“Fine,” Elizabeth said, sighing in exasperation. “Do what you must.”
Risna handed her a steaming mug of herbal tea, then strolled around her, muttering in the Godstongue and waving her fingers. The whole process took over an hour, and when she looked down at her hands, they seemed no different.
“I look the same,” she couldn’t help but say.
“Tsk.” Risna threw a sphere of molten purple fire at her chest. The barrier sucked the sphere of purple fire into nothing, leaving her unharmed.
“Wow,” Elizabeth said, slightly awed.
Grinning wickedly, Risna manifested another ball of purple flame and launched it. Too shocked to do anything, Elizabeth watched it collide into a layer of air in front of her chest and then dissipate into thin air.
She looked at Risna, and gratitude welled in her eyes. “Thank you.”
“I have also spelled the wards to contain the scent of your mortal blood and the scent of your fear, so if you become afraid, they will not immediately devour you. Just make sure to keep your breathing even.” She nodded, and Risna continued, “The wards will last until their power is exhausted and the stones crack and break.”
Risna clasped her hand, smiling. “I hope we meet again, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth fastened the silver clasp on her cloak and was about to leave when Nasera walked in, loudly clearing her throat.
Nasera opened her hand, and in her palm rested a labradorite pendant. “For you.”
Risna looked at her daughter in surprise.
“It was mine when I was learning.” Nasera turned it in her fingers. “And my mother’s before me. And her mother’s before her.”
Elizabeth blinked in surprise. “Are you sure?”
Nasera nodded and handed her the stone.
The labradorite was turquoise and about three inches in length. As she shifted the pendant in her palm, patches of the stone shimmered dull yellow or bright blue, depending on how it hit the light. She turned it back and forth in her hand, mesmerized by the way the stone’s colours shifted.
Her very own student stone.
Usually a woman of few words, Nasera gestured to her mother to explain.
“This is a labradorite, also called the student stone if you recall,” Risna explained. “I will remind you that it is used to help broaden the mind of the wearer and will also give you a bit of protection against small magical mishaps.Essentially, it will make it easier for you, a beginner, to access your magic and cast spells.”
Gesturing impatiently for her to return the stone, Elizabeth handed it back to Nasera, feeling bewildered.
Nasera stood in front of her and twisted her fingers into a strange gesture on her chest. She bowed deeply, maintaining eye contact all the while.
Confused, Elizabeth tried to copy the gesture, curling her fingers and placing them on her chest. She bowed low, and Nasera nodded approvingly.
“Rise.”
She lifted her head, and Nasera formally put the pendant around her neck, slipping it under the front of her dress. The labradorite pendant rested against her skin, next to the necklace of obsidian and tiger's eye, over her heart.
Amusement coloured Nasera’s voice as she said, “May this help you survive the next few days, and if you show this pendant to a witch anywhere in Asteria, she will know we have accepted you as one of us.”
Elizabeth felt the stone, feeling touched. “Thank you.”
Nasera offered her a rare smile. “Try not to die tomorrow.”
Chapter 52
Demon Guests
Elizabeth stood in the great hall waiting for their guests to arrive.
