“Yes,” Sol responded. “And no. Anyone can harness the magic of harmony—or chaos—but that does not make them a Majis.”
Only when the room fell completely silent did Sol realize everyone had heard his final statement.
“Anyone can harness the magic of harmony and chaos?” Meena repeated.
“Yes,” Sol confirmed. These people truly were ignorant.
“Is everything I ever knew an untruth?” the princess sank down onto a small box, her eyes wide with shock.
“What did you think the Quotidian soldiers were?” Sol asked, looking around the room.
“Majis who hated other Majis?” Onric proffered.
“Erich?” Aizel spoke to her husband across the room. “Did you not understand what the Quotidian meant?”
Erich shook his head, biting his lower lip and tensing his neck in a way that made the veins of it visible. “I thought they were magic abusers who used chaos.” He walked toward her. “At least that is what I inferred from the explanations you’ve given.”
Aizel’s face relaxed. “No, that is true,” she said. “But you didn’t know that magic is accessible to everyone?”
Erich shook his head again, this time less embarrassed. “I did not realize that.”
“What does the word ‘Majis’ mean, then?” Aden asked. “We’ve always associated it with magic-wielder.”
“The Majis are descendants of the Kerev, the tenders of Iseldis who were driven out one thousand seasons ago by wielders of chaos magic.”
“Can you teach us to wield magic?” Ian asked. “So we can defend ourselves?”
Sol leaned back. “Can Aizel share a skill which has been perfected over centuries to hundreds of your people in a few weeks’ time?” He crossed his arms. “No. She cannot. This harmony with magic is not a shield one can throw up at the last second.”
“What are you going to be doing?” Aizel asked.
“I’m going to destroy it,” Sol responded.
Aizel’s eyes opened wide. “No, Sol. No. It’s impossible.”
“It’s our only chance,” Sol replied.
“It’s not even a chance.” Aizel raised her voice. “It’s a fool’s errand.”
Sol felt the king’s gaze resting heavily on him. The older man was quietly, yet firmly, waiting for an explanation. “Even if the Majis find a way to outwit Gareth’s soldiers and fight them with magic, the scale has already been tipped. Since the beginning of the exile, Quotidian taskers have chosen certain Majis to fuel a battery of reserve magic. We cannot begin to fathom the store of power it has reserved.”
“Fuel a battery?” The seamstress spoke for the first time. “With chaos magic? Through tormenting innocent Majis?” Her face twisted in horror.
Sol nodded. “This battery could likely fuel any attack Gareth wished to make several times over.”
“And you will destroy it?” King Frederich asked. “How?”
“With whatever it takes.”
Chapter 9
Meena’s eyes flew open the moment she heard her bedroom door creak open. She was usually a deep sleeper, but her dreams kept her fitfully awake throughout the night, imagining warships and separated families and unfathomable magical power.
She heard someone slip into her room, but the bright morning light assaulted her sleepy eyes, blinding her until she scrunched them closed. Squinting more carefully, she gazed at the intruder who danced across her floor with light footsteps.
It was Celesta.
Meena closed her eyes again, holding back a groan as she felt the young girl jump onto her bed. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she relaxed into a smile, deciding to enjoy the intrusion. She could think of worse ways to wake up.
