As the noble family of Henling, their home is the only one in the village made of stone rather than timber. At a distance, though, it looks more like a large outhouse than the residence of a lord and lady.
By the time we reach their front door, the sky above us is almost dark and the first stars blink to life. Gee lifts her hand to knock, and the basket hooked around her arm clinks.
The wooden door swings inward, replaced by Espen’s large body and even larger grin. He hasn’t changed out of the hunting clothes from this morning, an apron now tied around his waist. He brushes sandy-colored hair away from his face with his forearm.
“Cassia! Esidora! Come in. Come in.” He grips me by the shoulders and plants a kiss on both cheeks before ushering me past him and into the warmth of the house.
I breathe in the smoky smell of fresh bread and herbs as I shuck my cloak. A huge fireplace, taller than me, crackles at the back of the large room that encompasses the whole ground floor.
Kensa sits in a faded armchair by the warmth of the fire. Her white-blonde hair is tied back in a loose bun, her fair skin rosy in the glow of the flames. A plump baby dressed in white wriggles in her arms. When Kensa sees me, she grins and braces an arm on the side of the chair as if to stand.
“No. Stay.” I bend down to kiss her cheek, then chuckle and lean back, gently extracting a strand of my hair from the baby's clenched fist. Ice-blue eyes blink back at me.
“We’ve got a name.” Kensa smiles as the baby takes my proffered finger in a vice-like grip. “Did Espen tell you?”
I shake my head.
“Meet Lettice. Letty for short.”
“After my mother, not the vegetable,” Espen calls from the kitchen, where he’s busy unloading Gee’s many gifts. Kensa beams down at Letty with tired eyes, while the baby wriggles and kicks her legs.
A thud sounds from above before an eight-year-old blond blur bounds down the steps two at a time, leaping the last few to land on the floor.
“Cassia! Auntie Es!” Timo grins a gap-tooth smile as he skids over to me. “Have you told them the surprise, Ma? Can I tell?”
Kensa barely nods before Timo grabs my hand and drags me over to the staircase.
He bounces on the balls of his feet, pale blue eyes flashing. “Guess what? I’m going to join the Defiance!” The words tumble from his mouth. Letty startles, and Kensa shushes him. Timo places a hand over his mouth.
Timo had his Awakening a few months ago after a flurry of snow slid from the roof onto his head. Seconds later, he stood in a pile of water, steam rising from his clothes.
“That’s great, Timo.” I smile down at him.
He lowers his voice. “They’re rebel mages who live in the desert.”
I know exactly who the Defiance is, but I don’t want to dampen Timo’s excitement. Eyes wide, I breathe out, “Wow. What an adventure.”
“That’s not all.” He grabs my arm. “My sister’s come back to take me there!”
Sister? I glance toward Letty, knowing she can't be who he meant. Timo has another sister?
A dark-haired girl steps onto the landing above us, holding two large satchels. She moves down from the shadows into the lantern light. Her midnight locks are braided back away from her pale face, and–
A jolt of surprise thrums through me.
“Ruri?”
Not only do I know her, but I grew up with her. She’d been one of my best friends.
I haven’t seen the telepath since we were thirteen. She’s a woman now, with an angled chin and high cheekbones, but it’s unmistakably her. She’s still pretty and still wears her black hair in a long, thick braid falling almost to her waist.
“Cassia!”
She jogs down the stairs and drops the bags onto the floor. She takes a step forward as if to hug me, then hesitates, clasping her hands together in front of her instead. Even without the contact, her genuine happiness rushes through me, dampening the shock of seeing her after so long, and here of all places.
“You’re a Bryher?” I can’t keep the astonishment from my voice.
We hadn’t used family names at the Defiance, and I never picked up on the resemblance when I first met the Bryhers. Stars. My childhood friend is a lady.
“Myrsia is a small world.” Her pale blue eyes sparkle.
Timo claps, bouncing on his feet, pleased with his surprise. I look down at him. Neither he nor his parents have ever mentioned Ruri. I suppose it’s usual to keep a magical child a secret, even to friends. And Ruri had spent a large part of her childhood at the Defiance.
“Ruri’s taking me to the desert.” Timo skips between us. “Pa said you said the snatchers are coming, so we’re leaving tonight to be safe, then Ruri’s going on an important secret mission for the Defiance that she can’t tell anyone about.”
He sucks in a breath, eyes widening, and clamps both hands over his mouth. “Oh!”
“Timo,” Ruri chastises, but amusement dances in her eyes.
“You won’t tell, will you, Cass?” he asks, his voice muffled behind his hands.
Before I can reassure him Ruri’s secret mission is safe with me, Espen calls to him from the kitchen. He looks between us and his father, torn, then scampers off with a frown.
I turn to Ruri with a shy smile. I don’t know what to say. We haven’t spoken since the day of my thirteenth birthday. She’s not a stranger, but she’s not the same girl I once knew.
She perches on the bottom of the steps and pats for me to sit beside her. “I’ve missed you so much, Cass.” Her voice is breathless. “I mean, we all missed you when you left, but Kip and me the most.”
“I missed you, too,” I say quietly, but my stomach clenches as I sink down beside her. I’d missed her a lot a first, but I’d tried hard not to think of my life at the Defiance, the friends I left behind.
“So… What's new with you?” Ruri squeezes my knee, then pulls away sharply. Her brow furrows as something brushes my mind, light as a feather. It takes a moment to remember the sensation, like the tickling feeling right before a sneeze. Ruri’s telepathy.
“You have magic?” she whispers, her eyes glittering as she leans in closer. “Since when?”
Out of habit, I glance around to check no one’s listening.
There’s no point hiding my thoughts from a telepath, so I think my reply. This last year. It’s been gradual. I pause, tapping my fingers against my knees. It’s new.
I let memories flash through my mind. All the times I’d inadvertently used magic – hushed words in an incense-filled wagon, parchments covered in symbols, a swish of purple robes, falling into powdery snow.
Ruri blinks twice, seeing my memories. “You’re a night mage then, like me,” she breathes, eyes bright. “You’re an empath.” Her genuine delight thrums through me. It’s the only reason I don’t cringe at the label I’ve ignored for so long.
Empath…
While Ruri’s telepathy allows her to sense thoughts, empathy allows a mage to sense emotion.
I tuck my hair behind my ears. “I guess so.”
“That’s wonderful, Cassia! So you did get magic after all.”
“Looks like it.” I try to muster a smile, but my voice is flat.