Galena

For the first time in six years, Emma woke up on her birthday feeling at peace. She had expected to wake up crying over the anniversary of her parent’s death, but not this time. She stared at her ceiling, wondering if this calmness was because of what she was meeting Marie to receive today. After a few more minutes of basking in this feeling, she got up to get ready.

Even though she was going to work in the afternoon, Emma changed into her normal Vork clothes. She pulled on a pair of gray knickers and slowly began to button up a white blouse. As she brushed her hair, she began to think about Jace’s reaction to her telling him why she needed half the day off. He wanted to do something for her birthday, but she asked him not to and was surprised she even told him it was her birthday.

As she finished getting ready, she blushed at the thought of Jace kissing her. She shook her head, trying to stop the rush of butterflies entering her stomach. The more time she spent with Jace, the more she liked him. She felt so comfortable with him that, at times, she had to catch herself before she told him about her magic or where she was really from. She had even caught herself from almost inviting him inside after he walked her home. She wasn’t sure how he would react to walking through an “apartment” door in Kent and winding up in a full-sized home in a different region of Len.

Emma pulled on her black boots and crossed the yard to Marie’s to make their way to the consort shop. When they reached the shop, Marie asked the attendant to take them to the staves. Emma looked around as they walked through. She had never been in the consort shop before and was amazed by all the weapons hanging on the walls. There was an abundance of weaponry, each one being different from the last.

Georgia stopped at the staves and stepped aside to allow Emma to look. Marie urged her to pick out a few and Emma asked to see three staffs that caught her eye. Once placed on the counter, she looked at them closer. She picked up the first staff. It was crooked and stood at mid-height; small wood carvings climbed shaft and the wood branched off at the top. Emma looked back at Marie, asking if this was the one.

Marie shook her head, “You will know the moment you pick it up.”

Emma turned back to the other staves and picked up the smaller one. Like the first, she felt nothing, and the same feeling came from the third one as well. She asked to see three more, but each of them didn’t sit right with her. She eventually went through each staff on the wall - each of them was a no. Frustrated with not being able to find her staff, Emma turned around to Marie, “Does this mean that I’m not meant to be a healer?”

Marie gave her a kind smile, “No, dear. It just means your staff isn’t here.”

“Has this ever happened before?” Emma asked Georgina, who shook her head.

Marie looked around the shop, wondering if Emma was meant to have a polearm instead. Her eyes grazed past them - even past the scythes - and shook her head. “Let’s do this,” she said, taking Emma by the arms. “Close your eyes and focus. I want you to send your energy out and call for your staff. Listen for its answer. Okay?”

Emma nodded and closed her eyes. She took in a deep breath and felt her stream of energy project from her, searching. The same calmness she felt when she woke up took over her and, in her mind, she saw her mother standing before her, pointing.

“I see mom,” she gasped. “She’s pointing…”

“Where is she pointing?” Marie whispered.

“That way,” Emma said, pointing the direction her mother was.

Suddenly something struck her hand and she opened her eyes to see her staff. It was silver and stood two feet taller than her. The top of it curved around into a spiral and Emma’s eyes danced in amazement at the sight of tiny crystals dropping from the wood and dangling off the bend of the staff. She instantly felt a connection to it – this was hers. She even knew how to use it the moment it entered her hand. She thought of its dismissal and grinned at Marie when she saw it worked.

“I’ve never seen a consort respond that way before,” Georgina said, staring at Emma with wide eyes. She dropped a reference book on the counter and swiped her hand above it, telling Emma and Marie that this piece wasn’t something they stocked. Her magic turned the pages until it found what she was looking for. The page showed a silver rod and Georgina began to read out loud, “Myst-wood… rare. Only found on the highest point of Mount Len. Morphs to match owner- Said to be from Yhden…”

Marie looked away from the wide-eyed Georgina and smiled proudly at Emma. “Sounds about right,” she said. She thanked Georgina and pulled jewls from her pocket for her, but Georgina refused to take it.

“Being in the presence of a healer, who is honored by Yhden, is enough payment for us,” Georgina said then walked the two to the front doors.

On their way back home, Marie watched Emma recall and dismiss her staff repeatedly. “That staff is going to go through everything with you,” Marie said, then flicked her wrist to make her consort appear, “Just as my scepter has.” She looked lovingly at the crooked scepter. It held a crystal ball in its claw. She had received it on her twenty-first birthday as well, the same day she was accepted into Valo’s clergy. “Are you staying in Vorik today, so I can teach you a few tricks? Or is Jace doing something special for your birthday?”

Emma blushed and answered that she had to go to work at noon. “And I asked Jace not to do anything for me,” she added.

Marie chuckled to herself. “If the feelings between you two are mutual then he is not going to listen.” She knew that Emma was falling for the Creed boy, which surprised her. Did Yhden expect the two to fall in love? Marie was foolish to think they wouldn’t – for all she knew, this could be a part of Yhden’s plan as well.

“I just hope I don’t accidentally call my staff,” Emma said, putting her hands on her face. She shook her head, thinking about the embarrassment, “Can you imagine pointing at the oven and my staff appear? Or if I was in the market and it happened!?” She began to freak herself out and Marie beginning to chuckle more was not helping her.

“It doesn’t work that way, Emma. It knows when you need it, so you’ll be fine. I promise,” Marie said, then took Emma’s arms. “I have one more thing for you.” She stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a small bag. She opened it and began to pull out what was inside, saying, “It was your mother’s… She gave it to me every time she went to a meeting, afraid that one day she wouldn’t give it to you in person. She wanted you to have it on your twenty-first birthday.”

Marie held up the silver ring Emma remembered her mother always wearing. The setting were two leaves and in the middle was a pearl - her mother’s favorite. Emma gently took the ring from Marie, her eyes watering from the tears that quickly filled them. She slipped it on her finger and looked back at Marie. She wrapped her arms around Marie, thanking her. She held Marie until her tears stopped. “I’ll be home later if you want to do cake,” she told Marie when she pulled back.

Marie shook her head, “You spend every birthday with me. This year spend it with your friends.”

Emma thanked her again and Marie ushered her to get ready for work.

Emma left Marie and hurried inside to change into attire that was more suitable for Galena. Pants were only acceptable in Vorik - to wear them in Galena would certainly turn heads, proving she didn’t belong. She slipped on a floral dress and put on brown, ankle boots. She pushed a headband on and pulled her side bangs out. She stood in the front of the mirror afterwards and put on light makeup.

With one last look, she grabbed her cloak and bag and headed down the hall. As she stood at her portal, she flicked her wrist and looked up at the staff. She smiled at the thought of her mother helping earlier then dropped her eyes to her ring finger, thanking her mother and Yhden. She dismissed her staff after and pulled her door open to go to the bakery.

***

Jace knew that Emma didn’t want to make a big deal out of her birthday. But he wanted to do something for her. Maggie suggested making a single cupcake and after giving it thought, Jace figured that would be the best idea.

When they got to the shop, Jace went through the list of Kim’s recipes and found the one he wanted to make. He went to the fridge to grab some ingredients, but the moment he opened the door, he slammed it shut.

“Maggie!” he yelled.

“Yes?” she asked, appearing at the door.

Jace slowly opened the fridge again and looked over at her, hearing the melted cakes slosh onto the ground. “Are these the cakes you made the other night?” he asked, finally understanding why she never helped with the baking.

Maggie walked over to him to take a closer look at the mess. “They were supposed to be,” she answered. She had forgotten about them after she left Diana’s.

Jace stared down at the slop, “Did you even bake them?”

“Of course, I did,” she lied, trying to sound insulted, “Maybe something’s wrong with the fridge.”

“It wouldn’t melt your cakes,” he said, giving her a look.

“Go make your gift. I’ll clean this.”

Jace moved around his sister and shook his head, snickering. “Next time you want to make a cake- don’t,” he teased, “Sorry, Mags, but baking is one thing you didn’t inherit from mom.”

Maggie looked back at her brother and scrunched her nose. “Just make your damn cupcake,” she said and threw the rag soaked in raw batter at him.

“Hey!” he exclaimed, jumping back and missing the mess by a few inches. “Don’t make me throw this egg.”

Maggie raised an eyebrow and stuck her tongue at him. Jace dropped his jaw and threw the egg at her. She squealed as it hit her arm and splattered on her. “You jerk!” she yelled, grabbing another towel to wipe herself off.

“I warned you,” he said, shaking his head and laughing at her.

Maggie walked up to him and put the towel on the counter next to him. “Fine. Whatever,” she said, taking a handful of flour. She threw it in his face and quickly backed away. Jace grabbed another egg and threw it at her. It broke on her leg, going down her skirt. He picked up another one and Maggie yelled for a truce. She crossed her fingers to keep him away, yelling, “Truce-!”

Jace held the egg up and stared at her before cracking the egg on the bowl and dropping it in the mix. “Get out of here, you’re distracting me,” he said, wiping the flour off his face and watching his sister leave the room, laughing. He chuckled at the thought of her joking around with him. She hadn’t done that since they were kids and he found it refreshing that their relationship could one day turn back into that. He looked up at the clock after pouring the batter into a mold - he had two hours before Emma came in.

He leaned against the counter with his arms crossed and stared into the window of the oven. He tapped his foot waiting, knowing that time seemed to go slower when he sat there waiting. He tried to make time speed up by cleaning the counters and making sure the display case was stocked. And when it was time to remove the cake, he left it on the counter to cool down which only left him twenty minutes to decorate it.

As the time inched closer to Emma coming in, Jace found himself becoming nervous. He took out the vanilla frosting from the fridge and began to wrap it around the cupcake. He chopped up a few strawberries and stuck them into the frosting then slowly placed a chocolate covered strawberry on the top. He stepped back to look at his work and when he did, he saw Emma standing at the door, watching.

“I wanted to surprise you,” he shyly let out.

“Believe me, I am,” she answered, slowly stepping towards him.

Jace picked up the cake and walked around the corner of the counter to meet her. “Happy birthday,” he said, holding it up to her.

Emma looked at the strawberry he so delicately placed on top and gave him a sad smile. “It’s beautiful,” she said, feeling her eyes swell with tears.

“I know you didn’t want anything, but I wanted to give you this!” he quickly said, putting the cake down and taking her hands. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to cry. I’ve just tried to forget about my birthday for so many years, but today I received the most beautiful gifts… So, it’s hard for me,” she said. “My mother died during a raid on my birthday six years ago and today my guardian gave me a gift from her.” She showed him the ring.

“My gift definitely doesn’t compare,” Jace said, looking at the pearl.

“I love your gift,” she said, catching his gaze.

Jace gave her a small smile then leaned forward and gently kissed her. His arms slowly moved around her as he hugged her against his body. She stood on her toes to match his height and dissolved into her first kiss.

“Thank you-” was all Emma could say after they pulled away. She felt like she was in a daze after receiving the kiss she had often daydreamed about. Jace gave her a weird look for her response and she blushed, quickly saying, “Assuming that was your other gift.”

Jace smirked and kept his arms around her, as he said, “Please don’t be like me and Maggie and forget your birthday. I’m sure your mother wouldn’t want you to.”

“You’ve forgotten your birthday?” Emma asked. Her eyes softened on him hearing this.

“Our last birthday was fifteen years ago right before our mother was taken.”

“We’ll have to pick a day for you then,” Emma said, smiling up at him.

Jace returned her smile and after a few more moments of holding her, he dropped his arms and leaned against the counter while Emma picked the strawberry off her cupcake and took a bite.

Before returning to work, Jace asked if Emma wanted to join him at Galena’s street fair that weekend. There was a stage where plays were taken place and bands played. Each vendor set their booths up around the streets, selling their normal goods, but also constructed game booths for people to win items.

Emma loved the idea of the fair and agreed to going, then offered to share her cupcake.

That night when Jace came home, Maggie asked if Emma liked her gift. He was grabbing a cold beer out of the fridge when he answered that she did. He grabbed another beer and sat on the couch next to his sister, handing her the drink. Maggie twisted the cap off and thanked him. She continued to write in a notebook while bouncing her eyes back to Vivian’s journal.

“I’m taking her to the street fair Saturday,” he said, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

“You really like her, huh?” Maggie said, looking up at him with her eyebrows raised.

Jace looked over at his sister. “Do you think I’m rushing things?” he answered.

“I think if you were, she’d say something. You’ve been together every day since she came into the bakery. So, I’m pretty sure she feels the same way,” Maggie said and smiled at her brother before going back to her books.

Jace tightly smiled then leaned back into the couch. He took a swing of his beer and kept his eyes on the painting across the room. He knew that Emma felt the same way he did. They kissed again at Emma’s door and she met his kiss with the same intensity that he was putting into it. And she fit too perfectly in his arms.

During the rest of the week Jace found himself excited to get up early and go to work since he would get to see Emma in the morning. Ever since he broke the ice kissing her, he knew exactly where his heart lay. But at night he was reminded of his forgotten years. His memories of Vanessa continued to flow into his sleep. He felt no feelings for this girl like he did in his dreams. He often wondered what would happen if this dream girl came back, but when he saw Emma on Saturday, he knew who he was meant to be with.

She took his breath away when he answered the door. His eyebrow rose at the dress she was wearing. It was shorter than what she normally wore, ending mid-thigh and her hair was partially up. He was used to her in long skirts and dresses to be more conservative, but he liked what he saw and complimented her. Emma blushed and thanked him. She gave him a quick kiss then took his hand, asking him to lead the way.

Going through the gates, Emma noticed there were more Knights than normal patrolling the market. She leaned into Jace and held his hand a little tighter. Jace knew she was nervous. He squeezed her hand and told her they won’t bother them. He looked around at the Garzil and understood how she could still be nervous seeing these Knights. They did look intimidating standing like statues at every corner and staring at everyone.

“They’re only watching,” he said, lifting her hand to kiss the back of it.

“For magic?”

Jace nodded then pointed to the band playing in the center of the square. “You see how the band is picking up a crowd? As the music draws more people in, the crowd becomes a distraction to the Knights, giving the rebels the ability to pass messages between each other.”

“How do you know this?”

Jace wasn’t sure how he knew this, but figured it was from one person - “My mother,” he told her then saw something from the corner of his eye. He looked to see what it was and noticed a note locked with a magical seal being passed around the crowd. Jace looked at a nearby Knight who had also noticed the exchange of hands. He looked back at Emma, knowing something was going to happen and asked her, “Hungry?”

They moved away from the music just as the Knight rushed up to the last person to pass the note. They were quietly removing that person from the square, while another Knight pursued the person taking the note away from the crowd.

Emma looked up at Jace after seeing this, “Did you know that was going to happen?”

“I know what to look for,” he answered, holding the door open for her at the cafe.

Their breakfast wasn’t big since there were many booths around Central Galena offering food samples. When they finished their breakfast, they headed back into the crowd, going up to some gaming booths. Jace won Emma a stuffed bear and treated her to whatever her eyes lit up to. Emma was having fun, but every time she saw someone be swept away by a Garzil she felt like she was betraying herself as a healer. She knew that at some point in Galena she was going to have to face the cruel reality that faced this city, but seeing people be taken away was completely different. She tried to hide the fact that she was upset, but Jace saw it. It wasn’t hard to see the sadness in her eyes every time she looked away.

“You want to go back to my house?” he asked, leaning towards her.

“I’m sorry,” Emma let out, agreeing that she wanted to leave.

“Don’t be sorry,” he told her, giving her a smile and putting his arm around her shoulder. “There’s only so much of the market that I can take too.” They walked out of the square towards the gates and Jace took Emma’s hand. “Your hand is on fire!” he said, looking down at their hands, “Were you that nervous?”

Emma was about to answer, but before she could, their attention turned to a Knight beating up an older man. Jace recognized the man instantly - he was Kim’s husband. He quickly looked at Greggory’s hands and saw no magic. This only meant that this Knight wanted to take out his frustration on an easy target. Seeing this triggered something in Jace. He felt like he had seen this happen before. He shook his head to snap out of the memory he was experiencing, but when he envisioned someone dead on the ground, Jace ran to help the man. He grabbed the Knight’s arm before he could hit Greggory again.

“Leave him alone!” Jace yelled, “He’s not doing anything!” He pushed the Knight away and went to help Greggory, but the Knight hit Jace in the cheekbone, splitting his cheek open from his glove.

Jace stumbled from the hit and as he shook his head to gain his senses back, the Knight attempted to swing again. Emma ran forward and grabbed the Knight’s arm, begging him to stop. The Garzil pushed Emma away, knocking her to the ground then turned back to Jace, grabbing him by the collar. He hit Jace in the same cheek again. The sharp pain screamed through Jace’s face. The cold armored glove dropped Jace to the ground and the Knight moved on top of him. He raised his fist again ready to put an end to Jace’s retaliation, but stopped to a voice booming: “Ivans! That’s enough.”

Emma looked up at the Captain who stood next to her, relief taking over.

“We have bigger shit to deal with,” the Captain said.

The Knight looked down at Jace and spit on the ground next to his head. He stood and went to his Captain, who pushed him to walk in front of him.

Emma ran to Jace and helped him sit up, panicking. “Why did you do that?” she yelled then slapped him on his shoulder. “You could’ve been killed!” she said then lunged forward, embracing him.

“I- I don’t know…” Jace let out, holding his face where it began to swell. “Is Greggory okay? Did that Knight say something to you?”

Emma pulled away, “He said that you should know better.” Tears flood her eyes, “You should know better!” She wrapped her arms around him again, hugging him closely. “Promise me you’ll never do that again…”

Jace knew what he did was stupid and risky stopping that Knight, but he couldn’t just let Greggory be a victim to the Garzil. He watched too many people die by their hands and he would never forgive himself when he’d learn how distraught Kim would’ve been. Jace hugged her back, letting out, “I promise.”

Emma leaned away and cupped his cheek, looking at his right eye and the blood coming down from his lips. Without even thinking, she began to push her magic through her hands to heal him, but Jace quickly grabbed her hands. Even with a swollen eye he could see her hands beginning to glow white.

“No,” he said, pulling away, “They may overlook this, but not what you’re about to do.”

Emma’s eyes widened, “How did you-?”

“Let’s get back to the house,” Jace squinted in pain as he stood up, “You can heal me there.”

With Emma’s help, they continued down the road into Kent.

Inside, Emma helped Jace to the couch and sat next to him. He could see her hands already glowing white before she reached up to his face to heal him. Jace closed his eyes and winced from her gentle touch. Her hands were just as hot as they were in the market and now he knew why. She was watching people get hurt and as a healer, her magic was reacting. He felt her warm magic flow into his swollen face.

“How did you know I was going to heal you?” she asked, watching the swelling go down.

“I can see magic,” Jace told her. “That’s how I knew Greggory wasn’t doing anything.” He felt the pressure of his eye slowly releasing and he opened his eyes to look at her. “I didn’t expect you to be a healer. There’s not many left in Galena.”

“There’s none left…” Emma quietly answered and focused on what she was doing.

Jace kept his eyes on her face, watching how intense she looked healing him. What he didn’t know was she could feel his cheekbone shattered under his skin. She was not only repairing the tissue and the skin, but the bone as well and it was taking longer than she expected.

After the bone repair, Emma went to work on the cut the bone created on his cheek. But the moment she went to heal that, Maggie threw the front door open and stormed across the living room. She yelled for her brother to join her in the kitchen immediately. Jace gave Emma a wink as he tried not to smile at how angry his sister was. He got up and followed Maggie into the other room.

“Guess who I ran into today after I left the bakery?” Maggie asked, the second the door shut behind Jace. She had her arms across her chest and was tapping her foot. She was fuming and Jace couldn’t help but think she looked like their mother whenever she would scold them as kids.

“Kim?” Jace figured.

“She said you helped her husband by fighting off a Knight. What were you thinking, Jace?!”

“Stop yelling. Emma’s in the other room.”

“If they knew you were a Creed, this could’ve been a real mess!”

“He wasn’t doing anything wrong, Maggie. He wasn’t using magic, he was just an old man who that Knight wanted to prey on.”

“You could’ve been killed. In fact, they could be marching down the street right now looking to arrest you!”

“I don’t think we’re going to have any issues.”

“Why? Because they’ll see this as a good deed done?”

“Because the Knight’s Captain showed up, told Emma we knew better, and called the Knight off me. Then they walked away,” he said and shrugged. He didn’t know what else he could say about the situation.

Maggie stared at her brother for a moment after hearing this. She knew it had to be Heath he was referring to. She dropped her arms to the side, forcing out, “Well you do know better. And from the looks of it, that Knight didn’t know how to fight.”

Jace let out a laugh, not ready to tell his sister that Emma could heal. “You should’ve seen him,” he lied. He didn’t hit the Knight for many reasons, but he wanted Maggie to think the Knight was just as hurt as he was.

Maggie smiled at her brother through tightly closed lips, then said, “You’re still an idiot.”

Jace went to say something snarky back to her but was taken by surprise when she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him. Before he could wrap his arms around her, she pushed past him and ran upstairs. He watched her disappear, still shocked at what had just happened. He hummed out a laugh and slowly turned to join Emma back in the living room.