Page 32 of Pawns of Fate

ROSE

Ava wasn’t a terrible pupil. She picked things up slowly, but she was making progress nonetheless. It made Rose wonder if York could read or was just that terrible at teaching others.

“Ava, you told me that York thinks you can read.”

“I did,” she replied while practicing the letter ‘Z’ on some old, brown parchment.

“If he were your tutor, wouldn’t he know that you can’t read?”

“He wasn’t nearly as good at tutoring as you are, Rose. You’ve taught me more in one morning than York did in two months.”

Rose found that hard to believe. “Still, York must have had some idea you weren’t getting much information from his lessons?” she asked.

“To be honest, whenever he was doing an awful job of explaining something, I would just distract him,” Ava replied.

“For two whole months?”

“I can be very distracting. Especially to my husband.” Ava wiggled her eyebrows and shimmied a bit toward Rose.

Both girls burst into a fit of laughter.

“So you just seduced him any time you didn’t want to suffer through a lesson?”

“Yes.”

Rose laughed again, wiping a tear from her eye. “That tactic won’t work on me!”

“I know, I know!” Ava threw her hands up. “I told you. I’m already learning so much more than I ever learned with York. I can write the entire alphabet now!”

“You have made a lot of progress in just one day. How about we stop there? I’m hungry.”

“Let’s eat some lunch.”

The girls happily took a break from their lessons to prepare and consume a light lunch.

Rose considered whether or not they should keep going after the meal.

They’d already been working for three hours.

Ava had learned a lot of information in one day.

They should probably put off more lessons until tomorrow.

But if they did that, what else was there to do for the afternoon?

Boredom was the worst part of their situation. Rose was very glad to have a companion—two, if you counted Lyla—with her. Time passed faster, even if it wasn’t enough to stave off the boredom entirely.

“What are we going to do this afternoon?” Ava asked as they washed the dishes.

Rose scrubbed at a ceramic plate. “Well, we’re stuck in the house until Lyla returns.”

Ava sighed. “Right. I forgot that we can’t leave the house without her.” Her shoulders slumped forward as she plunged her hands into the full sink.

“I could read one of the romance novels to you,” Rose suggested.

“I like that idea!”

The girls finished washing the dishes and curled up on the couch together. Rose reached for the novel about a shadow mage who falls in love with a marchioness, but Ava stopped her.

“Did you want to keep reading this book?” Ava held up the tome in question. It was a dusty old thing that looked more like it contained ancient secrets than reputable research about the practice of magic in Albion. But Rose had learned a lot from it, and she was only a handful of chapters in.

“I saw you poring over it this morning,” Ava added.

“A textbook about magic won’t be as interesting as the romance novel,” Rose replied, reaching for the book.

“That’s fine! I’ve wanted to learn more about magic since marrying a lightning knight. But York is even worse about teaching me anything to do with spells or mana than he is at teaching me how to read.”

Rose laughed, then opened the book. “Is it alright if I start with chapter four?”

Ava nodded.

“Chapter four: An Overview of Spellbound and Elemental Magic.” Rose cleared her throat.

“Most, but not all, magic in Albion reflects the elements of the natural world. Things like fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth all have their influence on mana and mages. There are other elements. See the index for what scholars currently think is an exhaustive list.” Rose glanced at Ava, who was hanging on her every word.

“ Currently think is underlined twice. I wonder if that means there could be more elements?”

Ava shrugged. Rose continued, “Elemental magic is usually controlled by spells. Some spells are spoken; some are written. Most are a combination of both.”

“Like when Lyla uses her teleportation spell?” Ava asked.

“I think so!” Rose replied, then read, “These spells are fueled by a mage’s mana, which limits both the frequency and intensity at which a mage can perform magic.

Mages are also limited by their elemental affinity.

When a mage uses a spell aligned with their natural mana, they can perform at a much higher intensity than when they use spells that do not align with their elemental nature.

For example, a water mage could perhaps cause an entire flood, but would barely be able to light a campfire with magic.

A few lucky mages have dual affinities, but these are rare. ”

Rose paused to glance at Ava, assuming her sister-in-law would be bored with the informational text by now, but Ava was hanging on every word. Rose resumed her reading.

“Mages are also limited by their mana flow, which varies from person to person, though scholars speculate that this is also an inherited trait like elemental affinity. Mana flow dictates how intensely and powerfully a mage can perform magic at any given moment, and while mana can be reserved in star crystals, a mage will still only be able to access the amount dictated by their mana flow. For example, if our water mage from earlier had two large star crystals, she might have enough mana to conjure up three floods, but she couldn’t do it all at the same time.

She’d have to conjure them one after the other, waiting until there was only one active spell at a time.

Mana flow does increase from childhood to adulthood, but even with practice, there is currently no known way to improve it beyond what one is naturally gifted by the gods.

A few historical accounts suggest that those possessing a soothing aura can increase the mana flow of others, as mana is closely tied to the aural plane. ”

Ava grabbed Rose and exclaimed, “That’s you! I didn’t realize your abilities were famous enough to bear mention in textbooks!”

Rose blushed. “It isn’t about me specifically. It’s talking about one of my ancestors.”

“Still!” Ava gushed, “I bet you can do anything your ancestors can.”

Rose decided to keep reading instead of drawing attention to the fact that no one in the Robson line had improved another person’s mana flow in centuries because Ava’s unbridled support for Rose’s limited magical capabilities felt—well—good.

Almost as good as Nicholas’s had… She pushed the thought away and ke pt reading.

“A soothing aura can increase the mana flow of others. This is due to the unique magic of the soothing aura, which connects the user with the spiritual plane of existence in a way that spellbound magic cannot—”

A green spell circle appeared behind the girls, and Lyla stepped through, then handed Rose a letter.

“What’s this?”

“It’s from Lord Nicholas. I told him his last letter was too short, so he wrote a better one.”

“You did no such thing.” Rose gasped, worried Lyla had probably offended—or perhaps threatened—her husband.

“I had to.” Lyla shrugged as if it wasn’t an issue. But it was to Rose.

Lyla added, “He was quite disappointed when York received a reply from his wife, but you couldn’t be bothered. I’ve never seen a man look so dejected.”

Rose’s cheeks felt hot. Nicholas felt dejected over her? Maybe she’d judged him too harshly. She walked to her room and sank onto her bed, wanting to read the letter with as much privacy as possible.

Dear Rose,

I apologize if my last letter sounded dismissive.

Truthfully, I was in a rush while I wrote it.

I’ve joined York to help clear out the monsters in these god-forsaken swamps.

It isn’t my first campaign, but it has been a while since I rode out with the knights.

I’ll admit that I had a hard time adjusting and an even harder time finding enough peace and quiet to write a decent letter for you.

These swamps have a truly terrifying number of monsters lying about, just hoping to kill somebody. The dreary fog that constantly fills this place makes the horror even worse.

I hope your stay with the Ojoh is going as well as possible.

I was planning on saying this in person, when I had you in my arms again, but now that I can say it sooner, I want you to know that I am truly sorry for how I acted when we last parted.

You’ve captured my heart with your kindness and loyalty.

I know those traits are why you volunteered to go with Ava.

My heart holds a bit more selfishness than yours, so I was angry that I had to part with you and acted childishly.

I must warn you that when we are reunited, we’re going to spend a week together in bed, consequences be damned.

I want to write more, but my duties here require immediate attention. I am looking forward greatly to your response. I want to hear all about your life with the Ojoh and imagine that I was there with you instead of fighting in this hellish wetland.

Your husband,

Nicholas

P.S. Continue to be wary of monster attacks and follow Lyla’s instructions. You’re safest with her.

Rose read the letter three times over. She felt a tinge of guilt as she realized he was in a risky situation and that she’d ignored his last letter. Writing to her during a monster-hunting campaign couldn’t be easy—no wonder the first letter had been hastily scrawled.

She re-read the part about spending a week together in bed. Then she read it again. Heat rose to her face as she remembered their wedding night and thought about doing all of that for a week straight. It simply wasn’t humanly possible. Nicholas was exaggerating.

“So he decided to keep the line about spending a week in bed,” Lyla’s bored voice interrupted from over Rose’s shoulder.

“Lyla!” Rose startled, pressing her palm against her now racing heart. “When did you sneak in here?”

“I’ve been here the whole time. You’re just unobservant.”