"Why is Selena sparring with Jenz if he's a mage?" Lucy asks, her brow furrowing. Grandmama rubs Lucy's head. "She requested smelting training. She is a good bond-maid." Grandmama says.
What the hell is smelting training? Lucy reaches for Grandmama's mind. Lucy gasps, her magic burning. Lucy holds her head, tearing up. It burned. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Grandmama taps Lucy's nose, the burn abruptly easing. "Don't pry, Little Lucinda. A seer's shields are not a toy. You might hurt yourself if they don't recognize you" Grandmama says.
Lucy's lips part, eyes widening. She knew! Grandmama knows about my bane! Before Lucy can react, Selena and Jenz leave the field. Selena was limping, her hair having escaped it's pinned braids, strands of hair sticking out everywhere.
Selena stops in front of Lucy, kneeling. "Little Mistress" Selena breaths, blinking rapidly. Lucy nods, gaze on Selena's arm. "You got hurt," Lucy says. The red scar cut across Selena's forearm raggedly. Selena smiles. "Just a training wound, Little Mistress. It didn't hurt at all" Selena says.
Lucy rolls her eyes. Oh, yeah. That huge cut was just a papercut. No pain at all. Selena's such a bad liar.
Lucy hugs Selena, careful not to squeeze too hard. Who knew what injuries hid beneath her dress. "I missed you," Lucy whispers. Selena wraps her arms around Lucy, standing, bringing Lucy to rest on her hip. "I missed you, as well, Little Mistress," Selena says swallowing.
Lucy digs in her Cosmos purse. "I drew this for you," Lucy says, shoving a leaf of papers at her. Selena stilled, as she flipped through the pictures. "This is the Sight?" Selena asks. Her gaze was on the images of the Dark, and Light Tides, the images of floating dark, light, and air sparkles in the air.
Lucy shrugs. "I see them. Aren't they pretty?" Lucy asks. In the Cosmos Maze, it was impossible not to see the magic in the air. It was so dense and shiny, that they screamed their existence.
It was so strange. Even this training field, Lucy had to focus to see the sparkles.
"Clean up, then introduce Little Lucinda to her new clan sisters," Grandmama says. "I have to met Minister Dora about mounts for his heirs. Remember to lead Little Lucinda in meditating every morning and evening," Grandmama reminds Selena and pats Lucy's head as she walks away.
Lucy blinks, looking up at Selena. "Clan sisters?" Lucy asks. Selena smiles. "Yes. Sir Jenz's maternal family fled unrest in the Natia plains, and have joined the Rimes clan. There are several new young misses for you to play with." Selena says. "Once I clean up, I shall take you to see them."
Lucy nods, yawning as Selena carried her to a secluded cottage. After cleaning up, Selena carries Lucy back to the central area. Three little girls wearing pink veils, and fawn dresses were playing catch. They looked to be 4-5 years old. Selena stops a foot away from them. "Young misses, this is Young Miss Lucinda, your clan sister," Selena says.
The little girl with blue eyes tilts her head. "She's the sick one? Can she Pix? That always makes me feel better when I get sick" Selena smiles, setting Lucy on her feet. "No, Young Miss Willow, Little Mistress is a human. She can't fly until she becomes a Mage" Selena explains.
"Oh" Willow's forehead wrinkles "How does she catch whispers though. I thought Seers caught whispers on the wind?" Willow asks. The girl to Willow's right scoffs. "Don't be stupid, Wilo. Magic tells them. Not the wind" The girl who spoke had tawny eyes. "I'm Violet, Do you want to play catch?" Violet asks Lucy. Lucy smiles. "Yes, I would"
"Wow, Lucy! You can talk! My brother is your size, I never know what he says," The third little girl says, her wide smile revealing crooked teeth.
Lucy pauses. How is a two-year-old supposed to sound like? Should I still be using baby talk? Lucy shudders. "What's your name?" Lucy asks her. "Ah, oh. I'm Ri- Rimas Clover" She says while scooting over. Clover pats the ground. "Sit by me. I'm the nicest."
Violet snorts. "The nicest? So I guess it wasn't Clover who buried Lilin's blocks. Plus, it's Rimes. RI MES. Not Rimas." Violet says. Clover huffs. "He deserved it. He lost my comb after borrowing it."
Lucy laughs, sitting down between Clover, and Violet. "Is Lilin your big brother?" Lucy asks. "Lilin's my twin," Willow says. "He is in trouble for putting worms in Clover's porridge. So he didn't get to come to play" Willow explains. Violet giggles, covering her mouth. "Clover ate some. She puked all over her new dress when she saw the worms in her bowl"
Clover flushes, tossing the ball at Violet. "Shut up! You're the one who started screaming."
"Are you all sprites?" Lucy asks, hoping to avoid a brawl. Willow nods. "Yes. but my Mommy and My Daddy are Elves." Willow brags. Violet rolls her eyes. "My Mommy is a Nymph. That's way better." Willow pouts, falling silent. Lucy blinks. "What's a Nymph?" Lucy asks.
All three girls stare at her. Selena coughs. "A Nymph is a Sprite who broke through to become a Witch," Selena explains. Lucy bites her lip. A witch? I thought we studied to become mages?
After glancing at the girls, Lucy blushes. I'll ask Selena later.
"What's it like to fly? How do you Pix? Is it something I can learn?" Lucy asks. Clover tilts her head. "I just Pix. It's my body. How else would I Pix?" Clover asks. Lucy's face twitches. Just Pix.
"I jump into the air and Pix. While I play Gana talks to me. She loves us." Willow says. Violet nods. "Flyings fun, I like drinking water from the clouds. It always tastes the best." Violet says. "Plus, when the Yiu were hurting us, I lost my Daddy, and Gana helped me hide."
Lucy reaches for Violet's mind, wanting to feel what it would be like to fly. Her magic bounces back, Violet's mind was much like Sir Jenz. It was silky.
Violet giggles. "That tickled. Do it again." Violet says, grabbing Lucy's hand. Lucy freezes. Does she? When she doesn't respond, Violet tugs on her hand. "Use your magic again. It felt good" Violet says. Shit. Lucy panics. Grandmama just warned me about using my bane as well. Why am I so stupid!
Clover scowls. "Lilin lied to me! He said humans didn't have magic until their Awakening!" Willow furrows her eyebrows. "I don't think they do. Maybe it was Selena?" Willow says. Lucy looks up at Selena who looked deeply annoyed. Selena's not panicking. Maybe I'm not in trouble.
Violet rolls her eyes. "As if I don't know how to identify a magic scent."
Selena coughs. "Lucy has an innate awakening. Her magic is stronger than most humans." Selena explains. Wait, why are you telling them! Lucy almost cursed out loud. It isn't my magic supposed to be a secret?
"Can you keep it a secret for us?" Selena asks. "Some humans might want to hurt her if they knew," Selena says. The smiles and soft air falls away, revealing sharp eyes. "Like the Yiu hurt us?" Clover asks. Selena nods. All three girls seemed to pulse with anger. "We won't tell. Not even Lilin" Violet promises.
Clover grabs Lucy's other hand. "Don't touch anyone's mind, Lucy. What if someone hurts you!" Clover says. Helpless to even rub her head, as both hands were being held tightly. Lucy sighs. "I promise," Lucy says. If only I knew how you felt that! Does everyone feel it when I read minds? No, it can't be. Otherwise, my magic would be widely known by now.
What just happened?