The Crystal Trials

7

The next day, we had the morning off. Our schedule read that we should have had Lambert's class, light magic, but that he was still recovering and rescheduled for the evening. Alden and I were the only ones that knew what he was recovering from, healing my infection. After breakfast with my friends, I had decided to head back to my room and finally search through my mother's secret items. When I had had the time before, I was too exhausted and would fall asleep, sometimes with my clothes still on.

I sat on my couch in just a shirt, wanting to be free of the robes for a bit. I squished the fur of the rug between my toes as I dug through my tattered bag. Maybe I would get a new bag after we received our first stipend. I dropped my buck knife and poor scratched dagger next to me on the white cushion which made enough room to see the journal and pouch at the bottom of the bag. There were crumbs of stale bread from the journey to Salvare too. I grabbed the items and flicked the crumbs out from under my nails and tossed the bag on the floor.

The pouch was ordinary and contained a few copper and silver coins. The amulet Aunt Kay had mention was indeed in there. The pendant held a blackened rainbow sphere set in the middle of two platinum circles, one smaller than the other. The three components spun around the fulcrum pin running through the strange stone. It was such a shame that there was no chain to hold the beautiful piece. I placed it next to my blades and grabbed the journal.

The leather binding the journal was worn down and pealing at the spine. Inside, many pages were illegible from water stains causing the ink to bleed. On the pages I could read, my mother's handwriting was delicate and feminine. Some entries dating back to when she was my age. Those ones I focused on first after I had flipped through the whole thing. At first, I saw nothing more than the words of a twenty-year-old speaking about men and the woes of life. She had mentioned a handsome man with blond hair she befriended at university. She was to meet him for lunch in the gardens and then practice light magic afterwards. Wait. What?

I flipped back and reread. Words popped out at me now not fully reading but searching to make sure I wasn't imagining it. University, magic, my mom could do magic! And not just magic, she was a ten in light magic. I flipped passed some heavily damaged pages. My aunt was too! Why did they keep it a secret? No wonder why they acted so strange about us leaving to get tested. I searched my memory of a few days ago. My mom hadn't batted an eye about me deciding to get tested and Aunt Kay and Uncle Josiah were practically shoving Taury out the door when I arrived. Just then, someone knocked on the door. I placed the journal down and went to answer it.

"Coming!" I said tripping over my bag. I opened the door still shaking the bag off my foot. Then looked up to see Ameer standing there with a plate in his hand. The smile he was wearing dropped when he saw me, and he looked down. Then up to my face. "Hey!" I breathed hard from the effort of not falling on my face, "Is it time for Aquamancy class already?"

Ameer stared at me.

"What?" I squinted at him. Silently he pointed with a nod of his head to my legs. I followed his gaze and looked down. Shit. I forgot I had taken my pants off. I slammed the door in his face and rushed to my pants.

"Ok redo!" I announced opening the door back up again. To no one. The plate Ameer had been carrying was placed at the foot of my door full of macaroons. I glanced around the pod for him. There was only Alden reading his smutty novel. I picked up the plate, confused.

"He ran off after you slammed the door in his face." Alden had put his book down and twisted to at me from over the back of the chair. My eyes widened.

"How much did you see?"

He gave me a once over, "All of it."

"Ugh!" I turned around.