First Midwinter's Celebration

Akkarin smiled when he saw the light from the small cottage spilling out into the night. Though he had once more technically left without informing Sonea of his plans, he had been dropping hints for a few days, so he suspected she knew exactly where he had gone. He only hoped the tree and gifts he had procured would reduce whatever annoyance she felt at him for leaving her alone most of the day with two infants.

He alerted Takan to his approach, and his loyal servant met him outside to help unload. This time, Sonea was not waiting outside for him, but he had not expected her to be. Levitating the tree and gifts, he made his way into the warmth of the cottage, his smile widening when he saw his small family in one corner of the room, Sonea in a chair with a book open in front of her and the boys on a thick blanket on the floor. Since leaving the Guild a little over a year before, Akkarin had found himself smiling more than he had since his novice days, and he idly wondered what others at the Guild might think of the formidable former High Lord if they saw him now.

"You're back," Sonea declared happily. She set the book aside before standing to walk toward him. Akkarin pulled her close for a long kiss. When they finally parted, he moved the tree to the stand he noted someone had already set up for him, securing it in the base before letting the gifts drop gently next to it. Once he had finished that task, he walked to the other side of the room to retrieve his sons, easily lifting both into his arms after months of practice. He pressed a kiss to each soft head and carried them over to the tree, letting them watch as he created the globelights to shimmer around the tree. As expected, the array of lights fascinated them, and Orson began to kick his legs with excitement, bouncing in his father's arms. Akkarin passed him to Sonea so he could retrieve the candles from inside his coat. This year, of course, there were four, and he floated the two smallest between himself and Sonea before lighting his. Once more, they lit each of the smaller candles together before Akkarin floated them up and away from curious hands. The boys were not moving yet, but Lorlen had used his newfound skill of rolling over to make his way halfway across their bedroom a few days before, so Akkarin did not want to take any chances.

Sonea had bent down to examine the presents he brought, and she soon looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "From Agios? Are we telling our children tall tales?"

"Most tales have some element of truth."

"You think he really managed to light a bunch of trees covered in snow on fire?"

Akkarin's lips twitched. "I actually think Agios Miklavz may have been the first magician, and his desperation to save his village that Midwinter's Day released his powers."

Sonea gaped at him. "You're serious?"

"It would explain a great deal. What little I have read of Naturals indicates that they often release their powers in rather violent, destructive ways—fire is a common outlet. You have some experience in that area, I believe."

"Agios Miklavz, a magician."

Akkarin shrugged. "It is just a theory. But it would explain the legend and why there is not more said about what happened afterwards."

"What do you mean?"

"If he truly was the first magician, there was no one who could teach him Control. He likely did not even realize he needed to learn such a thing."

"Oh." Sonea appeared to consider that for a moment, grimacing. "How do you think magicians eventually learned Control?"

Akkarin thought for a moment. "I have never come across any information about that, but if I had to speculate, I would guess that for a long time, magicians were locked up or otherwise kept away from the general populace so they would not be a danger to anyone when they lost Control. I am sure at some point, one of them became desperate enough to survive to come up with some way to control their magic, thus learning Control." Sonea appeared thoughtful, and Akkarin smiled at her, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. "It is growing late. We will have plenty of time to talk and share wild theories in the morning." He turned back to the tree, frowning when he noticed a bright globelight at the very top of the tree that he had not placed there. "Sonea?" he questioned.

She followed his gaze, and her eyes widened. She slowly shook her head. "It wasn't me."

"Then who was it? We are the only two magicians here." They stared at one another a moment before Sonea's eyes slid down to Lorlen who was still in Akkarin's arms, babbling happily as he stared at the lights. Akkarin scoffed. "Be reasonable, Sonea. They're not even five months old."

Sonea huffed. "Well, it wasn't me either." Akkarin knew she would not lie to him, particularly not about something like that, but the alternative theory seemed so ludicrous he simply could not accept it.

Instead, he remarked simply, "We should prepare for bed." Sonea paused a moment before nodding. Akkarin did not say anything else about the mysterious globe light that night, but he promised himself he would search for some explanation soon. For the night, he was safely at home with his family, and that was what mattered.