-The Second Year-

"No magical aptitude."

"A year's resources wasted on a bad student."

"...Useless child."

"Pathetic."

The heavy doors of the magic academy closed behind Guren for the last time. The polished oaken slabs resounded with a thud, a heavy crash that echoed in Guren's ears for an eternity. A severe snowstorm had partially penetrated the barrier of perpetual spring, and had turned the academy's courtyard into a blanket of white velvet. With his only possession, the heavy red travelling cloak clutched in a bundle in both hands, Guren stared up at the bleak grey sky, watching the gently drifting snowflakes that were pushed through the barrier by the howling winds raging above the citadel.

For the first time in memory, Guren had realized that even magic had its flaws, even magic would eventually be worn away by the restless crawling of nature. A nature that had provided him with a body and mind incapable of using the arts which he so greatly admired.

Guren's seventeenth birthday had passed with the coming of an abrupt end to his dream. A year of disappointment and disapproval from his instructors, and a year of teasing and torture from his fellow students. A wasted year... yet a year in which he had stubbornly refused to give up, until eventually he was given no choice but to abandon his fruitless studies, and leave his dream behind forever.

The weight of Guren's empty heart felt like heavy shackles on his arms and legs, and he trod sluggishly across the silent white courtyard to the archway leading to the castle town of Altena. The streets were cold and quiet, the townspeople cooped up snugly inside their homes, unused to the biting cold of the snow which had invaded their everyday lives. Guren wandered aimlessly from building to building, passing by doors and windows that were sealed to him.

In the centre of the sprawling town, a fountain adorned by a statue of the goddess of mana splashed invitingly. The gentle patter of the water reminded him of that day he first arrived in Altena, and had by chance met the kingdom's crown princess, Angela alone in the thin forest bordering the citadel wall. That day seemed a dream now, a dream of a fresh start and a fresh chance to pursue his ambition. But it was surely a day that would never come again.

Now with his dream taken from him by the machinations of a loveless world, Guren was faced with the prospect of returning to Elrand and taking up the mundane life of an ordinary citizen, and the disappointed faces of all his brothers and sisters that he had left behind in that crumbling orphanage.

The thought was too much to bear. To return to them with nothing, after he had set out with such lofty goals, after they had wished him well and expected to welcome him back as a hero... He couldn't go back, he couldn't show them how easily his dream had been taken from him. It was better for them perhaps... to believe that dreams could still come true.

The snow fell, and the water splashed on behind him... The world continued to move... And he was all alone again.

It was customary in the magic kingdom of Altena, for all graduates of the magic academy to receive their posts and their honours from the Queen of Reason herself. At the end of every year, those who had made it through their final year of training would gather in the throne room of the grand palace, and pledge themselves to service of their queen and kingdom.

Angela hated these events with every fibre of her being. Not for the ceremony or the pomp of those involved, but because of her mother. Every year, attention would be lavished on those fortunate enough to distinguished themselves in their studies. Those in the court would make this a day which the graduates would never forget, and the Queen of Reason would express her pride in their accomplishments, even if they paled in comparison to her own.

The queen had never shown pride in Angela, not only pride, but no disappointment, happiness, sadness, affection or disdain, not even a single iota of love. The queen was regarded as the warm breath of life of Altena, but to Angela there was nothing in the world colder than her mother. This indifference had long been a source of sorrow for the young princess, but as she matured that sorrow was quickly turning to resentment.

Every year it seemed that Angela's miscreant behaviour would grow bolder, and the trouble she caused around the palace would increase exponentially. But still her mother did not embrace her, or scold her, every lecture and every kind word was left to her attendants, but there was no love in those words, and even when surrounded by so many people, Angela saw nothing but empty faces.

At the first opportunity, Angela would leave the throne room to be alone with her thoughts, to cry or to scream, to do whatever it took to bury the longing she held for her mother's warmth. After she had slipped away from the gathered nobles and graduates, Angela's light footsteps carried her to a window overlooking the town below.

The snow was an unusual sight inside the walls, but it was not entirely unwelcome to her. Angela reached out and caught one of the drifting snow flakes in the palm of her hand. The sudden chill shot through her arm and caused goosebumps to rise on the surface of her skin. Her body quivered at the sensation, and it was not entirely unpleasant.

Angela darted for the stairs and slipped by the guards who were focused on keeping unwelcome visitors out of the palace. Angela had practised this many times, and dropped herself from the lowest open window in the palace. The landing was always uncomfortable but it was worth every bump and scrape.

Angela winced with pain as she dropped awkwardly onto the ground below. She stifled a little yelp and rubbed her posterior before getting back to her feet. She gasped with satisfaction as the snowflakes touched down all around her, and she spread out both her hands to catch as many of them as she could.

Spinning and twirling away from the palace, Angela's sharp green eyes sparkled even in the reduced light of this overcast sky. She laughed and smiled as she danced through the gentle snowfall and down the quiet path from the palace to the town below.

The empty streets and the diminishing light of day made the town into her personal playground. Angela kicked up the snow as she ran and immersed herself fully in the moment. Anything to keep her mind from wandering back to the ceremony inside the palace.

Angela skid to a halt as she entered the town square, and pressed herself against the wall of the last building, peering around the corner at the single figure sitting on the edge of the fountain. It took a moment for the memory to surface, but she recognized the person as the boy who had sat with her at the stream a little over a year ago.

The sunken look on Guren's face made her mind wander back to her own ill feelings, and that was something she couldn't allow to happen, not today. She dropped into a crouch and gathered as much snow as she could hold into both her hands.

Guren didn't see it coming, surely even if he had a precognitive ability he wouldn't have believed it would happen. Out of nowhere a snowball struck him hard, its shape contorting and molding itself to the side of his head, sticking in place.

Bemused at the sudden impact, Guren turned to the direction it came from, only to be struck squarely in the face by a second snowball, which dislodged the grip of the first one before it too fell gracelessly from his face to the ground beneath him. Guren's expression hardened and he frowned at the person who had assaulted him so rudely, but his expression softened again when the surprise of who was standing there finally sunk in. It had been over a year since he had seen her last, but the crown princess of Altena was standing about ten feet away, crouching and gathering snow in her hands.

Her hair was a little longer now, almost a quarter of the way down her back, and she was taller, barely a head shorter than Guren himself. Guren's mouth hung open and he couldn't formulate the necessary words in his head to express what he wanted to say to her.

"Your face is making the whole kingdom gloomy!" Angela proclaimed as she stood up with two handfuls of snow. "As princess of Altena it is my duty to punish you for this crime!"

She finished speaking and hurled both the cold missiles at Guren, one of them missing completely and disappearing into the fountain with a plop, the other striking Guren again, squarely in the forehead, and exploding over his face and hair.

Guren's face turned to a manic grin and he scooped up a handful of snow from the fountain rail beside him. Being from Elrand he was used to getting hit with snowballs, but he was willing to wager that the princess of temperate Altena wouldn't have the same advantage. Crunching the gathered snow in his hand Guren quickly lobbed the projectile at the crouching princess. It connected with the top of her head and shattered, showering her with an uncomfortable layer of freezing cold snow.

Angela shrieked and dropped the snow in her hands, trying to brush the snow off of her, but was only making the cold worse in the process.

"Y-you can't do that to me!" She protested, "I'm a princess, you know!"

The two of them glared at each other for a little while, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Just as suddenly as they had stopped, the fight resumed both of them running from around the town square grabbing handfuls of snow and hurling them carelessly at each other. It didn't take long for Angela's protests to fade away, and they circled each other laughing and half heartedly throwing increasingly smaller handfuls of snow as their hands became numb from the effort of handling the freezing substance.

Their heavy, hearty breath and laughter fogged up the air before them, and they both dropped to the snow covered square, still laughing but completely drained of energy. Guren had all but given up trying to gather more snow, but Angela refusing to be outdone flung a loose clump of snow at her opponent, half of which collided uselessly with his tunic while the other disappeared over his shoulder.

Eventually their laughter faded away, and the thoughts of their lives slowly began to creep their way back into their minds. Angela pouted at the sight of Guren's grinning face and folded her arms in renewed protest.

"Honestly, that's no way to treat a princess." She huffed.

Guren snorted in a final burst of jollity then got to his feet, brushing the last of the snow from his hand before offering it to Angela. At first she was a little hesitant, after all she knew almost nothing about this person, but those shining blue eyes made her feel like there was nothing he could ever do to hurt her. She grasped his hand and he carefully lifted her to her feet, then proceeded to bow just as he had done the time they first met.

"Thank you." She said, and before he knew what was happening, she had kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Guren looked up in utter disbelief, but the princess was already gone, her furiously blushing face disappearing back toward the grand palace. Guren raised a hand to his face and touched the spot where her lips had touched him, and in that moment he felt he had discovered a new kind of magic.

A kind of magic that didn't seem so impossible for him.