The stone Anuschka had given her had been the best gift Selene had gotten since the queen had given her access to all of the royal library 45 years ago.
It had taken her 9 days to master the magic inscribed on it. Selene could not remember a time something had taken her 9 days.
At first, she had found no connection to this strange, new thing. It was nothing that, on first inspection, looked super interesting. Just a simple rune carved into a dark, smooth stone.
But the magic on it. It was different. Selene could feel it when she touched the rune- a shiver of something strange, almost otherworldly. Of something fey. Of something that reminded her of Anuschka, standing close to her, fluttering her eyelids.
It was beautiful and terrifying. It had been many years since Selene had had to tap into something unknown and touching the rune made her feel like a young elf again, eager to explore the cosmos laid out in front of her. She spent almost a whole day with her eyes closed, fingertips on the rune. After the first day of not coming out of her room to eat, her cook had gotten worried enough that he came personally to bring her food.
The third day, her housekeeper had dragged her out of her room to take a bath and relax.
The seventh day, a friend came by and checked up on her, worried she had disappeared, or gotten herself killed. She send them to get some more books from the library for her.
On the ninth day, sometime during daylight (she hadn't bothered to keep track of time after day six) Selene put her fingers on the rune. There were five open books on the desk, two piles of discarded ones in the corners. Feywild magics, feywild creatures, feywild gods, the divine networks, arcane centers in the humanoid body. Each one had multiple sections underlined- she would have to remove her annotarions afterwards to avoid a hefty fine. A half eaten cherry pie stood on the feywild creatures book. Two cold, half filled tea cups were inbetween loose sheets of notes.
Selene concentrated. She focused on Anuschkas magical signature. She felt the familiar carved lines of the runes underneath her fingers. The magic prickling. She tapped into her own. Formed it until it resembled that of the rune and felt something, rushing into her like cold water.
The smell of the forest after rain. Cold grass below her feet. Gold threads pulling on her fingertips. Shadows wrapping around her in a familiar, yet strange embrace. Selene leaned back in her chair and stared against the ceiling.
A new form of magic at her control. Something every wizard dreams about, something that comes along maybe once in a century. Probably less often. And she had figured it out.
The ceiling seemed strange. She reached out to touch it, before she realized she was sitting in a chair and her ceiling was 3 and a half meters high.
She looked at the wall above her desk. The eyes of the painted angel coming down in blaze of radiant, silver light stared back. Had she ever truly looked at that painting before? She touched the stone again. It was unchanged. Her own hand felt strangely detached from her body. Her silver rings were suddenly too tight, restricting on her fingers. Her dresses high neck was smothering her. The pin in her hair was tugging uncomfortably on her curls. The world was getting away from her, further and further, pulling away from her hands in fear of what she could do, pushing Selene out into the coldness of isolation. The silence was droning in ears now, her neck was starting to hurt. She could feel every silver piercing unnaturally cold through her skin. She felt her breathing getting quicker, her chest was too tight to take a deep breath, her eyes were unfocusing.
She called out. She took her magic and hurled it at the world, hoping it could still reach reality. The silence was unbearably loud now. She closed her eyes and pressed her hands against her temples, hoping it would stop. It did not.
She couldn't breath properly.
Calloused fingers grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands gently from her temples. A calm, familiar voice was saying her name.
Selene looked up into pale, yellow eyes.
Her voice was weaker then she would have liked.
"I did it. I- I don't feel real anymore."
Anuschka kneeled and held out her arm.
"Here. Put your fingery on the stitching on my blouse. Try to trace the lines."
Selene was well aware her hand was shaking. She could feel her heartbeat in her fingertips. The embroidered yarn felt rough.
"Good. Now feel the leather of my vest."
"The metal of your rings."
The nausea faded, slowly. Selene felt slightly drunk. Or maybe she has just woken up. Her neck and shoulders were stiff from nine days of deskwork.
Anuschka was still kneeling next to her, looking calm, but attentive.
"Is it getting better? You look exhausted. Might just be the all the work."
Selene blinked. The walls were coming back, reality once more welcoming her.
"I though- for a second I thought it was a side effect of the magic. I thought this plane was rejecting me for controlling something not ingrained into the weave of reality. But-"
She blushed. Now it almost seemed like an overreaction. Anuschka must have gotten a call akin to someone blowing their biggest warhorn straight into your face, while you are sleeping.
Anuschka looked at her with furrowed brows. She seemed confused.
Selene clarified: "No no, I was wrong. It- it was much simpler. I must have simply- well. Panicked."
Anuschka opened her mouth, than closed it again.
"Look, I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'm sure that call was unpleasant. I just- it was a big deal, and I got oberwhelmed suddenly. You can leave now. I'm fine. I will contact you as soon as I have written down my observations in a semi-understandable manner."
There was a short pause and Selene was almost annoyed, although she was not sure at whom. Then Anuschka spoke.
"So. What you are saying is- you controlled the magic like your own?"
Selene narrowed her eyes. Then nodded.
"Obviously. That is what you wanted me to study, no? The strange magic on that rune and a way to control it. But I don't know how reliable my control is yet. I might need a few more days."
Anuschka closed her eyes. When she opened them again they were filled with something that made Selenes positively giddy.
Anuschka bit her lip, then a slow smile spread on her face.
"You controlled the magic in the rune after working on your own for *nine days*."
Selene felt a grin on her on face as the words sunk in. Pride filled her.
"Yes. I'm very sorry it took so long."
"Oh, no problem at all. I got it much faster of course- But still, you know. For someone with that little awareness of her surroundings-"
The adoration in Anuschkas eyes betrayed her. Selene wanted to kiss her. Instead, she grinned even wider, leaning forward only slightly.
"Well, for someone like you I would be very disappointed if it took you any time at all. After all, that magic is in your blood. You were born with it. It should be absolutely trivial."
"Yeah yeah, of course. How many years did you study the arcane again? Because for me it was, hmmm", Anuschka looked up, counting on her fingers, then looked back at Selene " oh yeah! No formal education whatsoever. All those books? I guarantee you I haven't read a single one of them. But of course, for me it must be very easy. Not like the leading expert on the topic."
"I will have you know this is *not* my topic of expertise. How ignorant, do you think because someone studied the arcane that is just- all the same? I had never studied divine magic before, and even less the arcane of the fey."
Anuschkas mischievous grin made Selene realize she had won the battle but lost the war before the other even spoke.
"And in spite of that horrible ignorance an total lack of knowledge I still got it faster I fear. Also, I didn't want to say anything, but I'm worried about the integrity of your bed now. So."
Selene turned around. Rain was pouring in through her open windows.
The dropping curtains and soaked bedsheets qere really undermining her impressive success.
"Still," Anuschka continued, making Selene turn back, "I hope you reconsidered working with me. How about I give you a day to recover, get yourself all pretty and presentable and maybe take a bath and then I take you out tomorrow evening to celebrate?"
Selene blushed. She felt slightly nauseaus again, but in a way she had missed for a while. A strand of Anuschkas blond hair had fallen in front of her face, begging to be brushed behind her ear.
She resisted the urge and settled for a hopefully friendly, but not too excited smile.
"That seems like a very reasonable timeframe. We can discuss our observations then."
Anuschka smiled back, and withdrew. Only now did Selene realized her hand had rested on her knee. The spot seemed cold now.
"I will see you tomorrow."
She stood up, brushed her vest, and seemed to hesitate. Selene hoped she would say something more.
Anuschka went to the door. Doorknob in hand, she turned back around.
"Selene? Just to be clear- if you'd like. It could be a date. It doesn't have to be but- it could."
Selenes stomach vaulted. Her chest widened.