“I felt stronger too. We should try to move larger objects. Or perform more complex tasks.”
In learning to use shadow magic, Thyra had progressed further than me, and she wanted to move on to something that might tip the scales in the days to come. To use the shadows in battle.
“I’m all in for lifting bigger things, but I’m not ready to spar yet.”
“Maybe we should study the book more and see where we can stretch our powers next.” She gestured to where it sat, pages open and waiting. Not only did it have the basics of Shadow Fae magic in it, but the tome possessed lessons on advanced magic, some of it quite wicked and gory.
I opened my mouth to reply as a knock sounded at my door. To my horror, my shadows flew at the handle. Wrapped around it.
“Wait!” I cried, but my control over them was gone. The tendrils opened the door, shot past Astril, the Valkyrja on guard, and hovered—right in front of Saga and Marit.
Marit’s eyes went wide, and Saga’s mouth dropped open. It would have been comical if it wasn’t so bleeding horrible.
Pushing my will into the shadows, I commanded them to dissipate. To vanish. They did, but the damage had been done.
Saga made to step into my room, and Astril held out a hand to stop her.
“Let her.” There was no way around this.
Saga breezed past the vampire and pulled Marit in behind her. The door shut, leaving us alone, and the princess studied me with interest. “You have some explaining to do.”
“We will,” I assured her.
“We? Dobothof you have them?”
I wanted to slap myself, but there was only one thing to do. Tell the truth and beg them to stay quiet until we were ready to let others know.
“Yes,” Thyra said. “We only recently found out. We were waiting to spread the word, but Isolde’s shadows had something else in mind.”
Saga nodded. “It would seem so. Tell me what happened.”
So we did. We told Saga and Marit what only a select few knew. Once we finished, Marit breathed out a long breath.
“This might hurt your cause.”
“We expect that,” Thyra replied. “That’s why we’re trying to master the power. It’s only a matter of time before the Shadow King likely outs us anyway.”
“Well, I’ll stay quiet,” Marit said.
“As will I, but now I have something to admit,” Saga said slowly.
My eyebrows flew up. “Do tell?”
“I think I’ve seen that magic before.”
You could have heard a sewing needle drop in the suite.
“It was a long time ago, so I might be wrong,” Saga filled the silence. “I was on a blessing journey.”
“A what?” I asked.
“It’s where royals go on ships to bless the maiden voyage,” Saga explained. “It was my first journey of the sort and pirates attacked. I thought they were mages, or at least part mage. Their kind can wield darkness too, and it looked just like that. I mistook it for smoke during the fight. Only later did Sayyida call them shadows, and I agreed. The dark masses we saw looked more like that. Less hazy and more like a bending of dark light. They were the oddest thing I’ve seen, and very much like what you just wielded, though larger.”
I cut Thyra an incredulous glance.
“I wonder if I wasn’t seeing Shadow Fae?” Saga’s tongue pressed against her cheek, making it bulge out. “Sayyida might remember more.”
“That’s all you can tell us?” Thyra pressed.
