Little Gifts

  In a daze, Theo slowly descended the steps of the palace, his head facing the ground, making sure he hit every step while his mind unpacked the exchange with Queen Lanimede.

  Reincarnation. The student council and his classmates, Graces? Ty, possibly the Earth Mother? And simply because of their auras? Complicated as they were, they must have repeated every once in a while based on the number of people in existence. And if she had been alive to see the Graces themselves, how old would she have to be—assuming she was telling the truth?

  She used the same word for his aura as Darius, but that could have easily been because Ty had conveyed to her the information for identifying him.

  What was she thinking when she visited the queen? What was the point, and why me? What does—

  Theo came to a stop and pulled the small box out of his pocket. He turned it over several times in his hand but could not find where it opened; there was neither a seam nor an opening in the dark wood suggesting that it was meant to be opened. It was essentially a block of wood.

  Watching the royals around him among the flowers and plants, he momentarily considered using magic to break it open before thinking twice and returning it to his coat pocket. If he had meant to open it straight away, surely it would not have been handed to him like that.

  He continued to replay the conversation in his head as he resumed walking.

  If Ty’s…if the queen is right, and she’s Hythe, then did she really find out a way to become a god? How? I guess…for the two extra sanctuaries, it’d be easy for her to tell where they are? And the other facet would be what she’s supposed to fight?

  He remembered Ty telling her about the dark figure with the beady, red eyes in the forest from their first-year field exam. He remembered the dark figure who had visited him in the forest on the night he had been searching for something that was gone.

  The memories sent shivers down his spine.

  If the queen’s been alive for so long, she must have used what was in that book…the Ancients, extending their lives…Ty, trying to relieve them of their sins. If only he could see auras. If only he could witness the ritual for himself—it would be far easier to believe it. All he had was a banned book that Chel had copied down because the original was stolen.

  Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, he gazed at the sky above. It would be at least two or three hours until the sun set. What in the world was he going to do to pass the time? And where was his class that had been so graciously spread out by Caspos and Sephec, for that matter?

  “Oh, Theo. Theo!”

  He turned his head and saw Darius calling to him from the bench they had agreed to meet up at. Faris was beside him, book in hand and a paper bag on the seat next to him.

  “Hey,” he breathed, walking over and taking a seat beside Faris and the paper bag. “You guys aren’t looking around?”

  “We did, around this central loop.” Faris picked up the brown bag and raised it up to Theo. “We got some food, and I got a book. Here.”

  Eyes wide with surprise, Theo gently took the bag. “O-oh. Thank you. How much was it? I should pay you back.”

  The noble scoffed and returned to his book. “Just eat it.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Like a child opening presents on Blessing Day, Theo set the paper bag on his lap before delicately pulling out its contents.

  “Oh!” he gasped when he saw it was. “Are you—are you sure I shouldn’t pay you back?” He set the bag to the side and admired the immaculate tray in front of him containing two halves of a fruit cream sandwich, facing up so he could see the strawberries inside. “How did you know?”

  Without even looking up, the caster effortlessly replied, “Darius spilled the beans.”

  The Ancient chuckled cheerfully. “The Secret Sweets Society. You are all still together, right?”

  Theo let out a carefree laugh, smiling nostalgically. He had forgotten all about it—they hadn’t held any meetings at the inn Callie worked at this semester. In their first year, he had invited Darius on several occasions—since Ty did not hold a penchant for sweets—but the offer had always been refused. “I guess so, huh? Callie, Elias, Kor, and me.” He shifted his gaze to Faris. “Were the strawberries a lucky guess?”

  “Wasn’t a guess.”

  Theo dropped his gaze and returned to staring at the gift, trying his hardest to keep his spirits from plummeting. “She must have told you, huh?”

  In contrast, Faris’s reply was straight and to the point. “Yeah. First year. Feels like a long time ago.”

  “It does, doesn’t it?” chuckled Theo, desperate to change the topic as he finally lifted one half of the sandwich up to his mouth. “So, anything planned for later?”

  Darius offered a smile, eyes bright with childish eagerness. “We wait for you to walk around. Mostly residential area in the center, but bookstore owner mention that there is another store a few streets down, near Sixth Loop, Second Quarter. Maybe you find something you like, too.”

  Chewing on the soft bread and delightfully sweet and fluffy cream, Theo nodded to himself absently while he observed the townspeople walking through the streets dividing the city, remembering how neatly ordered the Royal Capital was from their general geography class.

  “The place sold a lot of old history books, so I’m not sure you’d like it,” mumbled Faris, hunched over his own book.

  “Ah, yes. Many things do not change over the years,” chuckled the Ancient blithely.

  Theo blushed, swallowing the bite and grinning sheepishly. “Well…I mean, you know, the books aren’t the easiest to read, but I guess I wouldn’t mind if someone told it to me…”

  Darius hummed, his arms folded across his chest. “This is true. All Ancient history passed down through speaking. Except for books written long ago, we do not write now—that is for MATS to do. But not to say there is no beauty in it. If you have no Ancient friend, if you do not know of someone who possesses the history, or if the people with the history go away one day, never to come back again, you can only learn through book.” He glanced kindly at the stone-hearted classmate separating them. “I think what Faris do, how much he want to collect history, and all our talks. I have enjoyed them greatly. I admire him.”

  “Heh,” Faris laughed a bit darkly before raising an eyebrow at Theo. “You hear that?”

  Taking another bite of his sandwich, Theo rolled his eyes.

  As expected, the cheerfulness faded quickly as Faris regarded the city passively. “Never thought I’d be able to set foot here, though. Figured a book written by a royal on royal history sold by a royal bookseller in the Royal Capital would be fitting to bring back.” He paused and eyed Theo curiously. “Speaking of royals, what did the queen want?

  He had been expecting the question. “She gave me a box, but I can’t open it. Not sure what’s inside, she didn’t say.”

  “Huh. Did she mention why, though?”

  Theo shrugged. “She said ‘a promise is a promise.’ Pretty much it.”

  “…You think it was Ty?”

  “Has to be.” He turned to Darius. “Have you ever seen the queen before, Darius?”

  The Ancient looked appalled that he was being posed such a question. “Of course not. Queen, very special. Much higher than me. I could not ask to see her. Entering Royal Capital is one thing, being revered by Circle of Graces is one thing, but asking to see queen is very big deal. She is very, very old and powerful. Even Elder back in Hythe would not have been able to see her without an invitation.”

  “Huh.”

  “Wonder how Ty got in,” mumbled Faris thoughtfully.

  “Yeah…” breathed Theo, not sure himself what the truth was as he continued to eat and chat. Surrounded by his friends, it didn’t matter to him that he was in a completely new place, that he had just been dismissed by the queen without even saying a word, that a horrifying war was looming over their heads—one that they had been deliberately sheltered from for a reason that was not entirely clear to him yet.

  Making small talk and taking in both his classmates’ soft, innocent expressions, Theo wondered to himself what it really meant for them to have a class bench. What it really meant to call the Academy their home.

  She’s right, isn’t she? It’s with them. That’s where home is.

  He looked back at the park to see people enjoying their sunny afternoon, ignoring the heavy weight in his pocket and the even heavier weight in his chest from all the truths with which he had been burdened. The last piece of his precious gift in his hand, the most delicious cream sandwich he had ever tasted.

  He tilted his head up to the orange-blue sky. Moving. Life was moving on. And so were they. Ever so slowly, little by little. They were going somewhere.