Chapter 8

Eight

I followedTheon out of his office, as I had literally no idea of where to go. The castle wasn’t like one of those insane palaces you’d see in period dramas. This one was meant more for defense, I think. It was tall at four stories, but each level only had about eight rooms. The main floor was the labyrinth, really. It had been obviously added onto in every possible direction, and sometimes you had to change hallways, go through a room, and into another hallway to reach where you were actually going.

“So…Theon. Tell me about the castle.”

“Ah. Well, the original structure was built roughly fifteen hundred years ago. What we’re standing in now.”

The place with the super narrow hallways? Seriously, Theon and I could barely walk next to each other. I was just glad there weren’t vases or statues or anything because there was absolutely no room for them. Stained glass windows were pretty, though.

“Originally, this was a folly.”

“A whatzit?”

“Think of it as a vacation spot for the wealthy,” Theon said. “They would come up here for hunting and the like. It was built to be sturdy since dragons used to populate this area, and they needed stout walls to defend against the fire.”

He had just said dragons with a straight face. Hadn’t he? “Used to?”

“The last one died out centuries ago. Fortunately for us. We have quite a bit on our hands already. At any rate, when the war against the dragons really started up, this place became a strategic foothold. That’s when the additions started. They needed more space to house people.”

“You know, it did strike me as a fort.”

“That’s why. It’s eminently practical, but not much in the way of home comforts.” Theon looked about the austere grey walls and stone floors with bare rugs to cushion them, then sighed. “Something I meant to get around to.”

“Bread’s more important than carpet.” I clapped him on the shoulder, offering comfort. “I’ll knock the miasma on its ass and then help you turn the economy around. Carpets are in your future.”

He gave me that small smile, the one that did funny things to my insides. “Looking forward to it. Here’s Ara’s study.”

The wooden door with the arched top looked much like all the other doors in this castle, which did not bode well for me. Landmarks, people. I needed landmarks.

We entered the study and found whom I presumed to be his cousin already there, sitting on the couch in front of the massive desk, with a multitude of papers spread out on the coffee table. Looked like my teacher had been planning lessons for me, which was really thoughtful and sweet. I was a visual learner.

At first glance, she didn’t really seem related to Theon. She had long blonde hair in a thick braid over one shoulder, a slender build, an upturned nose, and very pointed ears. Pretty, with the air of a woman who took no shit. She looked my age, but I knew that meant nothing—she could have been a hundred years old and just not shown it. This was no lady of the house, either; she wore sensible brown pants, boots that went to her knees, and a white shirt with the sleeves pushed up. Like a woman ready to work.

Then she turned her head to look at me, gold eyes taking me in from head to toe, and I could see the family resemblance. Her expression was exactly like Theon’s when he’d first met me.

“Well. Aren’t you just a cute walking bonfire,” she greeted in a throaty alto.

Uh. What? “I’m sorry?”

“You, sir, are beyond bright.” Unraveling herself from the couch, she stood and walked toward me, much like a giant predator cat would move. “Ara Genmaer.”

I took the offered hand in a warrior’s grip, returning the favor. “Jake Alexander, pleasure.”

“Has Theon told you anything about me?”

“Only that you have training in divine magic, which is similar to divine power, and should be able to help. I don’t suppose you can start with telling me what the difference between the two is?”

“The source, mainly.” She gestured for me to sit on the couch with her. “Here, take the coin out of your pocket so I can get a good look at it.”

I paused midstep, confused by her words. “Uh, I don’t have that anymore.”

She paused as well, looking at me oddly. “Yes, you do. In your right pocket.”

Ara seemed so certain that I actually doubted my memory for a second. “No, I used it to buy things at the market.”

“Ahhh.” Ara put a consoling hand on my shoulder, expression pitying. “Jake, first lesson on Fae magic. You can’t get rid of it until it’s done with you. I assure you, the coin is back with you.”

Whaaaaat?! I dove a hand into my right pocket, and sure enough, I felt the cool touch of metal. Fucking hell, when had it gotten back in there? I yanked it out to glare at it.

“Told you, you can’t get rid of me,” Coin said smugly.

I glared some more. “You could have explained that it was fraud to use you as payment for something.”

“It was a learning opportunity for you.”

Coin was ever so smug. The desire to yeet it into the fireplace was strong. For some reason, a fire was lit, although it wasn’t a large flame. Coin would get nice and scorched if I dropped it in among the logs.

Theon cleared his throat and distracted me before this became a verbal shouting match. “Jake, who did you give it to?”

“Oh, the hunter at the market stall, Gren.” I glared at Coin.

“How much do you now owe him?”

“One hundred zon.” I sighed. “I am so sorry, I didn’t realize this was an issue.”

Theon held up a hand to stall the apology. “I promise you, it’s fine. I’ll take care of it. You two start, I’ll be back later.”

I’d get Coin back for this embarrassment. Just see if I didn’t. I started planning an evil scheme involving a forge and a bribed blacksmith.

Ara looked ready to laugh and was poorly trying to hold it back. “Well. That’s a start to our lesson. Anyway, sit already. We don’t have a lot of time to cram technique into you.”

That was true. I promptly sat, putting Coin on the table. I didn’t want it on me right now. Too mad for that. I sat with one leg tucked under the other, sideways on the couch, so I could face her better.

Ara did the same, bright golden eyes curious on my face. “Now, to get back to that question you asked me. The difference between divine magic and divine power is source. Divine magic is crafted—it has spells, cantrips, and the like that will pull from the source of life all around us in order to fulfill a purpose. Those of us trained in divine magic normally combine it with another magic because by itself, it’s not all that powerful. Alone it’s good for healing and that’s basically about it.”

Made sense to me. Especially if you were in, say, a desert, I would imagine divine magic might be hard to use. Not enough life energy to power any spell.

“Divine power, on the other hand, is inherently more powerful. Its source is the heavens itself, so it can draw an immense amount of power depending on the talent of the individual. It’s also easier to use. There’s songs for the spells—nothing set, mind you—just that everyone who uses divine power creates their own song spells?—”

Singing? As in me, singing a cappella? A horror spread through my chest. Oh fuck no!

“—and really the spells are more like directions. Like a navigation for the divine power to know what to do and how to do it.” Ara paused, expression concerned. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I have to sing?” I croaked out.

“Well, yes?” Ara’s concern melted away, replaced by evil mischief. “How’s your singing voice, Jake?”

“I don’t even sing in the shower,” I said with a groan. I felt childhood trauma coming back to me, which was a distinctly unpleasant sensation. I’d been scolded so much as a kid for singing—and singing terribly—that I couldn’t imagine trying again. In front of an audience, no less. “I feel hella awkward even trying. Please, please tell me there’s another way to do this.”

“Not that I know of, no.”

I glared at Coin some more. This was all that rat bastard’s fault. Coin was the one who’d brought me into all this. I mean, really? It couldn’t have grabbed the vocalist of a band, or a rockstar, or something? At least someone trained in singing? Not me, who hadn’t tried to sing since I was six and sucked at it?

“We’ll walk through the general principles of it today, let it sink in your head, then have a proper lesson tomorrow.” Ara gestured toward the pages spread out on the coffee table. “I don’t know what your background is like, so I wasn’t sure how to teach you anything. It’s better if I get a baseline today of what you know and what I need to teach.”

She wasn’t wrong. “Sure. So, assume I know nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

Ara snorted a laugh. “What are you, an innocent little lamb?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. But my world doesn’t have any magic, at least, not like this one does. It’s the stuff of fantasy. I’m educated in business, economics, that kind of thing. I didn’t have any abilities until I was brought here”—I glared at Coin again—“and a certain someone decided it was a good idea to make me OP.”

“OP?” Ara cocked her head, brow lifting.

“Overpowered,” I translated.

“Ah. You rather are, at that.” Ara surveyed her papers, picked up about six, and promptly balled them up before throwing them into the fireplace. “Right, those are useless. Okay. First, let me give you an idea of what you should be capable of. Then we’ll work on connecting with your power, so you have a good grasp of how it should feel.”

“Sounds good to me. So what can I do?”

“Based on the ancient texts, a lot.” Ara pointed at a stack of leather-bound books on the table. “I was searching through those while you had dinner with Theon, to make sure I remembered things right. Not to be trusted, my memory.”

I understood one hundred percent, as same.

“So according to the books, the last four holy maidens could do wide-range purifying, the strongest of them managing a swath of four furlongs.”

I had to do some conversion in my head for this to make sense. So about half a mile? Holy shit. I pursed my lips in a soundless whistle. “That’s a lot at once. Damn.”

“She holds the record. No one’s touched her since, but there’s a few who have gotten close. So you can definitely do a lot. You can heal people, of course, that’s the intrinsic nature of divine power. Really, that’s what you’re doing with the miasma.”

I threw up a staying hand. “Wait. What exactly is the miasma? I just know it’s poisonous, especially to plants.”

“Hmm. Honestly, it’s a little hard to say. There’s a few theories on what it is.” Ara gestured to the books again, looking tired. “No one really knows for sure. The holy maidens called in had various thoughts on it, depending on their knowledge and such. Most agreed it was a gas created from something very rotten, which is why healing power works so well on it.”

A gas, huh? Like, radiation or something? “So we know how to treat the symptom but don’t know enough for an actual cure.”

“That’s a very good way to put it.”

I could understand why the government didn’t really call holy maidens until the situation got dire, then. Otherwise they’d have to call person after person, which had to be expensive, and not to mention morally questionable, to kidnap people every generation. Still, after all this time, the people in power couldn’t somehow figure it out? Or did they just keep going for the Band-Aid approach since they knew that worked?

Wow. I could see why Theon hated them. Talk about entitled, geez.

“All right, so I can at least treat the symptom. Got it. So how do I use my power?”

“Part of the reason why I have the fire going.” Ara resettled herself, crossing her legs instead, and had both palms up. “This is simply an exercise in feeling, but it’s good to use the fireplace as your focus. Less combustible that way.”

The way she said “combustible” worried me. “Um. Do fire accidents happen?”

“Not usually with divine power, but with divine magic? Yeah, it happens. I’m just being extra cautious. Now, first, touch your palms to mine. I’ll show you what it feels like.”

I had no qualms about this part, at least, so I put my hands on hers. I felt the difference immediately. Her hands were hot, almost to the point of being uncomfortable, and there was a tingling sensation. Almost like my hands had fallen asleep, but not quite. It wasn’t painful or uncomfortable, just very odd.

“Got the feeling?”

I gave a slow nod of my head. “Yes, I think I do. Hot and tingly.”

“Usually, it’s just barely warm and an awareness in the skin.” Ara cocked a brow at me like she was making a point. “Shows how powerful you are that it’s reacting so quickly to my power.”

I’d take her word on that. “But you’re not singing or anything right now?”

“Well, I don’t want to do anything with my power at the moment. I’m just drawing it up to the surface to resonate with yours.”

“Ah, got it. Okay. I want to try this.”

“Do it.”

We reversed hand grips, this time with my hands on bottom. I recalled that feeling, the intense heat and tingling, and it leapt into my palms like it’d been waiting to be beckoned. In a second flat, it was there, and I could tell it wasn’t my imagination as Ara jumped.

“Damn!” She yanked her hands back and rubbed them together. “That was more intense than I’d bargained for. You really do catch on quick.”

I felt a touch shy under her praise and buried it with a teasing smile. “Aww, you say nice things. All right, since I seem to have this somewhat down pat, what next?”

“Next, I teach you how to focus that power on a target.” Ara gave an elaborate wave toward the fireplace. “Don’t try to do anything, just focus on the fire, on enhancing it. That’s another thing you can do, is boost someone else. Fire works as a good medium to practice on.”

She was the expert, not me. “So I just lift my hands toward it and…what? Think hard?”

“Basically. You’re not singing for this because you’re not trying to direct the power. Just feel it.”

This sounded so easy that it would be conversely hard. I tended to overthink things like this. Still, I had to give it a try. Even if there was an uneasy churning in my gut warning me not to.

I lifted both hands—feeling a little silly while doing it—and focused on the flame barely licking away at the three logs in the grate. I felt the heat and sensation return to my palms, felt reassured I was doing something right, and then tried to push that sensation outward and into the fireplace. Was I doing this right? It didn’t seem like much was happening.

The logs abruptly burst into a high, roaring flame, like a fire tornado, spreading out in a flash of heat that shot over the six-foot distance and scorched my exposed skin. Yikes! I clenched my hands and yanked them to my chest, shutting off the power, and then sat there like a dumbass. Oh. Oh dear. I might have broken that very expensive-looking marble mantel. And the iron grate. And the marble hearth. And…the wall leading all the way up to the ceiling. In a split second, I’d done more damage than I knew how to fix. Or could pay to fix.

Stunned silence reigned in the room for a full three seconds.

Then Ara listed sideways, laughing.

“Um.” I didn’t have words for this and found her reaction a little odd. “Sorry?”

“You’re precious,” she choked out. “Great gods above and below, you’re ridiculously OP, as you put it. I can’t believe you destroyed a fireplace and a hearth in two seconds flat! Ha! I think you’ll give that one holy maiden in the past a run for her money.”

I was less concerned with that at the moment than I was with the damage I had just done. “By any chance, do repair spells exist on this world?”

“Yeah, I know a few. I can fix this, don’t worry.” Ara finally straightened, wiping a tear from her eye, still highly amused. I think, really, what fueled her laughter was joy and relief. She saw in me the potential to solve a major problem, and it was a boon to her heart. “I think before we continue this practice, we should maybe move outside.”

I nodded faintly. “Yeah. I’d rather not burn the house down, please and thank you.”