Vi knew his acquiescence was a victory, but it didn’t feel like one. Her cheeks burned and she didn’t know who she was more frustrated with: Jax for not giving in, or herself for being such a coward and a weakling about her magic.
Two heavy hands fell on her shoulders, holding them tightly, giving her a light shake. Vi looked up at Jax, his dark eyes set against tan skin. “You know you must.”
“I know.” Vi sighed heavily. “The Senate expects me to learn magic. The Tower will want to see it. I have a lineage to uphold…”
“More than any of that, the longer you go without being fully Awoken, the more likely it is that the eventual,inevitablerelease will be violent.” His voice had a deathly seriousness to it. “You already have enough strikes against your future rule, Vi. Having grown up here. Being a sorceress at all. Don’t add a magical incident to their fodder. Awaken here, where it’s safe.”
Every action had an equal reaction with the nobility of the South. Romulin made them out to sound like vipers, waiting for her to fail. Delighting in her every mistake. Never in public, of course, but behind closed doors.
She was the one forced to stand in the sun while they lobbed their volleys at her from the shadows.
“So, one more time?” Jax persisted. “Give it a good effort?”
“One more time, and then you promise that’s it for today?”
“I promise.”
“Fine.” Vi lifted her hand, reluctantly obliging. One more attempt at magic for the day.What could it hurt?
“Remember, when opening your channel, it helps to articulate a physical action.”
“Let’s not put the cart before the horse. I’m not opening any channel until I’ve Awakened my powers.”
“It’s important to start building good habits from the beginning,” he insisted. “Maybe it’ll help draw out the power.”
“I’ve tried just about every physical action imaginable.”
“Then try something you can’t imagine.”
“I think I’ll stick with knuckle cracking,” Vi muttered.
“Suit yourself.” He shrugged and Vi saw how little faith he had in her.
Believe in me, she wanted to say. If she had one person believe in her when it came to her magic, then maybe it’d be enough. But how could she ask that of Jax when Vi didn’t believe in herself?
Fritz’s letter appeared in her mind once more.
I believe in you, Vi… magic has an odd way of finding us when we need it most.
Her hand rose to the watch around her neck. Vi closed her eyes, holding it tightly. Maybe it would bring out her spark a second time.
“Find me,” she whispered.
Vi didn’t know if it was a prayer to the Mother above, or just a plea to whoever might be listening. But the words were the first thing all morning to feel right. If Jax heard them, he made no indication.
Watch in one hand, the other outstretched, Vi dug deep within herself. She tried to coax the power upward, feeling it crackle under her flesh before it crept through the pores around her wrists and hands as shimmering heat that finally ignited into fire.
This pathetic flame was the best she could muster while maintaining any control over it. Daughter of Emperor Aldrik Solaris, regarded as one of the most powerful Firebearers alive. Granddaughter of the late Empress Fiera Ci’Dan Solaris, also regarded as one of the most powerful Firebearers in the world before her son. And now… all eyes were on Vi.
“More,” Jax encouraged.
“There is no more.” Vi pressed her lips into a thin line, trying to tame her frustration. Her uncle had heard it all already.
“There is.”
“There isn’t.” She looked from the fire to him.
Jax’s eyes were alight with the orange hues of her blaze. It lit up the stone walls of the pit, winning against the yellows of dawn. He had a hard expression that she already didn’t like.
