“As you know, most Vitaeans bond with a crescia after they manifest. While there are many unbonded crescia in the wild, residents of Civi Adasa are usually invited here to see if any of these will bond with them after they manifest. Waiting for a wild crescia could mean waiting years, if ever.”
“So the people in Civi Obsura, do they get invited here?” I don't know why I asked. I already knew the answer.
He at least looked a little ashamed as he replied. “No, Princess. Only the best families of Civi Adasa have that privilege.”
“Color me shocked.” I sighed. “So if I need to manifest my power first, then why am I here? This seems like an after thing, not a before thing.”
“I was getting to that point. On occasion, spending time with the crescia can be beneficial. They sense your potential and are drawn to it as I mentioned before. It has also been theorized that they give off a pheromone that the magic inside you reacts to, rising to the surface to seek out your bonded.”
I glanced around, noticing that nearly every crescia in the room had moved closer to us at some point. Most lingered in the branches just above where we sat.
“Okay, so basically I just hang out here? Wait to see if anything happens?”
“Yes, that is about the extent of it,” he said, standing up. “I am due in King Verren’s study shortly. I will let Sin know that you are in here so he may fetch you when he is ready for your training.”
Dey headed for the exit but paused before leaving. “I do hope that we can be friends again, Princess,” he said solemnly. “It would mean a great deal to me.”
I lifted my head to respond, but the door had already closed behind him.
Could we be friends? He wasn’t evil, I knew that much. He wasn’t even as much of a jerk as Sin was. Yet every time I looked at him I heard those same words over and over again: ‘humans are little more than savages.’ I honestly didn’t know if I could be his friend.
“He feels very sad.”
“Holy shit!” I yelped, jumping up and scattering a cloud of crescia. I searched the room for the source of the voice even though it had felt like an echo inside my brain.
“I apologize. This is the only way I can speak to you. Please do not be upset.”
The voice rolled through my head again, and I managed to contain my scream. The voice sounded innocent—not childlike but soft and feminine—though it was still the most unsettling experience I had here so far.
“If you don’t want me to be upset, then why won’t you show yourself?”I demanded, brushing aside the hanging vines to my right.
The leaves behind me rustled, and I whipped around to see a girl with ginger curls tentatively emerge. It took me a second to register where I had seen her before. She was the only one at dinner who had been openly smiling at me.
“I remember you,” I said when she cautiously approached. Slight of frame and barely over five feet tall, she moved almost as if afraid thatshewould startleme. Her lavender short-sleeve dress showed off the tattoos swirling up the entire length of her arms, but they were different than the others I had seen, more delicate, with swirls that were more thin and spread out.
“My Ramentum are different because both of my powers are mental based. I can both push my thoughts in as well as pull another’s thoughts out. I am still a secunnario, though only just.”She kept her face completely neutral as she spoke inside my head.
“Okay, first, can you please stop doing that? The mind speaking thing is creepy. Second, how are you speaking English?”
She cocked her head to the side.“You have questions, but they are jumbled inside your head. You must focus if you want answers, Princess.”
She took a seat on the bench I had previously vacated, and I wondered if she even could talk out loud.
“I am able to speak aloud, but it would be in Rivellan. To be honest, I prefer this method of communication. Right now I am connecting my mind to yours and projecting my thoughts andintentions. Your mind is interpreting those thoughts in English. Perhaps it would be helpful to think of it like I am sharing a very detailed image with you along with the emotions that accompany it.”
I nodded, settling onto the bench beside her. “So, when I speak English like this, you don’t understand me?”
The girl traced her finger in the dust on the bench, drawing a stick figure.“I hear the words,” she replied, “but they have no meaning. Your thoughts, however, I can pull from inside your head. At least when you are thinking clearly. Your mind is… very busy.”
She kept her eyes focused on her doodles, and I wondered if it was for my own comfort since her vacant staring had unsettled me. “Okay you’re kind of freaking me out here. Does this mean you can just read my mind anytime?” If she could, I doubted she would like what she found. My brain was not a happy place.
She added a second figure to her drawing.“Only when you are projecting. If you do not want me to hear you, you need only wish it so.”
“But you said earlier that Dey was sad. How did you pick that up?”
“He was projecting, he just didn’t realize it. When a Vitaean is experiencing strong emotions, I can pick up on them with little effort. The message is not detailed or clear, but I can sense what they are feeling. Deylan was feeling a great deal of sadness as he left you.”
I didn’t want to know that he was suffering so much because of me when it wouldn't change anything. He still hated humans.
