Page 59 of Elemental Affections

Chapter 21

TheValleylayundera blanket of snow when Dae arrived shortly before the winter solstice. It welcomed her back, a sense of calm and belonging settling in with every breath of its chill air.Home,her mind said, as it hadn’t for the duration of her stay in Grae Port.

Clad in her new cloak, she indulged in a plain cart ride from Sylvan’s small port up to the university. The roads were manageable thanks to a network of weather wards, in contrast to the campus itself, which was a mix of untouched regions and some pathways trod down to slush. The Initiate levels and a significant number of the graduate students and staff had left for the winter break, leaving the grounds cozy and quiet.

Ezzyn wasn’t back. Dae knew he wasn’t due to return until term started, yet still she went by Belle Complex, just in case. Noted the darkened windows, small house sealed up tight, a pristine layer of snow between where she stood on the path and his door. Only then did she make her way back to town to spend the rest of the holiday with Eunny and her family.

“I haven’t made one of these in years,” Dae said, accepting a piece of pre-cut paper marked with folding lines.

“It’s a tradition here. Everyone makes one who wants to, not just the Islanders,” Eunny said. “The stationers’ shop has been getting the paper ready for weeks.”

They were seated at Auntie Yerina’s kitchen table, a stack of the paper in the middle waiting to be folded into small boats upon which a recipient would write a wish for the new year.

Dae inspected her thin paper, admiring the subtle inclusions of leaves and other fibers. Blue and golden strands of silk shone amongst the matte cream paper, symbolizing the aspect of water, Jin, the Everflow, She of the Golden Waters. A soft hum of magic tickled Dae’s senses, though she couldn’t tell where the innate arcane quality of the paper ended and the separate, external spell began. Each paper boat would float on the lake for a short time before dissolving, sending the wish skyward in a breath of sparks. It was a popular ritual in the Radiant Isles, one that Dae’s family had done for many years when she and Calya were young.

Somewhere along the way, it had stopped, replaced by Winterfest parties amongst the Avenors’ social group, traipsing about the capital from gathering to gathering. It had been fun at first, then more of a chore. Even at the height of solstice balls and other festivities, Dae hadn’t felt the sense of community embodied by the town of Sylvan. In fairness, she doubted many places could match it.

They set to work assembling the boats, Dae filling Eunny in on the latest development with her financial freedom and its cost.

Eunny shook her head, dislike pinching her face. “Sounds like our mothers are taking notes off each other.” She set a finished boat on the table. “I’m glad the money issues are finally resolved, but dangling the HNE job? And then saying you’re out of the family?” Eunny tsked.

“At least Calya is managing. I can always fall back on her if this mage thing doesn’t work out.”

Eunny scoffed. “Your classes are going fine. Your job is better than fine. You’re going to get the Rhell trip. Unless you—”

“You’re going to jinx me.”

“Unless you fuck around this term,” Eunny continued, “Adept One is yours.”

“I’m still weak on general applications, and even if I get top marks in the seminar, it’s not a guarantee for progression.”

“Listen, I was going to be nice, but we’re not letting your anxiety get wings.” Eunny leaned forward, leveling a half-folded boat at Dae. “It’s really hard to fail the tier one screening exam. Admin wants you to stay. They want your money.”

Dae laughed, comforted despite herself. Eunny’s cynical pragmatism aside, Sylveren’s pass-fail system for Adept levels compared to Grae University’s minimum score did remove some of the pressure to succeed. Some.

She folded one edge of her paper, fingers laboring over the crease long after it was crisp enough. “Not sure how much this will matter if I can’t get any of my spells to work.”

Beyond the proposal for the Rhell trip, she was already building research plans around targeted spells and ice work, and how her research could integrate with other cleansing projects. Ideas for Adept Two already filled her head, inspiring excitement and dread for the tier one exams at the end of term.

Eunny gestured at the volume of paper they still needed to fold. “Did you want to tell me about it?”

Dae hesitated. Eunny’s magic, the loss of it, would be hard to talk around, given the subject. Even though Dae spent all her time here studying Eylle’s poison, their conversations had never strayed toward the failed diplomatic mission or what exactly had gone down then. They always remained firmly in the lane of Dae’s research, of ecological restoration. Effects on the earth. Nothing about healing, or anything that related too closely to Eunny’s former affinity.

But Eunny didn’t flinch from magic, either, for all that she didn’t have use of her own anymore. She’d been so excited for Dae in regards to getting the scholarship and coming to Sylveren.

“I, um, I actually had a question about mending spells and how they work. If you don’t mind? I absolutely understand if you don’t want to—” Dae babbled.

Eunny gave a long, exaggerated groan. “Goddess break, just ask. I live inthe Valley,Dae. I’m not going to melt at the thought of magic.”

“I know. I know, it’s just…”

“Yea. I know.”

Eunny’s relaxed manner wavered, something bleak creeping into her expression. An echo of all the things they didn’t say, acknowledged but never analyzed. They simply moved on and stayed with the lighter side of the present.

“It doesn’t pain me to talk about it, so ask.” Eunny settled back in her chair, hands locking behind her head. “How can the light inform the ignorance of the elements?”

Dae snorted, dispelling the specks of tension trying to grow between them. “My targeted spellwork is trying to isolate the traces of poison in the land but not freeze everything around it. Healing works along similar lines, doesn’t it?”

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