“It was so strong and intoxicating,” Angelique whispered. Her throat clogged, but she made herself speak. “What if I let it overtake me oneday?”
“Your magic is intoxicating because it is powerful, there is a great deal of it, and—likeallmagic—it longs to be used,” Puss sourly said. “If you used it regularly, it wouldn’t have such an effect on you—not just mentally, but speaking of your price aswell.”
“Price?”
“The princes said you appearedill.”
“Ahh, yes.” Angelique sighed. “I’ve been feeling sick since I used my magic. It’s better now, but it’s not encouraging that I still feelill.”
“You haven’t used your magic since your days in Luxi-Domus,” Rolandsaid.
“Not true,” Angelique countered. “I used it when Evariste and I were attacked by atroll.”
“Fine, you haven’t used your powerson this scalesince your days in Luxi-Domus. I imagine your body is unused to handling it—a rather poor thing considering your war magic is at the very core ofyou.”
“Not helping,Puss,” Angeliquegrowled.
“I would not be surprised if this sick feeling plaguing you really is your price, and I would expect next time, it won’t last nearly as long. If your magic exploded on release, it’s likely the lingering is a side effect from its unnecessary imprisonment and sudden massusage.”
“I hope so,” Angelique groaned. “This isn’tfun.”
“It’s actually a very mild price,” Puss said. “Enchanter Jaxon goes blind for a number of hours after extensive usage of his magic. Enchantress Aubrey has to eat a great deal, or she passes out, which happens frequently. Enchanter Levidon loses control of his body, and it’s said the Snow Queen herself used to fall unconscious for days after using her snow magic. You can still function…to a certainextent.”
“Yes, I can do so much when I can only sit bent at an angle,” Angeliquesnorted.
“At least you can drag yourself to safety,” Puss pointed out. “You should prepare a pack with commoner cures—carry ginger, mint leaves, and the like. It might make you feelbetter.”
Angelique’s body twitched at the suggestion. “I don’t plan to use my magic often enough to require such a thing,” shesaid.
“Better to be prepared than caught offguard.”
“Puss—no—Roland, I’m not going to use mymagic.”
“And what if another creature attacks Pegasus?” Puss stood and hopped off her stomach. He strolled down the length of her body and sat down next to her head. “What happens when you finally find Evariste, and you are forced to use your war magic to freehim?”
Angelique wassilent.
“You’ll do whatever you need to.” Puss placed one of his pink paws on the tip of her nose. “You needn’t punish yourself for when that happens. Carry precautions,Angelique.”
Angelique finally nodded. The motion didn’t dislodge his paw, but she grimaced slightly. “Do I want to know where your paws have been the past fewdays?”
“Would you rather I present you with myposterior?”
“No, thankyou.”
“That’s what I thought—ungraciouschild.”
“I’m older than youare!”
“You are but a babe in enchantress years.” Puss twitched his whiskers. “Gabrielle could likely be considered older than you are—you’ve aged only two or three years since I metyou.”
Angelique’s eyes drifted shut again. “Time passes strangely,” she said. “I don’t sense it like I used to. I knew Evariste has been missing, but only recently had I realized it’s beenyearsthat he’s beengone.”
“You will find him, Angelique.” Puss laid down, this time curling around her shoulder. “Have you made anyprogress?”
“A bit, but not enough to be encouraging,” she sighed. “And now the Council is going to send me a summons for using my core magic withoutsupervision.”
“You were fighting a basilisk; they can hardlycomplain.”
