The sight of Abel surrounded by a siege of books was as foreign to Sebastian as the Scribal tongue was to Abel.

She tossed another heavy book his away with a grumble, strands of auburn hair falling from the ribbon she'd used to tie it back. A lone piece swung in front of her eyes, and she swatted at it impatiently.

"Another translation required," she informed him as the book she'd thrown landed across his outstretched legs. "And quit smirking at me," she added. "I'm perfectly capable of reading and studying magical elements with you."

His jesting grin grew. "As long as it's written in a language you can understand, that is."

She huffed at him and reached for another scroll. "I'm sorry that I don't understand stupidity."

Sebastian chuckled, flipping the book over in his lap to translate the front cover. "Concepts of Elemental Magic." He peeled back the first few pages, and nearly gagged at the smell. Ancient mothballs and decaying skin wafted from the thinning pages. "You would think books would smell nicer," he commented.

"Yes, because books are the modern day roses," Abel quipped.

He grinned over at her. Once he'd given into the belief of the elements, a pressure had lifted from his esophagus, not to mention the continual support of Abel's presence. She focused him. They'd fallen into an easy rhythm as they passed the books and scrolls back and forth, looking for anything that could help Sebastian survive tomorrow's trial.

Sebastian looked up to check the moon dial by the window. Dawn would rise shortly. He tried not to think about it.

The one person Sebastian could do without was Captain Matthias, who stood by the double doors, clicking his tongue impatiently every hour or so.

Like now. Click, click. Sebastian sighed; he was another hour closer to his first task. Matthias made a reliable timekeeper, at least.

"Are you ever going to actually try?" Matthias drawled from his post.

Sebastian ignored him—again—and scoured the table of contents, but he heard Abel snap, "Are you ever going to leave?"

Matthias only clicked his tongue once more. Either that, or it was his jaw. It was hard to tell because the captain always held himself so stiffly. Sebastian wondered if it was part of his guard training. Doing his best to ignore the clicking, Sebastian dragged a finger down the contents of the books: 1. Elementi of Fire. He looked over at the flames still sputtering half-heartedly in the fireplace and shook his head.

"Let's start with something that won't kill me."

"There's that fighting spirit I've come to adore about you," Abel said.

Sebastian shook his head and kept his finger moving to the other chapters. After all, he'd had a near panic attack when his fingers had caught aflame. He wasn't about to make that mistake again. Besides, the first trial was going to test him on the water element. Hopefully he wouldn't even have to deal with fire—wait. Scribal Hell! Water could be used to extinguish fire!

There better not be any fire tomorrow.

He continued down the list until he saw 5. Elementi of Water. Perhaps he should be grateful that the first task was water-based. He'd grown up around the ocean his entire life, after all, being from Eilibir. It could give him an advantage. Curiosity bubbled within him as he opened to the designated page and began to read.

Huh. Seemed simple enough, but to get his mind to believe it was another feat entirely. He read the chapter through twice more, his fingers flexing beside him. He glanced at Matthias's statuesque form. Maybe he could try...

Sebastian set the book aside and, as quietly as he could so as not to draw attention to himself, he approached the water basin by his bed. He thought back to what he had just read about water. How he would have to seek out that specific elemental thread, which should be easier since he had a water source in front of him. He shut his eyes, sucked in a breath, and stretched out his fingers towards the bowl of water. His fingers would have to find the threads and pull on them.

Water's elemental thread ripples, like a stone tossed into a still river. The waves will roll between the Elementi's fingers, the Elementi even being able to discern a slight disturbance in the air around him when one searches for it.

Oh, it would probably help him to open his eyes. He held himself still, staring at the water, searching, feeling but the air was made up of gasses, gasses that couldn't be seen, atoms and compounds that filled the space they were in, and they didn't ripple...

He found nothing. Felt nothing. Because there was nothing there.

Of course.

"Well, that got me nowhere."

When he turned back towards the scattered books, he was surprised to find both Abel and Matthias watching him. One of the captain's eyebrows raised skeptically, his short hair standing up on end as if it, too, were waiting on him. Abel looked about ready to pop from the pressurized air held in her cheeks.

"Try again," she urged, her eager face pink in excitement. "You have it in you, Bash. You do. I've seen it."

"The little girl is correct," the captain grumbled, his expression puckered as if he'd agreed despite himself. "You have done it before. Just don't think. You think too much. It's tiresome."

Sebastian scowled, but the hopeful glint to Abel's steady gaze caused him to turn back around and face the water basin once more. The tips of his fingers tingled at the proximity. He held his breath, contemplating the still pool of water at the bottom of the pewter bowl.To be honest, the water was most likely dirty, considering he'd used it just a few hours ago to rinse off his face before the Saviour's Toast. Small dark specks of dirt floated along the surface, drifting like dying ants. It was probably still cold to the touch. He was surprised there wasn't a layer of frost accumulating at its edges—

"I can hear you thinking," Matthias said from his corner. "Turn it off."

"I can't not think!" A bead of sweat rolled down his neck. "I have a brain. Its job is to think."

"Maybe you should try meditating," Abel offered.

Frustrated, Sebastian curled his fingers into a fist and punched the contents of the basin. As if that would help. Icy drops of water splashed into his face, and his reckless action caused the basin to tip. As if in slow motion, he watched the water slosh over the lip of its container on a crash course collision with some of the scrolls Abel had scattered around his floor.

His fingers stretched out, as if to catch the tidal wave of water and—

The water halted in midair.

Between his fingers, he felt an invisible string rippling over and between them.

Afraid to so much as breathe, Sebastian watched as droplets of water separated, bobbing in the air, bouncing off other drops and then coalescing into a larger one.

He glanced at his hands, his splayed fingers, and he could see it now. A gentle rippling of the air where that elemental thread connected the water to his will. Carefully, he reached out a hand and cupped his palm around a single droplet. Instead of forming a puddle on his skin, it held together, a perfect miniature sphere. Astrid had done this, when he had first woken up in her bed.

He wondered if she had felt as much awe and disbelief as he currently did.

Probably not.

"Abel," he said. "Catch."

He tossed the little water bulb at Abel, but she wasn't watching its trajectory. She was watching him, her eyes so luminous that they glowed like the moon, the skin of her cheeks alight with wonder. Sebastian twitched his fingers, pulling on the rippling thread of magic. The droplet paused a mere centimeter from Abel's nose before he willed it back to himself. Slowly the water coasted back to his hand. At the last minute, he directed the thread back towards the basin. Sebastian heard the small plop as the droplet hit the now empty bottom of the basin.

Sebastian began to laugh.

His mistake came when he forgot about the rest of the water still waiting for his direction. It collapsed, soaking his socks and spilling across the sloped, stone floor.

He continued to laugh, crazed uncontrollable laughter, even as the fallen water threatened to dampen some of the scrolls and leather-bound books. Because how could he not? He'd just done the unthinkable!

Abel rushed to him with a joyous cry, grabbing his hands in hers, turning them over and inspecting them like she'd be able to find that rippling magical thread herself. "That was beautiful. Bash, you're beautiful. You did that!"

"Put the water back in the basin."

Matthias, who still stood by the door, crossed his arms across his chest, looking between the two of them with all the bore of an unruly student attending a lecture. When his gaze came to rest on Sebastian, he inclined his head to the puddle seeping its way across the floor.

"Put it back," he ordered again.

Sebastian's laughter faltered. "That wasn't enough for you?"

Even as the words left Sebastian's mouth, he knew it wasn't enough. Of course it wasn't, in the grander scheme of things. He had to compete in an entire trial with water in a few mere hours!

But still, for him, it felt rather monumental.

Abel squeezed his hands once more before releasing him. She took a step back, careful to step over the water as if her stepping in it would hinder Sebastian from putting it back together again. Although, maybe it would. After all, it stood to reason that it should be harder to gather scattered sources of water rather than simply manipulating a whole puddle of it.

Sebastian shook his head with a snort. Simply manipulating. Listen to yourself, Bash. You sound ridiculous.

"Stop thinking," Matthias barked.

Sebastian sucked in a breath and closed his eyes, wiggling his fingers into the empty air. Even though it hadn't ever been his favorite place, Sebastian placed himself on a boat just off the shore of Eilibir. The many mornings he had spent on those fishing boats, the memories of swaying with the rise and fall of the tides, sent his hands swinging back and forth. His thumb hit a snag in the air, like a small bump in the length of a piece of fishing twine. He moved his fingers back over it, and there it was.

Slowly, Sebastian opened his eyes to find that rippling thread twining between his fingers once more.

The hardest part, Sebastian was beginning to learn, was recognizing and finding the correct elemental thread.

After that, it was almost...fun.

The harmless threads tickled his fingers. He reeled them in like he would a fishing net, coiling them around his wrist until all the scattered puddles that had accumulated in the dips of the floor were connected. With a slow exhale, the spilled contents of the basin floated up into the air.

Sebastian smiled as the water melded into a perfect sphere, hovering just out of his reach. There was a small noise as Abel righted the tipped basin, but he didn't dare look, afraid he'd lose this. The water sphere bobbed up to eye level, undulating in a mesmerizing dance before him. Carefully, his hand shaking, he reached out to poke it. Cool relief washed up his arm, but the sphere held its shape, the dent refilling as soon as his hand retreated.

He smothered a bout of wondrous laughter and craned his neck to find the upturned basin, to judge the distance of where he should direct these elemental threads. His attention snagged. Again. The flames in the hearth popped, and with it, a thin strand of heat flickered outwards towards him.

Not again!

Panic surged into his throat. There was a splash as the rippling threads slipped from his grasp and the water slopped onto the floor once more.

Matthias clicked his damned tongue.

"Curse the Scribes!" Sebastian's socks were now soaked. He glanced at the fireplace wearily. "I—I'm sorry."

Abel handed him a linen towel. "You don't have to apologize. That was still incredible!"

Sebastian swallowed and shook off the lingering heat. A bead of sweat dribbled down his spine, but he took the towel from Abel with a grateful nod. He felt suddenly shaky.

"Uh, Bash..." Abel began, but she hardly had to finish.

"Fire," Matthias pointed out blandly.

Sebastian spun back towards the hearth, but the smell of it had already assaulted him before the sight did. A thin flame trailed from the fireplace and onto the white fur rug before it. It sizzled, and like a ravenous animal, the flame snaked towards his toes. Sebastian shouted, shaking his fingers, feeling the threads of heat between his knuckles.

"Do something!" Sebastian cried at the captain who simply watched the proceedings with a brooding interest.

Matthias offered him a bored shrug. "You're more capable than I."

Abel cursed the skies before grabbing a blanket from the end of Sebastian's bed and throwing it onto the traveling flames. The heavy material smothered the small trail of fire. Sebastian swore he heard its remnants hissing in anger.

"I think you're going to need more work with that particular element," Abel suggested casually. "As for water, I think that one may just be in your blood, fisherman."

Sebastian tore his gaze from the burned edges of the rug. "I've always hated the ocean."

"Unfortunately, Eilibir is doomed to haunt us for all eternity, it seems."

She winked at Sebastian just as his door swung open, unannounced, for the second time that night.

They all jumped at the interruption. Well, except for Matthias who, Sebastian doubted, even knew what a flinch was let alone how to perform one.

Astrid strode into the room. Her long, blond hair was a mess, falling from its braids, and splatters of blood marred her torn and dirtied gown. Without showing any regard that Abel or her own captain were also in the room, Astrid stopped before Sebastian, her eyes steely.

"What is carissénas?"

Sebastian faltered under her stare. "What?" The scribal word took him aback, bringing forth memories of his mother, and her death, and it was suddenly like Astrid's presence had popped whatever magical bubble he'd been trapped in. "Where did you hear that word?"

Astrid poked him in the chest, her expression so different from the one she'd had while jesting him about books at the ball that Sebastian fell back a step. Then again, this was the same girl who had torn that woman in two with a sword.

"That intruder called you it: carissénas. What does it mean?" She pressed closer, Sebastian's calves fetching up against the trunk at the foot of his bed. "What do you know?"

Always the quickest to read the room even if she didn't enjoy reading books, Abel slid up to his side, facing off with Astrid. "Bash could hardly have known her," she said. "She was an elf, wasn't she? One of their Elders? We're from Eilibir, for Scribal's sake! Fish are far more common than elves."

Astrid paid Abel little attention. "What does it mean?"

Sebastian cleared his throat. "It's a tone of endearment. My ma used to call me that. It means 'dearest one.'"

Astrid watched him for a terse moment before she dropped her accusatory hand from his chest. Sebastian released a breath, but Abel still seethed from beside him, one of her fists clenched into the side of his shirt.

Astrid toed the discarded blanket on the floor. "Be grateful tomorrow's task is water-based, fisherboy." She veered around the singed rug and snapped her fingers at Matthias. "Get this place cleaned up. Return the girl to her rooms—" Her eyes wandered around the scattered elemental texts, the spilled water that still puddled around the stone divots of the floor, and then settled on Sebastian's hands. "Or let her stay for all I care, I suppose."

There was something bothering her. Sebastian could see it in the way her eyes shifted from one spot to the other even though everything else about her remained still. But he didn't doubt that her thoughts moved as quickly as his own since being dragged off to his rooms.

"Astrid, wait—!"

Abel's hand tightened on his shirt as he stepped away from the bed towards Astrid and her personal guard. Astrid paused in her retreat and glanced back at him over her shoulder. Something in her expression flickered. Her fingers jumped to her elbow, to the copper band that encircled her arm there. "They'll remove my cuff tomorrow for the task," she said. "Use what remaining hours you have left to practice."

It felt like a warning that punctured a worried hole into pores from which his frustration seeped out. "What's the point? It's not like I can win!"

"You're right," Astrid agreed. "By all accounts, you cannot win whatever meets us tomorrow, but you could, with whatever rotten luck still exists in this kingdom, stand a chance of survival. So, practice."

Heart hammering, Sebastian could only stare after her as she spun on her heels and marched from his room. Without a look back at either him or Abel, Captain Mathias followed, his boots clicking in the same fashion his tongue had. Silence descended on the room as the two doors snapped shut. Sebastian stared at them, all the horrid thoughts and realizations he'd had early slamming into him again. He felt restless, his blood surging in his veins. What was Astrid playing at? She'd sent him Abel, had sent her to motivate him, to help him, which she had, but why? And why warn him about the removal of her cuff?

"It keeps my magic controlled. Lesser." Astrid had said. "You, on the other hand, you're dangerous."

Sebastian gaped at the closed door she'd escaped from.

Was this her not dangerous?

It wasn't until Abel squeezed his fingers that he'd realized his hand was wrapped around hers, holding on so tightly that he must be hurting her. He dropped it, flexing his fingers and wandering back to the abandoned scrolls. Astrid had warned him to practice, and if he was ever to heed her advice, he had a feeling it should be now.

"She's a raving bitch of a princess, isn't she?" Abel said. "A complete and utter lunatic."

Though Astrid certainly was something, Sebastian couldn't find it in him yet to agree. 

_ _ _

Next up is one of my absolute favorite chapters: the first task!! 

See you all next time! We hope you enjoyed! :)