It was late at night when Celica took me up on my offer to talk about what was bothering her about our Botany professor.

The boys were somewhere. They were in Dragon Tower, so the amount of trouble they could get in was limited. Thus, not my problem. I should have probably been in bed, but I'd wanted to linger by the fireplace. Sitting on the floor at the foot of the couch. One leg outstretched, the other at an acute angle to prop up my right arm.

Celica surprised me by sitting on the floor too. Next to me without a word. Her legs off to the side and tucked away, hands resting in her lap.

"It occurred to me that you have no idea what the differences between Bright and Dark elves are," she said softly.

"It doesn't matter to me what the difference is," I explained in the same soft tone. "What matters is how you feel about it. If it's upsetting you, I want to ease that. I can't do much to help, not like you guys can. But I can listen, if that makes you feel better."

"My brothers. You've seen them," Celica pointed out.

Celica's brothers only kind of looked like her. But now that she'd pointed it out, they did look more like Professor Auri'Cran.

"They were often mistaken for Brights. But we're Dark, and there's not a lot of Dark elves. Almost everywhere I went, no one had seen someone like me," she didn't sound sad about it. But the wistful way she was speaking made me think that at some point it did.

I stayed silent, letting her speak at her pace.

"Last names mean more than first ones in Aisling. You can tell everything about a person's origins from it," Celica continued.

"What does yours mean?"

"Fel is the northern most city, Graces is a clan of Dark elves that traces their history back about six hundred years," Celica explained. "Not quite as storied as you Hearths."

"You might be better off that way, if my experience is anything to go by," I joked.

"The Crans were nobles, but Auri used to be the Dark Elf city. It's entirely underground. Brights like to prefer their cities in the trees," Celica sighed. "The cultures are about as different as the locations. But everyone expects all elves to act like them."

I wondered if that explained some of her behavior around me. I let her keep talking.

"So. It's complicated," Celica concluded.

"Certainly sounds like it. I'm sorry you have to go through all that." I didn't really know what to say, but it was truly how I felt.

"I'm glad that out of all of us, I have Botany with you."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"If it helps you get through this," I told her. "And this isn't a onetime offer, anytime you need to talk it out I'm here."

She nodded, "I know. And thank you."

"We have to look after each other, right?"

She smiled, and it was better than any words. There wasn't a lot I could do, but listening to a friend's problems was something I had years of practice in.

They weren't wasted years.

(*********)

That night I dreamed.

I was standing on a walkway in a stone cave. Railing on both sides made of twisted rusty metal. Blue light came from below, making distorted shadows on the walls. There was a strange sound coming from somewhere. Something between flowing water and falling rain.

The ceiling of the cave had veins of a green metal I'd never seen before. It was much too dark to be copper. I'd never seen any metal that dark of a color.

The light made the metal sparkle in a way that filled me with dread. Little bits of pink reflected down.

But I couldn't let it scare me away. I was finally starting to get a hold of who I was. What I'd always been.

There was no reason to hold back.

(*********)

Waking up that morning made me feel refreshed. It was a feeling I was getting strangely used to. The warm pulse in my chest was strongest in the morning, and that also meant that the pain in my wrist was weakest.

Maybe in time I could feel like this all day long. That would be wonderful.

I adjusted my uniform in the mirror. Yesterday had gone just fine, so no changes to how I wore it. In the mirror I could see the reflections of the stones on my shelf.

The simple white quartz was something worth thinking about. I could use it for the Enchanting project. It wouldn't be much, but it would be something. And that would be very me, wouldn't it?

I smiled at the thought.

(*********)

Breakfast was calm. Well, as calm as it got with Dragon Tower.

"Oh!" Angelina startled from the sudden appearance of whatever thought crossed her mind, "I meant to ask yesterday and forgot. How was Brewing with Carmine?"

I took a sip of water to gather my thoughts, I took a deep breath before speaking. "He's…an odd one for sure."

Jade froze for a moment, like they were trying to figure out what to say or if to say it. "I heard he was chosen by Dragon Tower when he was a student."

"Yeah we can tell," Russel commented. "He's definitely like us."

Celica narrowed her eyes in response.

"I had him last semester, I can't believe we almost had him as our Tower Head. That would have been a disaster," Jarec commented, he sounded amused at the idea.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When they were making the decisions, it came down to him and Vivian Hearth. The vote was close, a one vote difference. According to my source," Jarec explained.

His source. Who I was certain had to be Vivian. "I think I might be glad it wasn't him," I said.

"Can he open Dragon Tower?" Fethris asked.

"Supposedly. Back when they were doing cleanups and inspections, I guess once it's picked a person they stay on it's good side," Jarec answered with a shrug.

It didn't change anything. I had no idea if Carmine was involved in what was happening with Death's Echo, but once it was in a room it didn't matter who did or didn't have access to Dragon Tower. Can't open a room with no door.

Russel glanced over to Celica, it was quick but it was enough to make me think he was saying something to her over telepathy. Was it about the doll?

Celica tapped her fingers on the table. Then a very slight nod.

I hoped they didn't think they were that subtle. Like come on guys. But I doubted anyone around us was up to anything truly nefarious. The worst thing I expected from any of my friends was paperwork.

"Oh, and just so you know; someone's thinking about challenging you to a duel Russel," Jarec said.

What?

"Who?" Russel asked, he asked it in mildly curious way. Strange that someone could have an issue with him and Russel not know who it was.

Hmm. But then again we did have something of a reputation. It might be someone wanting to prove themselves against one of us.

"Not sure, some Pixie," Jarec answered.

Russel paused a moment before responding, "Oh, I think I know who it is, yeah I guess that makes sense."

I'm glad someone knew what was going on. If Russel was okay with it I'd sign the paperwork, assuming it actually came. But that was something I didn't mind that much when it came to being Representative.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.