Lysand rode to a stop at the gates to the talentless city,
his horse flicking its ears nervously. A large dog with a bright white pelt
barked, and recognition dawned. He had known that hound when it was a pup.
“It’s me, Liro! It’s Lysand!”
Silence
reigned from the watchtower, before someone’s voice boomed. “Lysand?”
“Wait
there!” someone else called. A whistle pierced the night air. Soon enough, a
form emerged from the watchtower, jogging over to where Lysand sat atop his horse.
The man was dressed in slacks and a ragged coat, a long gun strapped to his
back. His dog loped by his side.
“Lysand, it
is you! You left a year ago!” Liro stopped a few paces away. “What…what are you
doing here?”
Lysand took
a deep breath, hopping down from his horse. “I’ve come for the anniversary of
the founding. I promised my mother I would.”
Liro
stared, and for a moment Lysand thought he might draw his gun. His stomach
tightened. “Please--”
“Sure, I’ll
let you in. This used to be your home, after all.” Liro waved to the other
guard, and the gate began to swing open. Lysand’s heart began to beat faster.
He hoped this hadn’t been a mistake.
***
“So…how is
it? Studying magic?” The snow crunched under Liro’s heavy boots as they walked.
His white dog padded quietly at his heels. He had gotten huge since Lysand had
seen him last. “I mean, you always screwed up any engineering project you tried,
so…”
Lysand looked away from the streamers and baubles
that decorated the houses they passed. He had missed them. “It’s going well. I’m
good at spells. The aether is.... I understand it now.” Lysand patted his horse
when his old friend stayed silent, leading the animal around a puddle of mud.
He tried to ignore the stares he was getting, and he wished he had thought to
at least dress like a talentless.
“Far cry
from blowing up a generator the first time you tried to make one. And the
second time. And the fifth time.”
Lysand
smiled. “Don’t forget melting several bars of silver.”
“And
cracking every table in the room.” Liro laughed, his voice deeper than Lysand
remembered. He had never imagined his friend would become a city guard. Years
ago, he would have been a soldier. “So…that was all because you had magic, huh?
Or, uh, the aether?” His laughter faded.
“Yes. I
guess I…I wasn’t meant for this life.”
“I figured
that’s why you left. I mean, when your dad died…I never thought…I never thought
you’d come back, though. As a mage.” He cleared his throat.
“I’m not
going to forget my home.” Lysand met Liro’s gaze. “I’m still a…” he almost said
talentless, but that wasn’t true. “I still have my friend ands family here.”
Liro
smiled. “Sure.” He sounded like Henry. “Well, I’ll see you at the festivities
tonight. Got something to hang on the founding tree?”
Lysand
patted his bag. “Of course.”
Lysand
waved as Liro left, before tying his horse by a post and heading up the stairs
of the festively decorated apartment. He hoped his mother hadn’t moved.
The key fit
in the lock, and the door to the apartment creaked as he opened it, the sound
bringing back old memories of his sneaking back home after late nights spent
studying. “Hello?”
“Lysand?”
His mother’s voice brought a lump to his throat, and he stared as she came down
the hall, still wearing the thick gloves she always wore from work. “Oh my
word, you really did come back.”
Lysand
spread his arms. “I promised I’d come back for the founding, didn’t I?”
His mother
felt small, almost frail, in his arms, the scent of engine grease and smoke
interspersed with the scent of home. “I feared I’d never see you again,” she
whispered.
“I’m
not…I’m not going to forget my home.” Lysand let her go, his mother looking
up at him with concern.
“I know.
But the way the other boys treated you, and the war and your father’s death…I
wouldn’t have blamed you if you didn’t.”
Lysand
wanted to protest. He had always had Liro, and things hadn’t been that bad. His
decision to leave and embrace the magic in his blood, to take advantage of his
skills, hadn’t had anything to do with the bitterness of the war, or of the
opportunities for magi. He just…wanted to prove he could do something.
He shook
his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here now. C’mon-let’s go celebrate the founding
of the city and see the festivities.”
His mother
smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”
