“I didn’t take you for a magic-free purist,” Kaelis says, humming.
“Clearly I’m not.” Ren gestures to the plants on the terrace that I just helped grow with magic. “But for this, it feels more like I’d be honoring her properly if I honed my own skills. Plus, I want to know how it’s done, I can’t cast a six on my own nor do I want to waste the ink.” The Six of Wands helps complete the task but doesn’t always show how.
Twino looks to me. “Maybe you and Gregor can help taste test…Arina, too.”
The addition of my sister hits me like a blow to the chest. “Yes, Arina would love that,” I manage, though every word feels like glass over my tongue. I quickly change the topic. “Do you have any ideas for a location for your cafe?”
We talk about big dreams and little ones. About making an honest living that one can actually subsist on. How the money Bristara left behind was, according to Twino, “enough to be comfortable on, enough that we won’t have to worry,ifwe’re smart about it and make a bit to cover day-to-day expenses on the side…”
We talk about the dog, how they found him already living in the empty house and couldn’t be expected to kick him out. How now that they’ve had a dog, maybe there could be talk of a family someday…
We talk until the sun is beginning to hang low in the sky, burning behind the distant mountains.
“We should go,” I say for Kaelis and myself, realizing he’s said very little this entire time.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner?” Ren asks.
“Unfortunately not. We have things to discuss.” I stand, even though a part of me is yearning to do the opposite.
“Like what?” Twino asks.
I merely smile, eyes darting to Ren.
He leans in to Twino. “We’re out of that life, my love. Probably for the best we don’t know.”
Twino sighs and nods. “Probably for the best.”
I can tell a part of him misses it. But not enough to want to come back…not anywhere close. Not when he hasthis.The aroma of good food, the creak of well-loved floors, the warmth of a dog sleeping underfoot.
“Please stay safe, you two,” I say.
“The only injuries I am at risk of these days are paper cuts.” Twino gestures to his books.
“I’ll see you out.” Ren stands.
We go to the door, Kaelis collecting his coat. Ren pulls me in for atight embrace. I return it readily, even when it lasts longer than I expected.
“Thank you,” he whispers, small and still somewhat scared. “For not pulling him back in. You know he would’ve gone if you asked.”
I squeeze him tighter. “He wouldn’t have. His life is with you now.”
We pull apart and share a knowing smile. There was a time when maybe it would’ve been true. When Twino and I had both recently joined the Starcrossed Club and were as thick as thieves. When our friendship—when that whole world—felt like forever. But it was just a chapter in our lives. One, if I’m honest, I might have been trying to add to long after the ink was dry.
It’s time to turn the page.
With one final shout of goodbyes from Twino, Kaelis and I step out into the night. I pause at the top of the stone stairs that lead from the street to their door, looking behind me, staring through the wood to where I know Ren is starting a light dinner and Twino is still reading.
“They’re happy,” I say quietly, the words mostly a reminder to myself.
“Yes.”
I find Kaelis studying me intently. Eyes searching. But for what, I don’t know.
“Thank you.” I start walking, heading back for Arcana Academy. “I think I needed to see that. To know they are safe and well…” I pause. Kaelis doesn’t rush to fill the silence, and I’m not sure what prompts me to. “No, more than that…I needed to see that this kind of life is something that could be obtained. This”—I gesture around me at the well-manicured houses—“was always for other people. For people not like me. But to see them here now—to see someone I know achieve that type of domestic peace. It makes me think I could attain it, too.”
Kaelis is quiet for a long moment, as if waiting to see if I’m really finished this time. Finally, he says, “Is that what you want? Would it make you happy?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, the honesty leaving me feeling even more exposed. “But I know what won’t make me happy.”
