wait outside for a minute? I’ll be out in a sec.”

The younger girl huffed and gave Sunica a catty look.

“Okay, but don’t try to sneak her out a window or something. She’ll freeze out there.”

“I won’t! Now go!”

“Fine.”

Adelina left through the front door. Sunica went and fetched Lily’s clothes, but as she handed them over she leaned forward.

“Did she hurt you?”

“I thought she was going to, but no. Although… she punched a hole in Bay. And she saw me doing magic.”

“What? Don’t you remember what I told you?”

“Yeah! But I thought she was trying to kill me!”

Sunica groaned, and went for the front door. But she paused before she got there, and turned back to Lily.

“I’ll try to damage control. You get changed. I– If we don’t see each other again…”

She looked like she was about to tear up. But before Lily could say another word, Sunica turned back to the door and walked out.

----------------------------------------

Sunica stepped outside. Her heart was burning. It stung. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. Why couldn’t her family just let her have this one thing? Why did they have to be interested in Lily?

It was starting to snow. It was still light, but would probably get worse before it got better. As the flakes hit her skin they melted, turning into droplets of water and running down her skin before boiling away into steam. She needed to calm down. She knew that. If she didn’t, she was going to make a mistake.

But whatever happened, she had to make sure Lily would be safe. She didn’t really have hope that she would be allowed to stay with her, but sending her away to a dangerous situation was completely out of the question. She’d convince Adelina. Somehow.

She found Adelina sitting under a tree, watching the snow fall. With a grimace, she approached and sat down in the snow next to her. Within moments she was slowly sinking as the snow melted under her. Adelina broke the silence.

“You’re upset.”

“How could I not be?”

“Come on. You had to know this was coming. You should have reported her to Mother right away.”

“I couldn’t. She needed my help. She…”

Adelina laughed at that.

“She’s totally helpless. I can see that. But you know Mother will take good care of her, right?”

Sunica snapped.

“Don’t lie to me!”

The younger girl turned, surprised at the clear anger behind Sunica’s words.

“What? Why would I lie about that?”

“You know! To get me to agree without thinking about it! First you lied to me and told me to meet you in Veni. I waited for you, only to find out that you had… what, chased Lily into the woods? Now you’re telling me she’ll be safe with you? You’re just lying so I’ll feel better! You know exactly what’s going to happen to her!”

Adelina’s look of genuine confusion surprised Sunica, but she was a boiling cauldron of emotions, and couldn’t stop now.

“You always do this! You always take everything away from me! I finally have someone I can have in my life and– and… I don’t want her to die. Please.”

Steam rose around her, as the snow melted into water and boiled away. She tried breathing deeply. She couldn’t win if this came to blows, so she needed to stay calm and convince Adelina. She could do this. She could–

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“Why in the hells would you think we would kill her? She’s a very talented magic user, and the rumor is she’s nobility. Mother’s not stupid you know? She’s not going to just throw away someone so valuable.”

“Huh? But… her magic…”

“What about it? I’ve never seen anything like what she does before. I have a lot of questions for that girl.”

“She’s a strange magic user. Aren’t you going to turn her over?”

Adelina gave her another surprised look, and then burst out laughing.

“That’s what you’re worried about? I sometimes forget that you don’t know anything about magic!”

“What? Hey, stop laughing! What do you mean?”

“She’s not a [Sorcerer]. Isn’t that what you’re all frightened about?”

“What? How do you know? She does strange magic!”

“Wow sis. Okay, listen. It’s true that [Sorcerers] cast spells without learning them in the traditional way, but it’s different. A [Sorcerer] usually has some kind of affinity to a specific type of magic. I watched Miss Flamewalker use fire magic, electric magic, kinetic magic, and some kind of enchantment.”

“Uh, okay… But, maybe she’s just really good?”

Adelina shook her head slowly.

“No. It’s more than that. A [Sorcerer] uses magic as a skill. It’s something that comes from within them, that they learn to control over time. It’s like a muscle. For most magic users like me, magic is more intellectual. We learn magic. Because of that, the structure of mana that makes up spells is different. Get it?”

Sunica’s face screwed up while she tried to wrap her mind around that. But, she just couldn’t visualize it.

“I don’t. What do you mean the structure is different?”

Adelina sighed and took on a more lecturing tone.

“It’s the difference between civilization and nature. People and monsters, and so on. There’s a reason monsters that cast magic almost universally use sorcery. It’s hard to replicate a natural process. Things people create and things nature creates are generally fundamentally different.”

She pointed to the tree they were sitting under.

“If you wanted to make a tree like this, it would be hard right? Even if you had all the materials and a way to shape them properly. The pattern of the bark over the wood, all the various cracks and shapes. The pattern of the branches, and how they twist and turn as they grow. These are natural processes. If you sat down and tried to replicate them, even if you did your best, an expert would be able to tell the artificial one is artificial. Because it’s not natural. It was placed deliberately. See? Sorcery versus magic is a little like that. I’ve seen sorcery. It’s a natural process that a monster uses to fight. The structure of the mana is not something I would be able to replicate with ease.”

“But… if she’s not a [Sorcerer], what is she?”

“I have no idea. That’s why I’m so excited! I’ve never seen magic like hers before. I’m going to bring her home and study her!”

“Any chance you could… not?”

Her sister sighed deeply, and looked at her with pity in her eyes. That stung too, but Sunica held it in.

“You know I can’t do that. Mother sent me to pick her up. Even if I ignore my instructions and get in trouble for it, she’ll just send someone else and you know it. I get that she’s important to you. You’ve been addressing her pretty familiarly. But, give up. You know better.”

“Yeah. I know.”

Adelina stood up and started back towards the cabin. She called back before she got too far.

“I’ll give you a minute before I go in. So, try to get it together.”

Sunica realized she was barely holding back tears. This was really happening. She had known it would, but… She really wished she had at least a little while longer. She’d gotten really attached in such a short time. Since when had she become this kind of clingy girl?

----------------------------------------

Lily got changed into the same jeans and T-shirt she arrived in without too much difficulty. Taking the wet and freezing clothes off had been pretty hard. But squeezing into dry and warm clothes was much easier. And then under blankets. Soooo many blankets.

Her teeth were still chattering, but she was starting to come more alive. This was a bad situation. Maybe not as bad as she had initially thought though.

She realized she probably made a mistake. When Adelina had said she was dead, Lily had thought that was a real threat. Now, looking back on it, it seemed clear it was the sort of thing a teen would say if they got embarrassed.

But, she’d still shown off her magic, and made a genuine attempt at fighting back. For all the good it had done her.

“I need to get stronger. Conflicts can’t keep ending like this.”

Now she was in a real mess. Hiding her magic wasn’t going to work. She would have to appeal to Adelina’s decency instead. Explain herself, and ask very nicely not to be reported. The girl was Sunica’s sister, how bad could she really be at heart?

There was a knock. Lily called out.

“Come on in! I’m changed!”

Adelina walked in confidently with Sunica in tow. Lily briefly saw that it had started snowing outside. She’d never lived somewhere it snowed regularly, so getting to see it was still somewhat enchanting.

“Alright Miss Flamewalker. Let’s try this again, okay? I’m here as a representative of the Nor family. I’m here to retrieve you and bring you back to the palace in Avezare. I understand you’re still recovering, so I won’t rush you. Help direct my sister to gather your things. It’d be best if we left before the sun went down.”

“Wait wait wait! Slow down! Am I under arrest or something?”

“Oh not this again. Did Sunica tell you that? No wonder you tried so hard to escape earlier. You’re not a [Sorcerer]. Unless I’m mistaken and you have that class?”

“Um. No. I don’t.”

“Then you’re not a [Sorcerer]. I am interested in your magic, but I’m hardly going to throw you in a prison. You’re a guest of the Nor family, and you’ll be treated well. Now, do you have much that needs packing?”

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. That was a major load off her shoulders. In that case she might go for staying in a palace for a while and gathering information at the least. She’d always wondered what royal life was like.

“Oh, um. Not a lot. Sunica’s got a lot of stuff though, I’m sure.”

Adelina raised an eyebrow.

“What? Sunica is staying here.”

“What!?”

Lily turned to ask Sunica if she really wasn’t going to come with and saw the look on her face. Red puffy eyes. Averted gaze. Of course. Lily had thought it was going to be an unpleasant trip for the girl until they had all this sorted out and came back. But Sunica wouldn’t be allowed to come?

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not leaving Sunica. No. Absolutely not. She’s… She’s my emotional support Sunica! If she can’t come with me, I’m not going!”

Adelina and Sunica both stared at Lily in disbelief. The white scaled balaur stuttered a little trying to get the words out while her brain processed.

“W-what do you mean no? Don’t you know who I am? My Mother is the [Matriarch] of Avezare. You can’t say no.”

“You said I wasn’t under arrest, and I’m not a prisoner. I’m not going. Not unless I can bring Sunica.”

“You can’t bring Sunica. That’s out of the question. She can’t be in the palace. Mother would– No.”

“Then the answer is no. If you want me for anything, I’ll be right here.”

Lily smiled back at the girl as politely as she could.

“Miss Flamewalker, do you not understand the consequ–”

It took everything Lily had, but she was feeling some genuine anger now. Sunica had done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment, and she was Lily’s one friend in this world. Well, apart from maybe Avea. She wasn’t going to let someone treat her like dirt. If there was one thing she’d learned since the end of the world, it’s that she was willing to do anything for the people close to her. Star, and now Sunica. Even if it meant escalating things.

“I understand what I am saying. You’re the daughter of the [Matriarch] and you’re here to say she wants my company. Go tell her I said no. Go tell her that I like her daughter, and if you can’t treat her with a tiny bit of respect I will have nothing to do with either of you. Go tell her that I take disrespecting Sunica as disrespecting me, and if she wants me, or my magic, or anything else to be up where you came from, Sunica is coming too. Frankly, if you can’t respect that, then you need to get out.”

Both of the girls were gaping at her like fish. Adelina looked like she was going to blow a fuse. A croaking sound was coming out of her mouth as she tried to find words.

“You! You! How dare–”

She went silent for almost thirty seconds while they locked eyes. Finally, she stamped a foot like a petulant child, and stormed back out of the door and into the snow. She called back after her.

“I’m going to contact Mom from Veni. I’ll be back. Count on it.”

The tension lasted until the girl was out of sight. Then, tears welled up in Lily’s eyes, and Sunica ran over to throw arms around her. Lily was taking gasping breaths.

“That was so scary! I can’t stand up to people like that!”