Verin took the letters and nodded. “I will see it done, Father.”
As he passed, Flavian’s eyes met Leander’s. He felt the strange sensation of a foreign presence pressing at the edges of his mind. Leander slammed up a crude defensive wall around his thoughts.
Flavian smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. “And ensure he is instructed in the rudiments of Aesthesia. The last thing we need is a foul up in the mortal realm to set him back even further. His mother has left him in our care after his fall from grace and I will not see him harm his own prospects more than he has already.”
Chapter Two
“You need to learn this. What we are going over is the very basic skill you need to manage the arcane art of Aesthesia. A child of five winters can instinctively do what it has taken you two days to grasp. Concentrate, Leander.”
The demigod was sitting in a hardback chair, leaning forward with his face in his hands as the frustration he was feeling began to get the better of him. “I am concentrating! This isn’t as easy as you insist it is.”
“Like I said, a five-year-old?—”
“Oh, give him a break, Venser,” Verin interrupted as he exhaled slowly. “A five-year-old has received five additional years of training, five more than Leander. Even if it isn’t formal. They instinctively know it because they didn’t have it thrust upon them at the age of twenty-eight… and their gift would by no stretch of the imagination be as powerful as Leander’s.”
Venser acquiesced, falling silent as he allowed his half-brother to pull himself together.
“Would that the Nine had not deigned it appropriate to bless me with this mortal power when they stripped me of my divine powers.”
“It is the birthright of most noble children and even some who are baseborn,” Verin explained gently. “You are entitled to it as the son of Flavian Talius, as much as we are. You can do this, Leander.”
“I don’t even understand what I am supposed to be doing. I could feel our father the other day and it was second nature to throw up a barrier but I have no idea how I did it. It was instinctual.”
“That’s all Aesthesia is: instinct.”
“Yes,” Venser agreed, “cerebral instinct. You think and you do. There is little more to it than that.”
“It is still none of it easy,” Leander grouched to his brothers. He slapped his hands on his thighs. “Right. I’m ready. Let’s try again.”
“Okay then.” Venser took his seat opposite Leander while the eldest of the three brothers stood at a distance, watchful. “You will feel light pressure against your psyche. I want you to repel it just as you did against father. This needs to become a conscious effort rather than a passive phenomenon. Only then will you be able to understand what you are doing and it can be done unconsciously.”
There was a pause.
Then: “Good, that barrier will keep out all but the most gifted. Do you recognise the effort it takes to sustain it?”
Leander nodded as he felt the pressure leave his mind. He had imagined cast iron walls being erected to defendhis mind and it took a fair amount of effort on his part to keep them up, but it worked. Once the pressure was removed, he allowed the defences to fall.
“No, keep them up, Leander. This is something that needs to be second nature. I can feel the pride in yourself radiating off you. The barrier must remain erected. That’s why I recommended picturing something simple: easier to maintain.”
“Let’s move on, Venser. Leander has the basics down. We can always return to this lesson when we work with the children, but he needs the rudiments in active use of Aesthesia, not just passive and protective uses.”
Venser glanced at Verin. “Yes, I suppose you’re right,” he murmured as he leaned forward in his chair. “Verin, will you be his target? Easier for me to instruct when my mind isn’t being invaded.”
The Talius scion nodded and came to sit in the plush recliner next to Venser. There, he settled in, preparing for Leander’s attempts to breach his mental defences. He smiled at his little brother, a look that was both comforting and a challenge, as if to say,I fucking dare you.
Leander wiggled around in his own chair, trying to get comfortable before his attempt to penetrate his brother’s no doubt well protected mind.
“Ready?” Venser asked of the pair of them. When they both nodded in response, he said, “Okay, Leander, do your worst.”
Permission given, Leander closed his eyes and shut his senses off from the world, as his brothers had taught him yesterday. Eventually, he would not need to do this, but itwas, apparently, the easiest way to learn the arcane art of Aesthesia.
Clearing his mind, he sought out other presences in the vicinity. There was Verin, and then he sensed Venser. He found them easily, but he could also sense a few slaves as they went about their work around the house.
In their minds was little of consequence as they went about their day, completing the tasks required of them by the Talius family. They were focused on their tasks, some thought about what they would do this evening in the Bazaar as there was quite the celebration tonight. One even thought about a spurned love. Nearby, Verin’s children were occupied in lessons with their tutors. None of their minds were focused on the political history of Vyrica as they should have been. It was mundane and inconsequential but difficult for Leander to tune out.
He tried to dismiss the minds of those who were not his quarry and focused on Verin. Eventually, he managed it.
There it was, the thoughtfully constructed barrier, one with enough holes in it for him to have a fighting chance at getting through. Leander prodded at it lightly. He opened his eyes and gave his brother a look.
