Page 118 of The Freedom You Seek

“Ireas was distressed. We talked, and I comforted him.”

“Next time, you’d better give comfort from a distance.”

I almost laughed, but it turned into more of a snort. “Don’t try to tell me what I can or cannot do with my friends.”

Dion’s arms tightened around me, and I suppressed a painful wince at the last second. “I’m not trying to tell you. I’mvery stronglyrequesting it.”

“And I deny yourrequest.”

“Nayana, I won’t accept you denying my request.”

“That sounds very much like a you problem.” A teasing undertone crept into my voice. This entire conversation bordered on the absurd, and I decided to change the topic to something I had on my mind since earlier. “But noted,” I said, then instantly spoke on. “You appeared to have some difficulties with your magic during the fight.”

A displeased snarl blared from behind. “I didn’t have anydifficulties.”

“Then what was the problem? I’ve never seen you struggle to build your sword before.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Tell me, Dion. If it concerns your magic, it’s also in my best interest to know what the issue is, given that I’m donating my Potential, which should make things easier for you, not harder.”

“Drop it, Jama.”

“I don’t want to drop it,” I said, my stubborn streak surfacing violently. “But as an alternative, you could just tell me why you call me Jama.”

“Just because that trick worked once doesn’t mean it’ll work again.”

It was so frustrating. Dion and I were clashing all the time, and it was hard to say who was the more stubborn of the two of us. I was still learning when to pick my battles and when not to, and this was one of those times I had to try. “Please. Tell me what was wrong.”

“There was nothing wrong, Nayana. It’s just a lot harder to use different facets of my power at the same time, and some things consume more energy than others. Conjuring durable, usable objects is more exhausting than, for example, creating a patch of darkness because I have to concentrate on the shape of the object all the time on top of wielding other magic. It’s easier when I cast it on myself, but I’m sure conjuring for you will become second nature soon as well. I’m basically adapting to a completely new fighting style.”

“So, what strained you was creating the armor for me?”

“In a way, yes.”

“So you want to tell me you took Potential from me to become more powerful in the fight, but wasted all of it—plussome of your own—on my protection? Meaning,you were less powerful than you would have been without me? Did I get that right?”

“The armor is the reason you live,” Dion growled through his gritted teeth. “So it was worth it.”

He didn’t deny it, which was as good as a confession in his language. Sighing, I tried to turn toward him, but my back hurt like crazy when I twisted, so I gave it up. Keeping my eyes strictly on the path, I deepened my voice to sound as serious as possible. “Dion, maybe we should think about whether the Rite could be worth considering.”

I was met with silence. With each passing moment my impatience grew. When the quietness threatened to suffocate me, and my waning patience turned into the beginnings of anger—because Dion, as usual, wanted to dodge a serious talk—I pushed once more.

“Dion. You promised me a conversation about this.”

“And we’ll have it. But not on a horse, not like this. I’m searching for a place to stop for a while, so be a little patient.”

At least he didn’t refuse to have the talk or the sentiment of considering the Rite, and I banked that as a win.

It took almost an hour of silent riding before Dion stopped the horse and lifted me down. He’d brought us to a clearing, and according to the road signs we’d seen not too long ago, we were already close to our destination.

Some scattered rocks were lying around, and I sat down on one while Dion placed himself on another that was facing mine.

The thing with quietness was that the longer it lasted, the more awkward everything became. Right now, I felt very uncomfortable and didn’t know how to initiate this conversation. Luckily, it was Dion who broke the silence.

“What changed your mind about taking the Rite into consideration? Not that long ago, you fled because the possibility was such an appalling thought for you.”

“A lot of thinking. And trying to figure out why I’m so opposed to it.” I regarded Dion thoughtfully, who wore a similar expression to mine. Serious Dion was someone I’d rarely seen before, and I kind of liked him. It suited him well, and I enjoyed that, for once, he let me in instead of pushing me away. “Also, talking to people. Especially with Antas. He made me see things in a different light.”