Elements (3rd month of Autumn, 47th day)

  After morning training, Aya was summoned to Negli's new study. He showed her the captive fairy again. It looked visibly weak and unwell, but not comatose like the day before. It lay docile and silent on the floor of its cage and watched them.

  "I need to figure out how to feed it," Negli said. Aya noticed a fresh bandage bulging beneath his sleeve. "For this I need your help. Did Xia tell you about channeling?"

  "Maybe... I don't remember."

  "It's the natural talent you have. You can transfer your power to others. Most mages need training to do it, but for you, it comes naturally. So let's try something. I'll cast a group spell. It'll tug on your power — you let it flow. I'll keep it simple, should be easy for you."

  He drew a magic circle on the floor, making her stand on one side, while he himself stood on the other. He chanted a spell and Aya felt its pull and let her power flow. The sensation was foreign, and a little uncomfortable, not like feeding Ixi at all. A small ball of orange fire flickered into existence in the air between them. It lasted only a moment before Negli dismissed it, but she still felt the wave of heat on her face.

  Negli asked her a series of questions, then repeated the experiment with three different spells. The session culminated with him placing three pieces of raw meat on a plate and casting a spell on each one.

  "What did those spells do?" Aya asked.

  "These are elemental infusions. I'm trying to determine what elements this fairy needs — based on what it chooses to eat."

  The fairy sniffed the meat cautiously. It swallowed one piece whole, weakly chewed another, and ignored the third. Negli scribbled more notes.

  "Did my chanelling matter?"

  "Yes, it helps me save strength. I can guide a spell and you provide power. I couldn't cast as much without you, elemental infusions are not my forte."

  "What are the elements?" Aya asked.

  "They're the harmonics of magic," he explained. "Every spell or magical presence can be broken down into elemental components. There are many elements, but the five basic ones are Earth, Air, Fire, Life, and Death. The first three elements are called fundamental. The last two, Life and Death, are called sublime. They're not true elements, but behave similarly in many ways. There are also many lesser elements that describe more specific magical traits. That's how we analyze blood, or detect magical traces. Grave fairies, like all magical creatures, are attuned to certain types of magic. Just like living beings need specific foods, their cores need specific magical input. I'm trying to determine the optimal composition for feeding this one."

  They experimented with more infusions. Eventually, Negli derived a working formula and promised to design a circle to automate the process — so he wouldn't need to cast multiple spells for each feeding.

  At the end of the session, he asked, "Do you want to study chant magic, Aya?"

  "I'm already studying it under Rasa."

  "No, that's elven magic. It's like an extension of our bodies — you don't need to chant to use it. Did you know other races don't have it?"

  "They don't?" she asked, surprised.

  "They don't," he confirmed. "Beastkin have their own version of strengthening — it's cruder, more physical — but that's it. None of the other races can use sparks or lightning without chants. Some races have magic-like traits, like the trolls' absurd regeneration, but others don't even have that."

  "Then how do they fight?"

  "By playing to their strengths. For example, most races are far sturdier than we are. Without our magic, we wouldn't stand a chance against Beastkin — or even Dwarves."

  She must have looked shocked, because Negli chuckled.

  "I planned to teach you the basics of magic after you could read, but we can do both in parallel."

  Aya's Winter

  The next month passed peacefully. Aya's training settled into a steady rhythm. She no longer received personal instruction from Rasa and instead practiced magic alongside other battlemages — and occasionally, with Agvi.

  At Kemi's insistence, she began basic fencing lessons under Rogri, his warrior captain. Rogri turned out to be both a good teacher and a good-natured man — not at all brisk like Rasa. This surprised Aya. She had assumed all warriors were brutal. By that logic, Rogri should've been even tougher than Rasa. At least, that had been the case in her birth house. Apparently, the rule didn't apply here.

  Kemi often watched their training and sometimes joined in, though he made for a terrible partner — too obsessed with winning. During one match, he even broke Aya's collarbone with a blunt sword. She was taken to the healer, a small woman with sad eyes, who fixed the injury with a single spell and forbade training for two days.

  "How old is she?" Aya asked Kemi on their way back.

  "I don't know. Three hundred, maybe."

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  "Three hundred?! Is that normal?"

  "Yes, why? Healers live long because they are precious. They're protected at all costs, rarely leave mansions. During her lifetime, my grandfather died in war, and my father in a feud. But if you don't fight, you can make it to five hundred. That's what the rumors say about our Magistrate. It's just us small nobles who can't afford long lives."

  Patrols became a welcome break from training — quiet hours of freedom and contemplation. Since the border tensions had eased, they encountered few riders. Most days, they only spotted distant patrols across the line. The freed-up time naturally filled with banter, giving Aya her first real window into the household's daily life.

  Lessons with Negli were progressing nicely, especially after Xia had the children join. There were two kinds of sessions: Xia taught reading and writing, while Negli focused on magic. They began in Negli's study, but Xia moved the lessons to the formal dining room. The children were eager to learn, and Aya found herself studying harder, unwilling to be outdone by them.

  Her intellectual pursuits weren't as joyful as she'd hoped, but she liked to think her progress was solid. The dream-girl would probably laugh at her slow pace — she was some kind of genius everyone in school talked about. Aya didn't envy her. She knew how, at times, the dream-girl longed to be as stupid as everyone else. Aya kept watching the dream-girl's life through the prism of her emotions. The girl's world was different from hers. Aya couldn't see it, but she felt things — like the emptiness of the sky, the warmth of a day-moon. In Aya's world, the sky was always covered with clouds, and the moon never rose by day. She tried to imagine an empty day sky with a blinding moon in the middle, and couldn't. What color would the sky be without the clouds? Black?

  The best part of studying was listening to Negli talk about magic — especially the elements and how they interacted. He had a story for each one. Most of them were grim, revolving around inventive murders or attempts at despicable magic — but at least the villains were always punished by a clever warlock and an ominous inquisitor. The children listened with rapt attention. The stories fascinated Aya too, but she couldn't see the practical purpose. She couldn't help but wonder why Negli, so obsessed with utility and research, spent time telling stories.

  Ixi was learning alongside the children. She struggled — especially with writing — but her speaking improved steadily. Aya couldn't quite decide how smart she was. Sometimes she sounded lucid, like an adult. Other times, incoherent — like a talking animal. She was on friendly terms with the ravens and knew each one by name but couldn't explain how they communicated. Ketirik followed her everywhere, and Agvi's raven sometimes joined their games. Even Negli said her connection to the ravens was worth studying.

  Kedi's Winter

  Kedi considered himself remarkably lucky of late. The food crisis had passed — they were expected to make it to harvest. A new trade initiative had begun, with the South buying dwarven weapons and armor in unusual quantities. The merchant guild contacted him early, eager to negotiate tariffs in advance. It was a much-needed influx of silver into Vemer's treasury — another problem solved.

  With tensions on the border easing, Kemi had relaxed the patrols. The people were no longer overworked, and though rationing continued, morale had improved.

  Kedi remained mildly concerned about Negli's ongoing exchange with the Tower, but Negli assured him there was no immediate danger. Aya, for her part, was integrating well — at least within the warband. Negli couldn't praise her enough, though it seemed he mostly used her as a limitless well of magical energy. A more practical use for her talents had yet to be found.

  Ixi, too, had become part of mansion life — no longer drawing stares or gasps. She showed no aggression, and the people of the mansion had even grown fond of her spooky presence, seeing her as something of a talisman. Xia focused on running a small school for Aya and the children, which included literacy lessons and magic studies from Negli. Why peasant children would want to study such things was beyond Kedi, but there was no harm. Besides, it made Xia happy.

  The only cloud on his mind was Tezir. The man had been a thorn in his side lately. The abrupt de-escalation at the border made it clear he had been behind the raids all along. That likely made Tezir complicit in the sacking of their village — which, if proven, would be a serious slight to Vemer. Losing face could cost Kedi some of his best warriors, so he'd have no choice but to bring the case to court. A large fine would be issued, Tezir would probably refuse to pay, and then — war. Neither Xeren nor the other neighboring houses would help him fight for free, and he lacked the means to make it worth their while. Kedi would agree to forgive and forget — if it bought lasting peace. But he doubted it would.

  Negli's Winter

  For Negli, the past month had been extremely productive. He had stabilized the fairy and learned much about the strange creature. Some of it applied to Ixi, but in large part, Ixi was an anomaly — just like Aya. They were both chimeras, fusions of their selves with something unknown. That something — the gift, as he called it — was not an easy thing to grasp, yet he remained optimistic. His notes from the past month suggested endless possibilities, and years of research ahead. Life was simple in the snow-covered mansion: no politics, no bureaucracy, no Inquisition. Just reading, experimenting, and writing — all day, every day.

  Another source of joy he found was teaching magic. His pupils couldn't read yet, so he started by populating their minds with small illustrations of the elements at work. It was mostly a retelling of clear-cut cases — but not all of them turned out to be so clear. The questions from uneducated children were often more thought-provoking than the inquiries of his peers. He found himself making notes after the lessons — on things he couldn't explain, or could have explained better.

  His correspondence with Berenji proceeded reasonably well. He reported suspicious fairy experiments and Vemers seeking his aid in studying it, which was almost true. He had thrown in a couple of household rumors, claiming his servant heard them from staff. In reality Negli invented those himself, after overhearing a colorful conversation between guards. Berenji appreciated his swift "infiltration", but was unhappy with otherwise meager results. He wanted proof of something substantial. Keeping a caged fairy wasn't a crime, and rumors couldn't be brought to court. Negli hinted at possible involvement of necromancy for fairy sustenance, but stressed that he was yet to obtain proof. Eventually he'd been summoned to the Tower. Officially it was to bring in the samples, unofficially for a private meeting with Berenji. He decided to go.

  Negli Leaves for Bizenki (3rd month of Autumn, 90th day)

  Negli looked over the things he'd prepared for the trip to Bizenki: blood samples, notes, a few arcane tools he might need. It wasn't much.

  "Imke, pack these separately. We're riding at dawn."

  Imke glanced at the things and made a positive noise, not even gracing his master with words. He had a tendency to speak as little as possible — which, in hindsight, was an excellent quality for a servant. There was a knock on the door and Kedi entered the study.

  "Are you sure you need to go?" he asked. "Couldn't you just send the samples?"

  "If I don't, I am exposed. The winter isn't over yet — we need to keep Berenji's suspicions low."

  "What if he saw through you?"

  "I don't get that sense from his letters. Don't worry, I'll be back in three days."

  Kedi gave him a strange look but didn't argue. "It's your call. Good luck."