“Good night, Nemesia.” With that, she turns down the corridor to my right and leaves me standing there staring after her. The soft and gentle way she said my name repeats in my mind as I walk to my own room, and for the first time since I’ve arrived in Velmara, I don’t feel alone.

Hawthorne

The Golden King and his son, The Shining Prince, stand together as a beacon of light against the darkness of Thayaria’s Witch Queen. With King Mazus watching over Velmara, its children are safe from the evils of the Witch Queen, as long as they mind their parents and teachers. But the poor children of Thayaria are enslaved, forced to work for the Witch Queen or provide her their blood. One day, King Mazus and Prince Hawthorne will defeat the witch, and the children of Thayaria will be safe and happy once again.

Velmaran Book of Children’s Stories

We pass the rest of Abscission splitting our time equally between our apartment and the greenhouse, reading, playing Skran, and talking late into the night. Laurel joins us most days, though she spends nearly all of her time with Silene. It’s almost like she’s avoiding me. The two of them giggle side by side, reading romance books or playing pranks on Fionn and me. At one point, they convinced Fionn to walk under a swirling ball of water. Once he was under it, Laurel had it collapse over him, drenching him in water filled with glittery strings of a slimy substance that stuck to his skin. When he turned and looked at them with incredulity on his face and covered in glitter, they burst out laughing and didn’t stop for a full ten minutes. Fionn just stalked off to his bathing chamber without saying a word.

Laurel also trains with me every few days, slowly improving but still struggling to let go and let the light do what it will. Today, I attempted to teach her to create lightning, hoping it would be an exercise in letting go, but she failed spectacularly. Her drive is impressive—once she’s determined to learn something, she doesn’t stop until she masters it. Equally impressive is her impatience. Not one used to struggling with magic, Laurel gets easily frustrated when she can’t do something immediately.

Despite the additional time we’re spending together, it’s awkward between us after the Solstice dinner. I know she was going to kiss me that night, know that if Silene hadn’t interrupted us, we might have done more than kiss. I can’t get the feel of her body pressed against mine out of my head, those soft curves brushing against me. I want to get her alone again even as the thought scares me. The second Silene appeared, Laurel ripped herself away from me and has somehow ensured Silene or Fionn or both are present when we’re together, even when we train.