We walked along the side of the training yard and back up the steep stone stairs, Griff modifying his pace to match mine.
“You surprised me out there,” he said.
“I did?” I shoved hair that had escaped my braid out of my face, feeling the sticky sweat holding it down.
He held a door open for me. “In a good way, Princess. You’ve been taught significantly more than I thought.”
“Kaia didn’t seem to think so.”
He laughed outright. “The day Kaia is impressed by someone is the day hell freezes over.”
I grinned briefly at that before my smile faded. At his prodding stare, I mentioned, “I thought you’d be the one training me. Being my Champion and all.” Although I didn’t want him to think I was trying to monopolize his time.
“I would prefer it,” was his quiet answer, “but I have duties that take me away from the castle too frequently to be your main instructor. Besides, Kaia was one of the ones who trained me. You won’t find better than her.” He paused momentarily. “She’s been like a second mother to me.”
“Duties? Doing what?”
He was silent for so long I thought he wouldn’t answer me. Disappointed, I walked on, only for him to stop me with a gentle hand on my elbow. He glanced around, but the hallway was empty.
“As you’ve been told, the Veil is failing,” he said softly. “Holes keep being ripped through it, allowing hufen to enter this realm. I deal with them.”
I had a feeling there was a lot more to it than that. “How are holes being ripped through it?”
He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. “If I knew, then I’d be able to solve this problem. As it is, all I can do is dispose of the hufen before their darkness can spread and corrupt more.” He glanced around us again and lowered his voice so that I had to lean in to hear him. “Just know that there is a war coming, whether Zachariah believes it or not. And I need you to be ready.”
With those cryptic words, he ushered me on, his hand resting once again on my lower back.
Zachariah’s commentsyesterday about Orlaith having limitless power to save the kingdom and restore the Veil had been bouncing around in my head. I had no idea what he’d meant by that, but I figured I should try to find out. Especially if I was the only one who could eliminate the danger to the kingdom.
So that afternoon, Finn and I began training my channels. He was thrilled at the prospect of doing so, and even went so far as to pull out lesson plans that he’d made. I was overdue, he told me, with most people having daily training in their power from when it first appeared, usually around puberty.
We met, unsurprisingly, in the library. The afternoon sun streamed down on us from the skylights, turning the oak table into a warm honey color. The matching armchairs had lattice backs and surprisingly comfortable cushions. There were a few other people scattered throughout the room, but they left us alone, concentrating on their own studies.
“Channels,” Finn started. “The first thing to know is everyone technically has all seven, but which ones you have access to are determined when you’re born. We think there’s something hereditary to it, but there are also cases of children having channels that no one in their lineage has, so who knows. Maybe the gods pick. The channels mature as we do, so they’re as open as they will ever be by the time we’re twelve or so.”
“And it can never change? Someone who wanted to access more power couldn’t do anything to force them more open or something?” I asked.
Finn shuddered. “I don’t even want to think of the pain involved in trying to force a channel open. And it would take an insane sacrifice. No, people accept what they’re born with and learn to use it.
“Your thoughts are also important. Thoughts shape your power through the channel and make it work. No two people think the same and so no two people can do the same thing. Someone who has access to body and water may be able to heal blood sickness. Someone with a fire affinity may be a metal worker, or earth may be a gardener, coaxing the plants to fruit. Now you, my dear Lexie—” He pointed his quill at me, tickling my nose with the feather.
I laughed as I batted it away. “What am I, a cat?”
He grinned back at me as he continued. “You have all seven channels, basically all the way open. And when that happens, you canharness the pure power of the elements, in their true form, as well as the thought-based talents.”
I looked at him quizzically, leaning my arms on the table.
He ran a hand over his smooth chin. “Hmm. Maybe I’m going too fast. I haven’t had to train anyone with zero knowledge in this.”
I made a wry face, and he laughed. “No worries. We’ll figure it out. Let’s try something. I want you to look inside and try to identify the seven different channels.”
I leaned back in the chair as I closed my eyes, tunneling deep inside. I found what I had first seen in the woods. “I think I know what you’re talking about. They’re colored.”
“They are?”
My eyes snapped open at his surprise.
“No, no, that’s good,” he reassured me. “You’ve got a better sense of this than I thought. Okay, let’s try this.” He set his quill on the table. “For starters, let’s just have you levitate the quill.”
