The lowest of mages, the likes who had to take the bus to commute, made the threat of a vertiginous fall a reality. Yet a Magus, two entire ranks above that of a Novice, left her feeling better than her time around the typics. Val figured she could chop it to some rare skill.

More strange was the success at her pretense of sleep. Her lacking attempt might’ve thrown Bradley off, his senses still very much in the bounds of normality, but definitely not a mage.

Memories of Dad and Mom taking turns to catch her grinning under the blankets to sneak past their nightly checks—what had been rebellious to her back then—never working out remained vivid, and their highest peaks as elementalists were Novice.

There was no way a so-called Magus could not do the same. The mystery quickly devoured Val’s restraint, and as the Fiona's footfalls receded, she couldn’t keep it in.

“You knew I was awake.” Val pushed up on an elbow and stared at the back of the lady, shrugging off a few of the blankets and ignoring the explosion of colour throughout Caro’s room. “Why lie? Why have such a specific conversation, one I don’t think I was supposed to hear, unless you wanted me to have this information?”

“It’s hardly anything special.”

Val flinched back as the lady threw a glance over the shoulder, striking blue eyes encasing everything they gazed upon. She was Kidraan, tight curls puffed down to frame her face of mahogany complexion. Dark military fatigue bottoms and a white thermal shirt outlined her tall, athletic stature, and a metal plate with a name etched onto it dangled from her neck.

Rhodes. F

From the get-up alone, Val couldn't obtain the exact jurisdiction she was in, but it was obvious she served in some sort of way. Bradley, a member of the Defender's Army, the civil force responsible for rift ruptures and the like, exuded the same energy off of him.

Cool, calm, and collected.

“Scions of the First Halo have this info before they can walk," Rhodes added.

“Doesn’t change the fact that you intended for me of all people to hear it.” Val’s eyes narrowed. “What are you getting at here? What are you planning?”

The woman flashed a smile that would’ve made the average man blush. “I'm merely… evening the playing field.”

Val rubbed the sleep from her face and shook herself awake, putting the rather interesting talk with the lady—Fiona—to rest. Rounding the corner into the living room, she could hardly take two steps before a blur of umber-brown hair and bright, golden eyes slammed into her torso.

“Slow down there, little guy.” Val chuckled as she wrapped her littlest brother in a hug.

Her worries vanished as Anderson broke out in a grin missing a couple of front teeth. “C’mon Vallie, we have a surprise set up!”

“Is it really a surprise if you tell her?”

Val didn’t have to look to know that it was her second brother’s remark that echoed across the room. He was wearing an oversized t-shirt and shorts while messing up his spiky pile of blonde bed hair.

“He's just excited,” Val said, eyes roaming the room as she was pulled in by Anderson. Banners hung from the ceilings, up around the couch, and even above the doorstep leading outside. A detail she missed while unconscious.

“He’s always excited,” she heard Kenneth mutter back as she passed.

The Hayes family decided to turn on more lights than usual, spheres full of radiant enchantments bathing the room in a cozy yellow. The long dinner table—a combination of all the counters they could find, including Caro's gaming desk—was covered in a checkered tablecloth, loads of dishes piled across.

At the center was sliced brisket laid onto a layer of tall leeks, grass-like almost, with drizzled gravy to finish off the Kidraan dish. A wide array of fruit trays were organized in an artistic manner around it, spaces filled with jugs of juice.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Caro stood akimbo at the head of the table. “Let’s eat!”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Hell yeah!”

“Happy New Years!”

Bradley raised a hand and paused the celebration, heads turning in his direction. "Tonight, we honour the prep graduates, Valory and Carielle, as well as," he gazed upon Caro, "a future, rising mage."

“Two mages.” Gazes darted from Bradley to Val at her statement, similar expressions of shock across their faces—slack jaw, raised eyebrows, stilled hand. A hint of a smile graced Val’s lips as she watched Caro’s almond-brown eyes widen in giddy anticipation. “Probably not rising for me though. I’d prefer growing, and very slowly, at that.”

“I’ll toast to that,” Bradley offered a smile, his cup hefted above the center of the table. “Both of whom I consider sisters, both of whom I consider talented—we wish all the best for tomorrow's trials. While my parents aren’t here, know that they think the same as well.”

Val’s words remained lodged in her throat. Settling for a heartfelt nod, she tapped his cup.

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

As they dug in with vigour, as she ate and celebrated with loved ones, Val couldn’t help but smile. This, she thought, this is what I have to protect.

The Efron and Hayes families, too busy raising their glasses to a year of prosperity, failed to catch the unusual swaying of shadows behind the curtains. By the time Fiona’s ice-blue eyes glanced its way in suspicion—the response under the span of a millisecond—it was gone.