The garden was starting to become a refuge for Candice. Since she spent most evenings walking in it with her father.
However at dawn, while the servants still slept and her grief still weighed on her heavily, she slipped through the main door and into the lush greenery of the gardens for relief. The dew of the morning clung to the petals of roses, gardenias and daisies like crystal droplets, and the air carried the scent of flowers. The birds stirred from their nests, chirping their sweet song as they sensed the need to bring her cheer.
Candice walked along the stone pathway, her fingers brushing the petals of roses on bushes. Since Cassius was gone, the colours in the garden seemed to bleed out giving over to the grey gloomy weather. Her every step echoed with his absence and reminded her only of him.
She reached the heart of the garden where there was a magnificent fountain with water gushing out. Candice sat on the bench underneath a holly tree and folded her hands in her lap, lowering her head.
"I am worried about him," she whispered to no one in particular. The words trembled out of her, heavy with nights spent crying into pillows and days spent smiling when her heart felt hollow. She pressed her palm against her chest as if she could still feel the ache there. For a moment, she simply breathed, allowing the stillness to hold her.
Then warmth stirred beneath her skin.
At first, she thought it was the rising sun. Pale light filtered through the branches overhead, stroking her face and her hair. However, the warmth came from within her and grew stronger, pooling in her chest where sorrow had lodged itself.
Candice frowned and lifted her head.
The garden had suddenly gone still.
The birds had fallen silent, and even the winds seemed to pause on its journey passing by. She looked down at her hands resting in her lap. A faint glow shimmered around her fingers, soft as candlelight, neither harsh nor blinding. It pulsed gently, in time with her heartbeat.
She gasped and pulled her hands apart, rising to her feet. The glow followed, illuminating her skin like a living thing.
"No," she whispered. "This is not possible."
Her breath quickened as memories surfaced. Whispers she had overheard as a child. The way servants sometimes silenced each other around her when they passed by her. Miss Harcourt's careful glances whenever she spoke of dreams filled with light magic and song.
Magic had always belonged to others. To kings, to the fae and ancient bloodlines. Not to her. Yet the warmth answered her fear with calmness and clarity. It spread up her arms, soothing instead of burning, as gentle as warm sunlight slipping through glass. When she lifted her hand, the glow brightened. Light gathered.
It did not flash violently like lightening or crackle like a fire. It seemed to bloom from within her, like a flower unfurling its petals to reveal itself fully. A small orb formed above her hand, luminous and pure. Shadows retreated, chased back into hedges and corners of the garden walls.
The wilted ivy on the fountain trembled, leaves shivering as if awakening from sleep. The leaves uncurled themselves and turned strong, standing to attention as it sensed the light from her fingertips.
Candice stared, her mouth parted, tears filled her eyes not from pain but from awe at what was happening to her.
"What will I do with this?," she asked, her voice shaking.
The light pulsed again, steady and patient, as though listening.
She took a cautious step forward. The orb drifted with her, obedient, its glow brushing the roses nearby. Where the light touched them, color deepened. Petals straightened. A bud that had been tightly closed unfurled, revealing inner petals of blushing pink.
Candice's breath caught.
She reached out with trembling fingers and let the light spill from her palm onto the earth at her feet. The ground warmed beneath her touch. Tiny green shoots pushed through the soil, curling upward with quiet determination. It was like new life was answering the presence of the light emitting from her.
A laugh broke free from her chest, startled and tearful all at once. She pressed a hand over her mouth, overwhelmed by wonder and fear in equal measure.
"This is light magic," she murmured, the words settling into her bones with strange familiarity.
As if responding to her understanding, the glow softened further, wrapping around her like a shawl. Candice felt it then, not just warmth but clarity. Her grief did not vanish, but it loosened its grip, no longer suffocating. The ache became bearable.
She closed her eyes.
In the darkness behind her lids, she sensed threads of light stretching outward, connecting her to the garden, to the waking world beyond the walls. She felt the pulse of growing things, the slow patience of roots and stone, the promise carried in every sunrise.
And beneath it all, a whisper.
Not a voice, but an impression, a knowing.
"You are not broken."
Candice's knees weakened, and she sank back onto the bench, tears slipping down her cheeks. She did not wipe them away. The light gathered around her, gentle and protective, as if in silent comfort.
"I am afraid," she admitted softly.
The glow brightened once more, steady and sure.
She understood then that this power did not belong to fear. It answered intention, emotion, and truth. It had awakened because something within her had finally cracked open, making room for more than just sorrow to occupy. It made room for hope to come alive.
Candice opened her eyes and looked at her hands again. The glow slowly faded, sinking back beneath her skin like embers settling after a fire. The garden returned to its natural state, though subtly changed. Flowers stood a little taller. The air felt warmer, kinder.
She rose, steadier now.
This gift was not an accident. Nor was it a curse. It was a gentle touch revealing who she could become. It was then that Cassius's face rose unbidden in her mind, the memory of his touch, his voice, the way he had looked at her as though she were something rare and precious. For the first time since his departure, her heart did not twist with helpless longing.
"If darkness is hunting you," she whispered into the morning, "then I will not remain powerless and just standby to watch you fall beneath its spell."
Sunlight broke out fully then,cascading over the hills, peeking through the trees, bathing the garden in golden light. Candice lifted her chin and stepped forward, allowing the sunlight to soak into her skin. She would search for Cassius, she would help him. If only she knew where to start looking.