Page 6 of A University of Betrayal

“Where are you going, Julie?” Ivy asked, eyeing me intensely.

She took after Amara a lot. Not only were there signs that she carried earth magic, but she often radiated the same determination and calmness as her mother. You got the feeling that you could tell her anything, that you could open up. It was almost deceptive because I knew how fatal it could be to open up to others. And she was a goddamn child.

“I will... check on Grace,” I finally said, nodding to her and Margot before I actually decided to check on my cousin.

Cellar

Jay Varton

I knocked cautiously on the wooden door decorated with Victorian patterns, but no one answered.

Sometimes I doubted my hearing, and if I hadn’t known that Grace was always silent when someone knocked, I would have gone to my room and surrendered to my endless spiral of thoughts. Instead, I slipped through the slightly open crack of the door into the room, where a tense Grace was hunched over her desk, studying old tomes on earth magic.

She hated it. She never said so, but the reluctance with which she always reached for those books was impossible for evenmeto miss.

I looked around, but the room was unchanged, full of plants, shelves of vials filled with dried herbs, covered with faded labels with their contents written in black ink. Then there was the crystal collection among all the books on the shelves, coal drawings of earth magic runes that all worked at the same time, one against dust, another against intruders, and then there was the one for dreams, all combined with the right minerals that allowed them to work.

I was always amazed at what Earth Quatura were capable of, and what they could do with herbs and elemental symbols made from crystal pigments. The fact that simply using different minerals for the same symbol had a different effect also made this magic so complex. I was not surprised that the Earth Quatura were assigned the task of Domini.

“What do you want, Julie?”

I bit the tip of my tongue.

“Are you still mad at me for going home without you? I mean... the Halloween party...”

I pressed my shaking hands together behind my back.

Grace turned to me.

“Jesus, Julie, it’s not always aboutyou.”

I winced.

It wasneverabout me. I made sure of that. Yet, our recent conflicts had been about me.

Hesitantly, I tried a different approach. “You can tell me if there’s anything.”

I knew I was asking her to do something I had never completely given her myself and probably never would be able to, but Grace wasn’t afraid to be honest with me.

“I can’t believe you can’t show a bit of understanding for my situation. Not you, not Margot, andcertainlynot my own mother!Everythingis so sudden, and I’m carrying this burden on my shoulders.” She looked at me with an unclear expression. Her make-up was a little smeared, as if she had been crying. “You know what the funny thing is? I didn’t choose it. If I’d had the choice, I would never have gotten into this position.” She ruffled her hair and turned back to the table to close the book and then take it to one of the many shelves. “What I’m reading here isfar too muchknowledge.” She shoved the book between all the other thick handbooks. “I admire her everygoddamnday, how she manages it all, all the responsibility she balances on her little finger.” She made a gesture with her hand, then went back to the desk and put her writing materials in the leather pencil case that had belonged to our grandmother. “But that’s notme.That’s my mother. And just because she managed to take over an entire community so young doesn’t mean I’ll be able to.” She then lifted up the book for the introduction to business studies for first-year students. “Just like this ridiculous university degree.” She slammed the book into the corner, making a noise that made me wince again. “I hate it!” she said out loud. Then she dropped onto her bed and started to cry.

In situations like this, I feel extremely helpless. I was unable to empathize with others, let alone show any real compassion. All it did was evoke a certain nervousness, an awkwardness.

Nevertheless, I walked over to Grace, sat down carefully and put my hand on her back, just as Amara often did with Ivy when she hurt herself while playing and then cried.

Grace flinched, and I withdrew my hand.

“God,Julie, you’refreezing.”

I quickly hid my hands between my thighs and said sheepishly, “I’m probably still a bit sick.”

Luckily, she didn’t elaborate but started playing with the green crystal on her neck. It glowed slightly, which was due to the fact that she was very emotional at the moment and was storing some of her excess magic in it. Without the control stone, uncontrollable things would have happened now, just as they had with me.

“I just need a break.” Grace sounded exhausted, just like Amara had earlier when she’d gotten up and left. “But I can’t afford to take it like others here.”

I knew she meant me, but I left it at that, not letting it get to me.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” I finally asked with caution.