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“Your mana … I’ve never seen such a large amount of it. How is that even possible? I’ve met hundreds of extremely talented people in my life, but their mana pales in comparison—”

All of Kolfinna’s confusion burst like a bubble and she slumped back in her seat, suddenly uninterested. Of course Blár had an insane amount of mana—all black ranks did.

Kolfinna had known it would only be a matter of time before his abilities were noticed, but she didn’t think it would be this soon, especially since he wasn’t able to use his powers. “He’s a black rank,” Kolfinna explained with a non-enthusiastic wave in his direction. “He’s one of the three most powerful people in the country. It’s not surprising that you’re this surprised.”

“A black … rank? What does that mean?”

“It’s a power ranking system,” Kolfinna said. “It’s supposed to gauge how strong your magical abilities are. The ranking goes from white, gray, yellow, purple, to black. White being the weakest and black being the strongest. To give you reference, my power level is probably … a gray.”

Blár snorted, and Kolfinna shot him a dark look—why did he make a face like he wanted to laugh? He placed his arm on the back of the empty chair beside him and said, “A gray, really? That’s not being generous. You’re closer to an upper yellow. Maybe even a purple rank.”

Did he really think that? Or washethe one being generous? Kolfinna wasn’t sure what power level she was at anymore—last year’s defeat was still raw and had tanked her confidence.

“That’s extraordinary,” Revna whispered. “To think a human can be that powerful.”

Blár’s mouth pursed together and he took another bite of his food. “How can you feel my mana if I can’t use my powers?” Blár asked. “I can’t even feel it right now.”

“Your mana isn’t gone. You’re just restricted from using it. It’s simply dormant right now.” Revna leaned closer to Blár and reached over as if to grab his hand, but plucked a cherry from the fruit platter beside his plate. Revna’s hand flattened against the table and she smiled tentatively. “It’s impressive that you have such a large store of mana. Were you always this way or did you train to get to that level?”

He shrugged, averting his gaze and letting the question hang in the air. Kolfinna watched him carefully, remembering his words last night. Was he uncomfortable talking about his powers? Kolfinna certainly felt uncomfortable andslightlyjealous talking about Blár’s capabilities. She could only wonder how he felt. A month ago, she would’ve said he was more than happy to have people fawn over his monstrous powers. But now, she could detect an inkling of discomfort by the way he nonchalantly picked at something under his nail. Like he didn’t want to further the conversation. Maybe that blank expression wasn’t arrogance? But a mask?

She couldn’t say for sure, so she sipped her water and slammed the cup on the table, drawing their attention. “I’m ready to train,” she said with renewed eagerness.

Revna clapped her hands together. “Wonderful! That’s the spirit.” She rose from her seat and motioned to the cushioned couch. “I would like to teach you in a larger room or more preferably, an open field, but I’m confined in this house and can’t leave. Therefore, the living room will have to do.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Kolfinna pressed a hand into the back of the chair and she hoisted herself up, her gaze lingering on Blár and his unfinished breakfast. He still wasn’t comfortable eating here, it seemed. As if sensing her unease, he picked up his piece of bread and brought it to his mouth, his eyebrows quirked in question. She pulled away from the table and headed to the couch. He didn’t need her to babysit him.

“Did you enjoy your meal?” Revna lowered herself onto the couch. She moved the embroidered pillowsaside to make room for Kolfinna and patted the couch. “Sit with me.”

“It was good,” she said, joining her.

“You should maybe try to eat a bit less, though,” Revna said. “If you want to be a proper fae warrior, you need to lose a bit of weight.” She pinched Kolfinna’s arm and gave her a long look. “Fae are supposed to be lean and muscular, you know. I think you have too much human blood diluting your fae blood. It would explain why your ears are round.”

The blood rushed to her face and she quickly glanced at Blár to see if he had heard, but he was staring out the kitchen window, seemingly lost in his own world. She straightened the front of her uniform. She wanted to snap at her like Blár had done—to tell Revna not to touch her so freely and to not comment on her body—but Revna was the only one who could teach her rune magic. So she instead tried smiling. “Um, shall we start?”

“Yes, let’s get to the fun part, shall we?” Revna held her hands out to Kolfinna. “Let me feel your mana.”

Kolfinna slipped her hands in Revna’s.

“Your mana is strong. That’s a good sign,” Revna murmured. “It means you’re ready to learn runes. Your mana is practically begging for it. That’s a good thing. A really good thing.”

Excitement bubbled in the pit of Kolfinna’s stomach. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Revna dropped her hands. “It’s not as impressive as your partner’s, but it’s good. It’ll do.”

Her happiness waned as those words struck a chord; being compared to Blár was like comparing a pebble with a boulder. Or maybe even a boulder and a mountain. She knew her capabilities were nowhere near his, and having such a prodigy so close to her sent a shard of jealousy through her heart.

“Rune magic is versatile,” Revna said, bringing her back to the conversation. “It’s a set of rules you impose with your magic onto the world, the space, or whatever item you’re casting it in. Take—” Revna looked around herself and picked up a silver spoon on the tea table beside a half-finished cup of tea. She held the spoon up. “Take this spoon for example. I can imbue rune magic into this spoon. Like this.” Her eyes shifted to gold and immediately, magic charged the air in a thick haze and singed the handle of the spoon with sparkling lettering. When Revna held the spoon out to Kolfinna, her eyes melded back into a deep purple. “What do the runes say?”

Kolfinna squinted at the writing on the handle. “The breath of the sun will kiss this metal,” she read with bunched brows. “What does that mean?”

“Here, take it.”

Kolfinna almost dropped the spoon when Revna handed it to her from the unexpected warmth of the handle. “It’s … warm.”

“It is.” Revna smiled. “You can only use runes depending on your abilities and power level. That’s a relatively easy and mild rune, but there are more complicated ones as well. Take, for example, Blár.” She gestured to Blár, who was eating his meal slowly and watching them with glinting eyes. “You can’t write runes on a living being that’s meant to harm them, because their mana will naturally reject it. Remember, the soul is more powerful than any rune you can create. But you can do other things to him with rune magic that he won’t reject. For example, healing his wounds.”

“I don’t like the way you’re talking about me like I’m not here,” he said, taking another bite of his bread.