Autumn, Year 150.
The ginkgo leaves had turned yellow.
The courtyard was carpeted with golden fans, and whenever the wind blew, they slipped into the corridor. Every morning, Su Li had to sweep away the pile by the door, or he would step on them and skid when he went out.
Today, he had not swept.
He sat in his usual spot, watching the leaves on the ground whirl up in the wind before drifting back down.
Elonore came over carrying a small stool. She came every day now. Sometimes she brought a cup of tea, sometimes a book, and sometimes nothing at all—she simply sat there.
Today, she had something extra in her hands.
A wooden box the size of a fist. An acorn was carved into its lid. Elven workmanship, so meticulous it was almost excessive.
Su Li glanced at it. "What's that?"
"Something from when I was little."
Elonore set the box on her knees, ran a finger around the lid, then opened it.
A layer of dried moss lined the inside. Resting on it was a crystal no bigger than a grain of rice, its color so dim that it was nearly impossible to tell what it had once been.
"I received it when I was born." Elonore pinched the tiny stone between her fingers, held it up before her eyes, and turned it. "In the Elven Forest, every child has one. It absorbs the aura of the person who gives it to you. When that person dies, the stone fades with them."
Su Li looked at the dull gray thing. "Violet's?"
"No."
Elonore shook her head. When she placed the stone back in the box, she moved slowly, as though afraid of breaking something.
"The old nanny who raised me. A human."
Su Li turned