After the Long Night, the Elven Family Lost Me

In an elven family, when a child is born, the elders take a silver leaf from the ancestral tree and hide it in the family shrine. When the child turns fifty and comes of age, the leaf is brought out, engraved with their name, and given to them to keep. When my grandmother was alive, she took me to the shrine every autumn. She would wipe the dust from the leaf, run her fingers along its veins, and place it back in the box. She always said: "This leaf grows up with you. No matter which forest you walk to in the future, the family tree will remember you." My coming-of-age ceremony was in three days. But tonight, when my family brought out the silver leaf, the name engraved on it was Lirien's. Strings of firefly lamps hung in the center of the banquet hall. My mother, Sylvia, pinned the leaf onto Lirien herself. My father, Aslan, raised his glass. My brother, Kaelan, draped the ceremonial robe for the Royal Court Academy over her shoulders. My fiancé, Elian, stood behind her, shielding her from the crowd, as if he were the one— "The youngest painter in our family is going to the Royal Court," Kaelan raised his communication crystal and photographed the silver leaf on Lirien's chest. "This leaf waited a whole year for her." The edge of the appointment scroll in my hand was crumpled from my grip. The Royal Court Ley Line Bureau had accepted me into the ancient tree plague zone survey team. They desperately needed engineers who could read old water channels and root patterns. The assignment lasted seven years, crossing several sealed border woodlands. When I finished, I could join the northern reconstruction and earn the qualification to oversee a ley line independently. No one asked what I had received. I walked to my mother and pointed at the leaf on Lirien's chest. "That's the silver leaf Grandmother left for my coming-of-age." My mother's smile paused. Her hand didn't stop adjusting the leaf on Lirien. "Aelira, Lirien has no blood token of her own in this family. You have Grandmother's silver rings, and you have the Ley Line Bureau appointment. She needs something to prove she belongs here more than you do." "Grandmother chose it for me." My father set his glass back on the table, his voice dropping. "Your father's companion Daren was gravely injured in the workshop accident. Lirien lost her father. We brought her home because we promised Daren we'd take care of her. Tonight is her good day. Don't make everyone uncomfortable over a small thing." "It's not a small thing." Kaelan immediately stepped between us. "You can fight for everything yourself. Lirien only has us. You already have a future. Do you really have to compete with her over a leaf?" Only then did Elian glance at me. There was no surprise in his eyes. Only impatience. "Aelira, don't force her to give it back. She's always felt like an outsider." In that moment, I finally understood. My family had spent years using my things to pay off a debt for Lirien. She lost her father, so I lost my bed. She was afraid of being alone, so my time had to go to her. She felt she didn't belong, so even the silver leaf Grandmother left me had to be hers. I walked to the end of the banquet hall, unrolled the appointment scroll, and pressed my thumbprint on the confirmation line. The scroll glowed silver-blue. The assignment slot was officially locked. Departure date: twenty days. The border outpost would be sealed for seven years. No unauthorized leave during the assignment. Behind me, my mother had Lirien raise her glass. My father smiled, a rare sight. My brother took more photos. My appointment scroll was pressed under the corner of the table. No one noticed it had already emitted the light of confirmation. I closed the scroll and stood in the shadow by the window. Everyone in the hall was celebrating my sister's new life. I had already chosen the day I would leave.

The next morning, my mother spread the Royal Court Academy map across the long table. She had already circled Lirien's residence: an independent suite in Laurel Court closest to the painting hall, with a greenhouse and private bath, windows facing the inner garden. "This one is the most suitable," she said. "Lirien has loved painting flowers since she was small. Living here will put her at ease." Kaelan leaned over the map. "There's a magic art supply shop nearby too. If she wants to buy anything, I can go with her after class." My father nodded. "Book it. She just arrived in the capital. We can't let her suffer again." I sat at the other end of the table and opened the family ledger. Orders at the northern workshop were down. The woodland harvest had been poor for two years straight. The accounts could barely cover academy tuition, my brother's knight training fees, and household repairs. My mother took out a pouch of golden vine coins and placed it beside Lirien. "Thirty per month. The capital is expensive, and art supplies cost a lot. Write home if it's not enough." My fingertip stopped on the ledger page. Thirty golden vine coins was exactly one month of my salary as a survey assistant. It was also the entire savings I'd planned to use for a spell-resistant cloak and a surveying scope. "The family can't afford this right now," I said. "Academy tuition, Kaelan's training fees, and my assignment equipment—" Kaelan threw his quill onto the table. "You're doing the accounts again. Lirien has no one in the capital. What's wrong with giving her some money?" "My assignment doesn't get family subsidies either." My father didn't look up. "The Ley Line Bureau provides basic equipment. You've always managed. You can make do with fewer things." "Official surveyors have to supply their own protective charms and ley line probes." "Once Lirien is settled, we'll figure something out." My mother pushed the ledger aside. "Don't let her hear this for now. She's just starting her new life." I swallowed what I hadn't finished saying. Everyone at the table was looking at Lirien. She kept her head down, fiddling with the string on her coin pouch, as if she hadn't heard what we were arguing about. Elian had promised that after we each finished our studies, he'd go with me to see the aurora tree sea in the North. He'd saved for years to buy a new drafting set. I'd saved for years to buy a pair of genuinely cold-proof boots. We agreed whoever saved enough first would buy for the other. At lunch, he placed an acceptance letter from the Royal Court Academy on the table. "I signed up for the painting hall guard course," he told Lirien. "You're living in the capital your first year. I can look after you." I thought I'd misheard. "What about your advanced ley line studies slot?" "I can do that in a few years." He said it like it was natural. "She's going to the capital alone. I'm not comfortable with that." Lirien looked up at him. "Elian, you don't have to give up your plans for me." "I'm not giving them up for you." His voice was gentle. "I want to go." My mother looked relieved. Kaelan praised his sense of responsibility. No one asked what would happen to the future we'd planned together. Later, Elian contacted me through the communication crystal. He said he hoped I wouldn't misunderstand. He was just helping Lirien through the hardest first year. She was his friend. Also family. "You used to refuse to practice ley line techniques with me, saying you had to study every night." I looked at his face in the crystal. "Now you can postpone your courses for years just to stay with her." He was silent for a moment. "You've always been independent, Aelira. You know how to take care of yourself." I watched those words surface on the crystal and suddenly felt they hurt more than "you don't matter." As long as everyone believed I could take care of myself, they never had to take care of me. I didn't argue anymore. I just rewrote my equipment list. Before the assignment began, I'd use my remaining savings to buy the essentials. As for my family, I no longer planned to wait for them to figure something out.