Gathering the Flurries (chapter 1 edit)

Exhaustion settles into her bones like an old friend. She feels it with every step toward the village. Snow crunches under her feet along the path. Even the guide of the moonlight blurs with her eyes fighting to remain open. Yet the clouding of her mind with the urge for sleep clears upon crossing the village gates. Paranoia strikes like a snake through her senses. Its absence the past few hours had been a welcomed relief, but as she creeps through the houses that make up the student’s home within the school year; it settles like a cloak around her shoulders. Despite the ache for actual rest, Ariana wanders off the beaten path into the wilderness of the forest along the furthest edge of the mountain. Several miles within, she stops to pull a bow and quiver of arrows from a hollowed-out pine.

Releasing her magic from within her core is as innate as breathing. Ariana shapes its form through the air with an icy breath out. Another deep inhale and her magic erects a barrier around the clearing in a web of blue veins of energy. Privacy assured through its muffling effects, she won’t disturb her peers with her training. She eyes the position of the moon from its descent and knows dawn will be a few hours away still. The thick, fur-lined cloak, along with a small bag, falls from her shoulders, allowing Ariana to revel in the frigid wind against her bare arms. Tucking the quiver against her back, she reaches for an arrow and positions herself to face the worn, fading target upon a tree, all but impossible to see in the dim moonlight.

An hour passes forward in undisturbed peace. With each release of an arrow, Ariana can feel the tension draining out of her muscles. Only the quiet breathing and sounds of arrows hitting their intended target fill her clearing. The constant drain of the barrier and the retention of her form prevent her mind from flinching upon any motion of the wildlife that continues to pass through her clearing unbothered. The flutter of auras from all the living creatures brings an almost Zen to her usual paranoid precaution. He couldn’t sneak up to her now with her magic pulsing quietly through the forest. Still unaware of her knowledge of his plans. She eyes the moon again and lowers her bow with a heavy sigh. She would muster her patience for as long as she could withstand. Burrowing that determination up once more, Ariana crosses the clearing to retrieve her arrows from their target.

Carefully easing the arrows from her target, Ariana falls into fluttering memories. Several arrows all but snap under her fingers as they tighten into fists. Pages burning under fire with a now familiar scrawl, she desperately prayed to be an illusion. A figure that haunts the shadows of her deepest fears with a chilling voice. Unknowingly, spilling the truth of a multitude of sins that leave her shaking with fear and an unwavering rage that chills her bones. The hard, inescapable truth that nowhere would be safe for her now that her bloodline was in question. Even hidden in the forest, she can barely shake free of the frigid fear paralyzing her limbs.

She cannot lie to herself. Cannot welcome a delusion of her own desperate making. He is far too powerful for her. Let alone the other hiding within the shadows; striking without fanfare, but leaving his bloody calling card upon the scene. Driving her paranoia to heights she couldn’t escape; nestling into her senses like constant pressure. Trying to break her. Two tyrants edged around each other like stalking felines, circling their prey for the kill. Ready to strike and sink her country, Aflyae, into a war unlike any seen before. She can physically taste the iron of blood lingering in the air. The drums of war are like a heartbeat in her chest. Her peers and the younger students flock to her powerful aura like moths to the flame. Fear clouds their once flickering lights like fireflies into dreary gray within her soul. Their hopes and dreams of the future are like ash on her tongue as reality sinks into their young lives just past their first decade in life.

They wouldn’t be long now. She can sense their glittering, dim auras pressing into the forest in small groups. Shifting her arrows into their quiver, she takes a stuttering breath in. Leaning down, she draws her cloak around her once more and hides the shaking of her hands within their long sleeves. She couldn't allow herself to be so openly vulnerable yet. Closing her eyes, she draws a deep inhale to grip the edges of her magic around the clearing. The meeting she requested a few weeks prior will start soon. They will be returning home in only a short fortnight and time will be out. War would be here before the fall term. Her bright barrier of light collapses into a blue mist as the oldest student enters the clearing. She has been praying they would just leave for this summer, but reluctantly swallows the unease that spills through her mind as Damond steps forward with a bravery she cannot sense within his aura.

He halts within a few steps of the clearing. His shoulders are tense as he shifts to lower his simple, elegant carved staff in the middle of the space available. Small, brief movements mark his steadfast retreat by a few feet. She barely can process the traditional gesture for peace among questionable allies when, one by one, the rest of the group lay their staff aside. An overwhelming sense of uncertainty fills her heart at the vulnerable display of neutrality. Fingers gripping the inside of the sleeves, almost tearing it with her magic, Ariana draws in another shaking breath and firms her resolve. Despite the trembling aura curling around her, she steps forward with an unwavering stride. None of the fifty students flinched from her approach, even though they were defenseless to her potential attack. That is not why they were here. Peace, she desires. Just as slow and careful as they had been, she drops the bow and quiver of arrows first. Then her staff follows into the snow. Soon the short sword she hid against her back also drops with her peers visibly startled. And with hesitance, she pulls from her skirts a pair of daggers so beautifully crafted and well kept also join the pile. The thought of removing his gift makes her want to hide away. A deep, buried fear claws at her chest even as she steps away from all her instincts, screaming to grab the weapons to keep herself safe. She is safe here. She knew it down into the very hollows of her heart.

Damond’s soft, green eyes follow her as she steps away an equal distance. Despite the way her throat swells with choked turmoil, she doesn’t twitch under the piercing gaze. Rigid, she stands with her knees stiff with tension. They would have to present their decision. He glances back to the assembled group and then looks around the clearing, where her new barrier pulses with a crimson hue. The lack of dialect leaves her stomach twisting in dread. It’s after his magic swells gently through the air to circle them all like a spool of tangled thread that he speaks with a soft hesitance.

"No one can hear us?"

“I dropped the barrier hiding the area, but the privacy wards remain.” She reveals the sparkling runes from their dormant state. She doesn’t so much as feel a speck of annoyance as the runes experts among the students within their mastery inspect them with guarded eyes. Finally, they nod in assurance and Damond visibly relaxed a bit.

The lesser experience of runes mages continues to eye her with wary tension. She allows the silence to linger. Their visible hesitation raises her anxiety, but she cannot hide the warm smile that swells at the reaction of her younger peers. Most had taken her up on tutoring over her past four years and their eyes eagerly drank up the sight of her display. The runes sparkle a crimson hue, which flickers as they weave and circle the barrier territory. She can see the older students softly quieting their excited chatter with whispered promises to explain their use later. Others laugh and smile at the display that had become commonplace in their study community. Despite their eased backs, they have shifted amongst the crowd to cut off the younger students like a guard. Fear of a fight that she would never allow to form. To spill the blood of the people whom she fiercely knew in her heart are hers will be a sin she refuses to shoulder.

“War is coming.” The truth fills the air with a heaviness that she loathes to place on shoulders that shouldn’t be involved.

Their unwavering looks continue, and she feels her very soul ache with the singular wish to protect them. To gain power so that she could see them grow. To build a future where they could have families and dreams. Their solemn acknowledgment flames the pyre of hate within her heart. The boiling pulse of fury makes her head fog with a haze. It worsens as some of the younger students step closer to grasp the sleeves of their elder siblings in the group. Others peered anxiously around the clearing as if someone would come to protect them. The harrowing truth that none of them could be safe here makes her wish they didn’t have to discuss it. That she could continue letting them stay so blissfully unaware of the dangers coming that summer. None, however, leave and Damond continues to gaze at her with an unwitting resolve. It makes her soul burn with pride despite shackles that press against her mind at the thought of wanting to smile his way in reassurance.

A small group glanced at each other. A hidden gravity that has been swelling along the edges of their gathering now makes itself known. Pressing with a force that knocks younger members to their knees. The older students all look around the clearing with awe. All Ariana and the group of nobles could do was breathe shakily as Magic roils around them in an urgent whisper. An eagerness that now becomes like a solid weight against their backs. The weight falls from her shoulders when Damond speaks up.

“It’s time.”

Like a punch to the air, the words ignite a haze of pure magic to flutter in the air. Dazzling in its raw form, Damond steps forward to approach. He carefully remains away from the section of staff as he comes to face her mere arm's length away. Her breath catches in her throat, frozen still as he drops to a knee. Hand fisted over his heart, he bows the Warrior Salute to the Monarchy without hesitating. One heartbeat later, the remaining Noble Heirs drop to follow and Ariana feels intensely unprepared for the words they speak as one.

"We have been watching closely since you joined the Academy. Blessed with Magic's intent, we have carefully investigated your integrity and honor. We, the heirs of nobility, have chosen for the light, the dark, and the gray to place our honor in your hands."

Magic drags gravity like a shroud. A choking hold on all of them as They eagerly press amongst all their souls. Clawing but not demanding. Showing but not forcing. This moment is about to unravel everything the warring sides had desired by the wills of teens on the cusp of their adulthood. The vow that airs will ripple through their lives and Ariana refuses to turn away from the will of the ones that kneel to her with absolute trust. That she would not draw their lives from their bodies. Trust and honor, she chokes as their vow pierces into reality.

"Magic had ignited this desire, but we claimed it. As the last of Ivorcraft, we beseech you, Ariana Ivorcraft-Ravenswood, to take up your right as Queen. We cast aside our traitorous blood to be your eyes and shields. So we, the Court's Heirships, will it so mote it be." The chorus from the entire group of sacred noble families leaves the other students stunned and pale.

Frozen, Ariana wrenches her eyes to take in the entire group. Not a single gaze wavers from her. She takes a shuddering breath. They would never be safe now until she secured her throne and cast aside all that opposed the Monarchy. They came with the sole agenda to prevent being left behind. So clever, brave, and incredibly reckless was her Court. For there is no way she could turn them away now. Not after this fiery shine to their auras that burst across her senses like a blanket of determined hope and fierce devotion.

With a shaky hand, Ariana carefully sharpens her nail with magic. With a precise cut against her wrist, she allows her magic to fill the air. Her blood splashes against the snow-blanketed ground as her promise rings through the air, "I, Ariana Ivorcraft, shed my desires. So you have requested, so mote it be. I shall take up the honor of Ivorcraft with pride. To Protect All Under My Banner is our motto. Should I dishonor this pledge, may my death be sealed."

The magic that claws at her soul makes her wobble on her feet. The shackles of the Ravenswood motto of "Trust Only Among Family" wither under the pledge of Ivorcraft and for the first time in her life, Ariana can feel the ability to be open among those not among her family without fear of tearing her magic from her blood with dishonor. Like chains that had encircled her soul and body in a deadly grip, crumbling away. The freedom she never thought she could have. Damond carefully eases her to sit against a pine while the nobles all carefully encircle her as magic thrums in the air.

"I'll be alright." She waves off their anxiety with a small curve of a smile as her magic settles briefly.

"Can we do anything to help?" Young heiress pipes hopefully with amber eyes a shade lighter than her own, leaving Ariana unable to resist.

"Can you pull the stationery and pen from my bag?" She requests with a shaky smile as the eager teen, whom she faintly recognizes among the study group, darts off to the bag that she discarded what feels like ages ago.

"We need to get everyone out." She grit her teeth at the realization that their vow would leave their entire families as traitors to her rule, willing to spill the blood of their kin to tear the monarchy from existence.

"We have a few weeks to make concrete plans." Damond soothes, and Ariana blinks hazily at the confidence and reassurance that oozes into his very aura.

"Here." The teen places the elegant stationery in her hands with reverence. All the students recognize the specific paper. She had made it, especially for her one correspondence over her entire time in school.

She allows them to talk over her for now. Mind buzzing with anxiety and endless burdens they had heaped willingly on her shoulders, Ariana inks a careful letter to her closest confidant, Reiga. To become stronger, she would need to become a Magister. She suspected from his previous letters that he too, had the same ambition. Folding the letter once the ink dries, she straightens her shoulders. As she promises to gain the power to protect them, she prays to bring honor back to their country.