t wasn't long after Solene had closed the trunk with the satisfying click of the clasps being sealed into place when she saw the poppy-red convertible pull into the driveway.

As soon as it stopped moving, she sprinted down the stairs—Aunt Soleil had arrived.

And with her, Great-Aunt Helena.

The front door swung open, the rays of sun coalescing around her aunt's silhouette into a halo of sorts. The light clung to her, to her long fur-lined brown coat with leaf-green embroidery along the hem, to her silvery-blonde curls. She lowered her round sunglasses and smiled.

"If that isn't my niece—all ready for your last year at good old Anouir?"

"As much as I can be." Solene pressed her lips together. "Where did you go this time?"

"Let me get in the door, and I'll tell you all about it," Soleil laughed. "Is my sister here, or—"

"Both of you are impatient as ever!" Great-Aunt Helena shook her head and smiled as she stepped forward. "Hello, Solene."

"Hello, Auntie Helena."

With her shining blonde hair cut short, her peasant blouses and blue-jeans, Great-Aunt Helena looked much younger than her title might've suggested. As such she'd always requested that Solene call her "Auntie" rather than "Great-Aunt."

Both Helena and Soleil wore golden pendants with sunbursts—a match for Luna's crescent moon, and Solene's that carried both. It was a reminder of their family legacy—and the curse that had haunted the Danaan line throughout generations.

"You look so much like your mother did at your age," Helena continued. She glanced at Soleil slyly. "I was just thinking about—"

"Sorry, we were just finishing something up." Luna's voice carried through the entryway before her and Horus's arrival.

As soon as her eyes fell upon Horus, Soleil's smile tightened, the light around her seemed to flicker or dim. "Hello, Horus. I see my sister's still keeping you around."

Horus, to his credit, did not respond in kind. "I had acquired a new tea variety that I thought she might want to share."

"It really was good, you should get more of that when you can." Luna's eyes softened as she dusted something off of his jacket. "I take it you have to get going, though?"

"It really is for the best." Horus placed a hand on Luna's shoulder. "The family's meeting up at the old house down in the Arcane Lights. If Icarus is calling a meeting, then it must be serious."

"I suppose so." Luna frowned. "Well, I suppose then you've kept me company long enough."

"Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow, and I'll bring more of that tea." Horus looked to Solene. "I don't think I'll see you again before you take the ferry, so good luck at school tomorrow. Please feel free to write if you need anything, and you don't want to tell your mother."

"Yeah, he's good at keeping secrets," Soleil volunteered with a gleam in her eye.

"The kind of things you used to get up to, Luna, like in our last year—"

While the polite smile remained, the light dissipated in both Horus and Luna's eyes. Solene could have sworn Horus looked a little paler for it, some of the color had dissipated from his bronzed cheeks.

"I could tell so many stories about what you were up to in our last year too." Luna spoke evenly, but even Solene could recognize the truth behind the airy, casual tone. "I'd daresay you got into even more trouble than I did." It was a threat.

Helena raised her eyebrows. "Now girls—"

Soleil merely laughed. "I'd say that's true."

Horus sighed. "Have fun, you four."

He then looked to Helena. "It was nice seeing you, as always."

"Enchanting as ever, Horus." She patted his shoulder as he brushed by, before he left the house entirely.

"Well then, now that it's just us girls, I guess I should come on in, shouldn't I?" Soleil planted her hand on her hip.

"You should, make sure to close the door." Luna pressed her lips together thinly and disappeared back into the living room.

Soleil shook her head and chuckled as she shut the door. She removed her coat and draped it over her elbow before clapping Solene on the shoulder. "So, kid, this is the big year, the one where you've gotta make all the decisions."

"Yeah, I guess so." Solene let Soleil guide her into the living room, and joined her on one of the ruby and violet couches.

"Have any idea what you want to do yet?" Soleil set the coat aside and crossed one leg over the other, showing off her long legs and her tall lace-up boots.

"Don't pressure her," Helena chided as she perched at the edge an armchair.

"It's alright, Auntie Helena, really," Solene reassured her. "It's the same as it's always been—I want to be a Duelist."

"Just like your dad, eh?" Soleil patted her shoulder. She smiled—but something had changed about it. Something had dimmed, like a cloud passing over the sun on an otherwise perfect day.

Helena's expression had darkened like a gathering thunderstorm over a summer afternoon.

"You don't want to be a Duelist." Helena leaned forward. "Trust me, I've seen where that leads. No good comes of it."

She tilted her head, considering Solene. "I heard from your mom that you've got good grades in Alchemy. You could always be a healer like her—or like your dad wanted to be."

"That's right." Soleil sat up straighter. "I forgot all about that. He was just so good at what he did, it would be easy to forget that wasn't always who he wanted to be."

He never wanted to be a warrior.

He'd told Solene so, once when she was still a little girl. He'd told some story about him and Luna when they were back in their school days at the Anouir Institute. One of the ones that dated back to before his accident. Back then, the way he told it, he'd been pining endlessly after her mother, and had often followed her into all sorts of misadventures.

One of these anecdotes had involved a class they'd shared at the time, a healing class. Which had prompted the question from Solene: "Wait, if you had healing classes, why didn't you become a Healer? Why did you give it up?"

His hazel eyes became really sad at that. Brown hair fell across his freckled face. He was silent for a long time, enough for Solene to understand that she'd asked something she wasn't supposed to. There were a few things like that, she knew even then, that her parents would go strangely quiet and still about.

When he spoke again, it was uncharacteristically solemn. "I wanted to. But after my accident—I could never heal again. No matter how much I tried. Something about what happened—it changed my magic. I could never cast a healing spell again, but I at least got better at dueling."

He smiled at the end. "That part wasn't so bad. After all, it meant I could finally go up against Horus at the Dueling Club. Before then? I didn't stand a chance. Not to mention your mother."

The sad look on his face stuck with her, even after he'd moved on from the moment.

But Solene had a different reason for choosing her path. After all, it was Duelists who faced evil witches, who often determined the tide of history in events like the Mage Wars.

"I can't," Solene answered, toying with her sun and moon pendants on the chain around her neck. It seemed tighter all of a sudden, a reminder of what lay ahead.

"Listen to me, I know that they can make it all sound glamorous, and your father was exceptionally good at what he did." Helena locked her gray eyes onto Solene's, and Solene could not look away. "But all Duelists have a short life—even he was no exception to that. You'd be setting yourself up for a curse." 

But that was the problem, wasn't it?

The Danaan line was already cursed.