“Yeah. It’s a family thing.” She lifted her hand as I got back to work. It was a little big for her, but it would have to do. It would probably feel like a hand-me-down.
“My family has the Pact, at least on my mother’s side. That’s why I have the cold skin, silver hair, and the eyes.” She was whispering now as I slowly took in the information. Pact Mages were users of magic, their families having been blessed by the three god dragons long ago. I had suspected it, but having it confirmed was a whole different feeling. Now I could ask her questions!
I blurted out the first thing on my mind. “The Pact? Like you can use magic?” I asked the obvious as she gave a gleeful nod, all too happy to answer.
“Yeah!”
I looked down at my longbow then at her, disappointed. I guess that makes sense. If you could wave your hands and magic happens, archery would seem like a peasant sport. Throwaway entertainment. I must’ve looked absolutely crushed.
Aria frantically waved her hands apologetically once she realized what she had done. “No no! Don’t take it the wrong way! I still really want to learn archery.”
“But why? You can use magic,” I said, waving my hands back. “You don’t need to learn archery. You can just learn more magic.” It felt like I had been duped.
“That’s not how magic works.” Her words were blank, devoid of emotion. I had to pause, taking a step back. I went from frantic and angry to being concerned in less than a second. Her voice had none of her usual enthusiasm.
“But…can’t you do anything you want with magic?” I recalled what little I knew of magic. The church only told us of magnificent feats from the age of the Trinity. Books just made things up.
Aria shook her head, disappointed. It was as if she had to explain this a hundred times to numbskulls like me.
“That’s not how magic works,” she repeated a second time in the same inhuman, dead tone.
I rubbed my head apologetically. Maybe magic wasn’t the crazy world-changing power that everyone thought it was.
“Sorry. I didn’t know…” I began, but she raised a silencing hand. She didn’t want to hear any more of it.
“It’s all right. Let’s talk about something else.”
I could see that the whole magic thing rubbed her the wrong way. I would not probe into it. With that behind us and a few corrections to her posture, she was ready to start shooting. She was silent, focused as I made slight adjustments to her aim.
“All right, you want to pull back the string just a little bit to start off.” I guided her through the process as she pulled back.
Snap.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!” Aria almost burst into tears on the spot and I stared at her completely dumbfounded. She’d snapped my bowstring. She had noodles for arms. There was no way she should have snapped my bowstring.
“Shh. It’s okay. You don’t need to put all your strength into it.” I rushed to her side, trying to reassuringly hold her hand. However, she wasn’t crying. Instead, she just looked up at me with a knowing smile, her eyes shimmering in the evening light.
Her hands clasped mine as I was about to let it drop, only to hear her whisper “Your cheeks are red a lot, you know that?”
I let go of her, completely embarrassed. She stepped back with a foxy grin.
“I can pay you back for the broken bowstring, but I don’t think I’m going to be trying archery again.” She took off the vambraces effortlessly. She didn’t need me to put them on. She just wanted me to spoil her.
“I had lots of fun!” Her bright smile cut through my confused thoughts as she handed my cuffs back. I was not convinced that she wasn’t an all-powerful mage toying with me.
As I picked up my bow, trying to figure out if I had bought a crap string or if Aria had super strength in disguise, I could hear voices complimenting someone. When I turned around, Aria was surrounded by a few of the village boys, all of them giving her compliments and sweet nothings. She was waving them off, cheeks flushed as she gave me a glare that said ‘Get me out of here.’
Oh, so now you need my help?
I rushed over to where Aria was and towered over the crowd.
“Hey. You four. Scram. She’s out of your league and you know it.” I was also out of their league, or at least in a punch-off. Besides, I would’ve had fun seeing what Aria could pull off as a mage.
If I had been with anyone else they would’ve gone down with a play fight. This time though, they ran off without a second word. Either they didn’t want to discover how a mage beat up people, or they figured Aria was out of their league anyways. Or both.
“Let’s get back to the inn. I think you’ve had enough fun at my expense.” Aria nodded as the two of us set off.
The evening sun bathed the town in shades of yellow and orange. I felt a soft, but cold touch on my arm. At first, it surprised me. That is, until I turned to Aria. My heart skipped a few beats and she gave me a knowing smile. Her arms wrapped around mine.
Bless you Aria, but my heart’s not going to survive when you’re gone.
Chapter 2: Adventure!
“Charlotte! Could you grab us another hot plate?”
“Yeah! Give me a moment sir!”
Aside from the occasional shouts from restaurant patrons, the place wasn’t busy. A few locals came over to our place for my mom’s cooking, but otherwise most of the tables were empty.
I spent a lot of time muddling over my own thoughts. I didn’t know why, but my mind pulled towards Aria. I thought of her trying my bow, her casual mannerisms, her beautiful white eyes. No, it wasn’t that. I had seen nice nobles before, and some beautiful nobles before. Maybe it was her magic? No, it couldn’t be. She didn’t use it. Instead she put in the effort of trying archery even if she didn’t need to. She was like a friend wanting to make me smile—a noble wanting to make me smile. I rested against the warm kitchen countertop as I dreamily stared into the distance.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t encountered nobles before. They traveled through at a dime a dozen in the summer. However, they saw this place as a pit stop through a backwater village, stuffing our faces full of cash so they could do whatever they wanted for the week. Aria didn’t feel like that. She wanted to have fun and make me smile.
“Dear, could you take this upstairs? The nice people in room seven ordered food, but they never picked it up.” I jumped up as my mother dinged the serving bell. My mother didn’t so much hand me a plate of food as hand me a mass of food, with the plate acting as support. I didn’t care how heavy it was, nor gave my usual complaints about how nobles were wasteful snobs. I had an excuse to talk to Aria again.
I adjusted my grip on the plates and took the stairs with vigor as the other guests shot me curious glances. They were unused to seeing me being an enthusiastic waitress. Although, to be fair, I was also unused to seeing myself as an enthusiastic waitress.
I gave a gentle tap on door number seven, and with a click, the door opened up. Caen held the door for me. Aria was sitting on the bed, swinging her legs out of boredom. She shot up, a delighted grin spreading across her face as I entered. A glance across the room revealed how busy they had been. The larger table was completely covered in charts while the other table was covered in traveling equipment.
