The Crystal Trials

29 Nik

My mom and I had found her a beautiful dress for the ball. When she tried it on, she shook her head like it was ridiculous. It took some convincing, but I was finally able to get her to leave to store with it. Ahren had cornered me after class one day, begging me to take her shopping. She was doing better than when she had arrived a couple months prior but had a way to go. She still flinched at someone's touch and loud noises. Ahren was always checking on her in the clinic or his apartment.

Mom had said that he never barged in, even though the apartment was fully his. Her embarrassment of her past had begun to fade, and she looked stronger each passing day. I had been itching to breech the subject of her keeping magic a secret, but I had sworn to myself that I would wait until after we had went shopping.

The morning was young, and more shoppers began to fill the streets. We opted to roam the streets of the marketplace just after dawn to beat the crowd. And mom desperately wanted to get back to the students that lay in the infirmary. She had already written to a boy's parents, fearing the worst.

We entered the jewelry shop hunting for the perfect match to our dresses. I had searched through the exquisite dresses the king had sent over the night before, and the one I choose practically called to me. I hid it away in my rooms before another girl could snatch it. I showed mom a necklace that matched her rose gold dress. She shyly shook her head, but I kept it in my hand, just in case. My mom held up a beautiful piece to me. I shook my head, too gaudy. She smiled in amusement and showed me another one. It took my breath away.

"Dath and that other boy wouldn't be able to keep their eyes off you in this," she gushed.

"What other boy?"

"The pretty one with the ring in his nose."

"Ameer?" I exclaimed.

Mom looked at me like I had failed a test. "Yes. Are you blind?" No, she was the blind one.

"Mom. No. We are just friends."

I didn't bother to tell her about Alden. We hadn't spoken more than quiet pleasantries since the Night of Nix. As time wore on, I wasn't sure what to think of him. He got the hint and kept to himself and even joined my little training club occasionally. Alden couldn't see how incredible his father was to me. Erix made sure that the extra militia training was going well and had even asked that I make sure the rare herbs that I accidentally bloomed in the garden's forest were kept up with. He didn't make me feel like a freak. More like a regular Fae that had a job to do.

Erix had been advising me the past weeks and had me sit in on a few classes to shadow some teachers. Dolta had declined profusely, regardless of my natural ability with Voltmancy. Syphor didn't mind at all and even had me teach the blue team a simple casting that they had not yet mastered. Charis was ecstatic to allow me to help teach the water wall I had made by accident my first day. Her initial cruelty was truly an act and had been nothing but kind over the months. Sure, her face was always sensual and serious, but her heart was golden. Imogen was also happy to let me demonstrate how to create a cloud, which had slowly become one of my favorite things to do.

Ahren and Lambert shared their support in a different manner. Ahren helped teach me how the militia used Terramancy in combat. And Lambert began teaching me his mind trick using light magic. It was by far the most difficult magic I had earned so far. He tried explaining that you had to feel the light and visually become it. Any attempts I had made, led him to have to search for my consciousness in my own mind. I would always get trapped between imaginations and thoughts, not knowing which was which.