Alana sighed as Lou’s figure was swallowed by a dust cloud, a familiar pang of envy stabbing her heart. She wouldn’t consider herself vain, but she was proud of her talent. It changed the direction of her life. Changed her from a disregarded bastard to a James daughter. To a future knight.

Coming to the Grand Hall, she’d been warned that her talent wouldn’t mean as much. The best of the best gathered at the school upon the floating land. A star surrounded by other stars can’t hope to shine as bright as it would if it were alone in the dark sky.

She knew it but a part of her couldn’t help but hope. Couldn’t help but nurture a little pride. She wasn’t just any James daughter. She had the coveted light affinity. The magic of the first saint, a man who wielded a white blade that was unrivaled by any steel or magical metal. A deity amongst men who descended onto battlefields and burned entire armies in a brilliant radiance that could rival the sun.

She was special.

Seeing the Grand Hall didn’t dissuade her, despite the vast shadow it cast over the city of Quest. Meeting the instructors, men and women with the power to level cities, didn’t dissuade her. Walking into a building falling into disregard while others walked into a building filled with decorations that could buy a small village didn’t dissuade her. Meeting initiates with greater affinities, or even multiple affinities, didn’t dissuade her.

One day, she would return to Fort Victory and stand atop its tall walls before she led the first campaign to return victorious from the Bleak Peaks. All the children of her father’s vassals who looked down on her would be knights under her command, people who would put their lives in her hands. People who would help her build a better Victory. Perhaps help her build her own territory, land granted to her beyond the mountain range.

A shining future she would claim with her own hands, her hard work.

Then she met Lourianne Tome. The first person who shook her belief in herself.

What disturbed her was that Lou was nothing special. She came from a noble house with history but no influence or money. She had no training and a common fire affinity. Her personality left much to be desired, suited more for the role of a jester than a caster or a knight.

Her background should have her amongst the other average achievers of society. She should have graduated from the Hall with no repute, joined a small guild, and spent her days in obscurity.

Yet, Lourianne Tome was talented. Monstrously so.

She was the only person in the kingdom with a public connection to the elves, managing to marry what amounted to an elven princess. The saints knew how that happened, as Lou never talked about it. Not even to her, something she had to admit irked.

Then there were her elementals. The imp that posed as a pet and the thrall that posed as a servant. They never gave anything away but Alana knew. She had known servants, had been one. The thrall did not walk like a servant. The imp’s gaze was too piercing for a pet.

The most telling thing was her progress. When Alana met her, Lou was confident in her ability but still a bit hesitant. Like a newborn foal stumbling to get to its legs. In a matter of months, she transformed, growing stronger and stronger with no rhyme or reason behind it.

She knew Kierra was a melder, someone with the physical affinity who could make skin as strong as steel. Melders may move flesh as they please but they can’t completely change someone seemingly overnight. At the beginning of their training, Lou was strong and sturdy.

Now, she could throw giants and walk into swords without balking. And something told Alana that she would only continue to grow. Faster and faster. She may be able to rival the sun but Lou’s outrageous talent and incredible luck would devour it.

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A thought that excited her…and terrified her.

Because she knew, if Lou continued to grow, they would grow apart. Just as she had to leave her mother and her siblings if she wanted a better life, Lou would outgrow her and leave her behind.

For now, Lou was chained to her side by affection. Claimed she wanted to be with her, the way a man was with a woman. She had thought it was overt sisterly affection until she saw Kierra kiss Lou passionately, in a way that could not be misunderstood. She didn’t understand the nuances of a love between women, and did her best not to contemplate it deeply, but she knew about wives and mistresses. Knew how men took a fancy to a woman and filled her head with lies. How the women vying for a man’s affection could tear apart a family.

How love never lasted for long.

She wouldn’t disparage her friend by saying that Lou’s feelings for her weren’t real. However, she couldn’t help doubting that love would last. And when it failed after one girl too many captured Lou’s attention, their talent would drive them apart. She would lose…something she hesitated to define.

So, she desperately wanted to close the gap between them. Yet, every day, the gap between them widened. Eventually, they would be a world apart. Each miraculous stunt Lou pulled off hammered the point home, driving her crazy.

“What are you thinking about, fearless leader?”

Alana glanced over at Marthe. They had been keeping pace with each other as her team walked down the road. Cloud, their supposed guide, had fallen behind and was standing between Arthur and William. Alana expected the brute to be salivating over her but to her surprise, William seemed just as interested, hovering about them and forcefully injecting a few words into their conversation.

A situation that wouldn’t end well. She had yet to see Lou jealous, truly jealous, but if anything could do it, seeing a girl she fancied with a man she hated would do it.

“The future.”

“Don’t think you’re talking about this test.”

“I’m not. This test is a small step in our time here.”

“Cocky. You’re starting to sound like a real shiny.”

Alana sighed. “Lou’s right. That is a stupid insult.”

“Yeah. That’s why it works.” Marthe grinned. “What else am I supposed to say, huh? Is a girl who slept on the ground going to call a pristine noble dirty? All they’d do is laugh. At least annoying them takes the stupid smiles off their faces.”

“…good point.” A sound made Alana look to the left but she quickly relaxed after spotting a ball of knotted weeds being blown by the slight breeze. “You, uh, seemed comfortable at the thought of hunting manabeasts.”

The redhead’s smile faded and her tone turned sour. “Yeah.”

“Planning on joining a guild?”

“Why, not going to invite me on your little campaign past the Peaks?” She snorted at Alana’s surprise. “I heard you and Lou talking about it once.”

“The Bleak Peaks aren’t a place I invite friends.”

“Only lovers.”

Alana’s face flushed red up to the ends of her ears. “We are not lovers,” she hissed through grit teeth. “Why does everyone keep assuming that?”

“Really?”

“We’re not.”

The redhead gave her a dubious look. “Whatever. None of my business.”

“Are you going to answer my question?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“It’s something to talk about. Not like we have anything else to do.” She gestured to the open dirt road ahead of them.

“Because we’re letting your girlfriend do all the work.”

Alana took a deep breath to calm her turbulent emotions. She wouldn’t let the same provocation get her worked up twice. “Fine. Quiet it is.”

They marched in silence for several minutes, Alana working to ignore Arthur’s boisterous voice as he told a story about wrestling a creature of the sea with a dozen limbs, each one long enough to wrap around a small boat.

“I’m going to travel.” Alana glanced back to Marthe who refused to look up as she spoke. “Go around to all the poor villages and tiny towns too small for anyone to care about them. Teach them how to cast spells. Power isn’t something that should be hoarded by shinies. Magic could save so many lives but casters are too absorbed in themselves and nobles only care about profit.”

“That’s…noble.”

The redhead scoffed. “You didn’t expect that.”

“I didn’t. I thought you were a rebel in the making.”

“Surprised you talked to me.”

“Thought I could talk you out of it. I have no idea why you hate nobles the way you do but a grudge like that will only get you killed. A waste of a good person.”

“…I might of been.” Marthe turned her gaze, looking off into the distance. “Before my teacher found me. Showed me that there are still important things I could lose being an idiot.”

“Sounds like an amazing man.”

Marthe scoffed. “Woman. Thought you’d be the last person to make that assumption.”

Alana chuckled bitterly. “Seems you can take a girl from the fort…”

She was suddenly brought up short as Marthe grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop and meet the redhead’s gaze. “And what about you, Alana?” she asked as their eyes bore into one another. “Are you going to lose something important being an idiot?”

“I…” She wanted to brush off the question but the tense air didn’t allow her to. A strange panic welled in her gut, twisting her stomach into knots.