A soft knock came from the other side of her bedroom door. Ailan swept in.
Mareleau angled her head to face her. “Has Cora returned?”
“Not yet,” Ailan said.
It had only been a matter of hours since Cora left El’Ara, but in the human world, more than a full day had passed. Would it take several days to sort out her side of the terms for the alliance? Weeks? Mareleau would lose her mind if that ended up being the case. The sooner Cora returned, the sooner she might have a chance of getting another letter to or from Larylis.
Ailan approached her and Noah. “What are you doing there?”
Mareleau frowned, unsure of what she was inquiring about until she glanced at her hands. They were still extended over Noah. She snatched them back. “Oh, that. I was…”
Why was she embarrassed to admit it? She had no reason to feel ashamed.
She lifted her chin and feigned confidence. “I was practicing casting a protective ward around Noah.”
Ailan settled on the floor beside them. “Did it work?”
“Not yet.” She didn’t mean to sound so defensive. “That’s why I’m practicing.”
“Is that what kind of magic you hope to have? Wardweaving?”
“Is that an option?” Mareleau hadn’t considered whether she might have access to Elvyn magic.
“Perhaps. I know Salinda helped you understand your witch magic, but exploring your Elvyn side may help too. Your magic is a combination of both. And while a weaver’smoradoesn’t always manifest in the ways we want, it’s possible you’re drawn to wardweaving because it’s your specialty. I’m a truthweaver through and through, without a stitch of talent for wardweaving. My wards are weak when I attempt them. Still, I can teach you the gesture for casting them.”
Excitement bubbled in her chest. Was she about to learn how to do something useful with magic at last?
“Even if wardweaving isn’t your talent,” Ailan said, “a gesture may help guide your witch magic. Sometimes external action can aid its flow, for it gives you something outside yourself to trust in.”
Ailan extended her palms, and Mareleau mirrored her. She touched her thumbs to her ring fingers, angled her hands, and then linked the pairs of touching fingers together. Angling her hands again, she touched her pinkies, then her middle fingers, then her index. The motions stretched Mareleau’s digits in strange and unfamiliar ways, but the challenge made her feel accomplished. Ailan moved her hands again, this time lacing all five fingers together before separating them.
“You end by encompassing the subject you’d like to ward with your hands,” Ailan explained. “It may help to imagine an invisible blanket between your fingers, settling over your subject. For large subjects, you may need to repeat the gesture several times and in several different areas until it’s completely covered.”
Following her instruction, Mareleau envisioned a protective blanket falling from her hands over Noah.
And then…
She cast a hopeful look at Ailan. “Did that work?”
Ailan chuckled. “The Forest People call it quiet magic, and Elvyn magic operates in a similarly quiet way. Wards are particularly hard to test, for that would require an attempt to break through them. But don’t be discouraged. With or without this gesture, you’re still a witch. You still have a sensory affinity you can work with.”
“Claircognizance.”
Ailan nodded. “Since knowing is your strength, you must build your trust in your abilities. When you cast your ward, you mustknowit works.”
Her heart sank. How could she know when she…didn’t? How could she have confidence in something she couldn’t see or feel? It had been easy to trust her glamours because she hadn’t taken them seriously. She’d brushed them off as a logic-based skill, something she’d assumed anyone could do if they’d tried.
“You’ve tried warding Noah,” Ailan said, “but have you tried warding yourself?”
“I don’t care about warding myself.” It was an immediate response, but it wasn’t fully true. “Or…it’s more that Salinda said witch magic grows through challenge. So I’m trying to do the opposite of what my instincts want. It’s easy to be selfish, so I’m trying not to focus on myself at all.”
Ailan frowned. “Is it easy to be selfish? To me, it looks like your resistance to focusing on yourself is stronger.”
“Yes because of the challenge—”
“That’s not quite how it works.” Ailan shook her head. “I may be Elvyn, but I lived with the Forest People for centuries. I’ve watched witches flourish and grow. You can’t challenge your magic; you must wait for it to challenge you. In the meantime, you grow it by working within your nature. Keep performing feats of magic the way you always have—”
“Casting glamours over myself isn’t going to keep Noah safe. I want to create a shield around him or make him invisible to any who would cause him harm.”
