Jasmine and I entered Oakheart from the western entrance, crossing past The Gryphon toward Adrian’s house. Well, that was our initial goal, but the loud sounds of music and cheering attracted Jasmine. I sighed, trying to drag her along toward our actual destination, but Jasmine was also stronger than I was. Her hands wrapped around my wrist, tensing tightly.

  She then immediately let go.

  “Ashy! You are so, so cold!” she shuddered, before moving her hands up and grabbing the sleeve of my farmer’s dress.

  I stumbled in behind her, almost tripping over the entrance. When I finally stood up, my body froze.

  There were dozens of people around us, most of whom I did not know. I had a good idea of most people in Oakheart even if I had never spoken to them. Most of these faces were new. I took a breath.

  Mr. and Mrs. Marlow were busy behind the counter, trying to make ale and food by the dozen. Matthew Marlow, in all his young glory, awkwardly stumbled about with a platter filled with ale. Most of the Marlow children were helping their parents with this party.

  The exception was Mary Marlow and Mark Farrow, who leaned against the edge of a bannister, staring into a table that had the most attention. Jasmine noticed that as well, and she looked over at me.

  “Come on, Ashy!” she called, dragging me along.

  “...So, ‘Lord Skye’ is getting his head crunched by this massive monster, and he turns around and looks right at him. He goes, ‘You forgot one thing, spawn of Rhyves—The Enemy. I am Amaril’s Chosen Son!’ And then he opens his hand and ACTUAL sunlight pours out. That bastard’s face was basically dead before he turned to ash,” a booming, heavy voice told the table.

  Melissa hung onto every word, her fingers squeezing tighter against Adrian’s chest. Her eyes went wide, and Adrian winced when her fingers pushed into his flesh. “Ow!” he snapped, gently pushing her away.

  The man who had been telling the story looked like a giant. He wore a simple shirt, but it didn’t stop his massive muscles from bulging against his frame. He had a thick mustache that went down to his chin—it kind of looked like a horseshoe. The rest of his head was bald, giving me the impression of an angry egg. I kept staring at him.

  “Good Amaril, Ashley, what did you do to your hair?” Melissa spoke, breaking me out of my reverie.

  “Huh?” I responded, still staring at the massive mountain of a man. He turned around and smiled at me, standing up. I had to crane my head upward, and he even made Lil’ Mark look… well, little.

  “Bartholomew de Constanze. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, ladies,” he began, offering both Jasmine and me his hand.

  I stared at it, causing Mary and Mark to giggle. Jasmine shook her head, took his hand, and shook it. “Hello! Jasmine Carnwich, and this is…” she paused awkwardly, looking at me.

  I returned the stare, unsure of what she wanted from me. This caused Jasmine to sigh again.

  “This is Ashley Hart. I have one question, Mr. de Constanze.”

  “Call me Bart, please. Adrian’s told me so much about both of you.”

  “Okay, Bart! Can you lift me up? Like, all the way up, with just your ha—WHEE!”

  Jasmine didn’t even finish her odd request before Bart’s right hand clasped around her hand and then brought her to the sky. The way he moved made it seem effortless, and his other arm wrapped around her legs in a proper carry so it wasn’t just hurting her. He then gently put her down.

  “You were right, Skye. She’s a proper strange one.”

  “Ashy… what did you do to your hair?” Addy tried to ask.

  I was still staring at Bart, trying to will words to my mouth. With Elias and Ophelia it was business and work. But I was at The Gryphon, and there was this weird man who seemed to know me. I glanced around. Another table nearby had three more outsiders who chatted away, seeming to have the attention of Elias’ waitstaff.

  And even more than that, there were just… people I didn’t recognize.

  Jasmine nudged me, but I was still staring. Melissa began to whisper to Adrian, but he stood up. His arms wrapped around me, and I could see his face scrunch up for a moment, and his teeth chatter. However, he still pulled me down, putting me right beside Melissa. He then took Jasmine and placed her to my right.

  “Alright, breathe. You’re fine,” he instructed. Jasmine caught on.

  “Oh, right.” Her hand came to my back. “Brave woman, not good around people she don’t know in places. Girl froze up goin’ to Emerence once at a library. Just grabbed a book from the shelf, went to a corner, and sat there readin’ by herself.”

  I choked out a few sounds, before sucking in air. “I g-got my hero class, A-Addy. F-finished my schoolin’ with Ja-Jasmine here.”

  Melissa tried to come to my other side and wrap her arm around me as well, but immediately pulled away. “What on… how are you even colder?”

  I turned my head to Melissa. “I got my hero class!” I repeated, the words coming back to me.

  Melissa looked at me. “Ashley, are you sick? [Farm Girl] is not a hero class.” Her hand rose to touch my forehead, then immediately pulled back. She exhaled on the back of her palm, then rubbed her hands together. “Elora above…”

  Bart looked down at me, and then to Adrian. “She’s the Hart girl you’re always yapp—” Adrian’s elbow slammed into Bart’s gut, but not before Melissa turned to glare at Bartholomew too. Served him right.

  Jasmine, however, stepped in. “She was just showin’ me her farm. Ashley just became a better [Farm Girl] and we was thinkin’ ’bout growin’ strawberries, Missy! But we heard your husband got into a scrap with my… ex. Ex-Lord, not ex, you know what I meant, Missy. We were goin’ to your place to see how he was doin’.”

  Melissa took a breath. “Two things. Jazz, I told you to slow down and not talk a mile a minute before. So, first… how does her showin’ you how farmin’ works mean anythin’ ’bout the hero class? And, second, she just got there? Didn’t Addy and I buy her a rabbit?”

  Mark coughed. “Nah, Melly. You were too busy tryin’ to hear what you wanted to hear. Girl even said ‘somethin’ like that’ when you asked since you gave her the out. Why else you think she wanted a [Farmer] to bind it to her? Girl’s never owned a rabbit in her life.”

  Mary laughed, then snuggled into Mark’s side. His hand wrapped around her, and I could see Adrian watch the pair. His lips curved upward, before his attention turned back to the three of us. He shot an apologetic look to Bart, but Bart waved it off. Instead, the giant leaned back against the pillar and downed an entire mug of ale. Seemed to be enjoying the show.

  “Okay, wait, so why did you want to buy her a rabbit, ‘Lord Skye’?” Melissa asked, her address to Adrian raising in tone.

  “...’Cause my quest actually was to buy a rabbit, Missy. Father owned a rabbit coop, remember?”

  “Okay, but you’d have known she didn’t!”

  “Yeah, but I said to buy it for her since she’d have gone been lonely when we moved to the capital?”

  “YOU TWO ARE MOVING TO THE CAPITAL?” Jasmine interjected, releasing me to slam the table and look at Melissa.

  Melissa frowned, but Adrian’s lips curled into a laugh before he forced it straight. “I was gonna tell you, Jazz! Actually, Adrian and I wanted to…” she looked up at Adrian. “... you to come live with us in the capital. We could always use a maid, and I’d love the company.”

  Jasmine scowled. “MELISSA BETHANY BELLAMINE. You swore that we’d always live here! I don’ wanna be a capital girl with their capital life! Next thing you know, you’re gonna tell me you’re gonna stop goin’ to church on the Lord’s Day!”

  “Yeah, about that…” Adrian joined in.

  “NO! YOU WOULDN’T! MELISSA, YOUR SOUL IS GOING TO BE TAKEN.” Jasmine said with what was either actual pious indignation or a continued joke. I was too busy staring at Bart, then the three at the other table, and then the other faces.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Adrian pushed Bart, who slid down into the booth. Adrian followed in after. “Ash. This is Bartholomew. He’s my second in command. Man saved my life.”

  “Your boy is bein’ polite. He killed a Vampire Lord, saved us all, you know.”

  “It was your victory. I got stuck in my head again, Bart.”

  “I got my hero class, Addy,” I repeated, unsure of what those two were going on about.

  “You’ve might’a mentioned. But I’m a bit more concerned with ya’self there, Ashy.”

  I looked down at myself. “Do I have somethin’ on my shirt, boy?”

  Adrian groaned, and Bart laughed. “Between your sister not bein’ good with people, and your wife not bein’ good with… is ‘Jazz’ her sister? Anyways, your town is such a grand old place. Don’t see why you want to move back to the capital.”

  Adrian shook his head but turned his attention back to me. He watched Melissa and Jasmine argue for a bit, then his attention turned to Mary slowly raising her face to Mark’s. They stared at each other for a moment, before Adrian politely coughed. They quickly looked away, but didn’t break their embrace.

  “So, Hero, Ashley? You finished studyin’—and now what?”

  “Aye, uh… Am court of…” I tried speaking, but I kept looking at Bart, at Mark and Mary about to kiss, and Jasmine and Melissa arguing, and just those strange people at the other table and standing about.

  “She was studying with Madsy. Woman’s a good teacher, helped her get her… paper thingsy. And before you know it, she suddenly gets the win’ howlin’ on her back and bein’ told by some fancy robed folks called the ‘Winter Court.’ Know of ’em, Inquisitor boy?” Jasmine quickly said, breaking away from her conversation with Melissa to answer for me.

  I smiled appreciatively. Melissa, however, glared at Jasmine, then scowled at me.

  “Winter Court? You know people from the North?”

  “Nah, was just invited,” I responded.

  “Huh. But you’re a [Farm Girl] ’cause you were showing Jasmine your crops?”

  “Aye, one moment,” I stated.

  I closed my eyes. I was glad I swapped out yesterday, but even then, the walk back to Oakheart was usually a few hours. I only needed thirty minutes.

  I tried changing my class to [Cryotheurge].

  Oh right.

  I changed my class to [Necromancer].

  The howling gale winds surrounded me, my eyes fluttering bright green. Snow formed atop the table, extinguishing the candle flame and making the hearthfire in the store splutter out. It kicked back into a tiny ember that Mr. Marlow quickly went to reignite.

  The breeze flew in, halting the conversation around us as a few people turned to stare. Even the three at the other table quickly got up, coming toward us, but Adrian rose his hand to halt them. The wind blew, making Mary shriek—but Mark took that opportunity to hold her close.

  The people around looked at me. “Blessed Amaril above, the Hart girl’s gone done it…” Mark stated.

  Mrs. Marlow clapped, immediately hugging Mr. Marlow. “We got TWO heroes in our little town! We’re becomin’ a proper city! Maybe the Adventurers’ Guild is going to be movin’ in soon and that’d be good for all of us!”

  Mr. Marlow returned the hug. “And of course it’s those two.”

  I could hear Melissa grit her teeth as she stared forward. Her eyes refused to blink, but grew in size as her eyebrows furrowed. She stared at Adrian. Adrian had held onto his hat, but I could see the smile grow on his face. However, when his eyes caught hold of Melissa’s, it stopped.

  Bart, however, had just picked up another mug of ale and rose it to his lips. Jasmine was used to this, and idly reached forward to take it from Bart. Either the man was a saint, or he was surprised at Jasmine’s actions as she somehow stole it from him and took the drink herself.

  The wind died down and my white hair fluttered. “I was sayin’ I got my hero class… I don’ mean to ruin your parade, Addy, but…”

  Wait, why did I have to reveal this to him?

  An idle breeze of wind pushed my white hair forward, and my freezing skin.

  Right, I didn’t have a choice.

  “...Last time you told me you were off huntin’ Elias, I froze up too. I wanted to help ya but I uh… can only freeze cups right now…” I lied? It felt like the truth, but it’s also not really what happened in my mind.

  It’s not that I freeze cups, but a flying bone dagger wasn’t going to do anything. And I was still… a [Farm Girl] till a few nights ago. But a part of me figured this would impress everyone?

  Bart chuckled. “And some men kill to even have one person like that. And you get two?”

  Melissa’s attention quickly shifted, staring at Bart. Bart coughed and choked, lowering his head.

  Jasmine immediately hugged me! “I’m so sorry for lyin’ to you, Missy. Ashy’s the reason I’m stayin’ behind too. She already asked me before you did, Ms. ‘I’m going to the capital and abandoning my best friend.’” She overdramatically put her head on my shoulder and then leaned up.

  “What are you doing, Ashy? You are not a [Cryotheurge]. Stop it, you don’t need to get this involved. You are going to get us killed,” she quickly whispered into my ear, and then pulled away.

  No one said anything for a few moments, until one of the men from the other table came in.

  “Nyla blesses us… first Skye kills a Vampire Lord, and then she sends another child as a true-blooded Wizard of the Winter Court. A [Cryotheurge].”

  I nervously stared at the—Amaril damn it. Bart at least looked like a figure I could ignore, but this man?

  His smooth, blonde hair went down to his shoulders, and his smooth jaw with heart-stealing eyes? He looked like he was the son of Birchigold himself! He was lean and stood tall, maybe a few inches shorter than I was. But I kept finding myself lost in his eyes.

  He continued to stare at me.

  “Maximilian, Ashley is nervous around new people, and even more so when you look like that,” Adrian interjected.

  “Look like what, Skye?”

  “He means you have to move, you lug. Not the first girl you made lose her thoughts,” the gruffer boy to his side stated. He had black hair that was ragged and sharp, and he was about the same height as ‘Maximilian.’ He looked more wild, though, and I was surprised he even was the military type.

  “Get off me, Lucas,” Maximilian responded, pushing him aside.

  “Sorry…” the third man said, looking at Adrian. “Lady—Lady Hart. All my friend wanted to know is if that meant Nyla visited your dreams, since an outsider being taken by the [Winter Court] is very rare.”

  “I reckon. I mean, how else do I get to freeze water?” I responded, finding it easy to talk about myself.

  The third man was very, very… average. I had a hard time describing him, since his face looked like I’d seen it before and it put me at ease. Just brown eyes and brown hair, and that face and smile that seemed like it could belong to anyone I had ever looked at.

  “Lionel,” he introduced himself, and then he too extended his hand.

  I looked at it, confused.

  He coughed nervously.

  Jasmine took his hand instead. “And I’m Jasmine! Nice to meet you, Lucas, Maximilian, Lionel. Are you working with Addy too?”

  “Addy? That’s what you call him?” Lucas said. “And here we get in trouble if we call him Adr—” Bart stared at him, causing Lucas to stop talking immediately. “Sorry, Ser.” Bart nodded.

  Melissa turned to both of us. “So, now that you’ve done that, are you two plannin’ on stayin’? We were celebratin’ Adrian survivin’ death, not you advancin’, Ashley. I am happy that of all people you are also blessed, but Adrian was the one who was about to die last night.”

  I nodded! “Yeah, that’s why we came. We came to see if you were alright.”

  Jasmine turned her attention from the three boys and back to Adrian. “Yeah! Ashy was mopin’ on the farm, and honestly so was I.”

  “Hey!” I shouted, turning to look at her.

  “What? You were? You even did math for corn, and you hate corn.”

  Adrian smiled, scratching the back of his neck. “Aw, shucks, you two…”

  “And now that you’ve seen he’s alright, are you stayin’ longer?” Melissa politely asked.

  “I mean, if it ain’ no tro—” I began.

  “No! We must be goin’ now. Ashley’s gotta buy seeds before the market closes. Girl’s a good farmer and even better… you said Winter Court, right, Maxy? Winter Court girl, but she’s not good with numbers. We’re gonna be figurin’ out how to fix her farm too.”

  “Why? You’re part of the Court. You’d make more money just using your skills to go do actual things.”

  I thought about that for a moment. I… could have used my powers to do other things. It’s not like a skeleton was known for farming the fields. I could have my own little army.

  But that didn’t feel right. That felt like some other girl, one that was more interested in fighting and killing. I just wanted to grow crops here, and maybe start reading and studying more books? I didn’t really want to get involved in something like that. I was… actually happy here.

  “Nah, you wouldn’t get it. Oh! I know. You’re probably a fisherman if you worship Nyla, right?” I began, my scholar brain taking over. “If you were suddenly able to just do something that made you a lot of money, but it wasn’t really what you wanted to do with your life, would you do it? Or would you use your gifts to make the best way to fish. That’s all I want to do—I just want to fish well. Not just be someone else workin’ and makin’ money but never bein’ proud of myself.”

  Max crossed his arms. “Definitely chosen by Nyla.”

  Jasmine tugged me up. “We’re leaving, Ash. You let me handle the money and numbers; you just farm.”

  Melissa got up as well. “It was a pleasure seeing you again, Ashley. Jasmine. I do hope the next time you two arrive together, it won’t be nearly this exciting.” Her head turned to Adrian, and she went in to sit beside him. She leaned his head on her shoulder, and he rubbed her back.

  I was pulled out of the store before I could stare more.