“Perhaps, but then we return to reason one—the world is, overall, hostile toward us. Keeping the people here is for their own safety as well.”
Passing judgment that would affect people she’d never met, but declaring her actions were for their best interest. If that wasn’t the burden of royalty, Vi didn’t know what was. It’s what her parents had done with her, wasn’t it? Made a decision that impacted Vi’s whole life before she was even born and declaring it in her best interest.
“Why are they so dangerous?” Vi chose to ignore, for now, the reasons behind the rest of the world’s dislike for them. She found hatred rarely had good reasons.
“Because of the magic they possess… The same magic you and I possess—the magic of Yargen.”
“Whatisthe magic of Yargen?” Vi finally asked. “All I’ve seen is… light? Light that you seem to be able to do almost anything with.”
“It’s a fairly apt description, in all honesty.” Sehra sat in the chair across from Vi, the small table between them. “The rest of the world has a magic far more complete than ours. What we know as magic being elemental affinities, is merely a mutilated fraction of the true power—the power the goddess herself bestowed on mortals that we here on the Dark Isle have lost control of.”
“You’re saying that sorcerers on the Crescent Continent—Meru—all have the power of Yargen?” That could certainly be an explanation for her mysterious visitor.
“That is what I have been led to believe,” Sehra affirmed. “Naturally, I have not stepped foot off this continent… nor have I met with anyone from Meru.”
“The traveler you met… she wasn’t from Meru?”
Sehra paused at that question for what felt like a long time. The silence stretched and Vi leaned forward, the anticipation helping the earlier frustrations fade away. She hung on Sehra’s next words, but Vi didn’t know why. Perhaps she just wanted to hunt the woman down and find justice for what she’d done to her.
“I could not tell. She truly seemed a woman of the world—ageless, nameless, one who had seen many things.”
That was utterly unhelpful. Vi relinquished herself to the fact that finding information about a woman who approached Sehra mysteriously years before her birth would be hard to track down. “If you’ve never met anyone from Meru, how do you know all this?”
“Because of this.” Sehra rested her hand on the book she’d retrieved. “It has been passed down in my family for generations and is the only primer I have on Yargen’s magic from the rest of the world.”
“It came from Meru?”
“I don’t know where it came from, but I assume so.”
Vi bit back asking what Sehradidknow. Little and less, it seemed, the more questions she asked.
“All right, let’s go back to the power of Yargen itself,” Vi suggested. Asking about the history of it was getting them nowhere. “It’s a magic not based on elements?”
“Indeed. Think of it as all the elements combined—a pure form of power that can be manipulated by the will of those who wield it.”
“I don’t understand…” Vi shook her head, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Sorcery wasn’t overly common in the Empire. One in ten people, likely less, possessed some kind of magic. And those magics were directly linked to a single element. Firebearers could do nothing but manipulate fire—even the affinity of the self required fire to stare into to see the future.
“It will become clearer as you learn, as you master these powers for yourself. We will begin tomorrow afternoon, following your regular lessons.” Sehra stood and Vi followed suit, deeming the conversation finished. “For now, you’ve had a long day. So rest, recover, and we shall start tomorrow.”
“I take it these lessons will be a regular occurrence for us henceforth?”
“Yes, we have already lost enough time. From now until the time you leave, you will spend the hours you would have been training with Jax—those hours, and then some—with me, learning the magic of Yargen.” Sehra paused, looking down at the book that still sat out between the two chairs. “We have lost enough time, indeed,” she whispered, mostly to herself. Then, as she lifted the small tome, handing it to Vi: “I shall lend this copy to you. Perhaps you can get a head start tonight reading what you can of the magic.”
Vi accepted the book mutely, running her fingers along the spine. She was forced to admit that there was something reassuring about having a book involved. For now, she could trust that all her answers were somewhere between the front and back cover. They stepped out onto Sehra’s balcony and the accordion entry to her study folded back in place, melding seamlessly with the wood of the trunk.
“I shall see you tomorrow, princess.” Sehra raised a hand and the doors of the throne room opened.
“Until then.” Vi gave a bow of her head and departed.
She should apologize for her outbursts; her feet almost faltered as she considered doing just that. But they carried her out of the room, and the closing of the heavy doors marked the end of her window of opportunity—for now.
Vi wandered back to her room. She was exhausted and worn down to the bone. So tired that she couldn’t tell if the exhaustion in her eyes was from the strain of keeping them open for so many hours in a row, or if it was the raw emotions still were churning through her, mingling with her spark.
The fatigue kept her silent as the servants attended her. Faceless hands placed themselves on her body, scrubbing everywhere, checking on her leg. Vi allowed herself to be moved along mindlessly until they left her alone in the dark room.
She should sleep.
But her eyes were wide open.
