“What did you do that for?” I sputtered.
“That was too easy. I want to see you do it under duress. It’s much harder to concentrate when you have distractions.”
“Like what?” I was instantly suspicious.
A slow smile spread across his face. “How about I repay your favor from last night?”
What favor?
Darren snapped his finger. I glanced around frantically but did not see any changes to the room. “What did you—” The words caught in my throat as I noticed a long shadow quickly making its way across the dark marble floor. As it trailed closer, I cried out involuntarily.
The shadow was a herd of very large, very hairy brown spiders that were very quickly coming toward me.
How did he know? My legs went numb with fear.
“I’ll stop them the moment you light that candle,” Darren said, eyes dancing wickedly.
I swallowed as I looked to the incoming mob. “Can’t you try something else?”
“Stop making excuses” was his only reply.
My eyes shot to the extinguished candle in my hand. The tip was tinged with black from the previous flame, and I willed it to light once again. Please.
I tried to visualize a fire using my senses, but it was much harder to actualize with the loud pounding in my ears and the fear of spiders just inches away.
Why did he have to choose them? The anxiety had my blood racing, and I kept losing focus to peek down at the ground.
“Ignore the spiders, Ryiah!”
I bit my lip, and inadvertently my gaze slid down to the insects again. They had just reached my boots and were beginning to climb. My insides froze.
“RYIAH!”
I shut my eyes and tried to picture a fire. The image came swimming back. I took a deep breath and tried to drown out the desire to run screaming and shaking the creatures off my legs. I recalled the taper and opened my eyes, practically throwing my impression at it.
Instantly the candle’s wick caught fire, but it was fast diminished as a mountain of wax spilled out over my hands. There was nothing left of the candle. I glanced down at my tunic and saw the spiders were gone.
Thank the gods. I glared at the prince, hands on my hips. “You didn’t have to use spiders.”
“How will you get better,” the prince countered, “if you are not willing to face your fears? I did you a favor. Maybe now you’ll stop napping during Cedric’s lessons.”
I peeled the wax off my hands, wincing at the swollen flesh beneath. “I haven’t done that in weeks,” I told the non-heir.
“Well, I have done my part.” Darren waived a dismissing hand and sat down in his chaise with a wry smile. “So where is that promised solitude?”
“Can you just answer one more thing?”
Darren groaned. “What is it now?”
“How did you know I was training wrong?” I bit my lip. “You seemed to know something was wrong before you’d even seen me cast.”
Darren gave me a tired look. “I didn’t, not really. But when you attacked me with that fire it was pretty obvious you didn’t know what you were doing. Since I had never seen you practice your casting, there was no way you could have depleted your stamina.” Darren coughed. “I had, otherwise I would have been able to put out the flames myself. It wasn’t hard to figure out the rest.”
“How come no one knew how to help me?”
Darren narrowed his eyes. “You really know nothing about magic, do you?” He didn’t wait for a response. “The fact that you can cast using pain is unusual. Most people can’t, which means that your magic operates at a different level. You can’t expect the same rules to apply to us.”
“Us?” My voice squeaked.
Darren studied his fingers. “For the weak, castings come easily, but people like you and I have to work harder to project them. Our magic requires better focus because it is more. You will always have to work harder to cast, but when you do, it will be better, stronger too.” He laughed coldly. “Powerful magic requires those concentrated projections Master Cedric was alluding to, not acts of whimsy.”
I frowned. “But then why is it so easy with pain? I don’t have to build up a projection at all.”
“Spilling blood is the exception, not the rule.” He gave me a hard look. “It’s not a reliable form of casting. The powers you exert will be unpredictable and much harder to control. Your flames didn’t stop last night, did they?”
I sighed. “No.”
“Exactly. The masters here don’t even teach that method to first-years. It’s dangerous, and you should be grateful you haven’t lost a limb trying it.”
I winced.
Darren’s eyes danced. “Of course, if that’s your intention, it would be very amusing to watch.”
I threw my quill at his head, and he caught it with a grin. He has a nice smile. I quickly averted my gaze. That was the last thing I needed.