Lulu held her books tightly to her chest, walking towards class with her head down.
"Lulu!"
She looked back at the form running towards her, arm in the air. "Oh, hello William."
He caught up with her, huffing and puffing. "Why are you all the way up here? I thought you quit warlock classes."
Tears welled in her eyes before she could stop them. "I have to go back. I don't have my powers under control any more. Nara and I keep hurting each other."
"Oh." William blinked at her for a moment. "Oh... But, why though?"
"Because he is a paladin, and I am tainted with shadow magic. Two forces that oppose each other."
Considering, William licked his lips. "So, you can't be together?"
Lulu's hair bounced around her head as she shook it. "Not until my power is under control."
"That's... interesting."
"It's horrific, is what it is." Walking towards class, Lulu sighed and watched the doorway come in to view. "So, I have to come back. I have to practice; I have to get good. Once I can control my outbursts again, we can be safe."
"Or you could save yourself the trouble."
She halted in her path. "What?"
"Well, I know how much you hate warlock training. If you were not together, you wouldn't have to do this. You could just be you." Looking into her eyes, he licked his lips again.
Eyes wide, her mouth dropped open. "William!"
"I'm sure there is another person, one who would not need protection from your shadow power. Someone who has the same mark maybe."
"How dare you!" She hissed. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but you are a horrible person!" Turning on her heel, she ran into the warlock building.
William pinched his eyes shut and groaned. "Damn it."
---
Katie wrestled her stack of books into a pile and was on try number four to get them out of her inn door. She almost had it wedged open with her foot when someone pushed at it, hitting her pile and knocking them to the floor yet again. Tossing her hands up, she yanked the door the rest of the way.
"Yes?" Blinking at the man, she cocked her head to the side. "Oh, hello... Ryan?"
He stooped down and sheepishly began stacking books. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you drop them."
"That's alright... as payment, you can help me haul the darned things back to the library. I can't believe I grabbed so many."
"Have you read all of these?" He eyed a couple of the books. He didn't recognize any of the titles.
"Well," She began to pile the books as well. "Yes. I keep being told that if I want to write a book, I should first see how they are written by other people."
"But... well, it hasn't been that long since I helped you bring these here."
Katie blushed. "I'm... I'm a fast reader. I get so involved, I don't stop. I'm not sure I've had much sleep lately." She laughed.
Standing, Ryan hefted his pile. "With your condition, isn't that dangerous?"
"My...? Oh, the fainting." She shrugged, standing with her few books. "I don't know. I've never thought of it." She gestured with her head. "Let's take these back, I'd like to start writing today."
"Finally have a plot?" He grinned. If he wasn't loaded down with books, he would have brushed her hair out of her face.
"I have an idea, and I want to run with it, but with all of these books in my way, I either don't have a bed, or I don't have a desk. I dare not leave them in the floor."
"Did we forget a book?" Ryan gestured with his chin. "There's one by your bed."
Katie turned back and blushed. "Ah, no. That's something Elunara gave me. Don't worry about it."
"Alright." Ryan stepped out of the room. "I came by to check on you. I would have been by sooner, but I've been working."
Following him downstairs, she shrugged. "Oh, don't worry about me. I'm fine. It's just a thing to deal with."
Tippy eyed the pair coming down the stairs. Nodding to Katie, she held open the door so they could go outside. Tapping a finger to her lip, she debated on telling Elunara what she had seen in the boy's eyes.
As the pair made their way through town, Katie lifted her face to the sun. "This place is so breath taking. Nothing at all like Sentinel Hill."
"Yeah, it's pretty nice." He was robbed of speech. "Um, so... what is your book going to be about?"
"So far, I think it's going to be about a lonely farm girl falling in love with a knight of the big city. Wouldn't that be delightful?"
"Yeah..." His voice was wistful.
"It's not terribly original, I know, but I figured I'd start off simple, and they keep telling me "write what you know", and I am just a lonely farm girl trying to find a knight." She giggled. "I don't know why I told you that."
"Have you...? Well, have you found a knight?"
"Not yet." Caught up in her own fantasy, she body slammed into another person, dropping her books. "I'm so sorry!" She gasped, as she stopped down. "I'm such a klutz. I swear, if I drop these books again, I'll never check out another one as long as I live!"
"It's fine." The girl helped pick up some books. "I wasn't watching... Ryan?" She stood, holding on to the books.
"Oh, hey Carla." Ryan smiled. "I'd give you a proper greeting, but I'm loaded down."
Still holding on to the books, she blinked back and forth between Ryan and the new girl. "Who is this?"
"Forgive my manners. Carla, this is Katie, Katie, this is Carla. Katie is new in town, and I was helping her haul her books back to the library."
"Books?"
Katie tugged the books out of Carla's hands. "Sorry about that. I really need to watch where I'm going."