“But Aunt Lyra,” Asha whined.
I tried to stifle my laugh as Kelara glared at me.
“You’re too young, Asha,” my sister asserted.
“I’m six!”
“And still too little. You’ll get lost on the way.”
I ducked my head, hiding a smile. Asha was small for her age, all bony limbs and angles despite how much we tried to feed her.She’d always been that way.
She turned big, pleading eyes toward me. Her lower lip protruded.
I shook my head, even as my resolve threatened to crumble. “Listen to your mama. She knows you best.”
Asha huffed and stalked off toward her Grandmama, likely hoping for a treat to soothe her ire. As soon as she left the room, Kelara and I both broke into snickers.
“Poor girl,” I said, reaching for a small gown as Kelara’s pile of laundry slowly dwindled.
“She’s growing fast enough,” she murmured.
“She won’t be little forever,” I said. “What’s the harm, after all?”
She took a deep breath. “I just… I didn’t expect to worry this much as a mother. Now it feels like it’s all I do. She’s so much smaller than her friends. And it feels like it’s my fault.” Her eyes grew watery. I pressed a hand to her arm.
“You’re an excellent mother,” I told her. “A much better mother than a sister.”
At that, she rolled her eyes, although her lip curved upward. “Very funny.”
“But truly,” I said, my voice turning solemn, “Asha’s lucky to have someone who dotes on her like you do.”
With another exhale, her shoulders sagged. “Thank you.” Her attention turned to a navy linen dress withgrass stains around the skirt. She handed it to me. “I suppose I should let her go with you sometime soon. She’s always admiring the palace’s silhouette when we’re at the market.”
I rubbed my thumb over the stain. A dandelion shimmer hovered in the air above, and the green tinge slowly faded.
“She brags about you to her friends, you know,” Kelara continued. “Claims she has the best aunt in the kingdom: sheworks with the princes, does magic…”
“Worksforthe princes,” I corrected her. “And doesmenialmagic.” I handed back the dress, free of the stains that had marred it moments ago.
“Incredible,” Kelara proclaimed, and it was my turn to roll my eyes.
“I can take her tomorrow, if you’d like,” I said. “I’ve got the day off, and the weather mage at the market said it’ll be sunny.”
She wrinkled her nose. “The weather mage is rarely right.”
“Are any of us?”
She eyed me. “Yourgut might be magical with how often you predict what no one else can. Like with Felipe.”
I shrugged. “Good guesses are coincidences, not magic.”
She pressed her lips together.
“And my current guess is that the weather will be fine tomorrow.” I pushed away the guilt rising in me.Secrets shouldn’t exist between sisters.But my premonitions were an island among mages skilled in the physical arts. I’d be laughed at, scoffed at. I’d feel even crazier than I already did.
At Kelara’s skeptical brow, I bumped her shoulder. “You need a break. Take some time for yourself.”
She finished folding the final gown and sat back. “Fine. Tomorrow afternoon—ifit’s sunny.”
