Acknowledge the past, celebrate what is worthy of praise and release what should have been yet is not. Only in such freedom can the future be clearly built.


    <hr>


    Sekir''s heartbeat pulsed against his ribs, an excited grin on his face even as he carried out pre-planned preparations. He''d dared to imagine he could find an equal, but never truly believed it.


    Yet now he had confirmation.


    This wasn''t just a battle of wits, but a game of immortals. Welburne could die as many times as Sekir and come back just as little inconvenienced. And in this game, all that mattered was information.


    Welburne didn''t even know it, but he''d already lost. Sekir''s opening move would be only the start. He wouldn''t stop until he had the Phoenix Healer isolated and overwhelmed, trapped across every possible encounter in every future timeline.


    He wouldn''t be the first time traveler Sekir had to put down, but even without meeting in person he was already proving to be the most fun.


    "See you soon," he murmured, then affixed a bland expression of subservience on his face as he lugged his bundle of tools up the steps to the target location.


    He banged on the door, then when a servant answered, he presented his card of qualifications with a hopeful smile. "I''m multi-talented. If there''s anything at all Lord Serin could use help with, I''m sure I can handle it."


    The man examined the card, then shook his head. "We work through an agented service. I''m afraid you''ll have to look elsewhere."


    Sekir shrugged and grinned. "Worth a try. Guess you don''t get to live after all."


    Before the other man''s expression could even change, he''d already landed a knife in his heart. "I have an urgent appointment, you see," he told the stunned, dying man as he twisted the blade and yanked it free. "It wouldn''t be polite to be late." He stepped inside and guided the body to the floor, then closed the door gently behind him.


    He had a great many preparations to make.


    <hr>


    "You sure you don''t want to save this for last?" Jair asked as the three of them neared Veshin Oasis and the Serin holding''s meeting courtyard. The drifting manalight of the oasis gave the whole place a mystical ambiance which he appreciated. Yellow and white lights were strung between buildings and draped across the walls of the courtyard. The traditional Solaria feast was to be served at exactly midday, but right now the dim pre-dawn light left only the accent lights as illumination. The table was set up already, bare and empty for now, but surrounded by chairs.


    "Who all is coming?" Jair asked, glancing across the seats. "Twelve more aside from us and your family."


    "Cousins, mostly."


    Jair remembered more than a few Solaria feasts at Serin Courtyard, and they''d always been minimal to the point of stark. Ajriol and his direct household. The three specific cousins who were going to be arguing their merits as alternative heirs now that Raina was gone.


    He''d never been in attendance himself. Raina''s death was too heavy between him and Ajriol, and he didn''t want to disrespect her family by treating them the same as anyone else, frivolous, inconsequential.


    He would crouch on the walltop and watch, offering his own silent promise for the coming year, before disappearing without making his presence ever once known. Now…


    "You''re sure this dress is okay?" Lilin tugged at the hem of her short, elegant dress. It was soft blue and cut across one shoulder and under her arms in a curving sweep, accented with a teal gauzy fabric in oversized sleeves, white gloves, and a single purple flower over her heart, accompanied by a sun-hat with more teal mesh, a matching purple flower, and a white ribbon.


    Raina wore a much more extravagant dress, layers of frills in three super-thin overlapping styles with complementary styles, red and yellow and white in long sections that seemed to drift around her as she walked. Combined with her fiery eyes and golden hair, it made her whole affect one of flickering flame.


    Jair''s battle robes were standard issue for adventuring heroes, complete with merit medals for campaigns he''d fought in the future. White with silver slashes across the left shoulder to display the number of his accolades.


    Since this timeline wasn''t one they''d be keeping, Jair had gone all in and concealed none of his accomplishments. He looked like a retired general from a peak adventuring guild who''d gone out on private royal contracts on the side. He’d included subordinate rankings for the dragons, a verification of future-sight, and designed an entirely new seal for fourth-tier mageblades since such a thing had never existed before now.


    On the right sleeve he wore the merits of a dozen other cultures, from the aerians of Nuprima to the elves of northern Almas and the High Empress of Suthyrel.


    The seamstress he commissioned had given him more than a few raised eyebrows as he''d continued to list the features to be included, but he received exactly what he''d requested.


    Now, as he walked in the main gate with Raina and Lilin at his sides, and he wasn''t sure he''d ever been so contented.


    “It’s perfect,” Jair told her.


    Things were chaotic, and they were going to get even more chaotic. He had a new perspective on life, the universe, and everything.


    But in the end...


    It had been a good year, and he looked forward to an even better one to come.


    He squeezed Raina''s and Lilin''s hands, grinning first at one, then the other. The two people he''d never been able to save in the past, right here beside him, protected and strong. Alive and vibrant.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Lilin''s attention was drawn constantly by the drifting motes of mana in the air. She reached out to one, then giggled when it floated right through her hand without stopping.


    "You need to establish a manabody before you can touch them," Jair told her. He reached out and grabbed the mote from the air with one hand. "We can work on that this new year, if you want."


    "I''d love to. I''ve always wanted to see what magic is like."


    "She already told you she wants to be a healer," Raina reminded him.


    "Did she?"


    "Back when we brought her away from Marisbog."


    "That feels like years ago." Jair took his position on Raina''s other side, Lilin next to him. Ajriol would take the head of the table, and the other cousins arrayed around it.


    "We''re just going to sit here all day?" Lilin asked dubiously.


    "Not all day. Only until sunrise. That is when we acknowledge the past and speak our gratitude from the previous year." Raina tilted her head at Lilin. "Do you not celebrate Solaria where you''re from?"


    "We have a nice meal and go over the finances from the year." Lilin shrugged. "Not such a big deal."


    "Then you''re in for a lot of surprises." Raina took her own seat.


    They were the first ones here, only the preparation staff already present setting things up in the corners and around the edges. The main table was already present, but smaller tables were being brought out as they waited, set up around the sides of the courtyard.


    "Where are your cousins staying?" Jair asked, as he once again scanned the number of empty seats. "I''ve never met most of them in a formal setting."


    “Oh, there’s another guesthouse in Astralla we can open for these kinds of things. They’ve been there since Terlunia.”


    Jair nodded and watched the small gathering as it assembled more fully.


    Two of them in particular he would probably end up ruining just from the principle of the thing—those who''d been dismissive or satisfied by Raina''s death. They did not deserve to hold positions of value in her family, all the less now that she was there to be impacted by their behavior.


    Raina and Lilin both wore soft shawls against the night chill as they sat conversing quietly across Jair while he just sat back and listened and enjoyed their presence.


    People began to arrive only a few minutes later, giving Lilin plenty of opportunity to gawk.


    Cousin Borab was Jair''s least favourite of Raina''s cousins, and it turned out that he was also the most aggressively friendly. Excessively so. He somehow managed to make agreeableness look slimy and what should have been brotherly admiration vaguely creepy. The fact that he celebrated Raina’s loss with hardly the bat of an eye didn’t win him any points in Jair’s books.


    Raina didn''t seem to notice his exaggerated attitude. She interacted with him with the same flawless political politeness that she used with everyone.


    This was Jair''s first time seeing her in a fully political social event—apart from the Veshin exhibition, but that had been much more informal and chaotic. This, a quiet and intimate gathering of friends and closest allies, was not something to be treated with the same frivolity.


    She handled the various factions within House Serin flawlessly, never promising too much, while also not leaving anyone feeling neglected.


    For some reason, every interaction between Borab and Stephani made Jair twitch. Their dynamic was nothing like what he''d seen in the future. With Raina out of the way, they''d been the bitterest of enemies. Aggressive rivals, each trying to undercut the other at the first opportunity. Yet here they were, flirting and lurking like they were a team.


    Whatever caused those two to unite was surely not good. And specifically knowing how fiercely they''d fought for leadership, he doubted that their targets would be anywhere near as benign as one another.


    For the first time since he removed Ryenzo from the picture, Jair began to worry about Raina''s survival. She didn''t have cause to suspect her family of plotting against her, but even if Jair couldn''t prove that there was any real danger, he would keep a close eye on everyone present. A known threat he could eliminate before it was ever a problem, but this was all unknown territory now.


    It was entirely possible that, without Ryenzo doing the dirty work for them, none of her family would ever make a move against her. But she was the primary heiress, only daughter of a missing mother and single father. That kind of vulnerable position practically screamed assassinate me to win.


    He squeezed her hand under the table, and she smiled over at him. Thankfully, Lilin was still too distracted by the floating mana lights to pay either of them much attention.


    <hr>


    By the time sunrise lit up the horizon, everyone but Ajriol was present. The conversation was muted and respectful, and fell silent as everyone turned toward the archway facing the sunrise.


    Ajriol stepped into sight holding a woven basket in both hands. "Welcome, friends. Today we celebrate the accomplishments of the past and prepare ourselves to begin anew."


    He placed the basket on a pedestal at the far end of the table, a pedestal with a dark cloth covering it all the way down to the floor.


    Ajriol stood behind the basket and held up a list he had created beforehand to read aloud. Though only a brief summary of House Serin''s affairs from the previous year, it took several minutes for him to complete, then placed it into the basket when he finished.


    He next took out several small trinkets of various shapes and styles—a message spool, a tree seed from Terluna, a folded cloth, a single chain link, etc—and described what each symbolized to him and how it had been accomplished during the year. Or hadn''t been, in a few instances. He placed them each into the basket whether or not he''d succeeded in what he set out to do.


    Jair''s heart lightened at how normal and peaceful everything was. He couldn''t help but contrast this with the way Ajriol had gone through the motions in the previous timelines. So soon after his daughter’s death, he hardly spoke, and would throw the entire handful carelessly, almost vengefully, into the basket without even trying to describe them or their purposes.


    Today, Ajriol finished his own turn and concluded with a smile. He bowed and called Raina up, and she brought her own handful of items and papers.


    After Raina came Cousin Borab, then Jair, then Cousin Nerry, then Lilin, and so on down the table until it reached the end where sat the handful of committed staff to House Serin--Carn the household manager, Lisa the head cook and her assistant Moira, and Indra the cleaner.


    They too each described their triumphs and failures, before committing everything both done and left undone to the basket.


    Ajriol returned to the pedestal once the last person had deposited their pages and items and took the opposite corners of the long black cloth, wrapped it one direction and then another until it was fully concealed, then tied it down and stepped back.


    "The year of 1427 is over!" With a flick of one hand, the cloth burst into flame, flash-incinerating the contents in the basket. The cloth burned away, leaving only the basket itself untouched.


    For a moment everyone sat in somber silence, then Carn stood and waved for the serving staff to bring out the morning feast. In addition to the traditional dishes and local cuisine, House Serin had splurged on several exotic imports. Each of the cousins had brought a dish in addition to those provided by Ajriol.


    Symbolically freed from the bounds of the old year, the mood shifted to unrestrained. People congratulating each other for their accomplishments, friendly ribbing about what hadn''t been done, placing bets and trying to guess what various people would try for in the year to come.


    <hr>