It took a few deep breaths before I controlled my fury enough to formulate a plan. “Any chance you’d be willing to help me get even?” I asked the twins.
Wariness settled over Cam, but Ram looked intrigued. “What did you have in mind?” he asked.
“I want you to steal Sin’s sword and hide it in my room. If he asks you about it, you have no idea where it could be. Got it?”
Cam shot his brother a concerned look, then turned back to me. “You are not going to damage it are you? Sin has had it for a very long time.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to hurt it. I doubt I even could. I just want him to feel as helpless as I did for a little bit. So are you in? I promise I’ll never mention your names.”
The twins shared another long look, then Ram grinned at me. “I think Sin could use some humbling. It would be our pleasure, Princess.”
“Excellent,” I said, excited to see the look on Sin’s face when his precious sword disappeared. “So what now? My father said you guys were going to tutor me?”
“Something like that,” Ram said coyly.
“We were told to educate you about Rivella and perhaps some of the monsters you might encounter in the dark forest,” Cam clarified. ”I can tell you right now that little is known about thosecreatures. Most who venture too far in never return. Those that do, well, their accounts are unreliable to say the least.”
“So that just leaves educating you about Rivella,” Ram chimed in with a wicked smile, and I had a feeling he wasn’t referring to textbook teaching.
“Okay,” I said, my lips curving up into a smile. “I’ll bite. How are you going to teach me about Rivella?”
“The only way we know how,” Cam said.
“By experiencing it,” Ram finished.
“Wait…” I said, cautious optimism blooming in my chest. “Does that mean we’re leaving the castle?”
“Of course. What did you think we were going to do?” Ram asked.
“Honestly, I kind of expected something like a lecture.” I pictured the twins dressed in tweed jackets with bifocals propped on their noses and had to stifle a chuckle.
“Would you like a lecture?” Cam asked. “That can be arranged.”
“No!” I shouted before they could change their minds. “Please no. I’ve been dying to go into the city.”
When they didn’t immediately move, I frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“You have no ramentum,” Ram said, gesturing at the intricate whorls of ink across his arms. “Given your age, your bare arms would suggest to anyone we passed that you were likely not Vitaean.”
“And if you are not Vitaean,” Cam added, “then that means you are anabicario.A non-magic user. A shunned one.”
“A human?” I guessed. “So only Vitaeans are allowed to get tattoos?”
“It is not like that,” Cam said. “The ramentum appear on our skin whenever a Vitaean manifests their magic, marking the level of our abilities.Amplissarios like King Verren whohold three types of magic have tattoos that cover their arms, shoulders, and chest or back.”
Well that explained why my father never wore a shirt. Apparently a crown wasn’t enough to confirm his power.
“Secunnarios, like Ram and myself, hold two types of magic,” Cam continued. “The further the ramentum spread, the more powerful the magic.” He puffed up his chest and beamed at me. “That is why Ram’s do not spread as high as mine.”
Ram chuckled. “Sure, brother, your extra three inches there is to make up for your missing three inches elsewhere…” He glanced down at Cam’s breeches, then winked at me.
A hint of red crawled over Cam’s cheeks as he glared at his brother. “That joke is never funny, Ramset.”
“Of course it is,” he replied, nudging my shoulder.
Trying not to laugh, I asked, “And what about people with one kind of magic?”
“Immies,” Ram answered, snorting with derision.
