In another tent built from a much thinner, flowing cloth that let more light through, Instructor Wei and Abrial sat at a polished wooden table over tea. A young girl poured it for them, then bowed at the tent entrance, and left.

Curling steam rose from Abrial’s porcelain cup. The tea smelled like calming lavender.

“Careful,” Instructor Wei warned as Abrial picked up her cup right away. “It was just boiled — you might burn your tongue.”

Abrial shrugged.

“I’m immune to pain! Mostly, heh.”

Then she slurped down the entire cup in one big gulp. Immediately, she slammed the cup down and fell into a fit of hacking coughs, clawing at her throat as if that would help cool it down. When the coughing and sensation of fire running down her esophagus finally subsided, she wiped her mouth and returned to a normal sitting position, looking slightly sheepish. “It was — a little hot, I guess. But I’m fine!”

Instructor Wei laughed gently. His eyes curved into crescents.

“You are still the same, I see.” The corners of his mouth curved up softly. “Always rushing to do things. Would you like more tea?”

Abrial nodded, cooling her tongue in her cheek.

Instructor Wei held back his long blue sleeve to pour her another steaming cup.

“Wait longer this time, until the steam is thinner. It is delicious, isn’t it? Lavender tea is my favorite, but it is rare here in the north of the empire. A friend of mine bought it all the way from south of the Imperial Capital.”

Abrial blew fiercely on her tea until the steam thinned. Then she downed this cup, too in a single gulp. It was hot, but her throat had already been burned, so it was way cooler in comparison. The sweet taste made her lips curl with delight.

“It’s sweet! But not too strong. I like it!”

Instructor Wei smiled. He brought his own cup to his lips and took a small sip.

“Abrial, I have heard about some things that happened to you a month ago.”

Abrial froze. She had been placing her cup back onto the table. Now it hovered above the wood, paused.

Painful images flashed through her mind for the first time in a long time: her mother’s furious expression as she slammed her palms down onto the dinner table; Friedrick’s arms hauling her forcefully out of the doors; the acupuncturist’s milky skin and wide, blood-red smile. And then, the dragon’s breath wind ripping her away from the gardens, pushing Finley out of sight.

Instructor Wei raised his eyes to hers. His were warm, a deep brown. Hers were dark, with hidden anxiety swirling behind them.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Abrial averted her eyes. She lowered the cup onto the table.

“Eh…not really.”

“All right,” said Instructor Wei, casting her a gentle smile. “But if you are not too tired, I would like to hear about what you have been doing these past few weeks. You must have traveled a long way.”

A bright sparkle lit in Abrial’s dark eyes. She perked up.

“Well,” she said, folding her hands together eagerly. “How long do you have?”

Instructor Wei sipped his tea with amusement.

“Take your time. I am in no rush.”

A beaming grin split over Abrial’s face.

“All right! I have a lot of stories! Oh, wait till I tell you all about some of the craziest things I did! Oh, and about the blade fighting! You’d be really proud, Instructor Wei! I was so badass.”

Instructor Wei raised his eyebrows as he sipped his tea.

“Oh?”

“Yep! Where should I start? Oh, how about in that little town…Gananjag? I went to the market for the first time! They had the most delicious candies there! They were called honey skein candies…”

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

Almost an hour later, the pot of tea sat cold and empty on its woven mat. Instructor Wei was laughing lightly, like a breeze, and Abrial was flailing around on the other side of the table, reenacting her short fight with Lyra earlier today.

“And then these little knife-things shot out of her pockets — wait, no, she threw them at me — and they pinned me to a tree, like that!” Abrial’s back hit the side of the tent and she sank into the fabric. She flailed for a moment, then regained her balance, grinning from ear to ear. “It was nuts! I’ve never seen someone use magic like that.”

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Instructor Wei nodded with an amused smile.

“Yes, Lyra is quite good at directing small blades and arrows. I believe she manipulates airstreams to grant them speed and strength.”

“What!” Abrial’s jaw dropped. “That’s so cool. I want to learn how to do that — imagine how hard it would be to beat me if I could blade fight and do something like that? I’d be invincible!” She puffed out her chests, imagining an invincible version of herself that could fight with a sword and do badass magic to defeat people. Everyone would fear her!

At that moment, a shadow appeared at the tent flap.

“Master Wei,” a man’s voice called. “May I enter?”

“You may enter,” answered Instructor Wei. His face had become serious very quickly.

A man entered the room with his eyes cast down in respect. He bowed quickly to Instructor Wei, then to Abrial, who was still leaning precariously on the side of the tent. She nodded her head clumsily in return, still slightly off-balance.

“Master Wei, the sword smith has finished sharpening the new swords for the raiders. Will Master Wei come to inspect them?”

Instructor Wei pursed his lips slightly, his brow frowning somewhat.

“I am busy at the moment. Ask Bi Gho to inspect them. She will cast any strengthening spells needed for the metal.”

The man nodded, bowing his head again.

“Thank you, Master Wei. I will find Bi Gho.”

The man bowed towards Instructor Wei again, then to Abrial, and left.

Instructor Wei looked at Abrial, as though waiting for her to continue.

“Do you have any other stories you would like to tell me? I suppose there might not be much more, since you have told me your stories all the way to today.”

Abrial pushed herself off the silken tent wall and hurried over to the table. When she reached it, she leaned over it with curiosity glittering in her dark eyes.

“Instructor Wei, tell me about you instead. Who was that guy? Why do you seem to be in charge here?”

“Oh?”

Instructor Wei passed his hand over the now-empty tea pot effortlessly. When he drew it away, steam rose from the opening. It was now full of brewing hot tea again. Gracefully, he lifted the pot to pour fresh tea into Abrial’s porcelain cup, then into his own. Abrial watched him do this, placing her palms flat on the table and tapping her fingers impatiently.

“What gives you the impression that I am in charge?” asked Instructor Wei finally, lifting his cup to his gently curved lips to draw a sip.

“That man kept calling you Master! And he asked you to go check some swords, or something!”

Instructor Wei replaced his cup on the table without a noise.

“It is customary to call young men of high status ‘masters’ among the Gongkuan people.”

“Yeah—but only rich ones or high-ranking ones, right? And you told him to go find — Bi, Bi someone, and he listened right away. Also, when that woman was gonna brand me, she stopped right away when you came in and got mad, like she was caught! I dunno—it just feels like you’re really important here!”

Instructor Wei laughed softly, eyes twinkling.

“I suppose you could say that I am well-respected here, and that people listen to me.”

“So, you’re the camp leader! Or camp head, or something!”

“I suppose that is my title.”

Abrial’s dark brow furrowed. She picked up her cup and chugged it in one gulp again. The tea soothed her throat with warmth. She put it back down, overflowing with bubbling curiosity and confusion.

“So, you’re the leader of this magician’s camp? Why didn’t you ever tell me?! And—and what exactly is it you do here? Isn’t this just a camp for magician refugees to hide in? Why do you need swords? What is all this?”

Instructor Wei lifted the teapot to pour Abrial another steaming cup.

“It is a long story,” he said. “You could say that we are a camp of…rebels.”

“Rebels against what, exactly?”

Instructor Wei’s eyes darkened slightly. But only for a moment. The shadow in them had come and gone like a wind, faster than Abrial could notice it.

“Against the current emperor, and against his ideology that magic is an evil tool and magicians are like curses, causing evil everywhere they go.”

“Ah…that makes sense.” Abrial stared into her steaming cup. Her own dark eyes reflected back, two gems floating in a tinted, sweet sea. Like a ghost’s, her mother’s face swam there, too, her pursed lips and milky face rippling, eyes stormy as the sea.

Magic is a grave sin, she had reminded Abrial every single week, sometimes daily, at the house. And those who practice it become like a curse on all people.

That’s stupid, Abrial thought. How could I believe you when you never gave me a reason why?

“Do…you know why the Emperor outlaws magic?” she asked at last. The question felt weird and unfamiliar on her tongue. She’d asked it so many times, but no one had ever had an answer. Now, she was asking it for the first time outside of the house she’d been stuck in all her life, in a place where, just maybe, there were answers to be found. She straightened up, looking at Instructor Wei seriously. “And—do you know why people think magic is a curse? That is brings diseases and bad luck, and it’s evil and stuff.”

Silence. Instructor Wei sipped his tea for a minute, like he was gathering his thoughts.

“I do know,” he said slowly at last. Abrial’s heart leapt. “It is a somewhat long story.”

Abrial’s eyes glittered. “This is great! I can finally know! Wait—how long would it take to tell the story?”

“It would take some time. Why? Is there somewhere you need to go?”

Abrial swirled her cup slightly, watching the liquid tunnel. She felt a little guilty, all of a sudden. She’d just remembered the reason why she’d come all this way.

“I need to find…somebody…here. I just realized I spent a long time talking to you, and I really want to go see her now.”

A smile glimmered in Instructor Wei’s eyes.

“If you wish to go now, I can take you to her. I also think she has been waiting a long time for you.”

Abrial’s head jerked up.

“You know who I’m talking about?”

Amused brown eyes twinkled across the table at her.

“Is it not Finley Fellner?”

Something about the way Instructor Wei’s eyes twinkled with smiles made Abrial’s cheeks go pink. She frowned.

“...Yes?”

“We can talk about whatever else you would like to know about the camp another time. For now, come with me. I will bring you to her.”

Abrial nodded vigorously.

“Okay.”