Warm hands stroked my head, making me smile as they filled me with a pleasant sensation. The lack of chilling air cutting through me did wonders, and I snuggled up to the warmth. When the hand pulled away, I winced as I tried to push my head back into it.

When I couldn’t find the warmth, my eyes pried themselves open to see what deprived me of what I desired, and I came face to face with my mother leaning over me.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

“I think so? What happened?” I inquired, trying to push myself up but failing to find the strength to do so.

"Easy, dear, you are in no condition to be moving around right now. Rest,” my mother advised, pushing me back down onto the sofa I found myself on.

“What happened?” I repeated, complying with her suggestion.

“You froze Dragoslava,” she answered.

“What? How did I-” I started, stopping when the pieces clicked in my head. “Magic? I used magic? I froze her with magic?”

Forgetting the weakness I felt in my body, I once again tried to push myself into a sitting position, with predictable results. I couldn’t prop myself on my arm, let alone stop myself from falling to the floor.

“I told you you need to rest,” my mother warned, flicking her wrist. The rug below responded to the gesture, springing to life and wrapping me up to put me back on the sofa.

“I used magic? Is that what that swirling feeling was? Is that magic? That’s what it feels like?” I rambled, ignoring the trembling weakness of my body to once again try to sit up.

Now that I could place a finger on the sensation, it was obvious, and out of joy, it was the only thing I focused on. Looking down at my hands, I could feel the swirling draining system move from my chest to my fingers. Small crystals coalesced around my fingers, pulling away warmth as they peeled off and fluttered through the air as frost.

My magic lasted a few seconds before my mother reacted, waving her hand at mine and causing the sensation and crystals to stop.

“Why did you-”

“Guinevere Medvedev, I told you you need to rest. You are in no condition to be using magic. I know Andreaki told you of the dangers of exhausting your Aura. Do you want to pass out again?” she scolded.

That’s why I feel weak? I wondered, my body feeling as though it gained several pounds, making movement harder than it was before.

Despite the sluggish feeling replacing the draining sensation, my smile could not be suppressed—an infectious thing that spread to my mother.

“I know you are excited, dear, and you want to spread your wings, but magic requires patience, especially in the beginning,” she said, stroking my hair.

“Why now? Why could I use magic now instead of earlier?” I asked.

“Emotions affect magic in several ways. They can cause an increase or decrease in power without needing more mana. Sometimes they can cause spells to backfire. In extreme cases, it can even change what magic is used,” she explained. “Because you didn’t know what your connection was, me and your father decided the best way for you to learn was by making you use magic again. When that was decided, Dragoslava suggested pushing you through anger since that emotion provides the greatest effect.”

“She was provoking me on purpose?” I inquired to myself.

“Yes, and I must say, she pushed you over the edge faster than we expected. She can be quite provocative, can’t she?”

“Yes, she can,” I agreed. “Is she alright?”

“Fit as a horse. It will take more than some ice to put her down. She’s tougher than you might expect. After you were taken away, she was thawed out by the other maids and given the rest of the day off,” mother answered.

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Hearing her fate lifted a weight off my chest, but enough remained in place that guilt lingered. I made a mental note to apologize to Dragoslava the next time I saw her.

“How long until I can use magic again?” I asked, knowing I could do nothing about her at that moment.

slowing down my thoughts and adding weight to my eyelids.

“You’ll be able to attend your next session, dear, and this time, you’ll be able to progress,” she cooed, lifting my head and placing it on her lap as she sat down.

With nothing else to say, she started humming a small tune, and the lethargy once in my body moved to my head, causing my thoughts to slow down. My eyelids gained weight, and combined with the lullaby, my mother coaxed them close and ushered in sleep that ignored any attempts to resist.

—

I wasted no time on confusion when I first woke up. The fact I was on my bed rather than the couch meant nothing to me, and I went straight to concentrating on the swirling feeling around my chest. I pushed it toward my fingers just like I did before my mother put a stop to it, and just like before, ice crystals formed around my digits.

Unlike I would have days prior, I did not mind the cold they brought to me. I enjoyed it, and the lowering temperature brought a grin to my face. It was proof I was using magic.

My grin was short-lived and died the moment Dragoslava opened my door. I did not feel any better when I noticed the clothes she wore were thicker than usual. Meeting her eyes became difficult, and my face burned red as I looked away from her gaze.

I could do nothing but curse her resting bitch face, which made it difficult to identify what she felt. I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t know how to approach it.

“Up! Up! Up!” she roared, giving her usual shouts to get me out of bed.

Out of reflex, I did so, and she wasted no time getting me dressed for my tutoring lesson. Before I knew it, she pushed me toward the door so she could continue on with her job.

“Wait, wait, wait!” I protested, resisting her push.

“No,” she replied, using more force to overpower my feeble attempts.

“I’m not yet ready to go!” I tried, hoping to stop for a moment. She provided my desired relief as she spun me around to speak.

“What do you need?” she snapped, tapping her foot to speed me along.

“I want to say sorry,” I blurted, knowing I had seconds to capture her attention. “I know you were trying to help me, and freezing you was part of the plan, but I still want to apologize to you for doing so.”

My words caused a slight break in her stoic expression, softening her up enough that her frown went away. She regained her composure before it could develop into anything, and her frown found its way back to its rightful place.

Dragoslava contemplated my words for a few seconds, looking away and refusing to meet me in the eyes as she did. I took it as a sign to continue, and I opened my mouth to continue my apology. Before I could say anything else, she started pushing me out the door for the second time.

“Wait!” I protested, this time with less success than before, and I couldn’t even turn around before she slammed the door shut. The handle wouldn’t even jiggle as I tried to open it.

“You’re going to be late!” she shouted from the other side, followed by a gust of wind blowing through the cracks of the door to encourage me to move along.

I knew better than to keep trying to get back into my room, though such a fact did nothing to ease my guilt or the confusion I felt towards her response to my apology. I gave it to her, but because she did not acknowledge it in any meaningful way, it did not make me feel better.

To ease my disappointment about her actions, I started creating ice around my fingers. It wasn’t a perfect solution, as it did nothing to address the problem, but it did bring a troubled smile to my face.

Pushing the doors to the study open, the familiar sight of Andreaki standing over my father’s desk greeted me.

“Guess who has it figured out?” I sang, throwing my hands up for her to see the crystals forming on them.

The dragonoid did not look impressed by my trick. If anything, she looked annoyed. It disheartened me, but I came to understand why when I got older and took on students of my own. Not only had she wasted four days waiting for me to figure out something that came naturally to her, but I threw off the schedule she wanted to keep to. The fact I was so excited over it added insult to injury.

“And what does it feel like, hun?” she asked.

“Like water going down a drain. It feels so nice. I really like it, though why is it all ice?” I answered, scraping the ice off my fingers.

“It’s likely your aptitude. One’s first magic is often their aptitude and becomes the type they cast subconsciously,” she replied.

“What’s an aptitude?”

“For reasons I am not going to explain to a child, certain types of magic are easier and less straining to use for certain people. Most people only have one, but there are plenty, such as myself, who have more. My own are fire and psychic,” Andreaki explained.

Lifting both her hands, one behind the other, fire igniting in the one closest to me. A second later, an invisible force impacted my chest, causing the flame to sputter out and die. The instinctual panic of something hitting me died in seconds, and my curiosity took its place.

“Are you ready hun? We have lots to make up for.”