As morning wears into afternoon, Pop finishes putting away the lampleaf and goes out to deliver orders and gather more herbs, while Mom sits me down to braid my hair. I was expecting something straightforward, but she began parting out my hair into very small portions and it was well past lunch by the time she was halfway done.

In order to teach me, she pulled the polished silver mirror and made me practice following her movements in the reflection using the other side of my bangs. No matter how hard I try, I can’t quite get my fingers to cooperate in keeping the braid tight, but I at least get the motion down well enough.

Mom is taking a break to sip at the potion Pop made earlier, rubbing her knuckles after working them in small circles for several hours. Just before she’s about to start again, a knock at the door draws our attention.

“Oh, my,” Mom says, standing up to answer it. The door opens to reveal an unreasonably large face smiling down at her from the top of the doorframe.

“Good afternoon, Moell. Sorry for being a bit late.”

“Professor Ulesi! My goodness, we've had such a busy morning I’d nearly forgotten you were coming! Please, come in, or would you rather we sit outside…?”

“Nonsense,” the Professor says, squeezing inside with the grace of a cat slipping through a gap in a fence. “It would be rude to drag you both outside where the dust and dirt can get into that lovely hair.”

As they straighten up, head ducked to avoid the ceiling’s exposed rafters, I end up with my head tilted almost all the way back. I’m not very tall yet, and Mom is almost three times my height, but this Ulesi person is head and shoulders above even her. Just standing there makes our house seem suddenly cramped. A heavy collection of silver-streaked mauve braids pours over one shoulder, held together every few hands with a dark ribbon, and contrasting strongly against deep dark green robes which have somehow avoided every speck of dust the wind throws at travelers. A small bag hangs across their chest, and a sigil I’ve never seen before is embroidered into its polished leather.

“Hello there, young one. I can’t say I’m surprised Moell’s firstborn would be so prudent as to have made such an important decision before I could arrive-”

“Why don’t we have some fresh tea!” Mom interrupts, earning a sideways glance from our guest. She wears a steel smile, however, and Ulesi shrugs.

“Fair enough. I don’t suppose you actually stuck with tradition for once, Moell?”

“Professor, surely we could cease with the pleasantries and keep things simple?”

Another look from Ulesi, and I groan loudly enough that both adults look at me.

“What’s the matter, honey?” Mom asks first. I give her my best impression of an exasperated victim.

“I get that you two have some kind of past but can you please keep the fighting outside? I don’t have to know what you’re talking about to be tired of hearing about it already!”

Mom is absolutely mortified. Her jaw looks ready to fall off her face, and Ulesi doesn’t look much different until they start laughing.

“Gods be damned, Moell, did you simply conjure up another one of you?” they huff out between raucous guffaws. To my utter shock and somewhat guilty pleasure, Mom actually starts to sulk as the kettle on the stove starts steaming.

By the time Ulesi calms down enough to drink their tea, it’s cool enough to not burn. As the three of us wait around for the awkward silence to be broken, sipping away at our brews, I feel the need to ask an objectively rude question pushing itself up like sick.

“Was the journey alright, then?” Mom asks out of nowhere, startling me out of my nerves. Ulesi nods, humming the affirmative through a mouthful of tea.

“Long, but peaceful. Not many bandits like taking on us bigger folk.”

“I’d rather think it’s the Academy sigil that does it, professor,” Mom scoffs over the rim of her mug. Ulesi smirks back, but before they can start snarking again I interject.

“Why are you so tall?” I ask. Mom was mortified before, but now she just looks exhausted and embarrassed. Ulesi, on the other hand, seems amused.

“As much as I delight in knowing there’s an endless well of teasing the woman who once called me her best friend over not even telling her firstborn about me, to not even bring up people my size exist? Honestly, I’d think you were raising the poor dear in a hole, Moell.”

“Hey!” I say, drawing another surprised look from the Professor. “Leave her alone, she does a great job!”

That leaves both of them speechless long enough that the tension falls away entirely. Ulesi takes another long sip of tea before responding with a small smile.

“I suppose I’ll have to trust the expert on that, won’t I?” they ask. I shrug and take a sip as well, as they continue speaking.

“I’m sized like this because the gods saw fit to afflict some portion of the world with being sized like this. It’s not so bad, honestly, and most folk like the excuse to build bigger homes, but it’s hard to find places that aren’t, well…” They hold up the mug Mom had served tea in, pinching its handle delicately between three fingers and supporting the bottom of it with one. It looks like a toy in their hands.

“Regardless, we aren’t here to talk about me. You’re turning five soon, so I’ve been told, and I’m here to bring a very important tool for your fifth birthday.”

Ulesi sets their empty mug on our table from where they sit on the floor and reaches into their bag to pull out a bundle of delicate-looking cloth. As I watch them start the slow process of carefully unwrapping it, Mom collects our mugs before urging me to sit on the floor in front of the professor.

As the layers fall away, a cube is revealed. In hands big enough to wrap around my torso at least once, it looks hardly bigger than a grapefruit, but when they hold it closer for me to see its details, my eyes cross as the optical illusion breaks to reveal the object is larger than my head.

The top has a round flat surface the consistency of glass, dark within but otherwise unremarkable. It’s framed in silver etched with symbols I assume are significant, and the silver frame is matched by silver along the edging of the whole cube. The other two sides I can see hold great big convex surfaces of deep black and rich blue.

“This is an astersum. It is a precious device which requires a great deal of skill and knowledge to make. At your mother’s request, I’ve come to get your measure in person. Normally this would be done on your fifth Day of Beginnings, in front of everyone else and alongside any other children turning five that day. It can be… unpleasant, for those who wind up with unfavorable results, so in order to preserve you from the worst experience I’ve come to see ahead of time what we may expect.”

I glance at Mom, who visibly avoids eye contact with me.

“Regardless, it’s quite simple. You must touch two edges of the box, any two, and it will give us your constellation, affinities, and capability.”

“For what?”

Ulesi raises an eyebrow at Mom before answering.

“For magic, dear. All nobility have some, and most of the regular folk as well. There is of course the chance you have little, such as with your unfortunate father’s circumstances, but that is significantly unlikely with your particular heritage. Here, allow me to demonstrate what you can expect.”

With their free hand, they touch two adjacent edges, their thumb and index finger separated by a corner of the cube. A moment later, the blue light glows intensely, as does another light on a side not facing me, in green. The round surface on top slowly fades into a series of lights, which twinkle like stars in a mirror encircled by a band of purple.

“As you can see, the blue and green gems have ignited, indicating my affinities with water and air magic. This means I can learn and become competent in both, or choose one to focus my understanding. On the top here, you can see my constellation, Anri the Flood, which indicates my primary affinity as well as the gods I am most closely aligned with by nature.

"Lastly, the ring around the constellation indicates capability. As seen here, the purple represents me as a caster, with bluish hues indicating that while reddish hues indicate enhancers like your mother. This is possibly the least important factor, as it's less deterministic and more reactive. Is this all making sense?"

I nod, cutting off a half-uttered word from Mom.

"I have a question though," I say. Ulesi nods graciously, a smile on their face.

"What's wrong with Pop? He can use magic just fine, I've seen him. He heated water this morning by touching a pitcher!"

"Of course, and I don't mean to belittle his skills. However, from what I learned through your mother all those years ago, Derran is an evoker. He can perform a few minor tricks, and clearly has made them a part of his daily life, but his capability is akin to a cup of water compared to all the skies opening up with rain. Not unrespectable, but no great feat."

I furrow my brow at that, chewing my lip as I decide whether or not I want to complain about the way they'd talked about Pop earlier, when Mom speaks up.

"Most great feats are history anyway, isn't that right Professor?"

Our guest chuckles.

"Indeed. Now the greatest deeds most hope to accomplish are among the small border skirmishes our king insists upon each season or the betterment of those around you. Plowing fields, averting droughts, all as you like if it's within your grasp."

I stare at the astersum as its lights begin to fade out, the purple ring remaining until all other indicators have returned to their original states.

"What are the other elements?" I prompt, and Ulesi gives Mom a much more stern glare this time.

"Rather than attempt to plug all the holes in a linen sheet, why don't you tell me what bits and pieces you do know?"

I glance at Mom, who is looking all the more guilty by the minute, then turn back to give the Professor my answer with a shrug.

"Moell, really! Not even the very basics? What would you do if something had happened to you before you could teach that much? What if your child manifested something dangerous without understanding what could happen!?" Ulesi sounds less outraged and more genuinely concerned. Mom is avoiding both of us now, cowering into a sulk in the kitchen.

"Don't tell me you skipped something as crucial as the siblings, too!"

Now I've completely lost the thread, but Mom just leans over the counter, shoulders hunched.

"Child," Ulesi says, turning back to me with diamond-edged softness in their voice. "Do you know the story of the siblings?"

I shake my head.

"Did you choose a name for yourself, at least?"

Again, no. Ulesi's restrained exasperation disappears, and they settle into a cold demeanor and tone.

"I apologize for asking this, but could you step outside for a moment, little one? I must have some words with your mother which are unsuitable for ears so young as yours."

I look at Mom once more, but she hasn't turned around, so I can't see the expression she's making. With a shrug, I get up and step outside to wait in the yard.