Midnight's Blossom

by Corinn Heathers

  “I didn't contain it, though,” I growled. “Your floor has a crater in it.”

  “Oh, you did—at least, as well as you could. If you hadn't reflexively held onto the pieces, the blast would have done a lot more than just putting a little divot in the concrete.”

  It was then that I noticed the faintly dark haze of a potent magical barrier, a flat plane of near-invisible darkness that was set up between us and the target. An obvious precaution intended to protect us from the explosion, had I not been able to contain it.

  A peevish expression twisted my features as I set a sidelong glare upon my teacher.

  Predictably, they ignored my irate look. “All things considered, you pass this examination with flying colors.”

  My shoulders sagged with relief and not a little exhaustion. “What's the next task?”

  “We're done for today,” Shion said. “I can see the fatigue in your stance, and your soul's radiance has dimmed rather noticeably. Your homework is to rest and regain your strength for tomorrow's exercises.” A sly, teasing grin split my teacher's lips. “Don't let Rose keep you up all night… but make sure you spend some time with her.”

  “Should I do my exercises?”

  Shion shook their head. “Avoid using any magic if at all possible. Holding back the broken spell took a lot more out of you than you realize.”

  “Giving me the night off, then?”

  Their wry laughter reached my ears. “Rose would do terrible things to me if I kept you too busy in the evenings.”

  *

  I was not really surprised that the person who came to pick me up wasn't Devon, but Rose. I could tell from her restless movements and the avid look in her eyes that she wasn't especially happy that I would be spending all of my days in Fialla training with Shion. I was kept so busy, leaving Rose unoccupied during the days. Predictably, her father took advantage of my absence by filling her morning schedule with family business.

  I opened the passenger door and settled down in the seat beside her. Rose glanced at me and her expression instantly softened. Both her mundane and arcane sight could clearly discern just how bone-weary I was.

  “Shion's been working you hard,” she observed. “Every evening you come home looking utterly drained.”

  “I thought it would get easier, but every time it feels like I'm starting to make progress, they just give me even more difficult tasks. I feel like I'm running uphill, and the hill just keeps growing steeper with every stride.”

  Rose flicked her gaze back to the road as she drove. “It's the time problem. You've got to mash months, possibly even years of training into just a few weeks. I know the masters and Shion figured out a way to distill the curriculum down to make it fit, but even so…”

  “I spend two hours training,” I muttered, “and every day is like working a week without sleep, then there's the drills during my off-hours, and when I'm not doing that…”

  “You're sleeping like the dead all day,” Rose finished for me.

  “I'm sorry.”

  “You don't need to apologize, love. This is something you have to do, for your own sake.”

  “But if I did what you want me to do—”

  Rose held a hand up to stop me, but didn't take her eyes off the road. “Gods, Lily, I'm the one who should be sorry. It was a selfish thing to ask of you, especially considering the turmoil in your family right now and the danger to your mom.”

  I was certain I looked absolutely miserable, so I turned to stare out the window. “Devon told me why you were so insistent.”

  “Did he?” I caught a faint creaking sound and knew that Rose's hands had subconsciously tightened on the steering column. She sighed. “Well, that spares me the hurt of having to tell you myself.”

  “Will Cassius force you to stay in Fialla?”

  Rose was silent for a long moment as she descended from the highway to the surface streets near her apartment. “I know he wants to. It took a lot of convincing to get him to agree to the Ministry of State's plan in the first place, and his agreement was conditional. Obviously, things aren't getting better between Fialla and the Empire.”

  “I know.”

  “I don't think Dad is wrong,” Rose continued, though her tone suggested otherwise. “I don't think it'll take much longer for Solaria to move against my homeland. My attempt to ease tensions between our nations—by showing the faithful how Fialla shepherds a dark soul toward a more righteous path—failed. It was doomed to failure from the start. If I was smart, I'd do exactly as he said.”

  I blinked, confused. “Are you saying you're not going to listen to him?”

  “I'm going to go back to Solaria.” The car's engine died as Rose switched off the ignition. She turned to me, her brown eyes round and wide and achingly beautiful. “Not to try and stop the Empire from hating my people, nor to finish my studies, nor to stop a war.”

  My chest felt tight and I strained to breathe. “Then why go back?”

  “For you, Lily. So I can keep you safe.”

  The tightness became a crushing vise that squeezed my heart. Rose unbuckled her restraints and leaned closer to me. Her lips were only millimeters away from mine, and her eyes drank up all of my heart and soul.

  “Because I love you more than anything in the world.” Rose's lips pressed against mine, softly, just for a moment, before she drew back. “And I have to protect you.”

  Part IV

  -

  Malice

  Chapter 21

  Sense of Pain

  My days settled into a numbing cycle of brutally difficult training, at the end of which Rose would pick me up from the Cabal building and take me home. I gave her as much affection as I was able, but I was frequently so exhausted I did little but eat before dropping off into a deep sleep.

  As it would likely be today. I could barely keep my eyes open as I sat in the lobby of the building, watching the rain trace patterns down the plate-glass windows. The desk clerk walked over to me a few moments after I sat down, bearing a hot cup of coffee. Gratefully, I accepted, and sipped the bitter brew while I waited for Rose's arrival.

  “Thank you.”

  The clerk nodded. “You've been the talk of the office recently.”

  “Oh?”

  “No one's ever done what you've done in such a short period of time,” the clerk—a different one than I'd initially met; this receptionist was older and male, with a neatly trimmed gray-streaked black beard. I could tell by his dark complexion and heavier features that he was Fiallan rather than descended from Far Eastern refugees, like Yukari and Shion.

  “I feel like I'm struggling just to keep my head above water.”

  He grunted. “The masters are impressed with your potential. Rumor has it that more than a few of them are both furious and terrified at the prospect of you returning to the Empire.”

  My eyes narrowed at that. It was the same sort of thing I'd grown used to hearing, and I didn't like it this time any more than the first. I'd been given more in Rose's homeland than Mother's people had ever even considered, and I'd only been in Fialla for a few weeks. In this land, I was accepted, acknowledged… and loved.

  Rose stopped bringing the subject up, but I knew she was only keeping silent for my sake. She still wanted me to defect, to forsake the land of my birth and my family's name for a chance at a new life with her. I would not lie to myself, either; I wanted it desperately. I wanted to stay with her in Fialla, this place where I was not treated as less than any other person.

  But every time I tried to imagine it, every time I felt that impulse to present a request for asylum to Cassius Merope, I felt a stab of irrational guilt that pierced my heart. How could I think of running away, when Mother was in danger, when my great-uncle was poised to usurp control of House Alcyone? How could I be so cowardly and craven, when the man who murdered Eiri would soon be a strong voice on the Imperial Court, replacing Mother's desire for progressive reform with more of the same conservative orthodoxy that pushed So
laria closer and closer to the conquest of Fialla?

  A more disturbing thought filled my mind as I sipped at my coffee. Would there be any neutral nations if the Celestial Prophecy drove the Empire's arcane might into violent holy conquest? Would other nations who did not worship the Celestial One be forced to at the point of a sword?

  Thunder boomed outside, muffled only faintly by the walls and windows of the building. The storm had already begun to get bad, and Rose still wasn't here yet. I suspected she was working late with her father, though usually he was good about letting her come pick me up. A late lunch with Cassius earlier this week convinced him that my training was demanding every last gram of energy I possessed, whether it be physical, mental or magical.

  As much as I longed to pledge myself to Fialla, this nation that treated me, a stranger from a hostile foreign power, as if I were one of her own children… I couldn't. No matter how subtly Cassius manipulated records, there were ears that would hear and mouths that would whisper.

  If Lord Cyrus were to hear of my defection, he would undoubtedly use it to his advantage.

  The door to the lobby opened and a tall figure walked inside. My eyes shot up eagerly, but it wasn't Rose. It was one of the Cabal masters, Michael, a quiet and introspective man who served as one of Shion's teachers when they studied several years ago.

  “Miss Alcyone, may I have a word in private?”

  I blinked, setting my nearly-empty cup down. “Yes, of course, Master.”

  “Come. We can use the conference room.”

  I stood and fell into step behind Michael. I didn't know him very well, only having met him once or twice since I'd been training at the Cabal. He was much older than either of us, older than Yukari, the only other master I knew reasonably well. Despite that, Michael wore his winters well, even if they'd been hard and left him with many scars.

  Michael opened the conference room door and gestured for me to enter. I stepped through the threshold; I'd been in this room before, a few times, and it was just as ordinary as ever. A table was ringed with chairs, and in the corner was a small counter with an electric tea kettle joined by several tins of loose-leaf tea.

  The master of the Cabal shut the door behind him and sealed the lock. I watched somewhat anxiously as he drew magic into himself and wove a potent ward against surveillance. This was cause for some degree of consternation, because the Cabal building was already warded heavily against such intrusions.

  Whatever Michael had to tell me must have been very important, indeed.

  And it was.

  “There is no other way to say this,” the master began, staring at me with his piercing gray eyes. In that dark face, his eyes seemed to glow with their own inner light. “We've received word that Juno Alcyone has been taken into custody by the Imperial Public Safety Bureau.”

  I didn't respond immediately, because it was everything I'd feared. There was no doubt; Cyrus's coup had been successful. My great-uncle had usurped control from Mother, but that wasn't enough for him. She had to be punished, and so she was.

  My voice was hoarse. “What… what were the charges?”

  “Our source was unable to obtain that information,” Master Michael said. “You know that your country's state security apparatus is loathe to share the particulars of their operations. All that we know was that it happened shortly after Juno Alcyone stepped down as Head of House Alcyone, abdicating her position to Lord Cyrus Alcyone.”

  It had happened, and I felt my mouth go dry. My gut was clenched in an icy fist, and I struggled to keep that familiar cold fury from engulfing my soul. The link to Eiri's spirit blade seemed to throb sympathetically with my emotions. Hatred took root, deep within my heart, and my soul's black radiance seemed to double and redouble in intensity.

  Why wasn't it enough for Cyrus to take over the family? What could he have possibly said—or more likely, bribed—to convince IPSB to arrest my mother on trumped-up charges? Her love for Eiri was a scandal, to be sure, but not a crime. Eiri's murder had been the crime, and yet Solaria would do nothing. The fey had no legal rights in the Empire.

  “They… this is a farce,” I managed. “My great-uncle's long-desired vengeance against Mother for her shameful dalliance with a dark fairy.”

  Michael nodded solemnly. “Perhaps. Perhaps he has grander designs.”

  I looked away. “I don't know. Cyrus has always hated her. Her voice on the Imperial Court was one of progressivism and pacifism, and House Alcyone's influence was… was such that she was able to keep the more hawkish lords and ladies in check. With Lord Cyrus at the head of Alcyone, the Empire has lost its loudest critic of the Celestial Prophecy's holy crusade.”

  It was becoming difficult to fight back tears. Mother warned me that I might hear of her death, but not her imprisonment. I'd taken that to mean she had some grand stratagem involving fabricating her own demise to keep Lord Cyrus from interfering with her actions. If she had been taken by IPSB, she would be trapped… and ultimately at my great-uncle's mercy.

  “What do you intend to do?” Michael asked.

  I wiped the tears from my eyes. “I… I don't know.”

  “Will you return to the Empire still?”

  I knew what he was insinuating. Were I to return to Solaria, Lord Cyrus as the new Head of House would ensure that my actions were scrutinized to a heretofore unseen degree. My appointment to the Academy was made through Mother's connections with the masters. Despite the fact that I had little to no standing within the family, it would take him months of petitioning, at the very least, to revoke my appointment.

  At the Academy, I would be reasonably safe. IPSB had no jurisdiction on the college grounds and was not permitted to interfere with Academy business, instead forced to work through the Academy Guard. It was well-known that the masters would always favor their students and maintain strict neutrality in any political battle between Houses. But would they risk their positions and reputations for my sake?

  Doubtful.

  “I have to go back,” I said, quelling my own pessimistic thoughts. “I'm grateful to Rose and her father for all they have already done and likely will do in the future, but…” I trailed off, meeting Michael's eyes with my own reddened, tear-dampened gaze. “It's more complicated than it seems at first glance.”

  “You believe Cyrus Alcyone will use your defection to further his goals.”

  I nodded. The Cabal master understood immediately in a way that had taken me days to explain to Rose, and I was grateful that I didn't have to argue my case.

  “Reasonable, but then again, what other option do you have?” Michael's expression was grim and he scratched the salt-and-pepper beard adorning his chin. “Fey-touched are afforded little respect and much suspicion in the Empire, as you should know.”

  “Yes, I'm not pure-blood, but I have some legal recourse. I'm still a lady of Alcyone.” I sighed and glanced down at my small, fairy-like hands. They felt cold and stiff, despite the conference room's comfortable temperature. “I have to help Mother. So long as she remains in IPSB custody, she's in danger. Cyrus couldn't possibly hope to kill her in a stand-up fight, so he's made her vulnerable to an unseen blade.”

  Master Michael's frown deepened. “It is possible.”

  “Not just possible. Likely. The Panopticon was constructed upon blighted land, virtually devoid of aether. There are no functional ley lines within, and the prison's walls are protected by countless aetherium-powered wards. No one can replenish their soul's aether inside.” I took a deep, steadying breath and let it out slowly, counting the seconds as I did so. The calming technique was not working. “Mother will be stripped of her magic and made defenseless. She is not a warrior.”

  “If you choose to return to the Empire and oppose Cyrus Alcyone, you will place yourself in grave danger,” Michael observed, his voice sharpening slightly. “You also place Rose in danger. Even Cassius has accepted that she intends to return with you.”

  I felt a searing jab of hot guilt—which the
master had obviously intended. Fury filled my heart and narrowed my eyes.

  “How do you know that?”

  Michael ignored my question and responded with one of his own. “Why risk yourself? Why risk the one you love? It is an inevitability that the Empire will declare a holy crusade against Fialla—”

  “You think I'm not aware?” I growled, cutting him off. “As much as I'd love to stop the war from happening, I can't. All I'm trying to do is save my mother's life. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  “Even at the cost of your own life? And that of your beloved? Surely any mother would willingly give their own life, so that their child may yet live—”

  “Stop.”

  His words were callous, almost unfeeling. I knew what he was trying to do. I knew what he wanted me to say. I wanted to save Mother, of course, but I also wanted to… to…

  I wanted to…

  Michael's gaze softened. “You must admit it to yourself. And to Rose. She cannot make an informed decision otherwise.”

  I shook my head violently.

  “It's not like that!”

  The Cabal master said nothing.

  “I'm telling you it's—”

  The door to the conference room opened. I whirled toward the sound, and was not terribly surprised to see Rose, standing there in the threshold. The expression on her face told me that she had heard everything we discussed. It was then that I realized Michael's spell wasn't intended to strengthen the wards, but weaken them, so that Rose would be able to hear.

  “It's okay, Lily,” Rose said. “I understand.”

  “Do you?” Michael demanded.

  “Of course I do. It's not as if it hasn't been completely fucking obvious.” Rose's warm smile drove some of the emotional turmoil out of my heart. She turned toward the Cabal master and fixed him with a withering stare. “I'm furious that you pulled something like this on Lily, and I don't give a shit that you're a master mage.”