Sun's Heart

Chapter 2 - Rotten

June was lying on her back in her bed when Gale opened the door to her room. She sat up, and the flickering flame lazily hovering over her fingers blinked out. "Finally done?"

"Yeah..."

"What did he want?"

Gale cleared her throat. She fidgeted. Conversation from the commons room was muffled behind the door as it closed. She sat on the small carpet where evening light glowed softly. Her feet ached. She'd spent the entire afternoon practicing the same spells over and over. Mulling through Reynard's words. Trying not to think of the Trial tomorrow.

June peered at her with head askance. "Hello? Anybody home?"

"He wanted to talk to me about a job in...Sarcen."

"Told you he'd come in handy." She lay back down, once again held her hand into the air. She pulled on her magic, and a lick of flame wavered over it. "You missed dinner, by the way."

"How..." Gale paused and licked her lips. It was a touchy question for most mages, but they were friends. "How did you discover your affinity?"

A vague flash of surprise was all she saw. She answered in nonchalance, "I set the dog on fire."

Gale gasped and caught a surprised giggle before it could finish. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to laugh."

June chuckled, light voice a warm tinkle. "It's alright. I hated that dog. It attacked me and my sisters several times. Something wrong in the head, I think. It went after the baby one day, so I threw my arms around its neck and...I Linked." She shrugged, then sat up and looked at Gale. "You can fill in the blanks from there."

"You're so calm about it."

She looked at Gale oddly. "When you're defending the life of someone you love, you don't feel anything but hot and cold. Here and now. Life and death. There's no room for doubt." She smiled, though the twinkle of mischief never left her face, and asked, "What about you? How did you figure out you were a mage?"

Gale's heart skipped, a fist tightened around the inside of her throat. "I, um." She smiled uncertainly and lowered her eyes. "Well, I tossed a few people around."

June laughed again. "There's no need to be embarrassed. It happens to the best of us. At least you didn't flood your town or bury someone alive. I heard a story about one kid getting all of the air sucked out of him. Anyways, death is pretty normal, obviously."

If Gale's answering laugh was strained, June gave no sign of noticing. "Yeah, I know. I was lucky Reynard and Ibaj found me." She hugged her knees to her chest. "I just wish I knew what my affinity is. I'm tired of not being able to use magic like everyone else."

June's breathing changed. She was clearly choosing her words carefully. "You might not have an affinity. You...realize that, right?"

"Of course I do. It's only..." She groaned and hid her face against her knees. "They said an affinity makes an element so easy to use it's like breathing."

June's quiet sigh filled the air. "Look, I know you really want to have an affinity, but...I mean, just look at Dain and Wil. Neither of them have one, and Lady Q said they're the most promising students the academy's seen in decades. Nothing says you have to be any different."

But they've got more experience than me, indignance argued. Of course they'd be more skilled. Reason silenced the childish thought. Skill doesn't mean they've got it easy. "I just...I don't think Reynard picked me for the right reasons."

"He sees something in you, right? Maybe what he sees is enough."

"But is it good enough? Or just enough?"