Page 8 of Elemental Affections

“It’s how I want to use my magic.”

Calya stood, folding her arms across her chest and jutting her chin out in challenge. “Youareabandoning us. Running from anything to do with being a Helm.”

“I’ve been pushed out of anything that doesn’t revolve around being Mrs. Brint Avenor for years. You never noticed.” Anadae shook her head, pointing at Calya when she started to argue. “None of you noticed. None of you listened to me. Where are the supposed opportunities being married off to Brint was supposed to get me?”

“You’re still just enga—”

“They’re all lies, Caly. I’ve been stuck with him for years. I don’t love him, and I’m not—”

“Love,” Calya sneered. “This isn’t fantasyland. Love is a tale for children. Grow up, Ana.”

Anadae gaped at her little sister. At the callous words, the coldness in her expression. She knew Calya was driven, had grand ambitions for the family’s company. But the disdain in her eyes, dripping like venom from her lips, Anadae hadn’t expected it. In her anger at her family for seeing only what they wished—and Anadae stood firm in that belief—a flicker of guilt came with the realization that she’d lost sight of Calya, too. Seen only a zeal for work instead of this derision.

“The real world marries for gain. I thought you were just being obstinate to Mother, but if you really think it’s archaic?” Calya made a disgusted noise. “You brought this on yourself. Don’t blame us for unhappiness made of your own ignorance.”

The shouting below them had stopped, but Anadae could hear intermittent louder rumbles through the floorboards, penetrating the taut silence that hung between the sisters.

“I don’t want HNE the way you do,” Anadae said, hands splaying in a helpless gesture.

“That, sister dearest, is obvious.” Calya stalked out of the room.

Anadae watched her disappear down the hall into her own bedroom, the door snapping shut. Tears burned in her eyes, and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip to keep them at bay, blinking until her vision was passably clear. The anger and frustration that had buoyed Anadae mere moments before was gone, leaving her heartsick.

But not swayed.

Fingers clenched around the wrinkled acceptance letter tucked safely in her pocket, Anadae slipped away from her room, ghosting down the stairs. She didn’t go by the parlor; instead, she walked to the front door without pause. Went through it. Turned her back on her childhood home and made her way toward the harbor, lip bitten through to bleeding.

Chapter 4

Threedaysaftertheignominious exit from her family home, Anadae sailed up into the Valley of Sylveren. She passed through the larger Renstown first, pulling the hood of her cloak up against the Valley’s drizzle as she tried—in vain—to catch a glimpse of the smaller town of Sylvan. Sylvanor Lake was nearly fifty miles across at this end, and with clouds descending to brush its vast surface, Sylvan was hidden from view. Anadae contented herself to wait on the deck as the final sail commenced.

When she finally disembarked the boat, a hand waving from Sylvan’s long dock caught her attention.

“Ana!” a woman called, her short, dark hair peeking out from the hood of her patched gray cloak.

Anadae raised her hand in greeting and hurried over. After being cooped up on the boat, whose few passengers had kept to themselves, seeing a smiling, familiar face was a relief. While the Valley was known for its insular nature, Sylvan was infamous for its aloofness toward outsiders. Having a best friend already in residence was no guarantee of acceptance.

“Eunny!” she cried, hugging her friend tight, uncaring of the rain. “I told you I’d come to the shop.”

Eunny Song scoffed. “Some friend I’d be if I couldn’t take the time to greet you in person afterfour years.”She glanced at the two bags Anadae carried. “This it?”

Anadae gave a short laugh. “I’ll have a little more sent up when I can. I’m traveling light.”

She held back how she hadn’t been able to afford the extra shipping fees, her parents having removed her privileges from the Helm accounts. The few belongings she’d packed would have to last until new work and a permanent lodging situation were found. Eunny had offered up her floor indefinitely, but Anadae didn’t want to overreach. The town of Sylvan was only half an hour’s walk to the university’s perimeter wall, but she didn’t love the prospect of making it every day if she had the choice. Especially not if she had to try and juggle a town job with classroom studies. A proper bed would be nice too.

“Right,” Eunny said, her expression letting Anadae know that her friend wasn’t fooled. “Come on, Auntie Yerina will want to see you.”

They made their way off the dock and into the town proper, Eunny toting one of Anadae’s bags and shushing her protest. The light rain kept up, which Anadae recalled was standard weather for the area. Gray and green, overcast with a healthy side of wind and rain—that was the Valley of Sylveren. The Gyo-Sohn mountains disappeared into the clouds to make a dramatic backdrop for the town situated in its foothills. As they left the docks behind, Anadae looked past the row of businesses around the town’s center to the formidable presence of Sylveren University built into the mountain. It stood at the head of a large lake, the main building’s rooftops and a few towers sprouting above the wall. The towers varied in heights and widths and even architectural designs, though Anadae couldn’t see much beyond general shapes at her current distance.

She stopped in the middle of the town square, a clear if uneven line stretching between her spot and the university’s distant gate. Something tugged at her, a phantom’s touch, so light she wasn’t certain if it was real of her imagination. She held her palm up, watching as raindrops pattered off her skin. For a moment, each droplet felt charged, as if imparting a kiss of energy upon impact.

Anadae glanced up to find Eunny with a faint, knowing smile on her face.

“What?” Anadae said. The charged atmosphere vanished, the rain falling as simple precipitation once again. Anadae shook out her hand and resumed following Eunny beyond the center of the square.

“The Valley’s claiming you.”

“I thought that was just a tale the locals tell to scare off or swindle outsiders.” Folks of the Valley were proud of the legend thattheirland had long been favored by the divine Empyrean Court. That a hint of such fondness had remained long after the Court left the mortal world.

---