Three

The official cause of death listed in the papers was bludgeoning to the head. Ninos had thrown up reading that, imagining the pain, the suffering. Brandor hadn't deserved that. Nobody deserved that.

The way the paper wrote about it, the way everyone talked about it, churned his stomach and put him off food entirely. His only solace, locked up and refusing to answer the door to even Kina, was in going through the boxes. He'd expected it to hurt, and it did, but there was also a strange comfort in it.

Clothes, as he'd expected, and not one but two large jewelry cases. A few books, the majority having been left to the academy, the handful of paintings he'd had hung in his office, and other personal effects. Some of the clothes he would keep, the rest he'd sell or donate. Everything else… well, he'd probably have it shipped to his new home, since he couldn't dump boxes of random stuff on his parents in their small house. For years it had been one room, that was it. When he'd gone home to visit at ten years old, they'd built a separate bedroom and added a lean-to pantry. His mother had been so happy and proud to show it all off, bragging about a 'proper home after all this time'.

Wonder what they'd done with the place since he last saw it. What would they think of him having an entire property just three days away? That was one of the reasons he and Brandor had first started getting along. They were from the same area, broadly. Farming and fishing, that whole part of the country.

Corlock was mostly fishing, built right by a river, but too far into the mountains for heavy travel and trade to be possible, keeping it on the smaller side of a town. days away, in a deep valley, Goldfell grew primarily wheat, but plenty of other crops as well. Ninos's family was one of the few that didn't farm, his father being one of two blacksmiths, and his mother did all manner of sewing, from making clothes to repairing them, even making quilts for people, time consuming and costly, but necessary in the cold valley.

Nearly all of the crops needed for the country came from their corner of it, though they received little enough respect and gratitude for that fact. When he'd first arrived at the school where he'd begun his training, he'd been made fun of even by other little children who surely shouldn't have cared about such things yet for being a dirty, barefoot country boy. It had been years before he'd been left alone about that.

Sighing at the memories, he finished sorting everything into piles and then went to get cleaned up. Graduation the day before had been depressing, gloomy and overcast, and right at the end it had started raining.

The weather was no better today, but at least conjuring always took place inside, as so much as a stray leaf could ruin everything. There were countless horror stories about conjurings that went wrong, before the days of standardization, where people did the ceremonies outside and a strong breeze or a lump of snow from a branch or some other small, seemingly trivial thing had caused a disaster that left people dead. Tampering with a conjuring—or a summoning, but he was not the kind of mage that would ever go anywhere near summoning—was a serious matter that came with years of punishment in hard labor and a permanent ban from ever using magic.

Outside, Kina was waiting for him nearly right by the door. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Ninos replied, mustering a smile. He wished desperately that he could still be excited about this moment he'd waited on for years, worked so hard for. All he could feel was grief.

Two days before graduation, as everyone was slowly losing their minds from questions about their futures, it had been announced that all students of Professor Brandor would receive passing marks, regardless of their current marks, and final projects would be exempted. More than a few students had raised a fuss about the unfairness of them 'just getting away with doing no work' but that had been sharply, brutally shut down. Those who had still wanted to present had of course been permitted, and Ninos had gone and gotten a clipping of his project to show it to Wintry, but he was grateful that he didn't have to do the presentation now. He didn't want to break down crying in front of the whole class, and he definitely would have.

He had also, mercifully, been excused from the ball. Kina's own mother had come to relieve them both of duty, and even taken them to lunch. It had been nice; he always enjoyed spending time with her, even though it had also reminded him of all his meals with Brandor.

They headed across campus to the main building, then down into the cool, dim basement where conjurings were always done because the space was enclosed, controlled, and private. Only five people attended conjurings at a time. With nearly a hundred students in their graduating class, and just four conjuring sessions a day, it took a few days to get to everyone.

In the interests of fairness, the schedule was done by lottery. Ninos had drawn a lot for the second day, third session. Kina had drawn a lot for the last day, first session, but had somehow found someone to trade with him so that they were together.

Reaching the basement, where the door they sought was fronted by two school guards, they presented their slips. One of the guards relented enough to crack a smile as she let them in. "Good luck!"

Inside, the room was lit by lamps hanging from the ceiling and countless candles around the edges of the room, framing the conjuring circle. The other three students, whom he only vaguely recognized despite them all being in the same graduating class, were already there. Wintry nodded in greeting, and then motioned to the conjurer to begin.

In magic, there were five classes: elemental, sorcery, alchemy, arcane, and dark. The academy taught everything but dark magic, which wasn't illegal or even necessarily bad on its own but had such a sordid history of misuse that it may as well be illegal. Anyone interested in using dark magic had to seek private tutoring, travel all the way north to Shadowfell, or leave the country.

Conjuring was a subclass of sorcery, which also included summoning, warding, cursing, enchanting, and more. It was the only class of magic that required official post-graduate work, done at a remote academy along the east coast. Sorcerers did not get their full licensing until they were at least thirty, unless they somehow managed to finish sooner, and he could not recall the last person who had managed it.

"Welcome, everyone," Wintry said. "I know this is the moment you've all waited and worked so hard for, so I'll not keep you. Let's begin."

The first girl, a saxum mage, a branch of the terra class like sylvan, conjured a giant lizard familiar. He had no idea what kind, but she was overjoyed, so that was all that mattered. After her came the other woman in their group, an ignis mage, which didn't really have subclasses like the other elemental branches, as fire was fire, though they did specialize in uses.

After her was the other man, a ventus mage, Ninos knew that much, but what subclass he hadn't the slightest. Ventus magic had many uses, from picking out the different kinds of air in a space, useful in places like caves, to controlling currents to help ships, though that was one of the most difficult subclasses. His familiar was a beautiful cardinal, its vibrant red feathers the brightest point in the dim, dull basement.

Then it was Kina's turn, and Ninos was nearly as excited for him as he was for himself.

The circle of cast marks lit up as he stepped into them, brilliant blue green as it read his magic. The conjurer, standing at the north point, cast the spell and a wall of blue-green light surrounded Kina. Shards of light, like bits of glass, came from the wall and darted to him, slowly at first and then with increasing speed, coalescing on his shoulders—and then the remaining light shattered.

As it faded, wrapped around Kina was… a snake. Not unheard of for an aqua mage, but not common either, and more often associated with dark magic—though not always. Shoving away his surprise and misgivings as grossly out of place, because this was Kina for gods' sake, Ninos cheered. "That's wonderful! Congratulations, Kina!"

Kina smiled and looked pleased with himself like always—possibly even more pleased than usual. Why wouldn't he though? He'd waited a long time for this moment, and a water snake was nothing to be trifled with, not with as deadly as their venom was. This one was particularly stunning, with blue-green opalescent scales with black bands.

At Wintry's nod, Kina moved forward out of the circle—and tripped, going down hard, his hands catching the worst of it.

"Kina!"

"I'm fine," Kina snapped, pushing himself up and storming over to his spot outside the circle, not looking at anyone, focused entirely on his familiar.

Reluctantly leaving him be, following Wintry's nod to move, Ninos finally stepped into the center of the inner circle, heart in his throat. The wall of light flared up, brilliant spring green…though for a second it almost looked red around the base. Trick of the light? There was a lot of it.

The casting began, and his heart pounded so hard it thundered in his ear, made his chest feel like it was thrumming—

And then he cried out as a sharp, slicing pain cut through his chest, dropping to his knees even as the caster finished speaking. He could just hear frantic voices, but all he could focus on was the light coming toward him, starting green but turning red, coalescing on his shoulder, the color darkening to almost black.

The final flash of blinding light came, brilliant red, and then nothing.

On Ninos's shoulder was an enormous raven with glistening black feathers and glowing red eyes.

"What—I'm a sylvan mage—how—"

"Everyone out," Wintry said sharply. "Now!"

When they were alone, just the two of them, he crouched in front of Ninos in the now-dormant circle. "Describe to me what you felt." Wintry listened as he did so, and when he finished, he helped Ninos out of the circle to stand by the wall nearest the door.

Then Wintry set to examining the circle, grim-faced when he finished several minutes later, standing up and brushing dust and grime from his hands. "I examined this circle personally before anyone entered, and again right before all the students arrived. There was nothing wrong with it. All the other conjurings went perfectly. Someone in your group managed to add marks here, and something that looks like blood, so that your conjuring would go awry. I think, though, that the purpose was to kill you. Why you wound up with a dark magic familiar instead, I do not know. I've never seen anything like this. Come on, I want you to stay in my chambers from now on, until we know you will be safe. I'll have someone bring your things, as I first want everything inspected thoroughly for further mischiefs."

"Tried to kill me? Why would someone want to kill me?" That was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard. He didn't do anything. He went to class. He did his homework. Sometimes he went into town to do necessary shopping he couldn't avoid and the rare frivolous shopping he couldn't really afford. A few times a year he let himself be convinced to go to a tavern or some not-so-secret against the rules party on campus, where he got a little drunk and made out with someone until he got bored and went back to his room.

Where in any of that boring life was there a reason to kill him? Wintry had to be wrong.

He didn't remember the walk to Wintry's private suite, which had not one but three bedrooms, a parlor, a study, a kitchen, and may as well be an actual house instead of just half of an entire floor. Who needed that much space? What did he do with it all?

Try as he might, trying to judge Wintry's home didn't work to distract him.

Instead, he stared at the raven which had taken up residence on a bust on the fireplace mantel and stared back at him with one glowing red eye. He'd expected a stag, a unicorn, a rabbit…

Not the most infamous symbol of dark magic, most often seen in death and blood magic. His job was to help things grow —strengthen crops, speed growth of sorely needed medicinal herbs, ward gardens against rot and infestation.

How had he wound up with a familiar associated with blood curses and raising the dead? This was the worst sort of nightmare.

To judge by the ringing silence in his head, where he should be able to hear his familiar, they weren't happy about it either. Ninos didn't even know their gender.

Male

Well, one question answered. "What's your name?"

Sinn .

Of course it was.

The irritation that garnered was so sharp and bright that, despite everything, Ninos almost laughed.

Nothing about the situation was funny, however. How in the world had they would up bound when they were so disparate?

And if he kept brooding about that, he wouldn't think about how apparently someone had tried to kill him. Why? Was this related to Brandor somehow? But that made no sense at all. He didn't have the slightest idea why Brandor had been murdered, and if he was that clueless how could he be tied to it?

What in the world was going on .

Jealousy , came the voice in his head, as cool and crisp as the first frost of autumn that heralded winter's approach. The water rat tasted of jealousy.

"Water rat? What are you talking about?"

The raven flapped its wings, impatient and annoyed, and let out a sharp, deep caw that made Ninos flinch. The aqua boy with the venomous snake .

"Kina? You're wrong, he's my best friend. He's not jealous of me and even if he was, he'd never kill me."

You are a child.

"You've been here twenty minutes!" Ninos folded his arms across his chest with a huff. "Anyway, what do you mean tastes of jealousy."

Like having a handful of bergamot and fresh moss shoved into my nostrils. A smell so strong it lingers on the tongue.

He'd never heard of anyone or anything that could taste/smell things like jealousy. Must be something about dark magic familiars he hadn't heard of before; it wasn't like he'd ever paid that branch of magic much mind.

Amusement rippled through his mind, but before he could ask what the bird found so funny, the door flew open and Wintry strode in like he was being chased, all the color leeched from his skin, giving him an ashen, close to death look. "Sit, sit," he said shakily when Ninos made to stand. "I am afraid I have terrible news for you, lad."

"What do you mean?"

The raven flapped its wings in a way that said told you so in a way that grated along Ninos's already frayed nerves.

Sitting down heavily, as though he carried a weight he would never be able to set down, Wintry said somberly, "The peace guards have just arrested Kina for the murder of Professor Brandor and attempting to murder you. Blood mages were called in to more closely investigate some things they found at the murder scene, and the traces of blood in the castings laid down to corrupt your conjuring and kill you."

"You're lying! You're wrong!"

Jealous water rat.

"Shut up!" Ninos bellowed and fled the room even as Wintry called after him.

He ran and ran and ran, desperate to get away.

It couldn't be true. Not Kina. His best friend. They'd known each other since they arrived at the academy, met just days after arrival. Every step of the way through school they had walked together.

Memories ran through his mind, over and over, as he fled across campus and through the back gate, ignoring the guards who'd been sitting playing guards instead of standing at attention, on into the woods along a path only he knew.

He didn't stop until he reached his destination, a little glade alongside a brook where he had done his final project, combining six different plants into a single new one. It had taken him three years to get to the final result, which he had named Mourning Rose. The predominant base was taken from the Ladies, flowers with no relation save for their names: Belle of the Ball; the Dancing Lady; and Lady of the Court. A lily, an oleander and a rose. The fourth flower was a strand of nightshade he'd spent six months acquiring, and then he'd used poisonous plants. Save for the Lady of the Court, all were poisonous in some way.

Bit by painstaking bit, he'd coaxed one flower to cooperate with another, then switched up the pairs, over and over until he had new bases that he then started combining with each other. Various combinations, so many of them it made his head spin at times, until he'd finally got his beautiful silvery lavender rose with black tips. Every part of it was poisonous.

A sharp cawing made him jump and cry out, and he whirled around until he spied Sinn in the branch of a Griffon Oak. "What do you want? If it's to brag, then go away."

No bragging. Can't have my little mage wandering off into the woods crying and run straight into a horned griffon or something .

"They don't live in this area, they're more north. Dire wolves can be a problem, but they tend to leave me alone."

Another caw and flap of wings. I would too, the way the scent of poison and venom clings to you. Little sylvan who cares for life, why do you smell like the promise of death?

"What you call poison others call cure, why do I have to keep explaining that to people?" He huffed and sat down at the base of the tree Sinn was perched in, bringing his legs up to his chest to wrap his arms around them. "Whatever, think what you like. It's clear you're not my actual familiar, though I've never heard of winding up with someone else's familiar."

It's true this is not where I expected to be today .

Ninos hunched in even further on himself. Even his familiar, the one being in all the world who should have been for him, loved and supported him no matter what, didn't want him. Just like his best friend in the whole world never had, apparently.

He was so tired of crying. It felt like he'd done nothing else ever since Brandor had died. He hadn't thought anything could be worse than losing someone he loved.

Fool him for issuing such a challenge, because there was something worse: realizing that someone he loved had never once loved him. "I don't understand. Why? He was my friend ."

Jealousy will twist and warp even the kindest person if left unchecked. It grows in the cracks and seams, like ivy along a wall, or water in the flaws of a foundation. Once it's in there, getting it back out is nigh impossible. Sinn flapped his wings and the suddenly he was perched on Ninos's knees, staring at him with one glowing red eye. What were the cracks and seams, though? What were the vulnerable points?

"I don't know," Ninos said, hiccupping on a sob before he nudged Sinn out of the way and stood. He cleaned his face in the brook, then stood at a loss before accepting he would have to return. Maybe this would all be a horrible misunderstanding, or a bizarre dream.

I'm afraid you won't be so lucky, little human.

"You're insufferable."

How charmingly polite of you. Most would just call me an ass.

"My mother doesn't approve of such language."

That got a series of noises that could only be laughter. He wouldn't be the first to laugh, but even as a young child he could remember his father getting slapped for using crude language, and the one time he'd accidentally used a word like that around his mother he'd gotten the same treatment. His cheek had been bruised, she'd slapped him so hard. Once had been more than enough.

Your mother should learn to relax. The gods don't care what language you use, with rare and oddly specific exception. Hurtful words need no vulgarity to make them so. Come along, let us face this backstabbing coward who pretended to be your friend.

"I suppose we should get it over with, though we probably won't ever actually see him. He must be locked up at the peace guard headquarters on Ellex Street."

Sinn settled on his shoulder as they made their way back through the forest, dread like a stone in Ninos's stomach, because whatever happened next, it wouldn't be pleasant.