Chapter 1
ONE
Fingertips resting atop the deck railing, Yerina Song leaned over the edge for a better look at the approaching shore.
She lifted onto her tiptoes for good measure.
Anything that brought her that much closer to the small town of Sylvan.
She hadn’t been in the Valley of Sylveren at all for over five years, let alone the place Yerina had once called home.
It wasn’t meant to be then, but perhaps now—yes, maybe this time she’d come to stay.
Yerina glanced over her shoulder to see her younger sister, Bioon, trudging across the deck.
Her oval face was partially obscured by her cloak’s hood, but Yerina could imagine her sister’s baleful look.
Bioon’s expression hadn’t changed much since they’d left their homeland of Graelynd, the country south of the Valley.
Yerina turned back to the water. Sylvan’s port drew ever closer.
Though they danced on the edge of summer, the Valley did weather on its own terms. Mostly in shades of green and gray.
Trees peeked out from the mist as it swirled through the forested mountains.
The town buildings gradually took on distinct shapes and colors, and in the distance, the familiar spires of Sylveren University’s towers rose up.
A hint of melancholy tinged Yerina’s excitement. Despite the years in between, she remembered her last day at the school so clearly. The sadness, and the subtle touch of the Valley. As if it had plucked at her sleeve with incorporeal fingers in wordless entreaty.
The Valley’s disappointment in her leaving, it hurt. But nothing like his.
Brown eyes full of grief regarded her, but he didn’t speak. Not anymore. No pleas whispered in a voice that broke, taking pieces of her heart with each one. Instead, he lowered his head. Cradled her face with hands that shook as he kissed her, resigned to it being their last.
What might have been, if Yerina hadn’t chosen family—
“Remind me again why I’m here?” Bioon muttered, stopping alongside Yerina. She eyed the approaching dock, lips turning down with disdain.
“Because you’re my wonderful, supportive sister,” Yerina said.
“Because you asked,” Bioon replied. “And like a fool, I listened.”
Yerina reached to drag her sister into a hug. “Just wait until you see it, Bee! Haze’s probably updated so many things since I was here.”
Bioon sidestepped beyond her reach. “You’ve been saying that for the last three days. I meant out here.” She indicated the ship’s deck before stuffing her hand back into her cloak’s pocket.
“I wanted to see us arrive. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Yerina lifted her chin to catch the breeze. Her dark hair blew around her face. It would be a windblown, snarled mess by the time they disembarked, but it was worth it. The air up here was just different, and Yerina couldn’t get enough.
“It looks the same as from my cabin window. I don’t know why I let you drag me up here.”
Bioon hadn’t been enthused about joining her sister to take over management of the teashop Yerina used to work at, the Mighty Leaf. She hadn’t exactly agreed to co-managing, either, but rather to evaluate the business while having a few meetings with contacts in the Valley for her regular job.
It was a lot to ask, Yerina knew that. Sylvan was small, catering mainly to locals and the University’s students and staff.
Many of the latter would be leaving soon or had already departed for their own summer break pursuits, while it was still too early for the albeit modest tourist activity in town to have started.
It all made for a vastly different mode of life than Bioon enjoyed in Graelynd’s capital city.
Nor was running a teashop as glamorous as her work with the Coalition of Trade, that governed business in Graelynd.
But Sylvan had charm that Graelynd’s capital lacked.
A sense of character that even the Valley’s larger settlement of Renstown couldn’t match.
And the Mighty Leaf! It had been a new venture when Yerina was there last, barely a year old.
The Valley was somewhat notorious for being wary of outsiders, and Sylvan perhaps most of all.
A teashop being run by a Graelynder, and one from the bustling Central District no less?
More than one foreign enterprise had tried and failed to win over the town, only to slink back home, tail between its legs.
Not Haze. They were made of leather. They’d successfully built a tearoom in Central, contending with Graelynd’s snobbiest coffee roasteries, before inheriting the space in Sylvan. They’d won over the folks of Sylvan, and there wasn’t a town anywhere whose people were more loyal.
Yerina couldn’t wait to see how the shop had grown.
Had never stopped missing the town and the sense of belonging she’d only felt nestled in the Valley.
If Bioon would only give it a chance, the place would grow on her too, Yerina hoped, for the alternative was too painful to contemplate for long.
She’d promised their parents that they’d be okay.
That the sisters would look after each other.
Stick together. Yerina’s vow of duty had convinced their parents to go through with their move to southernmost Graelynd, seeking warmer climes.
True, the sisters were well into their twenties now, not teenagers anymore, but the long-ago promise remained wrapped around Yerina to her core.
She couldn’t leave Bioon, not when her sister still needed her.
She’d just have the Leaf do the convincing.
Surely, once Bioon spent time in the place of Yerina’s heart, she’d understand why Yerina wanted to share it with those she loved.
Yerina looked around again. “Where are the girls?”
Bioon’s indifferent shrug was mostly obscured as she burrowed into her cloak. “Around.”
“Around? They’re five. You can’t leave them—”
“It’s a ship, Yeri. They can’t go far.”
Yerina’s protest was interrupted as the children in question burst onto the deck.
“Auntie! Auntie! Are we almost there?” Eunny Song cried as she launched herself at Yerina.
Yerina stumbled back into the railing as she caught her niece, their laughter mingling together.
“Eunji, behave. You’re not an animal,” Bioon snapped.
“Yes, Mama,” Eunny replied in a monotone. She giggled as Yerina nuzzled her neck, squirming until Yerina put her down again.
“Ana, come see. We’re going to reach the dock soon,” Yerina said, making space so both little girls could stand in front of her, their faces barely clearing the solid portion of the deck railing.
Anadae Helm, Eunny’s best friend, eagerly peered across the water, not toward town but at the University’s buildings looming in the distance.
“That’s Sylveren?” she asked, pointing at the towers.
“Yeah. We’re going to go there one day,” Eunny declared. “Just like Auntie Yerina.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bioon said. “Yeri was hardly there, and you’re going to get top honors at school back home.”
“That’s a long way away,” Yerina said before Eunny could get worked up. “We’ll dock soon. Let’s go and get our things so we can go straight to the teashop.”
The children charged off, their pace only vaguely slowed by Bioon’s admonishment. The adults followed behind, Bioon with more grumbling and Yerina making soothing, noncommittal noises in return.
She allowed herself one last peek back before going below deck. Fog shifted amongst the evergreens as the Valley of Sylveren beckoned. Yerina hid a grin. Between the children’s enthusiasm and the Mighty Leaf’s cozy atmosphere, surely even Bioon’s cold heart would thaw.
The Mighty Leaf’s front door was locked, the old serving tray that functioned as the shop’s entrance sign flipped to read ‘Closed’ in chunky carved letters. Leaving her sister and the children, Yerina popped next door to the haberdashery for any news.
“Hello? I’m looking for—” Yerina stopped as another woman her age turned toward her. “Terryl?”
“Yerina?” The woman’s cheerful face lit with recognition. “Yeri! You’re here!”
They embraced, Yerina laughing with delight. “I told you I was coming.”
She held her friend out at arm’s length for a good look.
Terryl still had rosy cheeks to complement her full face, with brown curls that defied any attempt to tame them.
Though they’d written to each other over the years, no amount of ink could equal the joy of receiving one of Terryl’s hugs in person.
“Do you know why the Mighty Leaf is locked up? I came to see if Haze is around.”
Terryl beckoned for Yerina to follow her to the haberdashery’s front counter, abandoning her button sorting.
“They left in a hurry yesterday, but dropped the key off with us for when you got here.” Terryl retrieved a key from behind the counter.
Yerina’s fingers gently closed around it. A lump rose in her throat to feel its weight. To see the old ribbon tied around one end, the embroidered teapots more ivory than the snowy white of years ago, but still there all the same.
“Are you here full-time?” Yerina asked.
“No, but I’m on a reduced schedule at the library for my Adept levels. Papa’s on a sourcing trip, so you’ll be seeing me a lot this summer.”
“Careful, or I’ll put you to work,” Yerina teased. Her tone was light, but the strained way Terryl laughed gave her pause. “Ter? What is it?”
Terryl shook her head, cheerful smile back in place. “Nothing you can’t handle. It just needs some Yeri love, is all.” Drawing Yerina closer, voice lowering even though there was no one else in the shop, Terryl murmured, “Have you seen…you know. Him, yet?”
Yerina flushed, an awkward laugh rushing out. “No. No, of course—I just got here.”
“Talked? At all, since, you know.”
Yerina shook her head. There was a healthy pause as the friends silently eyed each other. Yerina forced herself to speak, hesitation in every word. “Have you— Er, is—”