“I am happy to be of any assistance I can be,” Walden said. “But it occurs to me that perhaps a healer would be a more effective assistant in this matter. It is they who most closely study the human system and the limits of energy. Perhaps Acacia is the best mage for the occasion.” He hesitated slightly. “If you don’t mind sharing this information with her, that is.”
I smiled in gratitude at his instinctual understanding that I wished to keep this ability a secret.
“I’ll consider it…” I met his eyes. “I want to keep knowledge of this as limited as possible.”
“Of course, I understand. This is—” He shook his head. “It’s revolutionary! But I believe you can trust Acacia. She is a first cousin of mine and a good healer, even if she’s not as strong as she might wish.”
I nodded. “I agree. But I need to think about it.”
I stood, planning to leave, but Walden gestured for me to wait.
“Do you think you could demonstrate it for me? On me, of course.”
I wanted to refuse, but the weight of his fascination shone through his eyes, clearly outweighing the hesitation that sounded in his voice. Walden had helped me when no one else would, and now he was volunteering himself as my first test subject. My body hummed with nerves, but I didn’t like to refuse him.
“I suppose I could try. Just the smallest bit.” I considered. “I’ve never actually tried doing it with binding words and proper limitations. I can…” My voice trailed off as I considered the words I wanted to use.
Once I was ready, I called up the words I needed into my mind’s eye. I spoke the binding words before outlining every possible limitation I could think of to minimize the power I would draw from him.
I paused for half a breath. “End binding.”
Walden had also stood, coming around his desk to stand in front of me, although the extra proximity wasn’t necessary. He waited with anticipation clear on his face, but the expression slowly faded. His brows knit.
“I didn’t feel anything. Did it work? Maybe you took too little?”
I shook my head and grimaced. “No, nothing happened. You should have felt my power connecting us as well as the energy draining out.” I bit my lip. “I don’t think it works with the binding words. I suspected that might be the case, and I guess this just confirms it. I think the connection between us has to be absolutely direct. It only worked in the past because I was able to do two-word compositions without bindings.”
Walden frowned. “How fascinating. It raises all sorts of questions about our understanding of binding power into compositions. I would have thought—” He cut himself off with a shake of his head. “But that is not relevant to the immediate question. Can you try it without bindings?”
I pressed my lips together and then reluctantly nodded. Closing my eyes, I pictured the words I needed, taking my time to form them clearly and overlaying as much meaning as I could within the simple phrase.
When I opened them, I took a deep breath and said, “Take energy.”
This time Walden flinched as my power rushed out to latch onto him. I had tried to encapsulate the sense of a limited drain into the wording, but as soon as I felt the first tendrils of his energy flowing into me, I tensed and slammed down on my power, cutting it off with a gasped, “Stop!”
“Amazing,” Walden whispered, shaking himself out slowly. “I could feel it that time.” He paused and frowned. “Not that I feel any more tired than I did before. You can’t have taken much.”
“Of course not,” I said. “I don’t want to exhaust you.”
A distant look filled his face. “I wonder…Would I have felt it if I hadn’t been warned? I felt your power, certainly, but I might have missed that if we were in a crowded place filled with workings.”
“I could feel your energy draining into me along the flow of my power,” I said. “Surely that’s a sensation you couldn’t miss?”
He wandered back around to his seat. “I felt no such sensation. But then I have never felt someone’s energy as you say you do now.” He paused and looked up quickly. “Not that I mean to suggest any disbelief. I don’t doubt you.”
I frowned. “I suppose that makes sense. I could never sense energy before either. And I didn’t used to feel myself using my own energy except that I would feel tired afterward. So I suppose it would only be the connection of my power someone else would feel.”
“We must try it again,” Walden said with enthusiasm. “But take more this time. Enough to make a difference.”
I frowned. “I don’t want to—”
Walden cut me off with a chuckle. “Not too much, of course. I’d rather not spend the next couple of days prone. But it is late in the day, and I will be heading for my bed soon. I can afford to feel some measure of fatigue.”
“I suppose…” I said reluctantly.
I carefully recreated the working, taking even more time to ensure I did it correctly. The jolt of my power connecting with his core nearly made me reflectively cut it off, but I steeled myself and continued.
I watched him, looking for any graying of his face, or sagging of his shoulders, but it was the sense of his energy that I monitored more closely. As soon as it began to noticeably shrink, I cut off the drain.
He slumped back against his seat, his eyes wide.
“I can feel it now,” he said. “Not that I felt the energy leaving me exactly. But I feel noticeably more tired than I did before.” His wide eyes latched onto me, and he shook his head.
I flushed. I didn’t like the way he looked at me, as if I had changed everything. As if more was now riding on me than I was willing to carry.
“No more experiments tonight,” I said quickly. “You’re tired enough. But I’ll think about what you said about Acacia.”
He nodded, standing and coming around to place a warm hand on my shoulder.
“Thank you, Elena, for placing your trust in me.”
I smiled and bid him farewell again before hurrying out of the room.
Chapter 6
A guilty elation still filled me the next morning. I had done it. I had harnessed the power and used it without causing any great harm. It had been hard to sleep with the extra energy coursing through me, and I had ended by composing a number of workings just to tire myself.
Part of me wished I didn’t feel such fascination with my new ability, but the rest of me itched to try it again. And sharing the development with Walden had lifted an unseen weight.
My mood dropped again, though, when Dariela brushed past me without acknowledgment, taking a seat alone at one of the middle tables as she had taken to doing. My other friends had noticed her change of attitude, of course, but none of them could account for it. And the one time I had asked Dariela about it directly, she had responded with such indifferent confusion that I had hastily retreated from the conversation.
I tried to turn my mind from the unexpected fickleness of Dariela to the question that had occupied me since I woke up. Should I tell Acacia about my new ability?
All day I looked for an opportunity to have even a moment of private speech with Lucas, but nothing arose. In combat I was called on to adjudicate a number of individual bouts at Thornton’s side, and in composition a small group of University mages shadowed me all lesson. In the library, Jocasta gave a lecture on wind working, and Araminta stayed glued to my side as she always did in sessions that focused on our shared wind working studies. I would have to make the decision without the benefit of Lucas’s advice.
An uneasy feeling gripped me whenever I thought I had decided on telling her. Not that I had any great mistrust of Acacia as an individual, but a gnawing feeling that too many people already knew ate away at me. But I liked Acacia, and she had shown a genuine desire to help people—regardless of who they might be. If there was a chance she could help me now…
I sent Araminta to the dining hall ahead of me and lingered outside Acacia’s office. With everyone else at dinner, this was my perfect opportunity. H
er door stood partially ajar, and it swung open silently when I pushed on it.
The healer stood at the far end of her rooms, one of my year mates beside her. I froze. Acacia said something to Dariela too quietly for me to hear before she noticed me standing in the doorway. She smiled but a beat too late, and I could have sworn she stiffened before doing so.
“Elena, welcome,” she said, and Dariela swung around to look at me.
“Sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t realize there was anyone else here. I’ll come back later.” I stepped back out of the room.
“I’m leaving anyway,” Dariela said.
“No, no, it’s nothing urgent.” I took another step back.
“It’s fine, come in,” said Acacia, her smile still in place.
I shook my head. “I didn’t realize you had someone with you. It will wait.”
I walked away down the corridor, my heart pounding far more than was necessary. I had been an object of too much interest for too long not to recognize the expressions of people caught talking about me. And although I kept telling myself such thoughts only demonstrated an utter arrogance and self-absorption on my part, I couldn’t shake them.
My hands shook slightly. Part of me wished I had stayed and demanded answers from Dariela in front of Acacia so she couldn’t try to weasel out of an explanation. But the rest of me knew that leaving had been the right choice. If I had stayed, I would have needed to explain my presence, and now that I had seen Dariela consulting with Acacia, I couldn’t imagine doing so myself.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and a quick glance over my shoulder told me Dariela’s tall legs were closing the gap between us as we both hurried toward the dining hall. I lengthened my stride.
Dariela’s energy felt low, and I tried to remember what compositions she had completed in class to so deplete her. Before I could recall, two new spots of energy distracted me. These ones burned at full strength, but they seemed to be positioned against the wall of the corridor between Dariela and me.
But I hadn’t passed anyone since leaving Acacia’s rooms.
My steps faltered, and I spun, looking behind me with confusion. Dariela’s steps slowed as she looked at me warily. As if in response to our movements, a yell sounded in the enclosed space, and two people erupted from the seemingly clear wall.
“Shield!” I shouted without thought, power rushing to form a barrier around me. But nothing—either magical or physical—came to assault me.
Dariela, on the other hand, was knocked backward to the ground as one of her hands disappeared into a hidden pocket within her robe. In the time it took my confused mind to see what was happening, she had retrieved a small curl of parchment and ripped it in half.
Power surged around her just as the two men attacked again. They collided with the invisible wall around her and staggered back. One withdrew a sealed piece of parchment from his pocket, the ends marked in a light red.
I frowned at the color as he ripped it, sending a shaft of pure power at Dariela’s shield. The force hit with enough strength to collapse it.
Commonborns equipped with color-coded compositions attacking a trainee within the Academy? My brain couldn’t compute what was happening. I had been abducted here once, but Lorcan had assured me security had improved since then. And why would anyone want to attack Dariela anyway?
I shook the thoughts aside as the two men rushed forward, forcing Dariela to abandon her attempts to retrieve a second composition and fend them off by hand. I could work out what was going on later. For now, she needed my help.
I opened my mouth to speak a composition only for a hand to grip my upper arm and pull me back a couple of steps. I staggered, trying to keep my balance, and the hand let go before I could begin a defensive maneuver.
Spinning around, I confronted my combat instructor. My arms, which had been raised ready to block an attack, dropped to my sides. As soon as I saw him, standing there calmly, realization flooded my mind.
“Do not get involved. This is not your test,” Thornton said calmly.
I glanced over my shoulder at Dariela who was too busy keeping the two men at bay to notice the new arrival.
“A test? Here? Really?” Inside I was kicking myself. After my own experience, I should have realized, even if we weren’t inside the arena.
“I told you all to expect the unexpected. Weston has already fought off a similar attack.” He frowned. “And Lavinia has been overpowered. Each was then requested to keep the attack quiet, so that others may be similarly surprised. My only error in this case, is you. I didn’t expect you to be here.”
He gave me a level look. “I cannot have you interfering in these tests. And not only for the purity of the exercise. I chose to test you in the safety of the arena due to your excessive strength. The others, however, do not need the same safety measures, and Lorcan would not be pleased to discover I goaded you into combat exercises outside the protection of the arena shield.”
A thud sounded, and one of Dariela’s attackers collapsed to the ground, disabled by a blow to the chest. Dariela took the opportunity to fall back a short way. Her hand flashed into her robe as she did so, producing a parchment. The power that rushed out when she ripped it enclosed the two attackers, holding them motionless.
She stood in place for two panting breaths before straightening and glancing quickly around. Her eyes fell on Thornton and me, and she froze, enlightenment racing across her features.
“Just a test?” she gasped out.
Thornton nodded, and she flicked her fingers toward the two men. The one still standing sank down onto the ground, breathing hard, at the release of her power.
For a moment we all stood looking at each other.
“I was going to intervene,” I said to Dariela. “If Thornton hadn’t stopped me.”
“Indeed,” said Thornton. “And I trust you will not attempt to do so if you find yourself near one of my tests again.”
Dariela looked torn, and I couldn’t decide if she was about to thank me or berate me for assuming she needed help. In the end she did neither.
“But how will I know for sure it’s a test?” I asked Thornton.
Thornton gave me a flat look. “If commonborn louts attempt to attack a trainee within the Academy, you may rest assured it’s a test.”
“Who you calling a lout?” muttered one of the men so quietly I only just heard it.
I flashed him a grin, and he grinned back at me, despite the bruise already forming across one eye.
“You may go,” Thornton said to me. “Dariela, a word regarding the exercise.”
I hesitated a moment. Dariela’s energy, already low before the attack, was teetering on the edge of exhaustion now. Should I say something?
But Thornton waved his hands at me impatiently, and I remembered Dariela had just been with Acacia. Clearly she would seek help if needed. The two might even be related since they came from the same family.
I hurried toward the dining hall, hoping some food would still remain. I slid into my usual seat just as the servers began clearing the communal trays from the tables. Coralie shook her head at me.
“Really, Elena! You don’t want to miss out on food.”
But even as she said it, she moved a full, untouched plate from in front of her over to me.
“Here. I saved this for you. I’ve already finished.”
“Thanks.” I gave her a grateful smile as I began to shovel down the food.
Inside a battle raged. Should I tell them about their upcoming tests? Clearly Thornton wanted them kept a surprise, and perhaps he was right. Perhaps tests like that would help keep them alive in the future. It didn’t feel like the work of a friend not to say anything at all, though. I glanced across the table at Saffron.
“You carry defensive compositions at all times now, right?” I asked her.
She eyed me warily. “Of course.”
Finnian grinned at me. “Tossing up the idea of attacking her, are you, Elena?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m just saying it pays to be prepared.” I gave each of them a serious look. “At all times.”
Finnian raised both eyebrows. “Do you know something we don’t know?”
“I’m just saying, be prepared.”
I expected him to make another joke, but his face remained serious this time, his eyes sliding across to Coralie beside me.
“I, for one, always am,” he said.
“Good,” I said before steering the conversation in other directions.
Winter deepened, and first Araminta and then Finnian found a quiet moment to tell me they now understood my warning. From Araminta’s expression, she hadn’t passed the test, although she assured me when I asked that she was unhurt. She made it clear she didn’t want to discuss it further, and I didn’t push the matter. It was hard enough for her being bottom of the class—especially when I used to be down there with her and now surpassed everyone.
Calix surprised me by pulling me aside in the corridor one day and describing the attack he had just successfully defeated.
“Apparently they’re going to test us all,” he said. “So be ready.”
I stared at him, not bothering to correct his misapprehension about my testing. “Why are you telling me? Didn’t Thornton ask you to keep it a secret?”
“Oh, have you already been tested?” Calix frowned. “You should have warned Natalya and me.”
I continued to stare at him, not quite sure what to say.
“We’re family now, Elena,” he said in a disapproving tone. “Family looks out for each other. Father would be highly disappointed to hear you left Natalya and me in the dark.”
“Honestly?” I said. “It didn’t even occur to me to tell you.”
He shook his head, so I hurried to add, “I didn’t tell my friends, either, if that’s any consolation.”
He looked at me for a moment and then sighed. “I suppose I should have known you wouldn’t understand how these things work. But next time?” He paused. “Remember that family means more than friendship.”
Voice of Life (The Spoken Mage Book 4) Page 7