He could feel Koji tense up next to him, but his tone was as light as ever. “I can’t imagine what would change my mind at this point, but sure. I’m listening.”
Florian bit his lip, then burst out, “I’m not really using fae magic the way other fae do. I’ve mostly been using old magic, pretty much this whole time.”
There was no response, so he continued resolutely, “I didn’t really do it on purpose—I didn’t even know I was doing it until we went to go talk to… well, we went to talk to the witch. The hag. We wanted to ask her about the Arrows and some… some other stuff, and she realized I’d been using old magic all along. I know some shifters feel…. Uncomfortable about it, so I guess I just wanted to be… transparent. So you know.”
Still, Koji was silent, but this time Florian risked glancing over at him. The dragon shifter was looking down at the half-eaten pastry in his hands, lips pursed thoughtfully.
“I don’t really know anything about old magic,” he finally said. “I mean, I’d heard it was dangerous, but I don’t know much about fae magic, either, so… Is it dangerous, what you’re doing?”
Florian hesitated, unsure quite how to answer. It hadn’t been unsafe so far, exactly, but there was an inherent danger to old magic—and Kade certainly seemed to think it was dangerous. But it wasn’t like he was trying anything new or unknown, which was the only real risk old magic posed.
Still, fae magic had no such risks, so he supposed old magic was more dangerous just by its nature. He’d been trying to only use fae magic when he could, but he couldn’t really feel any difference; and there were plenty of things he knew had to be old magic, like the teleportation that had brought them there in the first place.
“A little bit,” he finally settled on. “But Elodie—the witch—she explained a good amount of old magic to me, how she knows it to work, so I don’t think I’m doing anything more dangerous than fae magic.”
“I see,” Koji replied slowly, then shrugged. “That’s fine, then. I mean, this entire mission is already pretty dangerous, so, you know. What’s a little more risk on top of going into the Blight and fighting monsters?”
He chuckled, and Florian laughed gratefully at his quip.
“How did that happen in the first place?” Koji asked, and Florian’s smile faded quickly.
“Well, that’s the other thing,” he started, sighing. How was he going to explain this? He’d been thinking of it often since Koji had first joined them, even more when Koji agreed to go with them outside of the dragon kingdom, but there was just no way to easily and concisely explain Thaddeus.
Tatiana walked in at that moment with the carafe of coffee, three mugs, and a smaller carafe of cream on a tray.
“Oh,” Florian stammered, realizing with a rush that Tatiana did not know about Thaddeus, either. He would have to explain all this to her sometime, too, but now seemed an inopportune time for that. “You didn’t have to bring that to us, Tatiana, thank you.”
“Not a problem,” she said smoothly, distributing the three mugs and placing the carafes between them. “Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a few things I needed to finish up before bed. Florian, you can just have one of the invisible servants show you the guest room they’re setting up for Koji, alright?”
“Will do,” he said quickly, smiling in a way that he hoped wasn’t too obviously nervous. She smiled back fondly.
“Have a good evening, then, the three of you,” she said, giving a graceful bow. “Florian, let’s meet sometime tomorrow to talk. Maybe in the afternoon?”
Florian chuckled, knowing he probably wouldn’t sleep tonight. “Sounds good.”
He watched his aunt leave, the heavy dining hall doors swinging shut behind her, before clearing his throat and glancing at Koji again.
“So what were you saying?” Koji offered, and Florian sighed. There was no good way to explain it, so he would just have to do the best he could.
“What do you know about Queen Soleil?” he asked.
When Koji replied he only knew a bit, Florian first explained about her human partner—somehow brought into the Veil and kept an open secret within the Summer Court. When his surprise faded, Florian took a steadying breath and explained about Thaddeus: how he had died, how his soul had remained tethered to the Veil, and how it had eventually linked itself to him.
“I don’t understand,” Koji finally said, frowning with confusion. “His soul is… linked to you? Like a reincarnation?”
“No, no,” Florian stammered, shaking his head. “It’s not that. I just sort of… Can feel it, sometimes. Another presence. Like a ghost. But that’s why—well, it’s at least why Elodie thinks I’ve been using old magic. Because it’s old magic tethering Thaddeus to the Veil, and to me, so when I used magic for the first time, that was the… the closest source I could reach for, I guess.”
He took a long drink of his coffee, glancing at Kade who had been sipping his quietly, observing silently. The wolf shifter’s eyes softened when they met Florian’s, though, and Florian felt some small measure of relief that at least Kade approved of him putting everything out in the open.
“So…” Koji started slowly, his own mug cupped between his hands, still mostly full. “So this fae spirit is connected to you, and that’s what caused you to use old magic instead of fae magic. Is that right?”
“Yes,” Florian nodded quickly.
“But it’s not like he’s… I don’t know, trying to take over your body or something, is he?”
Florian laughed. “No, nothing like that. I don’t even think it has that much awareness, to be honest.”
“Then why were you worried I’d leave?” Koji laughed, looking at him with his eyes crinkled with nervous laughter. “I mean, it’s weird, sure, but pretty tame. When you said you were worried I’d want to leave, I thought it was going to be something much worse.”
