“Griffins have to do this everyday,” Siona told me. “We suck up everything, like sponges. It can feel good to get all of that off of your shoulders. It might work for a wolven, as well.”
I resolved to test it out the next time I was feeling overwhelmed. I didn’t have empathic magic, but sometimes, it felt like I was struggling, carrying the weight of not just my own feelings, but everyone elses on my shoulders as the Worldweaver.
“It’s also important to avoid crowds if you can, and take cleansing salt baths,” Lesedi said. “Empaths need time to be alone, and time in nature, so they can absorb the positive energy of the earth. We often cleanse our space with incense, such as cedar, or sacred herbs we grow ourselves. We griffins get our magic from our emotions, good or bad, and the stronger these emotions are, the more heightened our magic becomes. Unfortunately, if these emotions swell too much, our magic can sometimes get out of control.”
“That’s why I wear a protective crystal, to guard me against the feelings of others.” Kiara took a brand-new crystal out from under her shirt, and showed it to me. It was a jet stone, suspended on a chain. “I make sure to ground myself constantly by meditating, or sometimes just by lying on the ground and letting the earth’s energy cleanse my magic.”
“An uncontrolled empath can hurt people,” Lesedi added. “We empaths take the feelings of the world, and we manage them. We help others process them and aid our friends by walking with them through times of happiness and sorrow. But if an empath takes on too much emotion, well… he’s a ticking time bomb. And I suppose that goes for all of us. No one can live happily, keeping our feelings pent up inside.”
I wonder if Alexei had tried any of this. Maybe it would help him manage his magic.
Lesedi set down her tea and said, “By the way, Kiara, I found an amazing doctor in Glasgow. He specializes in vitiligo treatment. Perhaps he could help your skin.”
“I’m not interested in getting treated, Mom. It’s fine how it is,” Kiara mumbled. “It doesn’t bother me.”
Lesedi made a face. “We don’t want it to spread. I just thought it would be easier on you— in public, you know— if—”
“It’sfine, Mom. I’m proud of the way I look, okay?” Kiara frowned. Siona hurriedly changed the subject, and thankfully, Lesedi let it drop.
Kiara remained silent the rest of the visit. Her parents caught up with Siona, and how the shop was doing. By nightfall, we said goodbye, and Kiara began heading back with me to the university.
Kiara seemed to be in a poor mood once we left Siona’s. I hurried to keep up with her as she took the winding stairs downward.
“Kiara, what’s going on?” I asked. I grabbed her arm to slow her down.
“I just hate when my mom brings up… this.” She waved to her face. “She knows I don’t like to talk about it.”
“Maybe you should talk to her,” I suggested.
“She feelsguiltyabout it, like she gave it to me,” Kiara said. “She doesn’t understand that it doesn’t bother me that I look like this, but apparently, it’s offensive to everyone else!”
“It’s not. Your mom is just checking in, to see how you feel.”
Kiara huffed in frustration. “I love my dad, but perhaps ifshehadn’t married a human—”
“Kiara, your skin isn’t from your mixed heritage,” I said. “You have vitiligo. It’s a condition a lot of people have. Even humans can be born with it. It’s just a difference in skin pigmentation, nothing more.”
“Iknowwhat it is,” Kiara said. “And I don’t mind if it spreads, either. I’m okay with it. I know it’s normal, but people in Dolinska make me think it’s not. They treat it like a mark of shame. They twist my thoughts until I believe myself that it’s a punishment for having a human father.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I think it makes you look more beautiful.”
“You sound like Alexei,” she grumbled. “I wasn’t raised in Malovian society. Siona and I had to stay away from Malovia until we were old enough to attend university.”
“That’s not unusual. Fae are based all over the world. They send their kids to Arcanea University once they’re old enough. That’s why the classes are taught in English,” I said.
“By choice,” Kiara said firmly. “Not because they have to. I was banished from my country because of who my father was, and I missed out on so much. Then, once I got back, everyone knew what my mother had done, because theyassumedthe answer was written all over my face. You don’t know what it’s like to be different than everyone else.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, don’t I?”
She reddened. “I’m sorry. It’s just… my family was always considered strange. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be normal— to think like everyone else. It’d be easier than trying to convince everyone to change their minds.”
“If you thought like everyone else, you’d be just like the people who want Gabby and Elijah to stay in power, and what good does that do anyone?” I pointed out. “It’s the people that see things from a different view that change the world. And it’s people like us that think a different way that can change things in Malovia for the better— for the Unseelie fae, and for the people like Ozzie and Jasper. Even for people like your parents! Just because a fae chooses to love someone of the same gender, or chooses to love someone outside of their supernatural race, it doesn’t make that love wrong.”
Kiara nodded. “You’re right, Emma. I’m being silly.”
“You’re not. I know this stuff is hard,” I said. “Changing the world is far from easy. And it’s rare for anyone who makes a stand to live long enough to see the changes.”
“Yes. But we’re making a better world for our future kin,” Kiara said resolutely. “If my daughter chose to love a human, I want her to be able to stay in her home country. The laws and society need to change, for the generations that come after. That’s enough to make sacrifices for.”
