After a week, nothing in my new routine changed.
I followed Zach to the dining room after a morning of inducing visions. It was hard to believe it had only been seven days since I arrived in the Kingdom. For the first time I didn't feel exhausted to the point of needing a nap. Instead, I was starving.
"What do you feel like?" he asked, gesturing for me to take a seat at the table.
"Food." I sat and put my hands on the table, making him laugh.
"When you use as much energy as you have been, you need fuel. And no, I don't just mean sleep."
"I eat."
"Not enough."
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. What are we having?"
"Do you have a preference?"
"Nah. Just food." I thought for a second, then added, "Not spicey."
Once again, Zach laughed. He stepped away from my chair and rounded the table. As he passed the long side, Zach waved his hand over the centre. By the time he took his seat at the opposite end, an array of Chinese food take-out containers appeared.
"Mmm. This is my favorite place to order from," I said, reaching for the ginger beef, which was as much zip as I could handle. "You even got plates! Did you steal this?"
"No, I summoned it. Don't worry, the owners were paid and will recall someone coming to get it. I just figured if you got something you like, you'll eat more than you have been."
"Um, yeah. I eat."
"Um, yeah." Zach rolled his eyes at me. "Not enough. It'll amaze you how strong you are when you eat regularly and in proper portions."
"Well, if I hadn't been too tired to chew, I would have had more."
"You are improving. Doing more and feeling less taxed. I'm impressed."
"That I'm not napping? Thanks." I snorted as I filled my plate with a sample of all the options.
"That, and how far you've come already, Your offense is strong."
"Is that a polite way of saying my defense is weak?"
"Simply that we should spend time on it."
I smiled, thinking of the fire I was able to control, then cleared my throat. "So. If I wanted to sense how strong someone is through their essence, how would I go about it?"
"Much like you sense the objects I give you to prompt a vision."
"I assume I sensed Maible's—her essence and the half of her signature not related to me—but I have no idea how strong she is. I worry about that and Devland's influence."
"Did you ask yourself that whilst sensing her? I suspect her strength would have been uncovered if you had. Of course, as I've said, it would take more effort on your part in the mortal realm."
"I just sensed she had it."
"And her binds."
I nodded. "Yeah, but—wait. How did I sense her binds if Devland did it?"
"He tied them to something else —living flame like you did—so as not to drain himself. Besides, if something exists, you'll see it. It becomes tangible rather than sensory. You may feel the magic but couldn't match it to a relation. Not traditionally, though now there are many families with half-blood relatives that create loopholes."
"How do you know if you only sense half?"
"Usually you know who you are related to."
I scoffed. "Who knows how many children Devland has? Maybe he bound them and they are far away or living outside Wickenton."
"Normally, I'd laugh at your joke, but I've met Devland."
"Uh huh." I rolled my eyes and bit the end off a spring roll, chewing as I stared at Zach.
"It's simple, really," he said, shrugging as he paid attention to filling his own plate of food. "You have been practicing sensing someone even if you haven't met them."
"Not their signature."
"It's easy enough to use a locater spell once you have the scent of the magic used. The signature being matched is merely confirmation," he said between bites. "When police find a fingerprint at a crime scene, it means nothing until they are able to match it to its owner."
"Right." I narrowed my eyes. "When you first started hijacking my dreams, that would have been helpful while I was dealing with Duvessa."
"I can't say I'm sorry for that. You passed two tests with all that—one in the way you punished them and one because of your resiliency."
"Thanks."
"Anytime." Zach chuckled. "You won't be able to sense someone's strength in their signature. Maybe the strength of their spell or, given your empathy, the level of intent coming from a person's emotions when they cast it. To truly understand a person's power, you have to push them to their limits, though as you know what's difficult one day becomes easier, thus power—or adeptness of using it—increases."
"How does that help?"
"You'd know what they are capable of at that point in time."
"Then I'd go back to worrying how much of a menace they could become. Sounds great." I met Zach's gaze. "It would be better to use the spell I created for Duvessa's family for the community as a whole. Then I'd never worry."
"And you'd do it for every child born?"
"Can't I decree it from here or something?"
Zach shook his head. "No."
"It's better than stripping their magic altogether."
"Like you did with Astrid?"
"If you know I did that a couple days after I came back, then you know I didn't include a loophole for her."
Zach stared at me, chewing while his fork dangled from his hand.
"What? Duvessa is young enough to learn to do better away from her mother's influence. I know her misuse was worse, but Astrid is old enough to actually be expected to do better."
"What do you think is worse: hurting someone in an accident caused by misuse of magic or manipulating someone's feelings with magic?"
"Like a love spell?"
"No such thing would actually work, but... One could use magic to hide their true nature. Some are so adept with persuasion, it's like it is an unique ability such as empathy or even visions."
"Okay... Neither is good."
"Astrid manipulated her husband. I think you made the right choice stripping her of her gifts."
"Why question it?"
"Because. A good decision is only right if whoever makes it can defend why they came to their conclusion or took a particular action. For the better, of course, since people have reasons for doing harm or they wouldn't do it," he said. "In Astrid's case, she lost the power over her husband and he has left her. That means he wouldn't have been with her otherwise, so her use of persuasion was negatively impacting someone else."
"Well. I have many reasons to explain why I chose that punishment but it isn't worth wasting time." And I didn't want to think how I may have hurt Julian, though I could argue that his dad wouldn't regret his time with Astrid because Julian had been a by-product of their union.
"Agreed." A cup of water appeared on the table. Zach took a sip and leaned back in his chair. "If you want to know the extent of a person's power, you will need to look to their essence. The more aligned the recessive genes of a person's ancestors—mom's ancestral genes matching dad's ancestral genes—the more powerful they are. Hence why children are more powerful than their parents."
"It's chemistry? Biology?"
"Science certainly explains it."
"I wish I could do what we've been practicing to figure out who is taking people to steal their abilities."
"Like I said. What is hard one day gets easier. Eventually, I believe that's exactly what you will do."
I rolled my eyes. "No pressure."
"You are doing well, Nora."
"Sure. Because right now there is zero pressure and using magic is like breathing here." I rolled my eyes. "You're the one who says it will be harder once I leave."
"Would you feel more confident if we practiced outside of the Kingdom?"
"Like Olympus?" I sat straighter, and Zach laughed. My shoulders slumped.
"I mean like your backyard in Briarville or that clearing you like in Wickenton."
"I thought you were too weak?"
"I've been resting all week," Zach said, then laughed. "It's amazing how much better I feel now that I'm not checking in on you. Plus, you can take us from A to B, which reduces the amount of energy I need to use."
"I thought you were checking in?"
"Much different checking in using the Kingdom's magic than using my own to get through to you when you don't want to let anyone in."
"Uh huh."
"You block well," he said. "I doubt I could do it now that you have come here."
"Because of the tests?"
"Yes, and you're strong, Nora, and keep getting stronger."
"I read about soulmates. That made me stronger before, right?"
Zach made a face. "Where did you read about that?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "Grandma's journals. Grimoire. The Books of Shadows I read of my mom's so far."
"Soulmates... There's a lot about them I'm sure nobody will ever understand."
"What should I know?"
Zach took another sip of his water. "There's one true soulmate that can take lifetimes to meet, though your family always finds theirs. There are many runner ups—those you could love and even be happy or content with, but never completely. Jacob was your mother's and Devland... Well, that's Vavila's story. You know Calin is yours. Trevor had potential."
"What? No." I shook my head. "He's bad."
"You imagine a relationship is all sunshine and rainbows? You don't argue with Calin?"
Aside from right now? I shook my head. "Point taken, but there's nothing that could ever happen with Trevor unless I'm the one helping him into a straight jacket and locking the cell door."
"Yet at first you were probably attracted to him like your mom was with Devland or a victim of domestic violence has for their partner."
I sat straighter and shook my head. "This is getting dark."
"My point is there are options, not whether they are good or bad. Unfortunately, with a true soulmate, you wouldn't be able to see the bad like Vavila eventually did with Devland and you did with Trevor. Once you meet your true soulmate, it's inevitable you are together."
"Making them stronger."
"To a point."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's yin and yang, really. Soulmates are stronger together because they compliment one another." Zach sighed and placed his glass on the table. "Being around one another is when its most effective."
"So you have to be together... all the time?"
Zach laughed. "At first, if you need the boost, yeah. It isn't a big deal. Soulmates can't stay away from each other anyway—even when they are mad."
"So, what? They rub off on each other until their bond is fooled?"
"No!" Zach laughed, shaking his head. "Once the relationship is solidified, both soulmates are stronger, together and apart."
"Solidified?"
"Married, Nora. Here in the Kingdom." Zach's smile faded. "There is a blood exchange done, then they come here to wed and consummate their vows. The union is unbreakable at that point."
"My mom was married before Devland?"
"No."
"I'm confused."
"Jacob and Vavila had their blood exchange so he could come here—Vavila wanted him to know everything about what he could expect in their relationship. Their intent was to marry. There wasn't enough time."
"I know I can't wish it different because I wouldn't be here to wish anything if it came true, but that's sad. Karmically... wrong." I sighed, shifting in my seat, and set my fork down. "My mom would have been stronger with a marriage to Jacob and if she'd come home after passing her tests. It's just unfair."
"If she had married Jacob, Vavila would have died sooner. If not from grief, from the connection being severed—it can be instant. She was pulled from the grief from Devland and then you."
"I'm not even sure what to say, or if you are joking." I laughed forcibly.
"It's no joke, Nora. Do you honestly find it hard to believe?"
I laughed harder.
"When we figure out who is taking abilities from people, you may need the extra help in strength by solidifying your relationship with Calin."
"Solidify our relationship?" I snorted. What teenager is encouraged to get married and consummate it? I felt like I was in a One Tree Hill episode. We could be Naley and I could pop out a baby at graduation—because a child of mine would be better than me, which obviously wasn't good enough without all the extra help Zach kept insinuating I needed. "I don't think Calin is talking to me, so it doesn't matter."
"Your empathy and the fact that Calin can calm you—not to mention you are blood-bonded already—already helps you. It just might not be enough when whoever is taking abilities is targeting those with special affinities that make them impossible to stop. Even for the founding family."
"Well, either way I win, right? Either I can reign them in or they defeat me. If they succeed, I won't have magic, so theirs will cease along with the magical community. They'd be powerless."
"It isn't a good option, given all the good magic does in the world when disaster strikes. War? Famine?"
"I could do more."
"So? Take action. Be a leader and effect change," he said. "Leading is more than strength. It's influence, and you can use it for good things."
"Is it influence if it's a command people are wired to follow?"
"No. Those are law to keep chaos in a semblance of order. Influence is when people buy in to your initiatives with their own free will."
"Well, then."
"Did you want to practice?"
I darted my eyes around the room, then looked at Zach. "Now?"
He nodded.
"In Briarville, or...?"
"Yes. In Briarville."
I shook my head, trying to refocus my thoughts on anything but Calin. "Actually..." I gripped the edge and pushed away from the table until I was leaning forward—hands on table and butt at least a foot away, my head nearly hitting the ledge. "I think it's better if I head to bed. Can we start in Briarville in the morning?"
Zach watched me as thought expecting questions or worse—a breakdown. Instead, I gave him a tight smile and let go of the table to stand.
"Of course, you should rest," he said, and I started out of the room. "I have to take care of something in the morning, but I'll meet you there around noon."
I nodded in acknowledgement and lifted my hand in a backward wave. My head was too full to open another conversation. Once again I went to bed hoping it would make sense by morning. Even more, I hoped what Zach said was true and Calin couldn't stay away, and we would talk again to sort things out.
I had a chance, I thought, smiling.
A/N: I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'm posting a day early as we are away tomorrow. Enjoy!