Midnight's Blossom

by Corinn Heathers

“Hi,” the girl managed, somewhat breathlessly. “This is B-14, right?”

  “Yes,” Erika confirmed. “You must be—”

  “I'm Rose! Rose Merope.”

  “I am Erika Corvus.” She paused and her brows knit together in contemplation. “I don't believe I've ever heard of a House Merope. Where is your family from?”

  “Just Merope, not 'House Merope,'” Rose replied in a tone that was rather calm and even considering how out of breath she appeared only seconds before. “I'm not from the Empire, as I'm sure you've guessed. We don't really have the whole highborn and lowborn thing in Fialla.”

  I tried not to look as stunned as I felt. A foreign student from Fialla, of all places? A thousand questions and musings bubbled up to the surface of my thoughts, but I didn't have time to think on it long before the newcomer focused her attention entirely upon me. The intensity of her gaze was more than a little intimidating, and I instinctively looked away.

  “Hi!” Rose greeted in a cheerful tone. She didn't seem offended in the slightest that I refused to look her in the eye. “What's your name?”

  I felt my cheeks warm as I realized Rose was not only focused entirely on me, but she had come very close, kneeling down in front of the bed so that she did not tower over me quite so badly. Only a dozen or so centimeters separated our faces, and her scent enveloped me. An odd sort of lightness built within my chest.

  “Um, Lily Alcyone.”

  Rose smiled widely and I felt my heart leap in my chest.

  “I've never seen a Solarian as small as you.” Her expression was pensive for a moment and my breath caught in my throat. Seven Holy Stars, she was going to say it out loud. The heat in my cheeks only intensified. It was inevitable, after all. “You don't look like you're from anywhere else, though. You're fey-touched, aren't you?”

  I suppressed a grimace but nodded in confirmation. “Yes, I am.”

  Rose shrugged, picking up on my change in mood. “Well, I'm not Solarian, either. It's not a big deal to me.”

  “You're still fully human, though.” I sighed and brushed a few errant curls out of my eyes. “I'm not, and in the Empire, having fey heritage isn’t exactly an honor.”

  “Neither is hailing from a ‘barbarian land,’ but okay, I'll let it drop.” The Fiallan wrinkled her nose at that and changed the subject, though it was far too late at this point. She peered intently at my forehead and her eyebrows rose in query. “Why don't you have a manashard? I thought you had to get one to be accepted.”

  Her question contained no hostility, only genuine curiosity, but something about the casual way in which it was delivered rubbed my already-frayed nerves raw. I’d spent most of my life trying to studiously ignore the sidelong glances and suspicious looks, and here this girl was calling attention to the five-hundred kilo dragon in the hall. I made a weak attempt to respond, but found that I couldn't form the words. Fortunately, Erika came to my rescue.

  “Rose, please stop. You're upsetting Lily.”

  The Merope daughter blinked, obviously confused. “Why?”

  “I understand that in Fialla, a person's and family's standing in society is not determined by the strength of their magic and the purity of their bloodline,” Erika explained in a calm, soothing tone, but one that held a core of steel. “However, you should still know that these things are deadly serious within the Empire.”

  “And as a Solarian mage, not having a manashard marks you as a failure in the making,” I added, having regained my composure largely due to Erika's impromptu defense. I turned away from both of them, gazing instead out the window at the rain that lashed against the panes of glass. “My soul rejected the bond. The aetherium crystal placed upon my forehead remained dull and lifeless.”

  Rose frowned. “But why?”

  “That is quite enough!” Erika snapped, clearly scandalized at the Fiallan’s curiosity. “You have taken this interrogation too far.”

  I held a hand up to forestall argument. “No, it's okay. I'm fine, I just… I don’t know.” I turned away from the window and met Rose's eyes. There was no disgust in her eyes, no disdain, no disapproval whatsoever. She smiled at me again, and I felt a jolt of warmth surge up my spine. Seven Holy Stars, this girl was not at all what I'd expected.

  “My other parent was miinari,” I said after a long pause. “I don't know much more than that. I never knew them… and…”

  “And…?” Rose prompted.

  “Manashards only bind to human souls, and only those with a strong enough affinity to form a foundation for the binding.” My cheeks warmed and I felt intensely self-conscious as I spoke. I knew it wouldn't be any easier to admit it to someone else than it had been to admit to myself. “My connection to the element of water is… tenuous, at best.”

  “Oh,” Rose murmured. She sounded chagrined, but her cheeks were too dark for much of a flush to show up easily. “I'm sorry for being so pushy.”

  It was well past time to change the subject. Frowning, I flicked my gaze to the red crystal on Rose's forehead. Judging by her insistence, I suspected she wouldn’t mind if I asked. “I’m surprised you have one.”

  “Oh, I had to get one before I was accepted into the Academy,” Rose replied in a casual tone, as if it wasn't that big a deal. Maybe it wasn't in Fialla; I realized I didn't know nearly enough about the country as I would have liked. “Not too many people outside the Empire use them, and certainly not many back home. There aren't even that many mages in Fialla, after all.”

  I didn't respond to that. I was still a little overwhelmed with the current circumstances. I hadn't expected to be shepherded by a senior student, nearly a full-fledged mage in her own right, and I especially hadn't expected to share a room with a foreigner who didn't seem to care one whit that I was a half-breed.

  “Your family must be wealthy if they managed to commission one just for you,” Erika observed in a neutral tone.

  Rose shrugged. “Yeah. Coin is one thing Merope has plenty of, and magical aptitude isn't. When I was a little girl, I started showing the signs. My parents were overjoyed at first, and took me directly to the Ministry of Magic for testing.” The girl paused for a moment, and her expression became troubled. “They discovered that I had the gift, one of the strongest ever to show up among the Merope line. After the testing we found out I had fire and dark affinities both. Bit of an embarrassment of riches, perhaps, but the politicized nature of necromancy being what it is, there was really only one option when it came to training.”

  I stared at her in open-mouthed astonishment. It was shocking, almost scandalous, to hear this girl blithely speaking of the Forbidden Aspect as if it were a minor inconvenience at worst. I knew that it was different outside the Empire, but still…

  “… and Dad's on the Governing Council, so we’re pretty tuned in to international politics. Not to mention how our family's business is so deeply entwined with trade between the kingdoms,” Rose went on. “One of his old friends in the Ministry thought it'd be a great opportunity to send me to study abroad at the Imperial Academy.”

  My expression soured. “Best for you or best for the politicians?”

  “Best for everyone.”

  “You don't mind being used as a bargaining chip?”

  “Not really.” Rose shrugged again, and I was somewhat awestruck at her ability to blithely disregard the way she was being used. “The Holy Solarian Empire loves to make a lot of angry political noises about Fialla's 'careless' attitude toward the dangers of necromancy.” She leaned closer to me and offered a small, curious little smile. “I'm okay with being a pawn if it'll deescalate the tensions between our nations. I may be too young to remember it myself, but Dad’s always filled my ears with countless stories about the last time our country was at war.”

  I admit, I was a little surprised at her insight. She seemed to be a carefree and easygoing type from the surface, cheerful and not terribly prone to serious contemplation, but it was clear that there was more to Rose than her pretty face and happ
y smile. I was becoming much more intrigued than uncomfortable, despite the fact that Rose had no trouble at all speaking her mind. It seemed that Fiallans weren't nearly as aloof or distant as my mother's people.

  “While I'm sure the two of you would love to chat all throughout the day, you still have classes to attend.” Erika's voice cut through my musings and brought me jolting back into reality. I blinked at her and glanced at the clock on the wall. We'd spent the past half-hour talking, and our first class of the term would begin soon.

  “Shit,” Rose breathed. I somehow managed to suppress a giggle at her coarse language. She waved a sheet of paper in one hand and I recognized it as her class schedule. “I don't know where anything is in this place.”

  I glanced at the list of courses printed on the slip and smiled. “We're in the same classes. I’ll show you where to go. We can walk together.”

  Rose's eyes lit up like a star.

  “Really? Thanks!”

  Part I

  -

  Flowers

  Chapter 3

  Two Shining Stars

  I frowned at the stacks of paper in front of me. I'd already filled many of them with rows of my small and neat handwriting, notes concerning the larger diagram drawn in the upper left corner of each page.

  These particular formulae were tougher than I'd expected for my first term. For a brief moment, I wondered just how hard Master Vayna would try to set me up for failure—but that thought was quickly dispelled when I felt a soft tap on my leg, beneath the desk where neither Vayna nor his aide would be able to spot it.

  I didn't look at the student next to me, because I didn't need to. Rose was doing her best to encourage me, but neither of us wanted to get caught talking in class, especially during an exercise like this. Especially when the two students in question were the two of us.

  It had only been two months since classes began and somehow I'd managed to avoid handing the Academy staff a reason to make my life miserable. This was largely thanks to Erika Corvus's tempering influence, but even more than that, Rose's guidance.

  I hazarded a quick sidelong glance at her. She was gazing intently at the page of intricately-designed spells, but for the briefest moment, our eyes met. Only for a moment, though. Vayna's teaching aide, a third-year student, was keeping watch over the class while the instructor himself was busy examining the diagrams we'd turned in from the first half of this exercise.

  Rose surprised me in more ways than one. From the first time we met I had assumed she was a free spirit, relying more on heart than brain to make her way through life. I expected her to get into all sorts of trouble from the outset, but instead Rose proved to be one of the most dedicated, hardworking students in the class. Her personality that seemed better suited for wild misadventures was instead brought to bear on lifting up the tedium of procedural instruction.

  She was no prodigy, that was certain. Rose's talents may have been the strongest in her line, but that didn't count for much in the Empire. The Merope girl did her best to make up for that lack with sheer grit and a strong determination to absorb the material we were assigned.

  I, on the other hand, struggled to keep up with my assignments.

  It wasn't because I lacked for power. Thanks to the nature of my soul, I was able to draw aether from the land with frightening ease. It was as if there was no resistance at all, no friction to slow it down. All it took for me to tap the font of the world's power was a thought, an intention. It felt astonishingly natural, like flexing a muscle, and that was part of the problem.

  Humans weren't naturally inclined to magic. They had to work hard for it, to deconstruct and rebuild their minds and souls to convert the unformed energies into a form that could be more easily manipulated: elemental mana. The arcane arts of Solaria were heavily built upon a deep and fundamental understanding of mental disciplines, magical equations, axioms and algorithms. My magic required none of these things and they were not terribly interesting in their own right.

  As I discovered rather quickly, interest was optional. Proficiency was mandatory. The masters of the Academy expected me to demonstrate my understanding of the theorems, just as they would any human student.

  “Time,” called out the teaching assistant.

  All of the students around me set their pens down on the desk. I kept my expression neutral, but inwardly I was nervous. I wasn't certain my understanding of the material was correct, and I would have liked to re-check the formulae… but it was too late for that.

  I felt a tap on my leg again and turned toward Rose, who was smiling and offering just the tiniest, most imperceptible nod. The anxiety building up within me lessened significantly. She'd taken a look at my work and, judging by her expression, I'd somehow managed to get it right. I knew I had her to thank for that. Rose was very insistent that we study together often, right from the first day of class, because it was next to impossible to verify my calculations if I couldn’t test them myself.

  The master’s assistant made her way up and down the aisles, collecting the finished (or perhaps not) assignments. My nerves were starting to cool a fair bit, not just because Rose had reassured me, but because our next task was a practical exercise.

  I hazarded a glance over at Vayna's desk and found the old man staring at me with something that resembled a challenge in his eyes. I looked away quickly and suppressed a sigh. All of the masters of the Academy were wary of me, and more than a few were afraid, even if they'd never admit to it. My peers were no less unnerved, and again I had Rose to thank for the relative paucity of bullying I'd experienced as of late. The Fiallan girl had a fiery temper that seemed to ignite with frightening ease whenever I was the target of harassment, and she was tall and physically strong enough to intimidate just about any of the other students—and some of the instructors, too.

  “Students, rise,” Vayna called out, his flat voice carrying throughout the auditorium. “We will be conducting this exercise outside, upon the practice field. You will work in teams of two. Select your partner for this exercise and attempt to break the others' barrier.” The man's scowl deepened and he looked directly at me. “You must break the barrier with materialized force. Any attempt to scatter the magic directly will result in failure of the assignment.”

  I managed not to react to that, even though I felt like sliding beneath the desk to hide. I could hear faint snickering around me from my classmates. I’d already tried something similar in one of the previous week’s exercises, earning me a failing grade and a stern dressing-down.

  It wasn’t fair. Manipulating existing arcane processes was much easier for me than trying to convert raw aether into water mana, much less the elements I didn't have an affinity for. But then again, I hadn’t expected to be treated fairly, and so I chose not to bother objecting.

  The din of low conversation around me as my classmates selected their partners drew me out of my own bitter musings. None of them approached me and none would, something else I already knew to expect.

  However, more than one approached Rose, despite her status as an outsider. Rose was rather attractive, and her “inferior” Fiallan lineage didn't seem to hinder the other students—especially the boys. I felt a stab of something I didn’t quite recognize as a crowd of them gathered around her. One by one, Rose turned down the various offers, and while a few dirty looks were sent my way, few of the rejected students would voice their displeasure aloud.

  “No, I'm sorry, I already have a partner for this exercise,” Rose said, perhaps for the fourth time, and I could detect a hint of irritation in her tone.

  “Hmph.” An accusatory voice answered her this time. “You always group with her.”

  “That's because she's my friend,” Rose countered.

  The girl she argued with let out a snort of mocking disbelief. “Ah, yes. Rose and Lily, the very best of friends. Practically inseparable, even.” Her tone went singsong with heavy sarcasm. It was obvious what she was insinuating, and I felt my cheeks burn with embarrass
ment.

  Thankfully, Rose refused to take the bait. “That's right. You have a problem with Lily, you have a problem with me.” The Fiallan's white eyebrows angled sharply at the other student. “It's not like any of the rest of you would voluntarily partner with her, anyway. You think Master Vanya would allow such a thing? There is an even number of students in this class.”

  The girl's lips twisted into a sneer. “You are not from Solaria, so perhaps you do not know. It is unseemly to have such close relations with a dark—”

  “Oh, just shut the fuck up,” Rose snapped, cutting her off before she could finish. “What Lily is or isn’t to me is none of your gods-damned business—but she isn’t a monster.” Her lips curved into a faint, mocking smirk. “You’re certainly an asshole, though.”

  “Watch your tongue, commoner.” The Solarian girl smirked unpleasantly. “I am a daughter of House Eridani. Have a care how you speak to me.”

  It was clear that Rose didn't recognize the family name, but I did. The Eridani clan was an influential military family, tapped by the Empress herself to aid in maintaining the Empire's border defenses. Many of the family's members were high-ranking officers, and they were considered to be among the most powerful earth mages in the Empire.

  “Is that supposed to be a threat?” Rose scoffed. Her dark eyes smoldered dangerously. “Just try it, little miss priss. I'll knock that smug look off your face.”

  “A commoner, a foreigner from a pathetic and powerless bloodline at that, challenging me to a mage duel? Oh, this is too good to believe. You'll become the laughingstock of the Academy—”

  “Who said anything about a duel?”

  I sensed the blow before it struck, but I knew I wouldn't be able to stop Rose. Her right hand lashed out and I watched, entranced, as she swung with enough power behind the punch to knock the Eridani tumbling across the floor—

  And then she aborted the strike, halting her momentum half a dozen centimeters from her intended target. Her fingers uncurled as she followed through, delivering a stinging, open-palm slap. The girl's hand flew to the reddened spot on her cheek and she stared at Rose in pure, open-mouthed astonishment.