The Magic of Aurelian
Chapter 1: Careers

Eleonor - Age 25 years

"Solara, do you see the crystallized dew drops anywhere? I was able to replace the stardust essence and the celestial honey, but I'm still missing the dew." Solara and I were taking a medical potions class together and were currently working on a soothing nectar for sore throats.

Solara was fairly certain she wanted to go into the medical field, so she asked me to take this class with her. I myself had yet to decide what field I wanted to go into. My father was glad I had no interest in his line of work as he was one of the Queen's warriors. My mother, on the other hand, would love it if I went into teaching like she did.

I'm still young, so there is no rush. Fairies lived so long that no one rushed anyone into choosing a career. We aren't really even considered adults until we turned 50 years old anyway, so at 25, I still had years to decide.

Other than my parents' jobs, I had already ruled out childcare, fashion, and anything involving math, but there were so many other avenues to consider. I just hadn't explored them yet.

"Here's the dew. Someone took the whole bottle to their table." Solara started to mix the ingredients, "This honey smells amazing, don't you just love mixing things!" She looked so happy and was right in her element with this class. I on the other hand was certain to add medicine to my list of ruled-out careers. It wasn't that I didn't like it but more that it didn't excite me or spark anything in me.

"You have about 5 more minutes to finish your potion before we start putting away for the day." Our professor went around the room giving us a time warning.

"I'll wash these, if you can take the extra ingredients back." Solara started collecting everything for us to clean up. "Has Gabriel decided what he's doing next semester? Aether has been begging him to join the ranks with him, but last I heard Gabriel hadn't given him an answer."

Gabriel and Aether were mine and Solara's 15-year-old brothers. At 16, they would be old enough to start training to become warriors. While Aether had always known he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, my brother Gabriel wasn't so sure he wanted to be a warrior like our father. He had confided in me that he had always wanted to travel and explore the world. Most of the warriors, however, were tied to their Queen, so travel would be unlikely as Queen Himari had preferred to stay at home in recent years.

"My mom asked me to meet her at the bakery after class, do you want to come?" Solara's mother, my Aunt and Godmother Jacinta, had opened up a bakery in the last year. She had lived in the human world a few years and lived there as a humble baker. Once Aether was old enough to go to school Aunt Jacinta returned to her first profession of teaching but decided she missed baking enough to open up her own bakery here in Fairmist. She was the best baker, so I was quite glad for her decision. I spent a lot of free time in her shop tasting all of her creations.

"Of course, you know I can't help but stop by to see what extras she has."

I wasn't paying attention as we walked out the door and ran right into a man who was crossing the hallway. I ended up stabbing him in the chest with the corner of my journal, which I was quite sure was not a pleasant experience. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was headed. Does it hurt badly?"

I couldn't see him clearly as he was looking down and rubbing at the place where I stabbed him. "It stings a little, but I'll heal, so no real harm done." He looked up, and my heart dropped as I recognized the brown curls and chocolate eyes of none other than Prince Kiran. I was slightly embarrassed before, but now I was utterly mortified at having injured the Prince of all people.

He smiled up at me, not seeming to be upset at all. "You look familiar, do I know you?" He looked over at Solara and squinted his eyes in confusion. "Both of you look familiar."

"I'm so sorry, Your Highness," I gave a slight curtsy. "We met once before, during the Shadow War. I was only five at the time.

"Of course, I remember you now, Eleonor, right? You're Cillian Lightstorm's daughter."

"Yes, that's right. I don't believe you've met my cousin, Solara, though." I gestured toward my cousin, and she curtsied.

"Ms. Jacinta is your mother, now I know why you look so familiar. Your mother was instrumental in helping us win the war. All four of your parents really. They're all a great asset to our Kingdom. Are the two of you studying to be teachers like your mother's?"

"I'm going into medicine, but Eleonor has yet to decide. She's keeping her options open." Solara responded for both of us.

"Well, whatever career you choose, I am certain the two of you will follow in your parents' footsteps of service. If you haven't looked into it already, Miss Eleonor, the Kingdom is always in need of people well-versed in politics and diplomacy." He bowed to us. "I'm expected in a meeting, but it was lovely to see you again, Eleonor, and to meet you, Miss Solara."

We both curtsied as Prince Kiran continued on his way.

"You never told me you had met Prince Kiran." Solara looked at me incredulously. "He's the most handsome man in the kingdom, and you kept that to yourself?"

"I was five, I barely even remember our encounter." I waved her off.

"Well, he remembered meeting you." She put her hand on her hip and eyed me. What did you think about what he said? Politics? That might be a good fit for you, and you'd get to work at the castle with Prince Kiran. At least you'd have a nice view every day."

"Solara! You can't talk about the Prince like that." I admonished her as I lightly swatted at her arm.

"What, like you weren't thinking the same thing?" She gave me her best cheeky grin.

"I'll admit, he's handsome. I wouldn't go into a career for that though."

"I think you'd be good at politics, you've always been the most diplomatic one amongst us cousins."

I rolled my eyes at her as she giggled. "And if you do end up working at the castle, I'll visit you often, and I'll just see the Prince myself.

"You're ridiculous." I smiled at her, "We'll all three have our own spouses soon enough anyway, and ours will likely just be normal fairies like our parents, while the Prince will marry some glamorous foreign princess."

"A girl can dream, and there's no harm in looking. We have decades left before we settle down anyway. Now let's go."

As we reached the outer gates of the school, we flew up and headed to the bakery. Aunt Jacinta was there waiting for us with a warm lunch.

"How was class, girls?" The three of us sat down together to eat as the rest of our families were still at school or work.

"I loved it, I can't wait to see what all we will learn!" Solara gushed.

"Did you like it, too, Eleonor?"

"It was fine. We'll be learning a lot of neat potions, but I'm certain medicine is not for me."

"We ran into Prince Kiran. He gushed about your involvement during the Shadow War, but then he suggested that Eleonor study politics."

I loved Solara, but discretion was not her strong suit.

"Oh, and what do you think of that, Eleonor?"

"I think I don't have the patience for dealing with hard-headed politicians." I shuddered at the thought.

"Really, I was thinking you might be good at something like that, but you have plenty of time to decide. If anything, you'll always have a place in the bakery if you like. Especially since all of my children have already decided against working here with me."

"Was Orion accepted for the Guardian expedition?"

"He's still waiting to hear back officially, but Callum is fairly certain he's been selected for the next group." Aunt Jacinta sighed loudly. The Guardians were our group of combined fairy and dragon warriors who defended the borders of Aurelian. The group had been established after the Shadow War to help keep any threats at bay. A group of Night Nymphs had been found hovering near our borders, and a group would be selected to go check out the problem. Orion was still young and not an official warrior, but they would be taking along two trainees, and Orion had put his name in for consideration.

"I swear those sons of mine will be the death of me, always rushing off after danger." She looked over at Solara, "Not that your father is any better, and I'm certain he encourages your brothers."

"Don't worry, Mama, Orion and Aether will be just fine. You and Papa have made sure of it."

"Right, well, it doesn't keep a mother from worrying…now, shall we make some cookies for when everyone gets home?"

We spent the rest of the day baking with Aunt Jacinta. I absolutely loved her, and I was convinced she had been the best thing to happen to our family. I loved my parents and my uncle, but Aunt Jacinta just had this brightness that she brought to us, and Uncle Callum had definitely been much happier with her in his life than how I remember him before Aunt Jacinta arrived.

Before dark, I set off for home with my bundle of freshly made cookies. I had never thought of going into politics, but maybe it was worth looking into…or maybe I'd fare better just working at the bakery because I was certainly good at baking and there was at least a little spark there.