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The dog wagged his tail even more intensely, sat down on his hind legs, tilted his head, and licked his mouth.

Emely sighed. “That look is unfair, and you know it.”

She dropped the piece and Buddy happily snatched it out of the air.

Falling Apart

Christopher Tyng

I sat down at the table and began to grill Julie about the baby. A few minutes later, I knew that her morning sickness, which had actually subsided until four weeks ago, now seemed to be slowly returning as a full-day nausea, and that her sleep problems were increasing.

I felt catapulted back into my past, knowing at the same time I would never have Julie's experiences because my new body was denying me that.

Over clan dinner – where we had been the last ones at the table – David had explained to me in detail why the formation and survival of an embryo in a female Legacy body was impossible. I couldn’t even carry a human baby inside me because my body would destroy it. And Legacy embryos were too rare, since even those could only form in exceptional cases. David had said that Nicolaj having three sons born in the same century alone was a special case, because nothing like that had ever happened before in documented Ruisangor history.

David had told me some alarmingly low percentages that I couldn’t remember anymore, and had revealed that he had long specialized in fertility research on female Legacy Ruisangors until he had reached a point where he hadn’t been able to make any further progress, which was why he was now studying molecular biology.

I would have liked to ask more questions, but he had suddenly said he had to go, and then I had to head off to my training session as well.

An unpleasant feeling washed over me.

Couldn't I just push these destructive thoughts aside?

There won’t be a baby, Larissa.

“Actually, Quatura pregnancies cause short-term energy stability because the embryo functions like a control stone, as long as the baby has the same element.”

Surprised, I pricked up my ears. Bay, who had already finished her pizza, also seemed to listen intently.

“Do you feel like you have more control?” she asked.

Julie seemed to think about it before shaking her head, her gaze fixed on her lap.

“I mean... It could mean that the baby has nothing to do with this destructive element.”

“But wait...” Bay looked focused at Julie and pulled her knees up to her chest. “My mother explained to me that Quatura children always inherit their mother’s element. Unless the lineage is very strong and other elements skip a generation, or the baby is an ungifted boy.”

The soft rosy hue returned to Julie's cheeks.

She looked as if she wanted to say something, but pressed her lips together and looked back at her dainty hands.

I needed a moment to understand the meaning of Bayla's words.

“Wait... Boys can't be Quatura?”

Only now did I realize that I had never heard of male Quatura, apart from Alaister Westcode.

Julie had mentioned something in Alarik's office before we had found that fancy room in the tower, but I'd been too preoccupied with my bestie, her weird purple eyes and the fact that she was hiding her real emotions from me.

“Yes, they can,” Julie explained hesitantly. “But it’s very rare. The chances only exist if the father is also a Quatura. There are three... known cases.”

“All other boys born are ungifted,” Bayla continued.

“There are ungifted ones?” I asked with growing curiosity.

I wondered if they were in on all the magic stuff, but I couldn’t think of any ungifted ones I might have encountered.

“They are given away,” Julie said. “To orphanages.”