“If they did?”
“It would depend on the reason, but I have yet to grant a request.” She glanced away. “Sometimes it is the most difficult thing to do, to refuse a request then hear the pain, stronger than before, and experience it much as they do.” She looked back at him. “But we were given our emotions for a purpose; even if sometimes it is beyond our comprehension of why we must feel such, it is still necessary that we do.”
“Your magic is in your music.”
She smiled. “Also, in the wind.” Lady Samantha waved her hand and the breeze temporarily gusted before it died away. “Or fire.” With a snap of her fingers, flames emerged from the tips. When Lady Samantha placed a hand over the fire, Cassian had assumed it was to put out the flames. Instead, she rolled her hand and when she opened her palm, she held the ball of flames.
His eyes grew wide as she tossed it in the air. A moment later she simply blew on it and then it was gone.
“Each of my powers can be used more as a weapon than anything else. It is why I must always be mindful. It is one thing to toss a fireball in the air. It is quite another to throw it at someone.”
“A breeze can bring comfort on a hot day. Flames light the way in the darkness. Your music can soothe if you wish.” He hated that Lady Samantha thought of her gifts in such a negative manner.
“My music, if I choose, can increase a person's anger, make them enraged. Or I can cause someone to believe they are in love, no different than a potion.” Her eyes darkened as her eyebrows drew together. “Every witch has the power to use their gifts for good or evil. One must also make certain that it is not in a self-serving manner.”
“Are you afraid to use your powers?” Cassian asked quietly.
“Not the wind or fire.”
“The music?”
She gave a short nod and he sensed her discomfort or concern by the way her shoulders had stiffened.
“Why?”
“Because emotion should not be controlled and sometimes, I cannot control my own, and why I must be mindful of everyone around me as well as myself before I set to play.”
“What do you play?”
“Piano, violin, harp, and cello.”
“What happens if you are emotional when you play?”
“Whatever I am feeling inside can flow out on the chords and notes and wash over those who can hear and then they will experience what I am feeling.” She waved a hand in the air, her long fingers to demonstration of music going out in the world. “For a person who is private, such as myself, when I play, that can be stripped away.”
“Unless those who hear you do not realize.”
“That is true, but music is emotional even without magic in the notes. My playing makes it doubly so.”
Cassian had only heard Lady Samantha play a few times, but he would start paying closer attention to see if he could hear her soul. If he was not mistaken, that was what she was telling him.
There was something quite fascinating about Lady Samantha. The joy she had experienced since they entered the Sacred Grove was nearly infectious. While he might not reveal so on the outside, he definitely felt her joy internally.
“Is everyone in your family a witch?” Cassian asked.
Samantha turned to face him. “I have spoken enough of myself.”
“I apologize if I have pried.”
“You have not.” She grinned. “I have few secrets, but I think it is only fair that you tell me something about you.”
All Cassian could do was stare at her. There was absolutely nothing of interest about him. “I am quite boring. I am not magical nor was I born of a magical family.”
“Magic is not what makes one interesting,” she insisted. “Tell me about your education.”
To which he frowned. “I went to Eton and then Cambridge.”
“I had a governess, so already you are more worldly than I.”
