I lean back a little so I can look him in the face. “Are sages still killed in other countries?”
In my time, we were always persecuted on other continents because of our concentrated power.
Magic distribution in other places in the world is more even. In Kameya, we worship gods in their aspects, and that’s why they have more power here. I was taught that the gods follow faith: without worship, how much they can affect the world is more limited.
So outside Kameya, while one single person can’t effect change in a big way on their own, groups of magic users can create big workings. Or in other places, their spell forms are so intricate that while no single person channels magic directly, they can do devastating work with enough preparation.
For any one person to wield the power of gods is considered too dangerous to be allowed.
It’s why in Kameya, the Order arrived at the idea that if sages are to exist, they should serve people, not our own interests...
But we aren’t only power to be used.
We are people too.
Zan sighs. “I don’t know, but probably. The empire hasn’t made many friends. We would have to try multiple places, I suspect.”
And maybe not ever find one.
So that would once again just be Zan sacrificing his home for me.
Sweet of him to offer, I guess, but also, no. Not like that.
And honestly, letting the Order chase me out of my home whenthey’rethe problem does not sit well with me.
So if I can’t leave, and I can’tnotfight them...
“Burning the fuckers to the ground it is, then,” I murmur.
And oddly, at this, what I now recognize as panic recedes.
I don’t know how I’m going to do this yet, but at least I know what needs to happen. And it feels right.
My power comes from clarity.
The Order is what makes it unsafe for me, and Zan, and Teren, and Eraya, and anyone in Crystal Hollow or the empire at large.
So the Order is what has to give. Not me.
Never me.
Zan eyes me, still carefully neutral. “Attacking them directly will only unite them.”
But he doesn’t, I notice, disagree with my conclusion.
“Oh, I know,” I say. “That’s always the trouble. If bringing my power to bear directly will make it worse, what can I do?”
A flicker of something across his face—hesitation, indecision?
And then Zan encloses me in a firm hug, and after a moment I realize why.
I’ve moved into trying to solve the problem.
I guess I scared him.That’swhat made him go careful.
Not with my wrath, for once, but with trying to hold it back.
That’s always the crux of the problem, isn’t it? Deciding when it’s right to exercise my power. If I have power, how should I use it? Should I use it at all?
