by Sariah Skye
Maxxus let out a sigh. “Okay, then. What exactly does this entail? Can she read my thoughts, or something?”
I raised a brow. “Why? Something you don’t want me to know?” I kidded.
Maxxus’ cheeks flushed slightly. “No! It’s just that it’s a little… weird.”
I looked at Kiarra. “Will I be able to read his thoughts?”
“I’m not sure. I think it depends on the dragon, but you shouldn’t have to read anyone’s thoughts in order to compel them. Just get inside enough to plant the seed of what you want them to do in there,” Kiarra said. She reached for a stack of books on the table. They were leather bound and appeared very old and worn, the edges gilded in faded gold and the paper yellowed with age. She opened it up and paged through until she reached what she was looking for.
“According to my grandfather, it doesn’t sound all that hard,” she said, scanning the page. “I’ll read what he wrote:
“A common magical practice for the pink dragon is one that is readily frowned upon and one I absolutely loathe using, unless I absolutely have to. It just feels dastardly, bending someone’s will to my own, but I will be the first to admit I have had to use it on occasion to stop fights, cure madness or for someone’s own good. It always feels wrong, though. Always.
There isn’t much to it different dragons will have different strengths and some will be easier than others to compel. Someone in the Court, for instance, will have been exercised in preventing themselves from being compelled,” she looked up at me and gave a wry smile. “Sorry. I can’t say if they actually will be or not; it’s been years since any knowledge of pink magic existed but…”
I rolled my eyes and dismissed her with a wave of the hand. “Not surprising. Continue.”
She chuckled lightly and looked back to the book.
“It can be as simple as sensing someone’s presence, someone’s energy. Different people have different energies, and auras. This is hard to explain, if you haven’t seen it yourself, but it’s just about like a sixth sense in guessing how people feel. A gut feeling.” Kiarra looked up at me again. “See? Like when I came to your apartment and told you about all this…”
I nodded. “I remember. I just… felt somehow you were telling the truth.”
“Exactly.” She continued.
“When you know how someone feels—or a general idea, anyhow—you just must get them to look you in the face; does not even have to be directly into the eyes and you just concentrate on what you want them to do. It’s best to keep it simple. The more directions you must give someone, the more they will get confused and will snap out of the hold over them. It’s best to say ‘You are tired. You want to go to bed.’, or ‘You are not angry at me. You are happy I am here.’ Sometimes I’ve found it beneficial to convince others that I appear different than what I do. ‘I have brown hair and am tall. You do not know me.’ Unfortunately, I’ve had to use this most, when I’ve needed to sneak into places I shouldn’t be to seek out a thief or whatever the case may be. Or even simply, ‘You do not know me, I was not here. You’ve been alone this entire time.’” Kiarra placed a finger in the crease of the book, and shut the pages around it.
“This should prove most helpful for you. Of course you have to remember that it’s going to be a different process for you, possibly. It might be easier and it might be harder than it was for them.” She exhaled. “My grandfather was very powerful, but not nearly as much as you. Somewhere, though, you will have a weakness. I do hope that it is in fact not this,” she said, with a dry laugh.
“You and me both.” I turned and looked at Maxxus sympathetically, who was just sitting in his seat, looking down at his hands folded on the table nervously.
“Well, take Maxxus here. How do you think he’s feeling?” Kiarra inquired.
I took one more glance at him, as he looked up briefly, trying to remain expressionless. “Nervous, I think.” Somehow the air around him just felt shaky, like a trembling leaf in the wind.
Maxxus nodded slowly. “I won’t lie; it’s hard to think of someone in my head, reading my thoughts.”
“Can you tell what he’s thinking, now, Leo?” Kiarra asked.
“How am I supposed to know that?”
Kiarra let out a long, drawn out sigh. “My grandfather explained it as somehow, you feel their energy at first. Then you just simply think to yourself that you want to know what they are thinking and sometimes, it happens. Not all pink drakes according to him could read thoughts, though,” she explained. “After a while, though, those that did had a hard time differentiating between thought and spoken word. You have to learn how to put up a wall in your head that blocks out thoughts. Some needed extra assistance, like with spells and potions from a witch.”
I frowned. “Well, I’ve never been able to hear anyone’s thoughts before, so hopefully I won’t have to worry about that.”
“Maybe not. You may just be empathic: you can just get a general sense of how they feel. You have done that before,” she said.
I exhaled, looking at Maxxus. He slowly looked up at me and tried to give a smile, but bit his lip anxiously. “Are you ready for this, in case it works?”
He put on a brave face, sitting up a little straighter. “Go ahead.”
I glanced back at Kiarra. “First, close your eyes and get a sense for… well him. Just feel his presence. After a time this will be as easy as breathing.”
I laughed quietly to myself. “Right,” was all I said; unconvinced. I shut my eyes and listened around me. I heard a clock ticking on the wall, opposite from us. Kiarra was ever so slightly drumming her fingertips against her cheek. In front of me, Maxxus’ breathing was steady, but growing more rapid by the moment. I heard his heart beating, more quickly than he breathed.
Nervous. He is nervous. But why?
Secretive.
My eyes flew open. “You’re hiding something.”
Maxxus’ head, which had bowed in my concentration had flown up, eyes widened. “How did you know?”
I squinted and shrugged. I looked at him like I was trying to read writing on a sign from an inconvenient distance. “But… it’s nothing devious. I sense no ill will.” I turned to Kiarra. “Like that?”
She nodded at Maxxus. “Is she right?”
He nodded reluctantly. “She is.”
I raised a brow. I closed my eyes to get in deeper, but I could not. It was like slamming into a padded wall; I was just simply shut out. “That’s as much as I can get.”
Maxxus breathed a sigh of relief.
I gave him an expectant look. “What is wrong, Maxxus?” I asked with a concerned tone.
Maxxus’ cheeks flushed slightly. “It’s… rather embarrassing.”
I pressed, but Kiarra cut me off. “Later, Leo. We need to get this down.”
I exhaled, defeated. “Fine.” I watched him give Kiarra a thankful glance over my shoulder. I started to frown, but forced it out of my mind. Clearly, whatever it was he didn’t want us to know.
“You were on the right track, Leo,” Kiarra said. “Now, just come up with something simple for him to do and say it in your mind. Try to look him in the face—the eyes are best, but you won’t always have the opportunity to do so.”
I held a breath and thought, momentarily. I looked at him; he had both of his hands resting in his lap, twiddling his thumbs nervously. He watched me in anxious anticipation.
I peered into his face, tried to catch his gaze, but he looked off to the side of me, his blue eyes far away.
You want to rest your hands on the table instead of in your lap. I narrowed my eyes in concentration, as I mentally urged him to bend to my will.
Maxxus’ head tipped upwards slightly, trying to avoid my gaze. I waved my hand in front of his face, and tried to give him a comforting smile. His nervous expression softened; his eyes glanced into mine. My stomach dipped to my knees slightly, nervously. Must be the magic, I thought to myself, forcing an anxious smile. I tried again.
; Take your hands and put them on the table, instead of in your lap. I repeated this over a few times, trying to watch and concentrate simultaneously. After a few moments, I watched him raise his right hand slightly, but set it back down in his lap.
I let out a frustrated sound.
“Make it simple. The simpler, the better,” Kiarra urged.
I nodded, trying not to break concentration. Maxxus’ pupils enlarged slightly before dilating. He was watching me as intently as I watched him.
Take your hands and put them on the table, I thought, narrowing my eyes slightly at him. I broke my gaze when I saw his hands raise slightly, but he was just reaching around to his shoulder to scratch an itchy spot.
I sighed, in frustration.
My phone beeped from the table next to me. I picked it up.
What did you tell him to do? It was Kiarra.
I quickly tapped in I tried to tell him to put his hands on the table, not in his lap.
Try just, ‘Move your hands to the table’. Subconsciously he could be hearing to do either or.
I set the phone down, and nodded at her.
One more beep from the phone. Tell him ‘You want’ and whatever it is. Insisting this is something they want is part of the whole intention-bit. I caught her gaze, and she nodded encouragingly. “You can do it.” She spoke the words aloud, and I forced a smile.
I turned back to Maxxus, who was looking back down at his hands in his lap.
You want to take your hands, and put them on the table. I watched him intently. Nothing for a few moments.
Sighing audibly, he looked up briefly. I caught his gaze again, and shot him a wry smile. He smiled back.
You want to put your hands on the table. I repeated this a few times in my mind, concentrating on his eyes, noticing for the first time their brilliant shade of blue. Quite nice to look at, if I do say so myself.
Maxxus shifted position, and set his hands on the table first, then clasped them together and rested his elbows on the table. “No offense, Leorah, but I don’t think it’s working.”
The corners of my mouth turned up. I glanced at Kiarra, who was grinning like an evil madman. I let out a triumphant squeal.
“What?” Maxxus questioned, looking between us, confused.
“I told you to put your hands on the table,” I said with a grin.
Maxxus squished his face up, puzzled. He looked down at his hands, that were resting in his lap a few moments ago. “Huh… I didn’t even notice I did that.” He smiled. “Nice work!”
“You didn’t feel anything?” I asked him.
“Well, not really. I felt the urge to move, like I was uncomfortable at first, kind of like an itch,” he explained. “Then I just moved, I guess. I didn’t even know I did anything until you pointed it out.”
“So, you’re okay, then?” I asked.
He chuckled. “I’m fine. It was no big deal.”
I smiled again. “Good.” I glanced at Kiarra and looked smug.
“Don’t get too cocky,” she said, bringing me back into reality. “You’re only going to have seconds to convince a Court Guard to do something, or whatever. That took a few minutes and it was the very simplest of gestures. What you’re going to have to ask a Guard to do will probably be much more complicated than that.”
My smile quickly fell off my face, replaced with a disenchanted scowl. “I thought it was pretty cool,” I said under my breath, to myself. I puffed out my lower lip in a pout.
Maxxus gave a sympathetic look, as he reached out and patted the side of my arm. “It was good for a first attempt. Don’t you think?” he said, his appearance becoming serious as he gazed at Kiarra.
She gave a small smile. “For a first time, yes.”
Maxxus patted my knee, and I allowed myself to smile a little. “See?” he said, with reassurance.
“Thanks,” I said appreciatively.
“Try it again. Something a bit more difficult this time,” Kiarra insisted.
Maxxus shot me another nervous look. “Please, whatever you do… don’t have me like, do a stripper dance or something, okay?”
I snorted, bursting out in laughter. “Okay, I promise I won’t ask you to do that. You can just take off your shirt or something instead.”
He looked at me, suddenly alarmed and I giggled. “Kidding!” Kiarra chuckled, and we exchanged smirks.
He didn’t appear consoled. “Right.”
Over the next hour, I succeeded in having Maxxus scratch his nose, take off his shoes, give me a hug and walk out of the room into the bathroom. The last one took a lot of concentration, and it wasn’t until Maxxus looked me square in my eyes did I get through to him after a couple of minutes. He was bewildered minutes later when he came back in the room.
“I don’t have to go to the bathroom, what the hell?” he said, with a laugh as he shook himself out of a confusion.
Kiarra chuckled. She glanced at the clock, ticking on the opposite wall. “Well, it took over an hour, but you got somewhere. That’s probably enough for today, you’ll probably be fairly worn out after that. You won’t realize how much energy it takes to use compulsion—especially at first—for a little while. It’ll probably hit you like bricks in a couple hours.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”
My phone chirped. I picked it up; it was from Maxxus.
She never gave us any of that pie.
I looked up from the phone at him and leered. You’re right, she didn’t!
Try to get her to bring us some. But don’t ask her. Just do the mind-thing.
I looked up at him impishly. I started typing something, when he sent another.
She won’t expect it since you’ve been practicing on me. Just do it.
I set the phone down quietly, smiling knowingly to myself. Kiarra was flipping through one book that had been on the table, rummaging through a small box of trinkets with a hand, picking up and rejecting different objects (a clear orb crystal, a sachet, a bundle of herbs).
I knew I’d probably have to get her to watch me for it to work, but I attempted it anyhow.
Pie. You want to give us pie. Now. I thought, eyeing her as she fiddled with the objects and flipped back and forth in the book with the other hand. She didn’t budge.
I glanced back at Maxxus, who, with a spirited sneer, nodded back at her.
I let out a small cough, trying to clear my head. Pie. Get us pie. I thought, narrowing my eyes at her involuntarily.
She sighed, setting the book down, tossing whatever trinket she had in her hand back in the box. She rose slowly, and sauntered slowly over to the window where the apple pie had been cooling for some time now. She muttered under her breath as she leaned over the sink, reaching for the pie.
Maxxus, despite his best efforts, let out a sputtering laugh. He covered his mouth with his palm quickly, glancing at me apologetically, though his eyes were alight with a jesting twinkle.
Kiarra pulled her hand back quickly, swiveled around on her heels and shot me a dirty look. “Hey, now!”
I whistled nonchalantly, looking around the room at everywhere but her. Maxxus couldn’t contain his laughter anymore. He slapped his hands against the tabletop as he roared.
“You’re not supposed to compel the teacher!” she protested, trying to sound stern. But her face crumbled into laughter too. She turned for the pie and walked it to the table. “Here! Cripes, you could have just asked!”
I snorted. I reached for some silverware in the center of the table, in a wire rack and tossed Maxxus a fork. “But this was much more fun!”
She shook her head and smirked, as Maxxus and I dug into the pie, still laughing.
Chapter 4
The three of us giggled all the way to the town square awhile later that day, joining the gathering already in progress. After I was finished mind-bullying Maxxus—who still seemed uneasy by the whole thing—we spent some time gossiping about the current happenings in the Court. Well, they gossiped; I just sat there, sort of
staring into space. I was thankful when Kiarra finally announced it was “party time” and we made our way to the square.
“I’ll get us drinks!” Kiarra said, cheerfully, sauntering through the crowd of mythos, pausing to speak to a handful of them as she went about to her destination.
Maxxus and I sat at a table with benches on either side, Maxxus motioning for me to sit first.
“That is a pretty dress,” he said, politely, nodding at my attire.
I glanced down. “This? I feel kinda meh still,” I said, wrinkling my nose. I scanned the crowd and my sights landed on a couple of flirty females—Kiarra had once described them as pixies, incredibly flirtatious, beautiful and playful with slightly pointed ears, large doe eyes and long, long hair that nearly sparkled in the late-afternoon autumn sun. Actually, I'm pretty sure it did sparkle. They had the admiring attention of a handful of gentlemen of various species as they sat in the laps of two them, pretending to be interested in whatever they were saying. Suddenly, my online-bought dress and stout robes that hung down to my knees didn’t feel quite so acceptable after all. I bit my lip, watching them giggle. The men hung on every word they said. Gabriel definitely didn’t do that, I thought with a laugh before Maxxus spoke:
“Leorah,” he said, with a smile. “You look… beautiful.” He said the word fast, like he was having difficulty with it.
I smirked. “Liar.”
Maxxus chuckled. “No, really! I mean… I’m sorry, I just hesitate to say anything because I don’t want someone to get jealous,” he said, pointed, rolling his eyes. “Your boyfriend doesn’t like me very much.”
I scoffed. “He's not my boyfriend and I made it clear to him I had friends before him and if he didn’t like it, he knows where he can kiss it,” I said haughtily, reaching back and smacking my own backside for emphasis.
Maxxus threw his head back and laughed. “You are a naughty minx,” he said with a playful wink. If I didn’t know any better, there was a flirty lilt in that calm, British-sounding accent.