Trish,

Someone spotted our rare bird flying near Wyrlet. Be prepared to follow up with all haste. It wouldn’t do to have someone else find it first. Sending our mutual friends to aid you in the search. They will tell you more about the sighting and the new plan. Take care.

Your good friend, ******

The signature on the letter was illegible to all except the intended reader.

...

Idelle spent the next few hours exploring the different ways she could apply her newfound talent. The initial rush of success had left her practically sparkling with optimism, and she did her best to channel that energy into discovering her new limits. Which, as it turned out, were more numerous than she’d expected.

Firstly, she was heavily limited by how much and for how long she could focus on the spells. Standing in place and doing simple actions went great. But when she tossed a small rock in the air and tried to hit it with her sword during its lazy path back towards the ground, it took several tries before she managed to feel herself accelerate under the effects of her new speed spell — and the muted effect was a far cry from the exhilarating feeling of moving nearly instantaneously that she’d achieved earlier.

Beyond that, she struggled to maintain the spell for more than a single motion. She could explode out with a burst of speed while jumping, slashing, and pushing, but her body would generally fall back to normal within a step or two during even a short sprint. No, maybe it was more that the blast of wind on her face and in her ears, and the way the ground crunched and gave under her, seemed to break her concentration and pull her back into the everyday world.

It was a little frustrating, but she chastised herself for having unrealistic expectations. With practice, she’d certainly be able to better maintain her state of mind while moving around. At least, she hoped so.

She also couldn’t quite get the trick of enhancing more abstract things about her body, like her eyesight. At one point she thought she managed to focus on the blurred face of a soldier walking on the far side of the courtyard, but she’d been staring fixedly for almost five minutes at that point and it might have just been a consequence of blinking the water out of her blurry eyes.

She resolved to ask Cecilia about it. It certainly seemed like it should be possible to her, but her beginner’s understanding of magic wasn’t enough to give her a trustworthy intuition.

Oh, and the last thing she’d found out? Whether it was practicing magic in general or body enhancement specifically, the hours of practice had left her with another distant, pounding headache.

Idelle tried to ignore the discomfort as she dumped another ladle of food onto her plate, ignoring the funny look one of the cooks gave her as he wiped down the countertop. She’d been messing around with magic for so long that the cafeteria was mostly empty, but there was still enough of the thick stew that came with most meals for her to have a second plateful.

She sat back down at the table and mechanically spooned it into her mouth. Where was she? Right, her new body enhancement spells. Did they have names? Cecilia had mentioned that most of the common charms and spells had names. Stuff like “Orb of Light” and ‘Spark”. But her new spells felt pretty unique in their visualizations to her.

Maybe she should name them herself. Something like “Form of the Raven” and “Form of the Wolf”. She thought about shouting that out in a fight and almost giggled out loud before catching herself with a quick glance around the cafeteria. No need to end up with a weirder reputation than she already had.

Anyway, whatever she called them was fine for now. The important thing was…

What was it again? She made a face. Her headache was really making it hard to keep her thoughts straight.

Right, the important thing was that she was learning about magic and getting stronger. Oh, and maybe getting closer to getting her memories back. Yeah, that.

Too bad she didn’t seem to be getting any closer to that. Her face fell a little at the thought. But she forcibly reassured herself that any progress was good progress before she started brooding on it.

Idelle finished her food and stood up. She could think about her bigger problems in the morning. Better to stay optimistic and in the moment for now. Actually, it was better to sleep right now. Yeah, that was it, sleep off this dragon-cursed headache and think about it later.

A few minutes later, she drifted off into strange, half-remembered dreams of tall trees, whispering figures with mouths full of lies, and faceless enemies endlessly pursuing her as she ran.

…

The next day woke Idelle with a warm ray of sunlight on her face and the distant, frenetic chirping of birds. She stretched, her back and shoulders popping at the motion, and noted with satisfaction that her head was clear again. She’d probably just overdone it training, somehow, that’d be something to keep an eye on next time. Her stomach growled, and she pulled herself out of bed to find more food, reveling in the cool air on her face and arms.

One brisk meal later she trotted her way outside with thoughts of joining another one of the morning conditioning classes. But her plans were interrupted by a mild commotion on the other side of the courtyard; she glanced over to see a familiar tall, freckled girl in a dress. She blinked in mild surprise as her rumored royal friend came over to her.

“Hey Idy, you got time for a lesson in the morning today?” Cecilia’s voice was cheerful, in contrast to the slight slump an observant watcher might notice in her posture. Her eyes met Idelle’s for a moment before flicking away and wandering the courtyard.

“...Yeah, that’d be fine. Scheduling issues?” Idelle chose her words carefully.

“Something like that. You know how it is.”

Idelle shrugged. “I guess.”

Her tone invited an elaboration, but it went unanswered as Cecilia looked back over and gave her an almost bashful smile. “Thanks for understanding.”

Idelle couldn’t think of a follow-up, and the next moment Cecilia straightened her back a little and started back across the courtyard, walking fast enough that Idelle had to hurry for a moment to come alongside her. She opened her mouth to speak, but the princess beat her to it. “How’s practice been?”

“Ah, good actually. Ivar taught me body enhancement yesterday, and I think I’m much better suited to it.”

Cecilia glanced at her. “You sound unsurprised?”

“Why would I be surprised? Blood magic seemed to fit me well from the start.”

“Fair enough. Tell me a little more as we walk.”

Idelle recounted her experiences from yesterday. Cecilia listened intently and nodded as Idelle went over her conclusions. “Most of that sounds pretty normal — a high blood magic affinity often means that less visual forms of magic come more easily, but it isn’t a substitute for practice in any area. You said you had a headache, though?”

She hesitated before nodding. “Is that weird?”

“Weird? I guess you could call it that, but it’s just a little uncommon. Most people just find they can’t focus further rather than actively having physical side effects from casting.”

“Oh. Do you know what might be causing it?”

“Nope.”

Idelle waited for the princess to expand on that like she usually did, but Cecilia didn’t speak further. The awkward silence lengthened, and she searched for something to fill it before she realized something about their path. “Are we not going to the library today?”

“Ah, did I forget to mention? Sorry, I have something to give you, so we’re going to grab that.”

“Something for me? What is it?”

Cecilia shrugged. “You’ll see.”

Idelle looked at her, but the other girl didn’t seem to notice her gaze.

They walked a little further before Idelle worked up the courage to speak. “Um, is everything all right? You’re acting a little different today.”

Cecilia gave a start at her words. “Right. Sorry, I guess I have a lot on my mind. I’ll try to stay focused.”

“No, it’s all right. You’re doing this as a favor, anyway. Do you want to talk about it?”

She asked the question casually, but Cecilia stopped walking and turned to stare at her. The other girl’s eyes locked onto Idelle’s, flecks of gold barely visible amidst the dark brown in the morning light. “Talk about what?

“Um, whatever’s on your mind, I guess?” She shrugged.

Cecilia’s face was schooled. “What brings you to ask?”

Idelle shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, you know. We’re friends? Right?”

Cecilia stared at her a little longer, then let out a little snort that rapidly evolved into a light giggle. “I suppose there are worse reasons. Thanks for asking. I’m all right, though. It’s not something we should talk about, really.”

Idelle smiled back, relieved to see Cecilia’s usual smile returned. “All right. Just thought I’d ask. Sorry if I overstepped or something.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Hey!” Idelle pouted at her. “I just asked if you wanted to talk about it.”

“And you didn’t think it presumptuous to declare yourself friends with royalty?”

“Well… No?”

Cecilia just smirked at her, and Idelle took great pains to roll her eyes as obviously as possible in response. Ugh. Why had she even wanted Cecilia to act like her normal self again?