No one had known what to expect, but the brief speech and instruction to form a line was not it. Everything was actually orientated around the spectators, not the students, but Yaric felt like that was almost a highlight for his friends.

A long line of students formed in front of Sandy, who proceeded to take each ID card and make the same changes she had already made for Yaric and his friends. He handed over his card as well when it was his turn, expecting Sandy to make an act of changing his card, but he was startled to see that his card had changed as well.

No longer an obsidian black, it now had multiple minute veins of gold crisscrossing the entire card, like black, opaque glass that had fractured to reveal a golden light behind it. The corner of Sandy’s mouth twitched when she saw Yaric’s reaction, but she just gestured for him to move over and turned to Kayden, who was next in line.

People clapped for each student as they received their upgraded IDs, but it was clear who was related to whom by how loud they were. The only difference was Yaric, who had Twyla shouting and Lloyd generating arcs of lightning when he clapped, to the wonder and amazement of the unconnected around them.

Once they were done, Sandy once again turned to face the crowd, ostensibly talking to her students while she faced the stands.

“As you are all very well aware, visiting family is one of the many rights Novices gain. Not all of you have family nearby, however, and it has been some time since you were all together like this.”

Yaric noted that there were maybe a dozen students who had family in Lekton, and that was just a guess based on the four that he knew and the fact that he only knew the locations of around a third of his class. It could be even less.

“Our guests have been invited for a five-day stay. You all have the week off to spend some time with your families. However, your first day after this period will be an orientation day. That includes making some decisions regarding your future studies and a discussion with your sponsors. So talk things over with whoever you feel you need, and make sure that you have a clear understanding of where you would like to be. Otherwise, enjoy your break.”

With that, Sandy stepped back to one last round of applause, and everyone broke up to meet with their family again. Lloyd was still standing and waiting, though this time he had two bottles in his hand to Twyla’s one. The whole event was a far cry from the lavish and formal ceremony Yaric had originally imagined it would be.

“This is yours,” Lloyd said, holding out one of the bottles.

Yaric took it gratefully, as despite the cold weather he was very thirsty.

“To our newest Novice,” Twyla said, raising her bottle.

Lloyd joined her and they all took a swig of their beer.

“Good, right? It’s been eight years and Twyla still won’t tell me where she gets it. Best beer in Lekton and she refuses to share.”

“I refuse to share? Where do you get your beer from, huh?”

“Exactly! I get your table scraps.”

“Table scraps, hmmm?” Twyla turned to Yaric. “Did you know that Lloyd tried to hire kids as spies? The ‘great detective’.”

“I’ve been to every store in the city, and no one has it; this is a craft beer that you’re keeping hidden. It was worth a shot.”

“Ummm…” Yaric started, feeling like he was intruding on a conversation between a couple. “How do you know she doesn’t brew this beer herself?”

Lloyd tilted his head back and looked down his nose at Yaric with his eyebrows raised condescendingly as if he’d just heard an utterly ridiculous story from a four-year-old.

Twyla choked.

Coughing and spluttering after her beer went the wrong way, Twyla turned away from them and covered her mouth while she tried to clear her windpipe. “Stupid kid!”

Lloyd’s smile faltered as he looked between them. “Wait… what?”

Twyla still hadn’t got control of herself properly when she turned and narrowed her eyes at Yaric, though he could tell that she was joking more than anything. Still, Yaric slowly backed off and turned around, walking away as if he had never said anything to begin with.

“Are you serious? You’ve been brewing this beer yourself? Without telling me? But that’s impossible, it would mean that you are the new supplier for The Bubbling Brook. Wait, are you?”

The arguing faded away behind him as Yaric weaved his way through the crowd on the arena floor. Making his way to where the sponsors had been sitting, Yaric got to enjoy the heated stands for the first time while sipping on the beer and watching his friends below. He sat quietly, a silent spectator to the hugs and congratulations being showered on his friends.

Yaric was shocked and speechless when he saw Chris break away from the milling crowd and approach him.

“You’re welcome to join us if you’d like,” he said awkwardly, his question clear in the tone.

“I’m okay, thanks,” Yaric replied after a brief moment.

Chris hesitated for an uncomfortable second, looking like he was intending to say something else, but he finally nodded stiffly and turned to go back.

“Chris!” Yaric called after him, prompting Chris to pause and look back over his shoulder. “I reallydo appreciate the offer. Thank you.”

Surprised at first, Chris smiled slightly and continued back to his family, leaving Yaric to sit in a strange bubble while light snow dusted everywhere but the stands.

Yaric noticed Lauren pushing her way through the crowd toward him just as Lloyd and Twyla started making their way up to where he sat. Lauren stopped when she saw Lloyd and watched him climbing the stairs, before she too turned around and started weaving her way back to her parents.

“You sure you don’t want to be a detective?” Lloyd asked, taking a seat beside Yaric.

Yaric shrugged and finished his beer, still looking out over the class below him. “Hunting sounds fun. I like the peace and quiet.”

“It would hardly be peaceful, or quiet,” Lloyd pointed out.

Smiling in thanks, Yaric accepted another beer from Twyla. “It is when you’re out there. Most of the time, anyway.”

“There are a lot of crossovers between the career paths you’re interested in. Nothing will tie you down to start with, your options will stay open. And never forget, you can always change your mind in a few decades and study something else. Many of us do that on purpose, to broaden our horizons. The last thing you want to do is get stuck with something that grows boring. Speaking of, did you decide on a musical instrument?”

Yaric shook his head, looking in the direction that Lauren had taken when she’d turned around and gone back. Searching the far side, Yaric couldn’t find her or her family. Gradually moving closer and closer, he scanned the large group below systematically, finding both Sven and Li Na, but seeing no sign of Lauren anywhere.

Until he down to the base of the stands directly below where he sat.

Lauren was making her way back, this time with her whole family in tow. Already making her way up the stairs, Lauren smiled and waved when she made eye contact with Yaric. The others were busy brushing off the snow.

“Taking the warm spot for yourself?” Lauren asked, still smiling as she came to a stop in front of Yaric. “And the view,” she added.

“Just moving out of the way.”

“You’re not in the way.” Lauren kicked his shin to emphasize her point, unintentionally making him wish his leg hadn’t been in the way of her kick. “Come on, we are going to get changed so everyone can go out for something to eat. Somewhere warm. Lina and Sven are coming too.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea!” Lloyd exclaimed, leaping to his feet.

Yaric smiled slightly as he followed her back down, fielding her father’s questions about his armor while he did. Li Na and Sven joined them shortly after, and after a quick, very warm shower and a change of clothes, Yaric followed the large group through the gates and into Lekton proper.

“Hey guys, look,” Li Na paused to open her arms wide and twirl when they walked through the gates, “we’re Novices now, we don’t need passes anymore!” she declared proudly.

“We don’t need passes for this either,” Yaric added, without saying anything further.

“For what?”

Yaric lunged toward Li Na, followed closely by Lauren. Li Na shot off up the road, reacting almost instantly. “No accidental deflections will save you this time!” Yaric called, right on her heels.

“No idea what you’re talking about!”

It took thirty seconds for Li Na to get inside the relative safety of a well-known inn that had both a pub and restaurant, but almost ten minutes for everyone else to arrive. Snow started falling thickly outside while they ate, but no one left until long after sundown.

 

---

 

“Final decisions,” Lauren said absently, looking anxious. Their sponsors had all indicated that they wanted to talk the next day, and Yaric and his friends couldn’t put everything off until the last day. They had been very busy over the last two days, mostly with showing family around or taking them to their favorite activities.

Even Yaric had been busy. He’d insisted that his friends spend time alone with their families, but other friends kept inviting him to join them as well. Delmar had pulled him into lunch with his family on the first day, followed by Kaylin at dinner. Cormac, Chelsea, Kaeden and Tracy had all pulled him into joining them at one time or another.

Now though, the four were alone together, using each other as springboards to finally make their choices.

“Nothing will change for magic classes,” Lauren pointed out.

“Magic with High Wizard Spyros,” Sven agreed.

“Don’t forget the science classes! We’ve just been learning how important they are for any proper magic.”

Yaric nodded absently as he began marking physics and chemistry, knowing that Lauren was right.

“We probably need to continue with math as well,” Sven mused.

“Why? We don’t need to calculate variables or derivatives with magic.”

“Lina, I’m sure we’re going to need math all the time.”

Grumbling loudly, Li Na joined the others in adding the math classes.

Lauren looked at each of her friends in turn, her face serious. “These were the easy ones. I think we all already knew that we’d be taking them. Now it’s the hard part.”

“But they all have different numbers,” Li Na complained. “Creatures is six lessons per week, History is three, and Customs and Cultures has four. Every option changes how much space we have.”

“What were you saying about math again?” Yaric had to duck Li Na’s pencil.

“We need to focus on our goals and what would best suit us,” Lauren insisted. “Lina, what did the Council Head say about adding new options?”

Li Na looked disgusted. “She said that air, earth, and water affinities could also help with looking after crops. But I’m not doing that!”

“Not the farming thing,” Lauren corrected her, looking exasperated. “The thing about water and ice affinities.”

“Ah… ice isn’t the same as my other affinities, because it’s actually more about taking energy away. It powers any spell that shifts or takes away energy, but it gives some boost with any spell that water affinities empower. And it makes ice. So ice affinity. She said that in some ways water and ice affinities overlap, and in some ways they work very differently, and I could be more powerful if I explore that.”

“Did she say how?”

“Yes. They’re already in existing classes though. I don’t need to add something just for that.”

“Sounds like my magma affinity,” Sven mentioned. “It’s also confusing. Like a hyper-specialized combination, and it doubles up with my earth and fire affinities.”

“But you also have to take your life affinity into consideration,” Lauren pointed out. “It’s very different from the other three.”

“I have some ideas, but it’s the same situation as Lina. They don’t need special classes.”

“Okay, well, my classes are mostly decided,” Lauren announced. “The math, science, and magic classes we already decided on. Then I’m taking Flora, Fauna and Fiends. I also have Runes & Inscription so far.”

“That seemed interesting,” Yaric said. They hadn’t been able to do much in their primer class, as basic and even intermediate classes essentially involved transferring spell forms onto physical items. Those could then be powered directly or activated through other means. Their lighting stones were a prime example of a simple design. The shield medallions were good examples of just how complicated even a small item can become.

“You’re taking Runes?” Lauren asked, looking hopeful.

“Yes. I’ve already decided that it’s one I want to try out. It seems useful for everything.”

“And we have the scouts coming to give us special training.”

“Mage Fletcher said he would take over once the special course is over. He will keep teaching archery but will also give me lessons on scouting. Maybe you would be able to join as well?”

“Can you check?”

“Sure.”

“Yeah Lauren, why aren’t you doing archery as well? You are a good shot.”

“I already have too many combat lessons in the mornings, the classroom lessons start too early for me to add more.”

“Actually, archery is in the evenings,” Yaric corrected.

“Yeah Lauren, archery is in the evenings.”

Lauren paused for a moment, actually giving it some consideration. “I’ll think about it,” she eventually conceded. “It isn’t a subject I need to decide on today.”

Other subjects were crossed out one by one. Lauren ruled out geography, feeling confident that their current level would be enough for anything she might be interested in. History was eliminated as well, even if she did seem more hesitant with that one.

“And I won’t need to continue with Customs and Cultures,” Lauren said firmly, crossing the subject out.

“I need to take that one,” Yaric mumbled, sounding dejected.

“You sure?”

“It’s important for diplomacy. I can’t afford to leave that one out.”

“But do you want to take diplomacy at all?” Sven asked, looking a little confused.

“Not really, but I don’t want to be limited to hunting. I want to keep options open.”

“You realize that diplomacy means spending lots of time with strangers and being friendly most of the time. Long conversations and lots of gestures. You will also have to try and manipulate people into getting what you want.”

“It’s not all like that,” Yaric protested.

“No,” Lauren admitted. “But a lot is. And diplomacy as a rule is about building relationships with people based on their positions and responsibilities. It’s all about personal interactions. Are you sure that’s something you want to spend all day doing every time you work?”

Yaric could see that Lauren and Sven weren’t arguing, they were just concerned.

“Not really. But I’m not going to focus exclusively on scouting and hunting.”

“Then what about those investigative classes?” Lauren gently prodded.

“It’s not just one or two classes. There are lessons based only on problem-solving, logic, critical thinking, things like that. I’d even have to study legal procedures on top of Law.”

“You’re not interested in that? It sounds like those subjects would help with a lot of things, even hunting.”

“I am. It’s just that they would take up so much time. I wouldn’t be able to add much else.”

“It would be a good base for other things,” Sven remarked.

Seeing the looks on everyone’s faces, Yaric started to reevaluate his ideas. He’d liked the idea of two classes covering an entirely different option, but he had to admit, it was never likely to really be an option.

“I’ll think about it,” Yaric assured them.

Lauren quickly finished off her own list. She would be taking multiple classes at once.

Li Na already had a few other subjects marked on her list as well. Later that year she would also have special instruction, though hers would be with shock troops. She had also found out that one of the skills considered advantageous for the role was riding, so she had ‘horses’ written in at the top, underlined, and circled twice. Li Na surprised everyone by selecting the same basic woodworking and metalworking classes that Lauren had, but she even added leatherworking as well, despite her well-known dislike for the tannery her family owned.

“Moving up the chain,” Li Na declared proudly when asked. “Making leather is hard work for little; everyone knows it’s the final product that makes a lot of coin.”

Li Na also relented and added Runes & Inscriptions to her list, quickly getting excited about the possibility of enchanting leather products. Flora, Fauna, and Fiends rounded out her list.

Sven had his already completed, so it fell to Yaric to make his final choices. Bowing to the inevitable, Yaric switched out the diplomacy-related classes for investigative classes, focusing on the essential subjects that made up the core.

When all was said and done, they had multiple classes overlap. Everyone knew that they would diverge more over time, as they started to specialize more in the magical spells that they learned, but that would be years away.

All four took the initial subjects discussed, magic, math, and science. They also all ended up taking Flora, Fauna, and Fiends together, along with Basic Woodworking and Runes & Inscriptions.

Lauren and Sven shared Basic Metalworking, Li Na had Basic Leatherworking, while Yaric added the core subjects for becoming an investigator.

From there, Li Na included horse riding, along with a subject called ‘Special Weapons and Tactics’. Sven had ‘Effective Leadership’ together with ‘Tactics and Strategy’, while Lauren and Yaric both added scouting to their lists, which took up a surprising amount of time. Lauren even added ‘archery’ with a question mark.

“I need to discuss this with my mom and dad,” Lauren informed them, looking guilty.

“Father already helped me with mine, but he will want confirmation,” Sven said.

“Go,” Yaric quickly cut in, seeing Li Na opening her mouth and realizing where this was going. “You should be comfortable with your choices before we sit with our sponsors tomorrow.”

“You can come with if you want?” Lauren added.

“It’s ok.” Yaric waved his hand across the central common room, where many others were also going over their own options. “I want to see who else we’ll be sharing lessons with.”

The other three ran off, clutching their selections tightly and heading directly for the accommodations that the Academy had arranged. Yaric, meanwhile, started making his way through the other groups, checking to see who he would have overlapping classes with.

‘I’m not bad at this diplomacy stuff, I’m the only one gathering information.’

Making his way over to Chelsea and Cormac, who were sitting with Kaylin and Tracy, Yaric awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Hey.”

All four stared back at him, waiting impatiently for him to continue so they could get back to their discussion.

“So… uh… what subjects did you guys choose? Anything interesting? Are we sharing any classes?”

 

---

 

Heavy snow had fallen overnight, blanketing the entire campus. For a region that normally never got any snow, the last few weeks had been quite an experience. Yaric and his friends plowed their own path through the snowdrifts, often knee-deep. The entire campus was cold and muted, with low-lying clouds blocking most of the light. But they weren’t slowed at all, augmenting themselves to push through at a rapid pace. They had an appointment to keep.

All four sponsors would be present. Lloyd had arranged for them to meet at the same staff lounge where he normally met Yaric in. Tables were booked along with small adjoining rooms for privacy, and Jerold had already let slip that this was where they would traditionally receive a gift from their sponsor, though they would have little, if anything, to do with classes or training.

Lloyd, Sandy, Jerold, and Mersha were already waiting for them. Spying Healer Faruk Bell and Twyla sitting together beside a crackling fire, Yaric waved in greeting to them as well. No doubt healers would have a lot to talk about.

“Right, we’re all here,” Lloyd announced, clapping his hands together as more drinks were brought out. There was a surprising lack of food for something Lloyd had arranged, as besides the few small plates of snacks there were only bottles of various spirits.

“First, to our students,” he continued, raising his freshly refilled glass. Everyone took a drink after Lloyd’s toast, though Sven paused and stared into his glass, swirling the drink with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Something wrong?” Lloyd asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, no,” Sven hurriedly replied. “It’s just this seems to be a Brackenfell, but it’s clearly a sherry cask whiskey.”

‘You know your drinks?” Lloyd asked, sounding impressed.

“I was taught early,” Sven answered, trying to downplay Lloyd’s observation.

“Well, it is a Brackenfell, and it was matured in a sherry cask, as per my request. I find it’s particularly good this time of…”

“Ahmm…” Sandy cleared her throat, interrupting them.

Before anyone could say anything more, there was the thunk of a tumbler being put down heavily on the table. Li Na had knocked back her whole glass and was now looking around the table with a proud grin. Lloyd paused for a second, but surprisingly smiled and nodded her way. Li Na’s smile somehow grew wider.

It didn’t take long for everyone to go through their subject selections, even with the occasional question thrown their way.

“And you are all clear on where you would like to be as Apprentices one day?” Sandy asked finally.

“I’m training to be a problem solver,” Li Na confidently declared.

“And the shock training is a backup?” Sandy asked kindly.

“No. There’s no backup. I want to be a problem solver; I don’t want to be anything else.”

It appeared that they’d had the same discussion before, because Sandy immediately moved on, turning to look at Lauren.

“I’m interested in learning new magic and new ways to combine things. I don’t know where I want to specialize yet, but I need to learn a wide range of things anyway, and it will help me discover what I want to focus on one day.”

Jerold smiled approvingly and nodded toward Lauren.

Seeing Sandy turn to him next, Sven explained his thoughts. “I want to make things. It’s not much different, I want to combine skills and hopefully become an artificer.”

Mersha snorted. “Hopefully? I’ve never seen someone with an aptitude for crafting like yours.”

Sven smiled politely but otherwise didn’t respond.

“I don’t know as much as the others,” Yaric admitted, now that it was his turn. “I’m interested in a few different things, but even though they are very different, there is a lot of overlap. So I’m going to study a wider range of subjects before I make a decision.”

“That’s acceptable,” Sandy acknowledged. “You’re all very young still, there is plenty of time to make a decision, so long as you start yourselves in the right direction. Novice Jakobson, if you’d come with me, please. You can bring your glass.”

Without another word, Sandy stood up from the table, closely followed by Li Na, and went into one of the smaller, private rooms that lined the side. The discussion had ended abruptly.

Mersha took Sven into a second room, while Lauren followed Jerold.

“Finish up first, we aren’t in a rush,” Lloyd allowed, sipping from his glass.

“It’s okay,” Yaric replied. “We can start now. Otherwise the others will have to wait.”

Lloyd sighed deeply. “Fine. But refill your glass first,” he instructed, standing to move into one of the private rooms.

“Don’t,” Faruk suddenly said, already making his way over with Twyla right behind. He turned to face Lloyd before adding, “It won’t help him, only make things worse.”

“Make things worse?” Yaric asked. Looking at the three wizards and mages before him, Yaric felt his stomach sink.

“I have some news,” Lloyd said heavily. “Nothing that affects your future. Not really. But come, I’ll explain everything.”

Yaric was feeling very stressed out when he entered the private room, followed closely by Twyla and Faruk. His expectations for the evening had taken a turn for the worse. The healer’s presence was perhaps the most concerning.

‘Even if I’m in trouble, why would he be here? Was there something I told him?’ Yaric began wracking his brain, trying to think of anything he could have said that would have prompted a reaction like this.

“Sit,” Lloyd instructed.

Leaning down beside him, Lloyd lifted a very large rectangular object off the floor and placed it on the table in front of Yaric. The thud indicated how heavy it was, though the oilskin wrapping made it impossible to determine what the object was.

“When a student becomes a Novice, it’s traditional for their sponsor to give them a gift. Due to the significance of the event, and many other reasons, the gift always focuses on one particular thing, which was not as easy in your case.

“Getting this for you resulted in other discoveries. New information came to light that will likely upset you, but I don’t want to give you this and then go through what I discovered after. And you probably won’t want to open this with us by then. It’s…”

Lloyd leaned back with a heavy sigh. He looked tired and defeated.

“There is no right way to do this, Chen,” Faruk gently informed Lloyd. “Perhaps you should stop keeping the boy in suspense? He looks terrified.”

“I am not!” Yaric retorted, actually making Lloyd smile slightly.

With a look of resignation, Lloyd leaned forward and looked Yaric in the eye. “I had to go back to Clery to get your gift. While I was there, I found out about some things that had never been mentioned before. It makes sense in hindsight, but at the time I struggled to believe it. It also answers some questions about why Virgo acted differently with regards to you.”

“He had nothing…”

Lloyd raised his hand, cutting off Yaric’s tirade before it could get going. “This has nothing to do with any of those ridiculous questions a few people tried to raise years ago. Nothing at all. I know you’ve been defending yourself against them and it’s a sensitive subject, but please let me finish.

“Normally, Den Virgo would make sure everyone believed he was family before he, well, before he took over. He needed to, so he could ‘inherit’ everything and move on. Now, when I say normally, I mean every single time. Except when he arrived in Clery. There he did things too quickly, and he would have had no chance of receiving anything from the estate. Instead, he used his false relationship with you, after you inherited everything. “

“It saved your life,” Twyla added, almost pleading.

Lloyd took a deep breath before he continued. “Yaric, not long before your mother passed…”

“Before Virgo murdered her!”

“… yes, before Den Virgo killed her. Not long before then, a healer was sent to see her.”

“She was already sick?”

“No. No, she wasn’t sick.”

“Then why did she want a healer?”

“From what I could find out, she didn’t. More than one person remembered her insisting that no healer be sent to see her, likely due to Den Virgo. But the townsfolk wouldn’t hear of it, and the next time an arcanist passed through, he was sent straight to your house. Like Twyla said, you’re probably alive because of it.”

“Did the healer recognize Virgo?” Yaric asked, leaning forward.

“Evidently not. Most likely Den Virgo managed to make himself scarce. But it would have rattled him. His trail had been followed many times, as he well knew, but up till then no one had ever caught up to him. All evidence had always been collected long after he’d moved on. And even worse, he knew that more healers would be sent, and that he’d eventually be caught. He had to decide whether he would give up and move on, or take more drastic measures. Since moving on would require the same drastic measures as well, so there would be no evidence left behind, he clearly chose to stay and at least reap some reward. As we all know.”

“But why would more healers be coming? Why was one there in the first place?”

Lloyd looked hesitantly over Yaric’s shoulder to where Twyla stood before answering. “Yaric. Your mother was pregnant.”

Yaric felt sick and lightheaded. “She was going to have a baby?”

“We couldn’t find out much,” Lloyd said apologetically. “No one really knew anything, we don’t even know if there was a name picked out. But we do know that your mother was pregnant with a little girl.”

“I had a sister?” Yaric asked hoarsely.

“I’m sorry Yaric.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“We thought the same at first, but who would have brought it up? And why?”

Yaric knew it was true, but he didn’t want to believe it. It would be much easier if there was someone to blame for keeping him in the dark all this time.

‘But there is someone to blame!’

“I want it added to his record. To his crimes,” Yaric stated, more fiercely than intended.

“Den Virgo? Yaric, he’s already dead. Adding…”

“No! I know he’s dead, but so is my sister. He killed her. Her death won’t be some anonymous… thing! She never even got to take her first breath, no one even knows her name! Virgo doesn’t get to die without having that branded on his. I want, the charges, laid!” Yaric added forcefully.

Lloyd stared at him for a moment before nodding slightly. “I will see that it is done.”

Twyla rested her hand on his shoulder and stepped around to stand next to him. “Yaric, I know you won’t keep your friends in the dark, but would you like us to tell them for you? So you don’t have to explain everything?”

Yaric wasn’t really paying attention. His mind was jumping all over the place while Twyla spoke, but he did have the presence of mind to go over what she’d just said. The thought of explaining everything while they looked back with pity made him anxious enough that he readily agreed, and seeing his nod, Twyla immediately left the room.

“I’ve seen your gift,” Faruk gently informed Yaric, standing on the other side of Yaric’s chair yet with their eyes level, and pointing to the large obkect on the table, “it might not seem like it at first, but I believe it will help. None of this will be brought up again unless you decide to talk about it.”

Just then a loud knocking came from outside, though it wasn’t from their door. There was a brief pause, and then Twyla was clearly heard saying, “The boy agreed like you thought. We’re going to…”

“Well, I must be off! I’ll leave you with Chen, shall I?” Faruk rushed out the open door, closing it behind him and cutting Twyla off.

“I’m sorry Yaric. Today is meant to be a celebration. This whole week is. I tried to give you as many days as I could, but it wouldn’t have been right to keep you in the dark.”

There was a brief moment of silence while Yaric stared at the floor. “You didn’t do anything to be sorry about. Virgo did this.”

“That may be so, but you’re about to start your proper training. This is the start of your journey to becoming whatever you…”

“To stop people like Virgo. That’s what I’m training for. To keep people who become monsters from preying on pregnant mothers. To keep…” Yaric trailed off, his venom and anger quickly petering out and replaced with emptiness when he thought of his parents.

Parents who would have been in Lekton at that very moment, Yaric realized with a start. They would have been the ones cheering from the stands while he put on a display. They would have been clapping when he was promoted to Novice. And his little sister would have been with him.

“Yaric,” Lloyd said quickly upon seeing Yaric shift his legs to stand up. “There’s something else. For you.”

Lloyd held a second object in his hand, this one a small book. Smiling with very obvious effort, Lloyd gestured to the parcel on the table first. “That is your gift from me. Twyla helped as well. In fact, she set up the one at the end. You’ll see what I mean,” Lloyd added, noticing Yaric’s confusion at the cryptic explanation.

“Just know, not only did she work her magic for the last one, literally, but she arranged for it to be repeated each week in a more mundane manner. Several people agreed to take turns, including little Sally. The innkeeper insisted as well.”

Lloyd paused and smiled at Yaric’s reaction to Sally’s name.

“And this is also yours, though it’s not a gift,” Lloyd said, far more gently. “It’s always been yours. Luckily Twyla came with me, because I’d never even heard of this. It's apparently quite common for healers to suggest that pregnant women keep a journal during their pregnancy, for them to write down any thoughts or feelings. We found this in your house. It was your mother's.”

Yaric stared at the small book, feeling his hands shake. Those were her actual thoughts, in her own words, written by her own hand.

“I don’t know how much is in here, it wouldn’t have been right to open and check, but there should be something. And if you would like, I can arrange for it to be treated magically. It will never age or wear, and it will be protected from things like water or heat,” Lloyd offered, leaning forward to hand the journal over.

Yaric opened it to see pages and pages of delicate, looping script. He caught sight of his name several times. A single tear hit the page, the moisture spreading out in an ever-expanding circle, and prompting Yaric to scramble to blot the page with his top.

“Can you do that?” Yaric asked, reluctantly holding it out to give it back. “I don’t want to risk something happening.”

“Of course. This is yours as well. I’ll give you some time to open it and go through everything.”

“No!” Yaric exclaimed. “I mean, I should wait for the others anyway. And I want to walk,” Yaric said, far more quietly than his initial outburst. He quickly picked his gift up and started making his way to the door.

“Yaric, maybe you should wait here?” Lloyd queried; his voice laced with concern.

Shaking his head without looking back, Yaric opened the door and strode straight for the exit, not waiting for the others like he’d said he would and completely ignoring a man whom even Arch Wizards respected.

The shock of the cold air outside made Yaric look up into the dreary weather, only realizing then that he’d left his jacket behind. Not caring, Yaric clutched the gift tightly to his chest and rushed along the cleared path, not wanting to have to answer questions or deal with concerned friends at the moment.

As soon as the path crossed a park that he recognized, Yaric augmented his whole body as best he could and jumped. Sailing through the air, Yaric landed awkwardly, with the snow making it impossible to tell when his feet would strike the ground. But there was no trail between the path and where he’d landed 8 meters to the side.

Yaric kept jumping until he reached a secluded area with a bench. The entire clearing was thick with snow and even the bench had a layer over the seats. Pacing back and forth, Yaric chased the plumes from his breath as he went over everything he’d been told. More than anything else, Yaric felt guilty. Because despite what he’d just found out, Yaric struggled to feel any other emotion. He just felt empty and numb, resulting in the feelings of guilt for not experiencing more grief. But he wasn’t left to his thoughts for long, because the other three found him so quickly he suspected that they’d noticed the holes he left when jumping.

Sven pushed through at the front, holding Yaric’s jacket and looking solemn. Li Na appeared anxious, while Yaric could have sworn that Lauren’s eyes were a little red.

“Yaric… I’m sorry… we just,” Sven began before Yaric cut him off.

“I don’t want to talk about it. I came here so I didn’t have to try and explain things that I don’t understand myself. Thank you, but please leave.”

“No,” Lauren stated firmly. “We’ll leave, but not right now. And you don’t have to explain anything.”

“Then why are you guys here?’

“So that you won’t be alone.”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Then we won’t.”

Yaric didn’t have any response to that, leaving him to look between his friends in the awkward silence. He distantly noticed that the snow was beginning to fall again.

“What’s that?” Li Na eventually asked, pointing to the package that Yaric still held clutched to his chest.

“Lloyd’s gift.”

“I know that, what is it?”

“Don’t know, haven’t opened it.” There was another moment of uncomfortable silence before Yaric grudgingly asked, “What did you guys get.”

Lauren looked trapped, but she pulled out what looked like a silver book anyway. “Yaric, these gifts, they’re intended to remind you about people. That’s the whole point, so mine… mine has my mom and dad in it.”

“What does it do?” Yaric asked, feeling more annoyed than he should be when his friends were worried about him. He was just getting sick and tired of people walking on eggshells when talking about their families. And he was just sick and tired in general, which he knew he was projecting onto the others.

Lauren motioned them to the snow-covered bench, but when they got there, Yaric stepped up on the seat and sat on the backrest, which Li Na quickly copied. Lauren climbed up to sit next to Yaric.

“It’s a collection of images,” Lauren explained, holding her gift up for him to see. The whole thing was made of silver and intricately carved. Both sides appeared to be made up of clothes in solid silver, mostly high-end fashion, all engraved in the finest detail. Squinting, Yaric could even make out the stitching.

The front opened like double doors, hinging to each side to reveal a large central image and another smaller image inside each door. Either side held a picture of one of Lauren’s parents, with Robin on the left and Amanda on the right. Magic was obviously involved. In addition to the incredible detail in both images, both her parents seemed to be looking straight at Lauren with pride in their eyes, their features flat yet extending from the metal as if they were real.

Right in the middle was a large image of both parents, holding Lauren and her sister. It looked so lifelike that Yaric kept waiting for them to move. Which would be ridiculous. Not even wizards had images that moved.

“Watch this,” Lauren said, pushing in one of the carved details on the side. The central image changed to show Lauren eating with her family, while the individual images on the sides changed to show each parent hard at work, her father cutting cloth and her mother stitching. Every button Lauren pressed changed the images yet again, until she had gone through an entire collection of images with her family going about their lives.

“It’s beautiful,” Yaric acknowledged, feeling nothing but happy for Lauren, especially with the smile he received in return.

“Look at mine!” Li Na was holding a squat-looking tube, and when she pulled off the top Yaric saw that it was filled with leather discs. Pulling the top one out, Li Na proudly held it up for him to see.

Engraved into the hard leather was an image of Bruce and Jolene, engraved with detail just as exquisite as Lauren’s images had been.

“Watch this!” Li Na enthused. Channeling arcana into the bottom of the disc, a proper three-dimensional image appeared above, as an exact replica of the image below. Twisting the disc, Li Na showed everyone how the whole image turned, so you could see the three-dimensional representation from any angle. It was like having a life-size statue that could be taken anywhere. And in this case, the statue seemed like it was going to pull Li Na into a bear hug at any moment.

"It's amazing."

“What about yours?” Li Na asked, pointing to the still-wrapped package resting on Yaric’s lap and ignoring Sven who stood in front of the bench holding his own gift.

“I haven’t opened it yet.” Yaric looked down at the parcel, yet made no move to start unwrapping the oilskins.

“Yaric,” Lauren said gently, grabbing hold of his arm with both hands. “I’m sorry about your sister.”

He didn’t trust himself to speak with the lump in his throat, so Yaric just nodded, still looking down at the parcel on his lap. Li Na was trying to wiggle closer to him from the other side, as she was sitting so close to the edge of the bench and Yaric hadn’t left her much room, while Sven stood motionless, allowing the others to speak.

“Your sister would have been lucky to have you as her brother,” Lauren added, squeezing his arm.

Even though he was still looking down at the package, Yaric could still see a pair of legs on either side as well as in front of him. Surrounded by his friends, Yaric looked up at each of them. Li Na on his left, Sven in front, and Lauren to the right.

“She is lucky,” Yaric confirmed with a small smile, if a little more hoarsely than intended.

Lauren smiled as well, but her eyes constantly shifted as if searching his own for something she couldn’t find. She looked happy to see Yaric smiling, but concerned as well.

“Is lucky,” Lauren confirmed, though not without some confusion.

Without looking away, Yaric lifted his left arm and placed his hand on Li Na’s shoulder.

“Ahh!” she squealed, flying off the edge to disappear into the large pile of snow accumulating beside the bench.

“Even if she is a bit clumsy as well,” Yaric said, bringing a genuine smile to Lauren’s face.

“Hey, you pushed me!” Li Na was still brushing the snow off her clothes after she clambered up, though Sven did lean forward to help. Her shoulder check when she got back up didn’t have the usual promise of revenge to it, and she was smiling widely despite her tumble.

“Now you have to open whatever that is,” she announced triumphantly, as if pointing out an inviolable rule.

Yaric slowly started peeling back the wrappings, layer by layer, until a large, leather-bound book lay on top of the oilskins.

“Oooh, isn’t that a mill?” Li Na asked, pointing to the engraving on the cover. It was blackened in places as if burnt by fire, but the variations in the depth and the degree of burning made for an incredibly detailed image on the light brown leather, easily equal to Li Na’s, even if it was more mundane.

“Nu…” Yaric coughed, clearing the lump in his throat. “No,” he said more clearly.

“Oh.” Li Na deflated a little, looking disappointed.

“That’s my mill.”

…

“The same one?” Li Na asked unnecessarily, her excitement back as she leaned over to get a better look.

“Yes.”

Yaric took in the garden around the sides of the mill, the part of his house visible at the edges, even the low stone wall. Inside he easily recognized the beams that made up the structure, along with all of the machinery and equipment.

Everyone was silent while he stared at it for several minutes, until Lauren gently put her hand over his and guided it to the edge. With Lauren’s help, Yaric lifted the cover to see the first page.

It was filled with scrawled writing. Messages from different people littered the pages. Most of them were people he had gone to school with, but there were others as well. Liam, Sally’s father, had written a message about how proud Clery was to have their own wizard, obviously not understanding that he was far from a wizard yet.

Freda wrote entire paragraphs. Yaric knew her well enough to know her name and greet her, but he’d spoken to her more after Lloyd’s arrival than his entire life before. Now though she wrote at length about the care taken for his property and how she hoped he focused on his education.

Sally had written almost as much as well, but Yaric didn’t want to read every word while his friends waited.

Turning the page, Lauren gasped. An incredible, hand drawn sketch of Clery stretched from page to page, done with such detail and to such amazing effect that Yaric knew magic was involved here too.

It looked so familiar, yet so different. The cattle pens had proper enclosures for winter now, and a few new houses stood on the south side of the river, but almost everything else was exactly as he remembered it.

“And that’s the mill again?” Li Na asked, pointing to the corner closest to her.

“And my house,” Yaric replied quietly, running his finger over the building beside the mill.

“Your hometown is beautiful,” Lauren whispered, running her eyes over the farms stretching into the distance at the top of the page, which was capped by the majestic peaks of the Misty Mountains. Even the river seemed to actually flow along the bottom of the image.

Turning the page, Yaric saw the town square, along with all of the buildings on one side. He spent several minutes explaining what each one was, including giving the names of some of the people captured in the drawing.

Each page went into more detail, showing the square, an apothecary, a bakery, moving from building to building in Clery. Many of the people were easily recognizable, and those in more detailed images obviously knew they were being drawn, because most were smiling up from the page or even waving.

Yaric’s explanations started trailing off over time, until eventually he just stared at a page for a minute before turning to the next one, only speaking to answer questions.

He saw Freda in her inn, both at the front desk with clients and serving food at the back. One of the many images of the market showed what Clery called ‘stall day’, where anyone could set up their little display and sell whatever they wanted.

His breath caught slightly when he spotted Sally front and center. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever been anything more than a friend, and he certainly didn’t have any kind of romantic feelings now, but seeing her standing behind her own makeshift stall drove home just how much things had changed.

Everyone else was undoubtedly growing older as well, but Sally looked like a young woman. Usually shy and reserved around people she wasn’t close friends with, Sally was smiling at a customer and displaying what looked like homemade necklaces, taking the initiative and putting in the effort to put herself out there and make some money of her own.

The mill was similar, if not worse. Machinery he had run for years was now being managed by four others, all of whom he recognized. Sacks of flour sat to the side, while unprocessed grains were piled high in a bin. There were several images of the mill he’d worked, his mill, all made over several days with different people working inside. Most comforting of all was the condition of the mill. It was immaculate, and the brief message from Freda that he’d skimmed over proved true, as everything was very well taken care of and maintained.

Yaric slowed down further when he got to images of his house. It was nothing special, it wasn’t even that large, but the images progressed from the garden and front door to the entrance, the kitchen, and finally, his bedroom. He answered every question thrown his way, but he never once took his eyes off the book or any of the images within.

The next image made him falter, as it was a picture of his parents’ room. The furniture was pristine, and everything looked ready to live in. Clery had taken the responsibility of keeping his house maintained very seriously. Yaric was just thinking about how it was his house, not his home, when he turned the page and froze.

“Is that…?” Lauren asked, unable to finish the question. Yaric had left Clery in a hurry, and he’d only had so much space available for the things he wanted to take with him. Forced to leave most things behind, Yaric only had a single image of his parents with him, his favorite, the one that had stood beside his bed for as long as he could remember. There were many others, however, all of which had been unceremoniously thrown into drawers with strict orders for them to remain there. In his rush to leave, Yaric had forgotten that he could now take those back out.

But Lloyd had found them. Yaric’s mom and dad stared back from the page, looking into his eyes. He knew the image well, because he’d often snuck down to look through the forbidden drawers. Not only was it a perfect replication, but it was far larger, revealing details that Yaric had never seen before.

The ruffled collar on his dad’s shirt, the small scar on his mother’s chin, even the pattern and colors in their eyes.

Lauren squeezed his arm gently, and Yaric finally turned the page, knowing that he would be coming back to that image many times. Every page after had what he was sure was every single image, drawing, and painting of his family, perfectly reproduced and often even improved upon. Some included him as a baby or toddler, drawing a variety of comments, though all were friendly and supportive, even Li Na’s more teasing observations. Coming to the end of the book, Yaric couldn’t think of any images that had been left out as he turned the second last page.

It was his parents’ single gravestone, sitting silently in the small garden behind the house. His father had been murdered so soon after his mother that they had been buried together, exactly as he was sure they would have wanted. Or at least as he liked to believe they would have. One large gravestone shared by two people.

‘Three,’ Yaric reminded himself painfully.

.          .OSKAR & KATE MILLER

ADORING HUSBAND, PERFECT WIFE,

.              .LOVING PARENTS

A large bottle sat in front of the grave, half empty, along with four empty glasses. Underneath that was a message, written on top of the picture.

I hope you didn’t think I was being presumptuous when I sat where your parents should have been. I did ask first. But only after telling them all about your accomplishments and sharing a toast. I know they would have been even prouder than I am.

~ Lloyd

His friends sat silently while Yaric collected himself, determined to move to get through to the end. Lloyd had taken the time to point out that Twyla had done something for the last image, and he wanted to see for himself.

Turning the page, Yaric saw that it was the same image, with his parents’ gravestone right in the center. Only this time, the simple, wild garden had been replaced with a beautiful paradise. Small flowering trees dotted the garden, interspersed with flower beds planted in various shapes. Despite how new the plants must have been, it was already filled with birds and several butterflies.

The small garden was hardly filled, but it was very tastefully and expertly crafted. A new bench stood on one side, where people would be able to enjoy the shrine to his parents.

The gravestone looked different as well, because now it was surrounded by what seemed to be a single bush, somehow growing flowers of different colors and shapes, and shaped like a living wreath around the stone.

More wreaths and bouquets lay around the grave itself, and Yaric finally understood what Lloyd had meant when he’d said the Clery would repeat Twyla’s actions each week.

Yaric kept staring at the image even after it was too blurry to see properly, until Lauren eventually put her arm over his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. Things finally caught up with him when Lauren pulled his head into her shoulder. Yaric was dimly aware that someone had closed his book and taken it from him, replacing it with his jacket which was draped over him like a blanket. No doubt it was Sven, because a moment later Li Na leaned across his other side, her slight weight pressing down as she got comfortable on the narrow backrest.

Snow started falling more heavily and a small breeze began to cut like knives, but no one moved or said a word while the snow fell around them, just as silent and unseeing as the four people huddled on the bench.