The Fragile Tower - Book 1 of the No.1 magical fantasy series

The Fragile Tower Chapter 31 - Sleight of Hand

"They all understand," he said, nodding his head at a red-headed boy who looked round to him. "We all saw everything through the link."

That means they know who controlled it, she thought, and felt utterly wretched.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking at the red-headed boy first, but then taking in every one of them, and seeing how pale they were, and how weak some of them seemed. "I didn't want to use you like the Queen did."

"We saw your intentions," one of the younger boys said, and it was strange to hear such an adult expression in his young voice.

The red-headed boy went on, "And we saw the threat you stood against. A greater reason for keeping us like that than to have the illusion of a child."

"Is it?" Grace asked quietly, thinking of that wailing cry out in the snow years ago, when Gregori had died in the Queen's arms.

"You need to read," the red-headed one told her, and she nodded, ashamed that she couldn't apologise to them further, and also ashamed of wasting the precious time Ma and Ruidic were giving her.

But what should I read? she thought, as she flicked through at random.

Perhaps it was thinking of Gregori and little Ori that caused her gaze to snag on the chapter about Living Spells, or perhaps it was the book trying to help her again. Whatever it was, she found herself glancing over it a little impatiently, having read it before. But only now that she read it again did she begin to realise what it was telling her.

            Living spells are those spells that have come into contact with a human mind or minds often enough to give them sentience, she read. The greater the human contact, the greater the sentience...

Which was what had made Ori like a person, she knew. This much she understood. A person who was not quite a person. Roschan had understood that.

Remembering the Captain gave her a jolt of alarm. Without the link, she had no idea whether he was all right.

You can't think about him, she told herself sternly, even though it made her ache to think of him hurt, and not knowing was like an itch she couldn't scratch. She shoved it aside as much as she could and read on.

But the contact need not be with rizehn alone. Some of the greatest mages in history would weave spells around the everyday actions of humans, and the complexity of those actions would create spells that could act to help – or to hinder – based on situation. Amongst the most powerful weaves of possibility ever created were Madela's Defence, a spell that was linked to the soldiers of the palace guard, and Kiernezan's Clouds of Magic, which were tied to a huge flock of birds.

She heard a hiss of breath from Ruidic, and she looked up in spite of herself.

"What is it?" she asked.

"He's trying to break through," he said, and glanced at her briefly. His eyes were glowing with a writhing blue and violet light that was eerie in the dimness of the room. "Hurry, Grace."

She didn't pause to answer. She just buried her head in the book again and read onwards, skimming the words for meaning, her heart beginning to pound.

It is believed by some scholars that the legendary Cartheno's Fire is such a spell, based on some of the writings about it. Its protective qualities, for example, and the way it is said to shield all those connected with it, even while they shield it. And Cartheno himself had an affinity with spells concerned with life, which makes it seem possible that what he created was the single greatest one of these in existence: a spell based on a single object that was powerful enough to destroy an army of the cold and secure his kingdom.