Winter Embers [ Book 2 ]

Chapter Eighteen

          "But it was too late," Claire finished for him, recalling the flowers.

          "She stayed too long in that world, and in the end it consumed her," he said, an undeniable bitterness lacing his words. "After that I came back here, plagued with the thoughts of what if. What if I had gone with her? What if I had stopped her? What if I had gone sooner, then perhaps I could have saved her. I started drinking heavily, I lost my position at the Academy, and, well, I did my best to disappear."

          "She never blamed you," Claire said at last.

          "Pardon?"

         "My mother... I don't think she blamed you," she repeated before reaching over to place her hand over his where it rested on the railing. "Whenever I asked her about my father, about you, she would always smile and tell me she would explain when I was older, but that you were a good man. I gradually accepted the idea that you were dead, it was easier that way."

          Valerick let out a deep sigh. "Nothing I can say or do will ever make up for the past," he looked towards her, his expression grave. "I won't ask for your forgiveness, I don't deserve it. I do, however, have one request."

          "What is it?"

          "Give me the opportunity to train you," he said.

          Claire's brows furrowed in confusion. Train her? Train her in what exactly?

          As though reading her mind, Valerick chuckled. "You've not just got Orian blood in your veins, Claire. You hail from a long lineage of master magicians that have a special bond with the magic of this realm."

          "You mean the cards?"

          Valerick nodded. "You've got great power inside of you, a raw talent that simply needs to be honed."

          "I don't know about all that," Claire protested, not quite sure she believed all this nonsense.

          "I do," he said with such resoluteness that she found herself wondering if he might be right.

          "How can you be so confident?" she asked.

          He reached into his pocket and pulled out the all too familiar deck of cards. "For the most part, magic is about manipulating the world around you whether you use runes, words, or gestures. For Card Masters, it's all about trust. If there is no bond between the cards and their master, then there is no magic."

          "Yours worked for me," she said.

          "Yes, but that is because I told them, indirectly, to protect you," he said. "As I am sure you've noticed, magic is a fickle beast. You can either force it to your will, like your fire friend does, or you can convince it to work with you."

          "But how?"

          "The answer to that question is not easily pinned down, for every Card Master the method through which the magic responds is different, even from card to card. The only constant is the sincerity of the master," Valerick explained.

          "How am I supposed to make something tangible from such an abstract idea?"

         "You already have," he said, holding out two cards.

          She took them from him. "What do you mean?"

          "These are not mine," Valerick explained further, pointing to the cards Claire now held in her hands. Turning them over one of the cards depicted a spiraling fight of illuminated stairs, the other card depicted a single, shimmering coal burning in a pile of snow. "And this one never had a name before..."