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In the courtyard, under the tree, she spotted Rylan and Evren as they leaned in for a kiss.
“Turns out you are a good wingwoman, Winters,” Harrington said as he and Amelia walked up next to her. His arm was still not fully healed. “Now that evil is defeated and so forth, you and Dawson should come by sometime.” Harrington put his good arm around Amelia. “I still believe Dawson thinks of my place as his home, just a little bit.”
Amelia’s blue eyes rolled back. “You will never stop. I don’t even consider it my home.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“When we get married, we will move away from this drizzly, foggy sphere.”
“Oh shut it. You love it here.”
Amelia smirked. “I do. What about you, Winters? Are you staying on campus, or is there some other place that has piqued your interest?” Her eyebrows wiggled with insinuation.
Mira did not want to have that discussion with them. “I just remembered I have something really important to do far away from you two.”
“Oh come on,” Amelia called after Mira as she headed for the door back to the Dark Magic department. “Give me a little bit of gossip.”
The school bustled with students. Mira went to her room and grabbed her rucksack, unsure of when she would come back—or if she ever would. Did she plan on finishing her degree? Was it still important to remove the scar?
As she left her room, a young woman with dark braided hair opened the door next to hers. Mira froze. She had never seen anyone in this hall.
“Oh hi,” the woman said. “I was wondering why I never got to meet my neighbor. I’m Elana.”
“Mira,” she replied, and gave an awkward wave.
“See you around.”
As Mira walked the hallways, she saw a couple holding hands, students walking with determination to get to class, and a young woman trying to open a door while balancing a stack of books in her arms.
She overheard students talking about acquiring more signifiers, and Mira stared at her hand, which now bore all five. Not too long ago, she would have hated the sight of them. Now, she loved the dark ink on her hand. It was a sign of her strength, her journey.
She was about to enter Obryn’s office but stopped when she saw the Highmage talking to Aidric in a serious tone. Obryn’s hand landed on his shoulder in an uncharacteristically fatherly manner. Aidric’s eyes remained on the floor.
Mira was desperate to hear what was being said but decided to give them some space and turned around.
When Mira and Aidric returned to the estate later and sat down for dinner, she asked him what Obryn had said about the chances of removing the incantation on his chest.
“Doesn’t look like it’s possible,” he said as he took a sip of his wine.
She had assumed that breaking the permanent enthrallment would end his pain.
“Is there anything else we can do?”
“It’s just residual pain. It’s much better than it used to be. Obryn says the pain will dull over time. It already has.”
It was deeply unjust that her scar no longer bothered her, but Aidric still suffered from the side effects of his enthrallment.
“Don’t worry about me,” he said, taking her hand in his. By now, his Shadowflame was inky black again. “We should take a trip. Get out of Osterbury for a while.”
“And where would you want to go?”
“Everywhere.”
She laughed. That was the most Dawson answer she could have imagined.
They took several trips to different spheres, and in most of them, he had some sort of outrageously large house. They kissed in lavender fields and had dinner at restaurants overlooking the ocean at sunset. He appeared the most relaxed she’d ever seen him. Taking a stroll down the harbor of a small town, his arm around her, watching the boats sway gently, she got the courage to finally ask about his mother.
He tensed.
