“Grandmother said that her great grandmother could derive meaning from these symbols. But I never believed it, nor did my mother, for all we saw were the strange circles and spirals. But you… you can read it?”
“I… I think I can? I can’t say for sure I’m right…” Vi looked back to the page and then, as slowly as she dragged her eyes away from it, looked to Sehra. “What does it mean, that I can read it?”Readstill seemed a generous term for the sensations Vi experienced when looking at the page. Perhaps it had something to do with Taavin’s word giving her an “understanding.”
“I cannot say yet. But I do think it will expedite your studies.”
“Good… because all I care about is controlling my magic and keeping it hidden,” Vi emphasized. There couldn’t be any incidents like the one in the jungle with her fire getting away from her… or randomly glowing. Sehra gave her a hard look. “I mean no offense,” Vi added hastily. “I don’t want to keep it hidden because of…”
“I know what they will say of ‘magic from the North’ in that city of ice.” Sehra gave her a thin smile.
“Truly, the most important thing is for me to control it. If I go back to the capital and start an inferno—”
“We will see that you establish control. That was my task in all of this, what the traveler told me; I am to teach you all I know about the magic of Yargen. Now,durroe… I recommend holding out your hand.” Sehra held her palm up to the ceiling, her long fingers outstretched. Vi mimicked the motion. “I imagine this as a platform for my magic. On this platform, I will builddurroe.”
“Build it?”
Sehra outlined the glyph in the book with her finger. Then, she did the same about an inch off her palm. Her movements were precise, and shaped outdurroeexactly as it was in the book. The ghostly outline of the glyph appeared, hovering midair above Sehra’s skin; above the glyph was a round orb of light.
“You’re not… glowing.” Vi remembered the threads of light radiating from her body the night before.
“No.” Sehra looked at her strangely. “I envision the illusion I wish to make—the orb of light. Nothing else would be glowing.”
“Of course not,” Vi murmured. Sehra continued to stare. Well, if she was raising suspicion, she may as well go all the way. “Have you ever heard voices from the magic?”
“Voices? Of what kind?” If Sehra had to ask, then she most certainly hadn’t.
“Nothing.” Vi shook her head. “I had a strange dream last night, that’s all.” She knew better. Nothing about that had been a dream. She could still feel Taavin’s words washing over her, rippling through her veins. Vi worked to push it from her mind and quickly mirrored Sehra’s motions. “So I hold my palm out like this?”
“Yes.” If Sehra was suspicious still, she gave no indication. “Now, you will attempt to conjure the essence ofdurroeabove your palm. Try drawing it first—that was how my mother taught me.”
Vi closed her eyes, summoning the symbol ofdurroeto the forefront of her mind. Lifting her other hand, she made an attempt at tracing the glyph in the air. At first, her skin, and the space above it, remained dark.
But Vi tried a second time. A third. And on the fourth, trails of light lifted from her skin, beginning to take shape before fading away frustratingly quickly.
She stared in wonder where the glyph had begun to form.
“Again, princess.”
Vi took a slow breath, held out her hand again. By the time she completed drawing the symbol, the initial lines faded and there was no illusion—no orb of light, no strands peeling off her skin to hover in the air.
“What am I doing wrong?”
“Nothing, you merely need practice,” Sehra assured her. “Try again.” The Chieftain settled back in her chair, plucking a book off a nearby shelf. She flipped through it nonchalantly, clearly settling in for what she assumed was going to be hours of work.
Vi pressed her lips together in a firm line. Sehra may not know what she was doing wrong, but Vi would bet she knew someone who did. Taavin—a voice, a man linked with fate, and most importantly, someone who was from a region of the world that supposedly had intimate knowledge of this magic.
She’d summon him again tonight, and Vi wouldn’t take no for an answer when she asked for his tutelage.
Chapter Fourteen
Vi’s handrested on her drafting table, turned upward.
Everyone else in the fortress was no doubt tucked safely in their beds at such a late hour. But she had stayed up, waiting and listening for quiet to take over the air and assure her that it was safe to slip into her study. She could’ve summoned him in her bedroom. But that had made her feel slightly… vulnerable last time. This was going to be a business transaction, and Vi wouldn’t start it on weak footing.
She allowed magic to trickle across her skin. Sparks crackled between her fingertips and condensed into a flame in her palm—small and harmless. It was the same action she’d performed since she’d first manifested her magic. But now the flame didn’t jump, or leap, or singe the desk as it had a mere week ago. The tiny fire was a mirror of what burned on the wicks of her candles and nothing more.
After a day of practicing with Sehra and making minimal strides, she needed this.
This was the reminder that, for the first time in her life, her magic was beginning to flow easily. Even if this wasn’t the glyphs or magic of light. This much she could now do without fear, and that was progress.
