I wanted to lash out at her. If she’d accosted me three months ago, I would have. But the situation had grown complicated. The Robarts were the ones who had denied me my rightful place at a sealing ceremony. But Faylee was a Robart, and that meant they had also been the ones to ensure I was sealed in the end.
“It was kind of Faylee to intervene on my behalf,” I said quietly. “And very like her.”
I gave Gina a significant look, hoping she would read on my face what I wasn’t saying with my words. Faylee was different from the rest of the Robarts.
“Was it Faylee who arranged for you to be sealed?” Gina sounded genuinely astonished. “I’ve been dying to know how you managed it.” She grinned. “It does sound like something she would do. I told her all about you two years ago, and she was most displeased with what Father did to get me selected instead of you. She said our family won’t succeed in the long term unless we earn a reputation for fair dealing. She’s very influential, even with the family elders, so Father was in disgrace for months. AndI was so glad to hear she followed my suggestion and actually went to meet you.”
I stared at her. “Youwere the one to send Faylee to me?”
Gina nodded, her face falling. She grabbed both my hands, pinning me with an anguished, pleading expression.
“I know I’m the worst sort of coward,” she exclaimed. “I should have come to you myself. But I was just so ashamed! I couldn’t bear to face you after what I did.”
I drew a shaky breath. I wanted to pull my hands free, but seeing her again after so long was like being caught in the fog of the past. Along with my resentment had come a surge of old memories of all the fun we had shared together. I couldn’t entirely harden my heart against the genuine emotion in her eyes. Gina had never been one for artifice—which had made her subterfuge and betrayal all the more devastating.
“Not that I did it on purpose,” she said earnestly. “I hope you can believe that, Aria. I didn’t know anything about it.”
Her words made me start and finally pull myself free. But I didn’t storm off. A small shoot of hope had unfurled inside my chest, my curiosity driving its growth.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Father was always disappointed that I wasn’t a better student,” she said. “He wanted me to be first in the class, but I never had the temperament for it.”
She laughed slightly, and I almost smiled with her before I remembered she had been first—once.
“But before that last test, he suddenly became fierce. He hounded me day and night and said I needed to come first in one test at least. He said if I could just come first in the next test, he would let me breathe again. So I studied my heart out. I still didn’t think I was likely to beat you, but then you got sick and—” Her face twisted.
“You truly didn’t know why he wanted you to study so hard for that test?” I asked.
She shook her head energetically, her curls bouncing. “Of course not! Or I would have told you too! I was never even particularly eager to go to the University. It just meant four more years of study!” She wrinkled her nose before brightening again. “But it’s much better than I’d feared. You’re going to love it.”
“Never mind that,” I said, not ready to think about the future when I was still lost in the past. “If you didn’t know before the test, you must have realized after. If you didn’t want to steal my place, why did you agree to be sealed?”
“They only told me about it the day before,” she said. “And then they insisted on having a celebratory family meal, so I couldn’t get out of the house. Of course I protested about being chosen and said the position should have been yours, but they told me the mage being sealed was powerful enough that the school had been allowed to submit two names.”
My brows rose, belief worming its way through me. I had never been able to understand how the Gina I had known could have done such a thing. But I had no trouble believing her father might have deceived her too. And that meant Gina hadn’t plotted to steal my place from me. She hadn’t even known she was stealing it.
“They told me you’d be at the ceremony as well, but it was such a crowd, I couldn’t find you. It wasn’t until afterward that I realized you were never there, and it was all a lie. But it was too late, then.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this two years ago?” I asked, not quite willing to forgive her so easily.
“I should have,” Gina said, wilting visibly. “And I know I’m a terrible coward for not doing so. But even if I didn’t take your spot knowingly, I still took it, and there was no way for me to make that right. And besides, my family did know what theywere doing, even if I didn’t. How could you ever look at me the same way again? I hid in the house all summer, and then I started at the University, so we had no reason to cross paths. I…” She grabbed my hands again, squeezing them and wailing, “I’m so sorry for being such an awful friend!”
I drew a long breath. “I wish I’d known this two years ago. I would have been furiously angry, but I think I would have understood and not blamed you.”
“And now?” she asked in a small voice. “We’re going to be at the University together after all, even if I’ll be two years ahead. I can show you around and introduce you to my friends and?—”
She broke off and waited, looking hopefully at my face.
Something tight and dark inside me loosened. The picture she painted was appealing—and not just because of the help she could give as I adjusted to the world of the University. Gina’s friendship had made my early years at school fun and bright, despite the study, and now I could have that again as I started at the University.
Just as Zak had started to drift away from me—absent as he made his arrangements for his upcoming new life—Gina had reappeared. I already had one friend at the University, but he was dangerous to me in ways I didn’t like to dwell on. Gina represented a much safer friendship, and she could do what Zak couldn’t. She could help me settle into the place where I belonged—the commonborn stream.
Gina had wronged me when she cut off our friendship without a word of explanation, but thoughts of Zak reminded me that I was also prone to making foolish, emotional decisions where friendships were concerned. If I always acted rationally myself, I would never have gotten so close to him.
I let out my breath in a sigh of release.
“It’s true that your family wronged me, but in the end they also made it right.” I held up an arm to show the marks ringingmy wrist. “And the wrong wasn’t your doing. In fact, if you were the one to send Faylee to me, you’re responsible for the situation being mended. Of course I’ll forgive you. And I would love to meet your University friends.”
