It was utterly dark outside now, the night having fallen deeply while the two of them talked. Small lanterns lit the grassy paths between tents like fallen stars.

Instructor Wei led her through the winding paths of tents with an ease that showed he knew his way around the camp like the back of his own hand, not blinking once at any turn. Abrial followed close behind. She soon grew dizzy with the amount of turns they took. They were like ants weaving through an endless maze.

Abrial groaned internally.

So many tents…

“Families who practice magic occupy many of these tents,” Instructor Wei explained, as though reading her mind. “Other tents are used for storage of supplies — food, among other things. Some tents are for meetings, and the largest ones are constructed for communal dining. Many have gone to eat dinner at this hour, so it is quiet in this section. In addition, this is a dense area of the camp. It is difficult to constantly completely conceal the camp from sight with magic, so the densest collections of tents are gathered where the protection is strongest.”

At last, the tents seemed to be thinning out. Abrial followed Instructor Wei out into an open space.

This was much better. Abrial sucked in a deep, leisurely breath. She gazed out over the endless dips and rises of grassy hills reaching out before her like a fluttering blanket of earth. Her breathing had been shallow in that confining maze of tents, but she hadn’t realized it until she was out in the open again.

“I hate small spaces,” she muttered darkly. “So suffocating!”

“Abrial. Your friend is over there. Do you see her?”

Abrial followed Instructor Wei’s graceful finger to the place where the hill began to drop off.

Her eyes exploded with sparkling stars.

“Yes,” she murmured.

Then she was gone, sprinting away with the energy and speed of the summer wind.

“Finley!”

The girl lying in the grass on the side of the hill raised her head. The moonlight illuminated her fluttering honey hair, and glittered like liquid silver in her hazel eyes.

When she saw Abrial, her grim eyes widened to the size of coins, all the grimness seeping away.

Her pale, heart-shaped face flashed through a carousel of emotions that were too imperceptible to name. A shining silver dew accumulated in her eyes.

“Abrial,” she whispered.

With her momentum, Abrial tackled Finley, sending the both of them sprawling into the grass. They rolled a few times, stopping when Abrial hovered above Finley, staring down at her with eyes wide and gleaming as teacups. Their breaths were coming out strangely, in shallow gasps. Abrial’s palms pressed into the ground on either side of Finley’s head. She panted, gazing down at Finley. She had run so fast that her muscles tingled.

She released the strain in her arms at last, burying her face in Finley’s neck and falling onto Finley’s body.

Finley’s face flushed pink.

“I missed you so much,” Abrial blubbered muffedly. “I’ve never been separated from you for so long. I tried to go back to the house to get you, b-but stuff happened…and I didn’t make it before you l-left…”

Finley let out a breath, like a sigh she’d been holding in for far too long. One of her slender hands went to Abrial’s head, smoothing her shining, dark hair.

Abrial’s blubbering stiffened. She pulled back.

Silver tears were streaming out of the corner of Finley’s eyes. And yet, her mouth was curved into the widest smile Abrial had ever seen on her calm face.

“I missed you, too, Abrial,” she breathed.

A tear dripped from Abrial’s dark eye onto the corner of Finley’s mouth. It splashed, leaving a silver print.

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“Ah! Shit! I’m not crying!”

Embarrassed, Abrial sat up. She scooted off Finley and sat, hugging her knees in a ball like a little kid. Finley sat up, too, touching a slender finger to the corner of her lips. She sat shoulder to shoulder with Abrial. Above, the moon glowed preciously, and the stars twinkled like faraway white lanterns all around.

They sat like this, gazing at the night sky as the grass swayed rhythmically, and the stars shone above. They were the only two figures on a landscape of hills and stars.

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Abrial slept in Finley’s tent that night on a thin blanket roll. Finley had offered to share the prepared bedroll with her, but she had refused adamantly, remembering with a burning face what Shin Minyeo had said:

Who says that women can’t love one another like that?

Shut up! Abrial had barked in her head.

Shin Minyeo’s voice had faded away, laughing amusedly.

In the morning, Finley took Abrial to the nearest dining tent.

Finley’s tent was at the outskirts of the camp, so that when you exited, you could gaze out over the curving landscape of hills and towering mountains. When Finley turned to lead Abrial back into the maze of tents, Abrial’s face went slightly green. She took a deep breath.

“Are you all right, Abrial?”

Abrial breathed out slowly, closing her eyes. Then she opened them, pulling a big grin over her face.

“I’m fine.”

Finley’s eyebrows folded with concern.

“Does the tents being close together it make you feel anxious?”

Abrial’s grin wavered. She shrugged, forging past Finley into the sea of white tents.

“It’s no big deal. I’ll get over it soon! Hehe. Let’s go eat! I’m starving.”

Suddenly, Abrial stopped.

She looked down, perplexed. Finley’s hand had snatched her wrist tightly, preventing her from stepping any farther.

“Wha — ?”

“This way.” Finley turned swiftly, pulling Abrial gently along. “We should take a route along the outer edge of the camp. It will not take much longer.”

Abrial’s cheeks went pink, but she wasn’t sure why.

“Uh…okay. Heh, heh?”

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

Abrial and Finley sat on the floor of the dining tent at the end of a long, low wooden table. There were at least ten very long tables laid out in rows in the tent, with thin square cushions placed all along them for seats. There were so many people eating breakfast at this hour that the tent seemed to crawl with people, bustling with chatter and laughter.

Abrial studied the people around them, slurping hot dumplings from a wooden bowl of soup.

“There are a ton of people here,” she remarked, eyebrows raised.

Finley nodded, sipping her soup carefully.

“Families of magicians seek refuge here, as well as lone magicians and some rebels who do not know how to use magic, or cannot, but simply disagree with the Emperor. There are people from all regions of the empire of Gongkua here, though they come primarily from the surrounding northern regions, as this camp is a far journey from the south. There are more than five hundred people living here as a refuge from the emperor’s guards, and the numbers grow by the year. Some of them were driven out of their homes by fellow villagers because of their identities as magicians, while others left of their own accord.”

Abrial nodded, glancing around. She scooped up her bowl suddenly, slurped down five dumplings in one bite, and set the bowl back down with a clatter. It was empty.

Finley raised an eyebrow.

“Slow down, Abrial. You might choke.”

Abrial didn’t seem to hear. She sighed in satisfaction.

“That was delicious! Not as good as anything Shin Minyeo made for me, but almost. She made the most tasty spicy dumpling soup I’ve ever tasted! You should have been there, it was mouthwatering. Mm, I miss it already. I wonder when I can visit her again soon…”

Abrial had told Finley about some of her adventures last night, including her stay with the mysterious and irritating Shin Minyeo. Finley’s hazel eyes remained impassive as she studied Abrial’s grinning, dreamy face, though they seemed to darken a little.

“I am glad she took you in,” she said finally, spooning a dumpling. “If she hadn’t…you likely would have bled to death.”

Abrial’s face turned sour. She crossed her arms, grimacing.

“Finley! Have more faith in me, seriously. I’ve been through worse…I think. Anyways, a little bleeding isn’t going to do me in.”

At that moment, two shouting women burst through the open tent entrance. The din of conversation quieted slightly as people turned to stare. To Abrial’s surprise, after a short glance, most people turned back around and continued sipping their soup and conversing intently.