Page 2 of Ties of Dust

“If you like.” Miriam didn’t seem concerned either way.

Focusing carefully, Flora drew one hand back and began to wiggle her fingers. With the ease of extensive practice, her awareness latched effortlessly onto the insignificant amount of magic created by the tiny movement.

For a task as intricate as fixing hair, a minuscule amount of magic would be easier to manipulate than a torrent. She needed more magic than wriggling her fingers would create, but a small amount nonetheless.

Once she felt confident that she had iron control over the magic her movement was creating, she swept her hand—fingers still wiggling—toward Miriam’s head, her sensesfull of the invisible Dust—or magic—stirred up by the motion.

Responsive to her silent direction, that magic molded itself into a shifting enchantment. It had very little power, but plenty of finesse, and it shifted Miriam’s hair into place perfectly, trapping it underneath the pin that Flora’s fingers had dislodged.

“There,” she said, satisfied. “My fingers willneverbe deft enough to have that level of control. But the Dust I can control, no problem.”

“Yes.” Miriam smiled encouragingly at her friend. “You’re a natural, Flora, not that you need me to tell you that. I’d say your talents are wasted on hair arrangement, except I’m convinced that it’s good to be versatile.”

“Of course it is,” Flora agreed. “It’s not as though fixing your hair is the only thing I do with my craft.”

“Thankfully for me.” Miriam laughed.

The princess reached out a hand, her fingers curled back toward herself before she extended her hand out in a graceful, flicking motion. Flora could feel the Dust stirred up by her friend’s movement—not with the blazing awareness of the magic that had been under her own control, but her senses still identified it. She didn’t attempt to take hold of it, of course. Trying to control the magic created by someone else’s movement was complex and dangerous. Not to mention illegal.

Instead, she watched as Miriam harnessed the magic herself, causing the ring she was reaching for—just out of range of her physical reach—to move slowly forward across the dresser to where she could pick it up.

“Pathetic, really,” the princess said ruefully.

“No, it’s not,” Flora scolded her. “You have morecapacity for the craft than you think. You just have to apply yourself more.”

Miriam wrinkled her nose. “You sound like our instructors, all of whom thought their own subjects were going to be every student’s top priority.”

“Generally I’d agree with you,” Flora said, “but honestly, I can’t understand how the craft isn’teveryone’stop priority. Why would you not want to harness magic?”

“I do want to,” Miriam said reasonably. “But history interested me more. And literature. You don’t realize how strong your natural aptitude is, Flora. Ididapply myself. A lot. It took a great deal of study and effort for me to achieve the most basic level of control over the magic of my movement. I got nowhere near being able to harness magic from other sources of movement. What I just did is the peak of my achievement—now, with significant effort, I can bring a ring a few inches across the table. It would be so much easier for me to just shift forward and get it.”

Flora shrugged. She couldn’t relate to the lack of motivation, but then again it wasn’t news to her that magic had always held more fascination for her than it had for her friend.

“I haven’t seen that ring before,” she commented, as Miriam slid the jewelry onto her finger.

“It was my mother’s,” the princess said, her voice sad and wistful as she stared down at the sparkling gem.

Flora stared at her. “Why do you sound so…forlorn about it?”

Miriam’s woebegone expression disappeared into a grin as she looked up at her friend. “Because Mother has terrible taste in jewelry. And now I have to wear it, or she’ll be offended. Although, to be fair, I think even she musthave come to her senses and realized this one is ghastly, or she wouldn’t have given it to me.”

Flora considered it impassively. “It is rather ugly, isn’t it? Her Majesty just can’t say no to a persuasive jewelry vendor, can she?”

“Not to save her life,” Miriam agreed cheerfully. She considered. “Or, more accurately, not even to save my reputation for good fashion.”

“I doubt anyone will notice the ring,” Flora said.

“No, they’ll be more focused on the one Prince Cassius is going to put on this finger.” Miriam raised her left hand, contemplating it thoughtfully for a moment before speaking in a rush. “I lied before, Flora. Iamnervous.”

Flora said nothing, her expression sympathetic.

“I don’t want to marry a stranger, and I don’t want to move to Carrack. But it’s not just that. I don’t trust the Carrackians. We haven’t been on good terms with them for about a hundred years. I know everyone’s whispering that it’s Torrens behind the bandit attacks and suspicious disasters that have been happening in all the other kingdoms. But it doesn’t feel right to me. Why would Torrens—who we’ve always been friendly with—turn against us, and Carrack—who we have a strained relationship with at best—be the ones offering an alliance?”

Flora frowned. It did sound strange when put that way.

“You think they might be playing us false somehow?”

Miriam shrugged. “I don’t know what to think. And I don’t dare tell my parents my suspicions, because they’d never believe it’s not a disobliging attempt to get out of the marriage alliance.” She twisted the gaudy ring with a distracted gesture. “I suppose I’ll just have to hope the proposal was in good faith.” Her next words were accompanied by a wry smile at her friend. “I won’t be able toharness enough Dust to defend myself if things go badly once I’m in Carrack.”

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