Page 1 of Elemental Affections

Chapter 1

AnadaeHelmmutteredacurse as she searched through the pile of accumulated paperwork stuffed into the shelves over the kitchen table. Normally, she kept the scholarship application forms in her room, but today of all days, she’d thought a small change of scenery might grant her a bit of motivation to finish filling them out. Inspiration had not been forthcoming. The small water feature on the table had been more distraction than comfort, tickling the edges of her concentration as her magic buzzed beneath her skin. Her mind was happy to concentrate on making ribbons of water splash silly designs in the air rather than writing out an explanation of why she was qualified for the scholarship. A surprise visit from her sister, Calya, meant convenience had won out over familiarity in choosing a hiding place for the forms.

Choosingbeing a relative term, when the reality had been a panicked shove into the closest shelf. She needed to find the unfinished application—and soon. The deadline to submit for the scholarship loomed mere days away, and Anadae had been dithering over it much too long. Her windows of privacy narrowed as work and social commitments converged. Best to simply fill it out and submit. She didn’t have to accept an offer, and that presumed she’d get in at all.

A short sting of pain lanced through her finger as she flipped too quickly past an assortment of papers. “Shit. Gods all...” Anadae stuck her finger in her mouth, thumbing through the shelf with more care. How had she and Brint acquired so much? They’d been living together for a few years now in loveless affiance, yet she could count on one hand the number of times he’d brought home any work.

Not that they spent much time together so much as they shared a roof. Most of the time. Some. Some of the time. The dwindling amount wasn’t something she counted so much as appreciated.

Anadae let out a muffled cheer when she finally spied the envelope. She yanked it free, unseating several other papers and thin books crammed alongside. She put her hand up to keep them from cascading off the shelf, the prized envelope gripped between her fingers. She lifted the flap with its already broken seal and skimmed through the contents again, even though she’d committed most of it to memory. A quick run through of the requirements and then she could write up the necessary—

A frown creased her brow at the unfamiliar pages. Instead of the criteria for scholarship eligibility, neat rows of figures and a loosely detailed map for a building plan she didn’t recognize graced the top page.

“What is…” She trailed off, peering closer at the envelope still in her hand. It was bulkier than she remembered. The broken seal along the flap—a snowcapped mountain with an open book at its base, the spine resembling a river—belonged to Sylveren University, the small school north of her home country of Graelynd. But this seal was green. Her envelope’s should’ve been bronze. Gods allbreak.

A wave of dread washed over her, followed by grim curiosity. The paper bore the same seal, this one embossed onto the paper. Nestled in the enigmatic Valley of Sylveren, the eponymous university took a broad, intellectual approach to the interactions of the magical and mundane. Anadae had been up to the Valley a few times as a youth, accompanying her best friend, Eunny Song, in visiting her aunt’s teashop. But neither Anadae nor Brint had ventured north to Sylveren for schooling, instead attending university in Central District in Graelynd’s capital. Brint had even gone on for the first tier of his Adept levels. Him having anything to do with Sylveren was unthinkable. He was a Central-dweller to the core, thriving in the bustle that came with living in the capital.

Eyes back on the shelf, taking her time to rove over the contents with more discipline, Anadae found a matching ivory envelope. Hers. Thinner, with the bronze seal of university administration.

Taking both envelopes, she sank into a chair at the table. After a moment’s hesitation, she set hers aside and went back to perusing the contents from the green seal. The papers were loosely bound together, with pages of damage summaries. A second, thinner booklet detailed numerous figures broken down by timeframes and locations. Severities. She didn’t recognize the project name nor the company, but then, she was only privy to a few of Brint’s enterprises.

Anadae gathered the papers and stuffed them back into the envelope, but as she did, they crumpled against a small loose note she’d missed. She pulled it out, smoothing the creases with her fingers. It was an informal letter, the writing less tidy than the neatly printed report. Her eyes only picked out a few words—something about the grovetender’s estimated costs for cleanup, subject to further evaluation. Recommendations for more consultation regarding bioremediation and safe handling for poison dispersal.

Idly, her mind put ‘grovetender’ together with the green seal. Fitting for earth magic specialists to utilize green for their emblem, though she’d always thought brown would be their thematic color choice. But the contents of the note didn’t make sense. Poison cleanup? That sounded like the environmental damage plaguing the kingdom of Rhell in the north. It was a tragic occurrence but had shown no sign of spreading beyond Rhell. Besides, what did Brint’s family’s company of Avenor Guard have to do with such work? A private security company didn’t do land assessments.

As those thoughts popped in her head, she didn’t register the sound of the door opening, of her name being called, until it was too late.

“Ana?” Brint Avenor, her somewhat-fiancé, stood across from her. No, such amorphous terms assomewhatdidn’t work anymore. He’d begrudgingly given her a ring, and she’d been forced to accept. A betrothal of technicality, nothing more, on either of their parts.

“Brint.”

Her hand jerked, an itch in her fingertips causing her to clench them tight. The water in the small fountain on the table rippled, its presence resonating in her mind. She set the papers down and clasped her hands, lacing her fingers together as she willed herself to be calm. The fountain took on a glass-like stillness.

Brint didn’t notice the strange behavior of the water, instead staring at her, a flurry of emotions skittering across his face. Shock that gave way to a stab of fear before morphing into anger.

“I thought it was mine.” The words were out before she could think twice, judge their impact. She offered the letter to him with an apologetic smile.

Brint plucked the paperwork from her hand, then snatched the bronze-sealed envelope from where she’d set it down on the table next to her. He ignored her attempts to claim it, tearing the envelope in his haste to get at the forms inside.

“Ascholarship,Ana? For Sylveren?” he said, scorn thick in his voice.

“You didn’t have a problem with Sylveren for whatever that is.” Anadae pointed at the report still peeking out from its own envelope. “What are you doing that needs—” She tried to remember the contents. “Environmental cleanup? Is it consultant work?”

Brint shrugged, stepping past her to lounge against the table, the picture of ease. “It’s nothing. Doesn’t concern you.”

“Neither does mine. Give it back, please.”

Brint’s grin had a nasty edge, the likes of which the public never saw. He straightened, using his superior height to hold the scholarship application aloft.

“‘At Sylveren, I hope to grow my magic skills and utilize them for public service,’” Brint recited. “Oh, Ana. Sweetheart, this is embarrassing.”

The term of endearment made her teeth ache even as her cheeks burned with shame. She’d planned to go to Sylveren straight after primary, so many years ago now. Was going to focus her study as a water mage, then follow in her mother’s footsteps and go into the creative department at the family’s Helm Naval Engineering. From humble beginnings, HNE had gained a solid reputation in maritime logistics and transport. Not bad for a merchant-class family who had spun a background in transport and shipbuilding to develop the Sea Runner enchantment. The durability spell might’ve been the company’s only significant success to date, but considering it graced every ship in Graelynd in one form or another, the Sea Runner had launched the Helm family toward greater things.

Things that left the workshop and the port behind. Perhaps thiswasAnadae following her mother’s path, only skipping a few steps—her Hanyeok-born mother hadn’t gone to Sylveren, either, her magical education having been attained back in the Radiant Isles. No need for Anadae to go that route when her father had been friendly with Brint’s for so long already. Avenor early investments had helped fund the Sea Runner. Laid the stonework for an arranged marriage, an eventual union of the two families. And companies.

Unofficially, of course, a younger Anadae had been assured. For the future, aWhen you’re older, dear,sort of plan. One that wouldn’t have any effect until formalized.

Perhaps her parents had really thought that. Had good intentions for her. Perhaps they’d imagined there wouldn’t be any ill effects—on them. But for her? Unofficial consequences were inescapable once it was public knowledge, from the time Anadae was eighteen, that eventually she’d be married to Brint Avenor. Such an honor, she’d been told, for an aristocratic family, minor though the Avenors were, to make such an offer.

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