Far away from the Capital, in a small village named Vale, a woman was holding her newborn son. She smiled at the wrinkled face of her son. "You need to grow up strong, and maybe one day you will get to meet your sister. Mother will tell you all about her."
******
Rielen was taking out her frustration on the latest facility open to the Elite Academy. It was a system that allowed mages to spar with illusions. She wasn't entirely sure how it worked, but actually being able to punch something was doing wonders with the latest stress she had been enduring.
Eon had been refusing to see her. Who knew three words would have such an unpredictable reaction? Her fist flew through the latest enemy shoulder to show up on this deserted battlefield. They used some kind of ground magic to make it really feel like she was achieving something.
'Dumb Eon.' More enemies split open from the Wind Blades she flung at them. A loud beeping noise came over the thing called a speaker, signaling her time was up. A "score" was posted as she left the room, but she ignored it all.
Tara handed her a towel as she got her to change from her practice gear. Tara and Hyla both glanced at each other with a knowing look. They both chose to stay silent, as they knew no words were able to calm their master's worries.
Neither attendant knew why Eon had stopped visiting Rielen's room. Hyla had visited with Greg to demand some answers, but he had just smiled at her, and closed the door. 'He definitely knows why!' Hyla thought angrily to herself. There wasn't much she could do for her master. She wasn't a former Noble like most of the attendants in the Elite Academy.
She gritted her teeth, and used the skills she had learned from Greg to put her master in the best position to succeed. If she could just get her through graduation, maybe she could serve as a Lady's maid for her and leave the Palace. She had always wanted to see the forest, of which her master spoke often at the Academy.
The Elite Academy provided the best resources to its students. Given that Rielen was a nature mage, among other things, they had provided her with her own greenhouse. It had taken a little time to get ready, but it was now complete. Surely this would be something to cheer up her master!
Rielen entered her new greenhouse. A package was sitting on one of the many tables.
_____
To my apprentice,
It has been 6 years since I was summoned to the Capital to teach you. When I heard that this was to be prepared for you, I wanted you to have all the best seeds to work with.
Best Regards,
Alfred
_______
Rielen opened the package to find bottle after bottle of seeds and herbs. 'Master…' Her master had been summoned back to the West Frontier to oversee another project. She had missed the hours in the Palace Greenhouses working in pots of dirt.
She looked around her and used her magic to organize her greenhouse. Alfred would have scoffed at her blatant use of magic, but no one was here to see her. She was alone for the first time in several years. No one observing her, or limiting her contact with people. It felt so freeing.
Her plants would never betray her. All they could do was grow as she guided them from seedlings. Alfred had even been kind enough to give her pharmacy tools so she could experiment. She picked some jada, a plant often used in healing ointments.
Grinding it up and adding it to a jar, she smelled the refreshing scent. There had been too many Noble classes to keep up with. Too much memorization of things that were really not all that important. If it wasn't for the fact that she needed to win her freedom, she would have failed the stupid test and been out on the frontier somewhere by now.
'I don't need that stupid prick,' she thought, 'who tells me he loves me, and then completely cuts off contact. Years of friendship ruined, because I believed I needed to confess how I feel! Whatever, I don't need him anyway!'
The bracelet, ever present on her wrist, started to heat up. Ugh. She took deep breaths to calm her heart. She secretly wished for the day she could finally take off this restraint from her arm. No, this was her safe place. She got back to grinding up some herbs to make as a gift to Karla.
There had been a flood of Fire Mages in the Academy, and they were having a hard time keeping up with all the burns. Really, it should be them who had a special bracelet to control their powers.
Hyla had become nervous after waiting for several hours for her master to appear from the greenhouse. This was one of the few times she was out of sight for so long. A look of relief came to her face as she noticed a load of pots that Rielen was currently struggling to carry.
"Ok, I made a little too much." She pleaded for help with her eyes as Hyla laughed. They made their way to the Healor Area. Karla was working on an Academy student, so they waited at the side area Karla usually used to finish her paperwork.
Two students wearing the Elite Academy badges were then brought in. A boy called Rio, who Rielen tended to keep a wide berth from, and Eon, holding a wound at his abdomen. The pot that Rielen had been holding crashed to the ground. Her face turned a shade of white, and she forgot all the reasons she had to be mad at him.
She tried to reach his side but was escorted out of the Healer's Area against her will. Hyla dragged her to her room and promised that she would wait at the entrance until she could get a report.
port.