“Okay.” James drummed his fingers on the table. “I won’t get into their religion, because we’ll be here all day. In a nutshell, whereas here we tie ourselves to the divine, there they give away a part of themselves to gain power.”
“That sounds disturbing.” She had a million questions but wasn’t sure she had the energy for another lengthy magicallesson, so she held back.
“Agreed. But anyway, to allay your specific concern, they shouldn’t find out about your magic unless you tell them. People can’t see soul lights unless they have one, and even those with soul lights won’t see the vox smoke you’re seeing. Just don’t tell anyone random what you can do, and you’ll be fine.”
“I’ll definitely keep it quiet as long as magic is illegal in Soleil.” She thought back to the speech she’d just given. If the goal was to change black smoke to gold, she still wasn’t totally clear on how to achieve that. “Is there anything I should do to practice this stuff?”
“Talk to people. Espouse your opinions and see what happens. You’ll learn by doing. You were probably a good orator before, but you can expect to be better now, with a tiny amount of practice.”
She grinned. “I can’t wait to try using these powers in Parliament.”
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
After she’d finished asking James every question she could think of about the vox valor, Scarlett called a taxi to take her back while James continued his workday.
Back at the castle, she went looking for Beni, and with some help from the castle staff, she found him in a basement recreation room playing pool with Patrick and Tommy.
“Hey, you!” said Scarlett when Beni noticed her.
“Show us your valor!” he yelled without saying hello.
The two other boys looked at her with interest.
“I’m a vox,” said Scarlett. She adjusted the collar of her dress and pointed to her collarbone, and Beni came closer to look.
“Is that a good one?” he asked the other boys.
“It can go either way,” said Patrick, who had red hair and a freckled complexion.
“What do you mean, ‘it can go either way’?” asked Scarlett.
Tommy, who had dark brown skin and was quick to smile, stepped in front of Patrick. “It means you could either be a total legend or you could be normal.” He said “normal” in a deflated tone, like it was a highly undesirable thing.
Scarlett laughed to herself. Nothing like the brutal honesty of children to bring you down a peg. “And let me guess. Thephoenix valor means you’re bound for fame and glory?”
“Yeah!” said Tommy and Patrick together.
“Do you two know what a North Star is?” asked Scarlett, keen to get more data points on whether or not the bond really was universally revered in Clair.
“Yep,” said Patrick, while Tommy nodded.
Beni looked from Scarlett to them, awaiting an explanation.
“Those hardly ever happen though,” said Patrick with a furrowed brow.
“Brayden Maddox and I found out yesterday that we’re North Stars,” said Scarlett. She watched the Clair de Lune boys for their reaction.
“What? No way,” said Tommy. He grabbed her left hand as if he expected to see something there. “Wait, are you hiding it? Where’s your tattoo?”
“We found out we’re North Stars, but we haven’t done the ceremony yet,” she clarified.
“Oh,” said Tommy. “Psh, you should go back and do thattoday. Whywouldn’tyou?”
“She’ll probably get Brayden’s fire power when she does,” Patrick explained to Beni, who looked confused.
“Goddess, you’re so lucky, Beni. Your sister is Brayden Maddox’s North Star,” said Tommy. “I wish he were part ofmyfamily.”
