A female barked out, “You’re late, Prince Norivun! Lady Seary’s classes begin daily at noon on the dot. Now, you know what happens when a pupil is tardy. Off you go. Now!”
My mouth dropped at the absolute ire of the female and the unflinching way she’d just spoken to the Bringer of Darkness. Her wide black wings, rotund figure, and narrowed eyes gave her an intimidating air, and I had to make myself not take a step back when she approached.
But the prince just raised his fist to his chest in traditional greeting and dipped his head. “Apologies, Matron Olsander. It shall not happen again.”
He strolled to the corner of the room where a chin-up bar waited. He leaped from the ground to grab it, then dangled. With a bend of his knees, he let all of his weight hang from his hands, and my jaw dropped even more as he began to lift himself.
Up, then down, up, then down. The crown prince was doing chin-ups.
“Snap that lid closed, my dear!” Matron Olsander swatted at my mouth, and I instantly closed it and stood straighter. Granted, it’d been a while since I’d gone to school, but I couldn’t recall any teachers being this strict or terrorizing. Mother Below, Matron Olsander scared the sprites out of me, and I absolutely detested sprites.
“Over here. Sit.” She bustled to a mat near the windows, her thick, black wings flexing slightly when she pointed toward the floor. “Prince Norivun tells me your magic has only recently manifested, and to date, you have three known affinities—the ability to create life, perhaps even orem, and two elemental abilities, fire and air.”
She didn’t even flinch when speaking of my multiple affinities, but I supposed if she was the reason the prince was so powerful, then perhaps three was something to scoff at.
“Yes, Matron Olsander. That’s correct.”
She plucked her hands on her hips. “Well, of course, it’s correct. Did you think I was looking for you to affirm something I already knew?” Her heavy brow pinched together.
I clamped my lips closed. “No?”
She scowled and pointed to the mat. “On your rump. Now.”
I fell to the floor, and she sat beside me. “Close your eyes. You’ll feel your magic better that way when you initially begin to learn it.” She sighed. “We have much to catch up on. Three months isn’t long to master three affinities, so we’ll work nearly every day. One day off each week, that’s it. And during that day you’re to eat and sleep. That’s all. It’ll be the only way to fully replenish your magic and keep it charged for all that I have planned. Understood?”
“Yes?”
“Do you always answer questions with a question?”
I was about to say, no?, but then I firmly replied, “No, Matron Olsander. Apologies.”
“Good. Now, as I was saying, we have much to do to prepare you for the Trial.” She sighed. “As it is, you’re like a newborn fairy without an inkling of how to control your abilities.” She looked at my wingless back and clucked her tongue. “Strange. Very strange indeed, but not unheard of. Queen Lissandra’s affinities also bloomed late, and she also has black hair, but she does have wings.”
“You know the queen has black hair?” I blurted, and then, unable to help my curious question despite her stern expression, asked, “Did you train the queen too?”
“Indeed I did! I’ve trained most of the royals. Now, enough questions from you and no more jibber jabbering. It’s time we got to work.”
Matron Olsander instructed me to sit cross-legged and close my eyes. “Feel for your magic. All fae are different. Some feel it in their minds, others in their heart, some in their guts, and some in their limbs. Where do you feel it pulsing?”
“My gut.”
“Good, very good. Identifying your magic and where it resides is the first step. Now, I’m going to run you through a series of tests to determine your strength and ability to connect with your magic. Learning one’s magic and mastering it are vital for powerful fae. Without true control, you’re a threat to everyone around you should your magic become so powerful that you’re unable to control it.”
I snuck a glance over my shoulder to where the prince was still doing chin-ups. My mouth grew dry. He’d removed his tunic. Muscles, beaded with sweat, bunched and moved every time he lifted himself. Blessed Mother. Not an inch of fat was on the male. With each flex of his arms, sinewy tendons rippled, transfixing me.
A smack to the back of my head jolted me forward.
“Enough of that salivating, Lady Seary. We are here to work!”
My cheeks flamed, even more so when the prince cast a knowing look over his shoulder. Embarrassment tumbled through me. Bastard. He’d probably removed his shirt just because he knew it would catch my attention.
Clenching my jaw, I firmly ignored him and concentrated on what Matron Olsander was telling me.
She sat straighter, her no-nonsense aura piercing. “Now, as I was saying, we’ll start with a series of tests.”
My new tutor spent the next hour going through a multitude of magical assessments that I neither understood nor could explain, but from what I could deduce, my tutor’s affinity was an unusual one. Every time Matron Olsander began a new test, I felt something foreign probing inside me, and after working up the courage to ask her what it was she was doing, she finally told me I was feeling her affinity.
Apparently, her affinity was a mental one and lay in her ability to sense, stoke, and call out others’ magic while helping them learn to master it. It was what made her such an excellent tutor.
When she finally finished, she sat back and rubbed her chin. “You’re strong, very strong indeed, but I sense other things in you. Slumbering abilities perhaps that haven’t fully manifested.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I don’t believe you’re fully manifested yet, Lady Seary. I believe there’s more to come.”
My hands fluttered. “Are you serious?”
“Do I look like the joking type?”
“No, I mean, it’s just that—” I stumbled with what to say. To have more affinities manifest, as crazy as that would be, meant that the king could take an even stronger interest in me. Not good.
Matron Olsander shook her head. “You’re an unusual one, Ilara Seary, daughter of Mervalee Territory. Your magic feels unique. I can’t say I’ve encountered another like you before, but something feels deeper in you. Perhaps yet untouched, or maybe not. I could be wrong.”
Please be wrong. “What about the queen? Isn’t she like me?”
“She’s also an unusual one, although she’s unique in her own way. You and she may share the same hair color, but your magic . . .” She shook her head. “While comparable in strength, your affinities are too different to be considered similar.”
I could sense the prince’s interest from across the room. He’d stopped doing chin-ups a while ago and now stood by the wall, watching and waiting. But since he hadn’t put his shirt back on, I’d refused to look at him again.