Page 25 of The Tribes of Magic (Paragons #3)

KNIGHTS WEAR MASKS

T he next day, I woke up early to squeeze in some early morning magic exercises with Kato before my usual Apprentice training began. I met him at the Castle, on the grassy Hex.

“Today, we’re going to work on your Charisma, the ability to enchant others and bend them to your will.”

I winced. “Didn’t I get more than enough practice doing that the other day at the Summit?”

“Were you in control of your magic when you enchanted the members of the Court?”

“Well, no, but?—”

“Then you require more practice. You need to be in control of your magic, Seven. It should not control you. That is very dangerous, especially for a Polymage.”

“Why especially for a Polymage?”

“The more magic you have, the more dangerous you are if you don’t have it under control. You don’t want to hurt anyone, do you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good. Then it’s settled. Let’s begin.” Kato pointed at the Knight coming down the path.

He was dressed in green armor, which meant he was a Nymph. I’d seen him around the Castle, but I didn’t know his name. He had quite a few ability badges on his armor, which meant he’d been around for a while.

“Go to that Knight. Ask him to be your date for the Castle’s annual Masquerade Ball.”

“You want me to ask him out? But I don’t even know him!”

“This exercise isn’t about whether you know him. It’s about whether you have enough control over your magic to enchant him.”

“And if I fail? What if he laughs in my face?”

“Then you’ll know it didn’t work.”

Fantastic. Just fantastic. I growled under my breath, then marched up to the Knight in green.

I met his eyes—even though I really didn’t want to—gave him a smile that hurt my cheeks, and blurted out, “Hi, I’m Savannah. Would you like to go to the Masquerade Ball with me?”

The Knight was too nice to laugh in my face, but he did say no.

I mean, of course he did. He didn’t know me either.

As far as he was concerned, I was just some weird Apprentice who was so desperate to find a date to the Ball, she was standing on the Hex at six o’clock in the morning, asking out any random guy who passed by.

It was mortifying.

I trudged back to Kato. But if I was hoping for sympathy, he didn’t have any for me.

“Again.” He pointed at the next Knight, a male Sorcerer whose armor was bright scarlet, just like my face right now.

“It’s not working, Kato.”

“It will if you use your magic.”

“Can’t I try to convince him to do something else? Like sign an autograph for me? I bet I can convince him to sign an autograph.”

“Of course you could. Knights are vain. But the point of this exercise isn’t to get them to do something they would anyway do. The point is to make them do something they wouldn’t do.”

“Gee, thanks. You basically just said no sane person would ever want to go out with me.”

“No, I didn’t, and you know it. Stop trying to squirm your way out of this, Seven. You want to be able to control your magic, don’t you?”

“Yes. I just thought I could learn how to do that…differently. In a way that doesn’t involve totally humiliating me.”

“If you’re motivated, you’ll learn faster. Avoiding humiliation is motivating. Now, hurry. He’s getting away.”

I sighed. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

I jogged up to the red Knight and asked him out. It went even worse than the last time. This Knight did laugh, and it wasn’t just a little.

Kato and I spent the next hour on the Hex.

He had me ask out every guy who passed by.

Even though I didn’t know most of the Knights and didn’t like any of them, the rejections burned.

And so did my cheeks. I’d thought I had a deep, personal understanding of rejection before, but I was wrong. So very wrong.

This was the most humiliating day of my life.

“No. This isn’t working,” I said.

Kato already had my next target picked out: a Watcher this time—oh, joy—but I was having none of that.

“It can work, Seven. You just need to have conviction when you cast a spell.”

“I’m trying.”

“Ok, let’s try something a little different.” He set his hands on my shoulders, turning me toward him. Then he dropped his arms to his sides. “I want you to try the spell on me.”

“On you?”

“Yes, on me. I think this isn’t working because you’re so embarrassed, your magic is stuck.”

“And you think asking you out to the Ball is less embarrassing?”

“Of course. I’m your friend.”

Actually, asking Kato out was even more embarrassing than asking out a total stranger. Way more embarrassing. But I couldn’t tell him that. So I played along.

“Kato.”

“Yes?”

“You know how the Masquerade Ball is coming up soon? And all the Knights will be there. I mean, of course all the Knights will be there. Knights don’t just wear helmets. Knights wear masks!”

He chuckled. “You’re babbling.”

I met his blue-diamond stare, and suddenly I forgot what I was supposed to say.

“You were talking about the Ball.”

“Right. The Ball. So you’ll be there.”

“Yes.”

“And I’ll be there.”

“Yes.”

I didn’t continue.

“Savannah?”

“Sorry, I was just…”

“Practicing magic,” he reminded me.

“No. I mean, I was…but then I remembered something the General said the other day. He accused me of bewitching you. He said that’s the only reason you awarded me all those points. He said it’s the only reason we’re…friends.”

“That is ridiculous.”

“You don’t think I…”

“No.”

“How can you be so sure? Like you said, I don’t have much control over my magic. Maybe I didn’t even realize what I was doing.”

“I would have noticed.”

I sighed. I just couldn’t hold it back.

“Seven, look at me.”

I sighed again. At this rate, I’d run out of air.

“Look at me.”

“Ok, ok, I’m looking.”

I met his eyes. Our gazes locked. I couldn’t look away. I was trapped.

“What’s happening?” Panicking, I struggled against whatever was holding me there.

“This is what it feels like when someone is controlling you.” Kato spoke quietly, slowly, serenely. “And this is what it feels like when you want them to control you.”

My panic faded. My breathing slowed. I felt so warm and content. I could stay here all day, staring into Kato’s eyes.

“You’re pretty,” I said woozily.

My head was all loopy, but it felt good. It felt easy. I didn’t have to think about what I wanted. I just knew.

“Savannah.”

“Kato.” I winked at him, then took his hands.

“What are you?—”

“Do you want to go to the Ball with me?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

I chuckled. “Why did you ask me to ask you?”

He freed his hands. The warmth faded, along with the contentment, the certainty, and everything else. Things didn’t feel easy anymore. They felt very complicated. And I felt very, very embarrassed.

I backed up a step. “Kato, I… I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”

“I told you. It was my spell.”

“So that’s what it feels like to be enchanted?”

“Yes.”

“It felt…nice.”

Actually, it felt way more than just nice . It felt perfect. But I kept the commentary to myself. I’d already embarrassed myself enough today.

“Yes, it does,” Kato agreed. “Even after the spell fades, you remember how good it felt. Afterwards, some people pine for the feeling. They miss it. They might even seek out others—Elves—who can cast the spell and make them feel content once more. Others react with anger and even aggression when the happiness is ripped away from them.”

“Like at the Summit,” I said. “After my spell faded, some of the Court members were happy, but others were upset.”

He nodded. “Indeed. But no matter how someone reacts, they always remember. That’s how I know you didn’t bewitch me. I would remember. The General is wrong, Seven. You never put me under a spell. Everything I did, I did because I wanted to.”

“Good to know.”

His eyes glimmered, but it wasn’t magic doing it. It was…well, I wasn’t sure what it was, but whatever it was, it made my pulse quicken. I stumbled back another step.

I laughed uncomfortably. “You know, it’s getting late.

And I should be getting back to my cottage.

I should have just enough time to catch a quick breakfast before I have to head off to today’s training.

” I snatched my backpack off the ground and tightened it around my shoulders.

I didn’t even look at him as I turned away. “Thanks, Kato.”

I jogged across the Hex. I jogged all the way home. I quickly changed and sat down for breakfast. It was then, as I munched on my toast-with-cheese, that I found something very, very interesting.

I had the Paragons’ spellbook open on the table beside my plate. I’d just come across a spell that allowed two people to combine their magic, which opened up all kinds of possibilities.

Orion had told me no one person had enough magic to create a portal between realms. He said it required way too much power.

But what if it didn’t have to be just one person casting the spell?

What if two people—or more—could pool their magic?

That would allow them to cast spells they could never cast alone.

If I could figure out how to combine my magic with someone else’s, then I might have the power I needed to find and rescue Kylie, Asher, and the other missing Apprentices.

Yeah, I knew there were a lot of ifs and maybes and mights in there, but at least now I had a plan. At least now I had a chance.