Magic! For Real, Now

We settled into a rhythm that week. Despite the Dawn of Spring having officially ended, the Cernnos Woods were apparently in dire shape. Marie and I decided to make good use of the extra time we’d been given: she would practice combat with Diana, and I would study magic with Finley.

Life in the palace became downright comfortable. Late in the mornings, the royal twins came to fetch me and Marie from the guest wing to take us to our respective lessons. Finley and I would spend the day atop his secret rooftop courtyard, chatting about magic, the festival, and everything in between. I had no idea where Diana and Marie typically went off to, but I was too focused to be concerned with that.

In the evenings, we’d dine with the twins and the rest of our Lumineusian contingency. Marie and I wrapped up the day with sunset tea on the terrace, gossiping about the twins to one another and excitedly telling each other about what we’d learned that day. I wasn’t keeping track, but at least a week passed by in that manner.

One morning, Finley proudly told me that I could graduate from lectures to practical lessons. Excitement coursed through me, but from what I’d learned of magic over the last week, practical lessons meant concentrating hard on matter I couldn’t exactly see, and for which the exact mechanics were ‘unknowable.’ Real easy stuff.

Per Finley’s guidance, to visualize the coalescing of mana, I settled on imagining this invisible magical energy as pollen. It was easy for me to picture little streams of the stuff, flowing like specks of dust through everything.

Finley instructed me on controlling it. “Now, focus on viewing that pollen inside everything. Inside you, me, the ground, the wind, this trellis, these flowers. Center your attention on your palm. Feel your heart beating, willing the lifeblood of the world through you. Push it through your arm and to the center of your hand, and- Oh! Elisabeth! That’s it!”

Slowly, a tiny wisp of blue curled up off my palm. My pollen swirled around inside it, and wonder overtook me. Hah! I’m a natural!

“Finley, is this—!?”

He beamed at me. “Amazing!” A tight hug followed immediately after.

Ah! Oh God! What? Hug. Guuuughhh.

The computer between my ears overheated. I’m sure if I could’ve seen my face, there would have been spirals in my eyes and stars over my head.

Finley stepped back. “Sorry!” Eyes drifting out towards the horizon, his voice felt smaller, “I knew you’d be skilled. All it takes is curiosity and an earnest desire.”

I couldn’t respond. I was still reeling from the embrace. It didn’t feel like that when Marie hugged me. What the hell is going on?

Finley turned his whole face out towards the city. His cheeks were red. “I must apologize. That was… forward.”

Silence fell over us as the wind rustled the plants on the trellises.

After a few seconds that felt like minutes, Finley broke the silence, “Well, shall we try again?”

“Indeed. A fine idea.” Something about me felt stiff.

Nevertheless, we continued. I managed to get some pure mana to wisp off my palm over five times in a row before Finley admitted, “In truth, Elisabeth, I’ve hidden a crucial aspect of magic from you.”

What!?

“And that is?” I raised an eyebrow.

He laughed. “Nothing serious! It’s simply that, to channel magic, while it is possible to do with the bare hand,” he said as he pulled a necklace out from beneath his shirt, “typically, we use what we call magic tools to amplify and concentrate that channeling. For the vast majority of magic users, these tools are what make those wondrous effects possible.”

The sight of the necklace reminded me of the blue glow I had seen in Finley’s shirt when we first met, the light that emanated from him as he had saved me from the monsters.

That was, like, two weeks ago. Whoa. Feels like ages.

The necklace was silver, but had a few charms attached to it, the largest of which was a small circular gem, a drop of sapphire. Next to that, a piece of metal fashioned into the shape of a claw.

“This is what lets you cast spells?” I asked in wonder.

“Hmm. Well, actually, ‘spells’ isn’t exactly correct. What you might call a spell, like from a children’s tale, is more of a mnemonic to help you remember the exact method for channeling magic energy to achieve a certain effect.”

What a dork. “Finley, that’s great to know, but not what I was asking about.” I rolled my eyes with a slight smile.

“Ah, right. To your point, this does let me amplify my magic, yes. For most people, it would be necessary to have a tool to even dream of performing the kinds of magic I do, but, well,” he said as he straightened up, “I’m a bit of a special case. There’s a reason I’m called the High Scholar, you know.”

I laughed and gave him a playful punch on the arm. “Great to know that the Prince of the Andraste Empire has a healthy, normal ego.”

He rubbed his arm in faux pain. “Careful there, princess. You don’t want to create an incident now, do you?”

I let out a giggle.

This is so… easy. The connection came naturally.

“All of that is to say, Elisabeth,” Finley said as he slipped the necklace back beneath his shirt, where it rested snugly against his toned chest- Hey. Stay on topic.

Finley continued, “If we want you to really delve into a school of magic and make it your own, then we ought to have a tool made for you.”

“Really? I would love that!” I bounced on my toes.

He smiled. “Then, while we make our way to the royal smith, have a nice, long think about how you’d like your magic to be.”

Wait, now? Hell yeah!

We left the courtyard, Finley continuing his explanation as he lowered us down. “If you’d like, I can suggest a few magic schools that retainers of the Royal Family specialize in. Or my own, of course: mana, manifestation, summoning, or healing.”

We stepped onto the floor. “Of course, don’t let that limit you. If there’s something you think fits you, forge your own path!” the High Scholar encouraged me.

As we walked through the palace, I began mulling it over. Mana seems cool, of course. That’s what Finley does the most, all those blue flashes of pure magic. But healing could be fun, too? Ah, but I don’t want to be stuck on the sidelines like a support class in a game. Summoning would let me summon a bunch of cute, fluffy animals. I tapped my finger on my chin in thought.

Wait, but I couldn’t bear to send them into battle! Okay, what about water and fire magic? My eyes narrowed. Ugh, both so basic, and they’d ruin my clothes one way or another. Diana summons weapons, but I couldn’t swing a hammer like that if I wanted to. That means enchantment is probably out the window, too. Hmmm…

Finley seemed to enjoy watching me puzzle it out, trying to hide his smile at my concentration.

After a few hallways, someone unexpected appeared.

“Oh, Your Highness. Hello.” Margot’s cold voice snapped me out of my magical daydreaming. “What might you be doing, gallivanting off with Master Finley?”

Finley cheerfully replied quicker than I could think, “I was just showing Elisabeth around the palace.”

“I don’t recall asking you.” Margot sneered at him.

I stepped forward. “Relax, Margot. He really was just showing me some cool parts of the palace. We’re stuck in Andraste for the time being, anyway.”

“Regretfully so. I shan’t interrupt your time together, but please do be careful about cavorting with this one too much, hm?” Margot’s voice dripped with condescension.

Lip service, it is. “Whatever you say.” With that, we continued on our way.

A safe distance away, Finley began, “About her-”

“Don’t, Finley. It’s not worth it.” I held up my hand. “Let’s just move forward.” I put on an encouraging smile. “I’m really excited.”

We descended to the lowest floor of the palace, an earthen dungeon of stone. There, the royal smith pounded away at some metallurgical project next to a massive fireplace. Finley had to snap him out of it with a spark of mana.

He looked up, and his eyes lit up. He dropped the piece of hot metal immediately and waddled over. “Finley, lad! You’ve work for me?” Whoa, no honorifics? And that sounded like a woman. Again and again, Andraste seemed intent on challenging my notions of what was “for” men or not.

“In a sense, Moira. I was wondering if you could work out a magical tool for Princess Lumineuse, here.”

The smith looked me up and down. She bellowed in a deep voice, “If the prince says so, I’ll make it so! What’cha lookin to get fixed, hm?”

This was renewed pressure. I had to have something ironed out now.

I thought back to the garden that had greeted and comforted me in my own room back home. To the lovely street of blossoms at the Dawn of Spring. To the single alstroemeria which Finley had gently nestled in my hair. To the pollen swirling through every molecule on earth.

“Well… I was thinking… What about a kind of magic that uses flowers?” I shyly put forth.

Finley thought for a moment. “Flowers… Why, yes, that does fit. Really well, in fact.”

“Maybe I could have flowers that can help people, or vines that hold stuff, or just plants in general, you know?” I felt like a kid making something up. Embarrassing.

The Prince’s face widened into a grin. “Yes. Something like that could absolutely work. All that matters is that you can picture it in your mind, and that the tool helps in that visualization. Moira?”

“Aye. Somethin’ like a metal flower might work. Little piece for yer fantastic hair.”

That excited me. “Yeah! Something like that!” I put my hands together by my chest. “A specific flower would be wonderful, actually.”

“Hm? An’ what’s that?”

I smiled. “Could you make it an alstroemeria?”