Gathering Darkness (Falling Kingdoms 3)

Alexius drew closer. His silvery eyes met hers, and she saw that they were filled now with an unexpected whisper of humor. “You’re not jealous, are you?”

She bristled. “Of course not.”

“Melenia is my elder and my leader, even now that I’ve left. She cares for my well-being, especially in my first few days as a mortal. Try not to concern yourself with her or your father’s interest in the ways of Watchers. Instead, focus on what’s important: getting stronger, gaining control, and growing your power.”

“Does that translate to ‘don’t be a silly girl who asks silly questions’?”

“Hardly.” The amusement in his eyes did not wane. “We should begin today’s lessons. We’ll burn off some of this paranoia you’ve woken up with this morning.”

Perhaps he was right. “Fine. Then let’s begin.”

This second day of lessons turned out to be much different than the first. Alexius began by forming a flame in the palm of his right hand, which reminded her of the one she’d conjured to both impress and frighten the boy responsible for the explosions during the rebel escape. A memory she’d just as soon forget. She’d heard that Amara had been staying at the palace the last couple of days, but Lucia hadn’t wanted to speak with her. Knowing Amara would have questions about her magic that Lucia wasn’t prepared to answer, she wanted to avoid the other princess for as long as she possibly could.

She’d deal with her another day.

“Here’s what I want you to do,” Alexius said, his face lit up by the flickering flame. “Concentrate on this fire I’ve created with my own magic—concentrate on it with every part of your mind. Without using any fire magic of your own, I want you to take this flame away from me.”

It took her a moment to understand. “You want me to steal your magic.”

“That’s right,” he said. “This is quite different from what we did yesterday, which was just simple elemental manifestation.”

“Yes, so simple.” She raised an eyebrow.

His lips curved upward. “For you, it seems to be. However, I guarantee that this will be more of a challenge. Think of your magic as an invisible muscle that, when strengthened, will increase your control. You can conjure fire yourself, or you can take someone else’s.”

“All right. My magic is a muscle.” She studied the flame dancing on the palm of his hand. She concentrated with all her might, until the world closed in around that small tuft of fire. She could feel the warmth of both the flame and Alexius.

Not her magic. His magic.

She focused as much as she could, until beads of perspiration formed on her forehead. “This is difficult,” she managed.

“Yes, it is,” was his rather infuriating reply.

She refused to give up. It took several minutes, but, finally, with great effort, the flame disappeared from Alexius’s hand and reappeared in hers.

She inhaled sharply, then laughed with relief. “I did it!”

“You did. Well done, princess.” He nodded, his expression pleased. Then he waved his hand and extinguished her flame. He held out his palm and a second flame appeared. “Now, do it again.”

Her laughter faded. “Again?”

“That’s right.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Did Eva have to do these sorts of lessons?”

Now Alexius was the one to laugh. “Well, Eva was an immortal, born of magic and power. The original sorceress was not a mortal girl whose elementia didn’t awaken until the age of sixteen. So, no. Eva didn’t have to do these sorts of lessons.”

Lucia knew she could complain and today’s lessons would end immediately, but that wouldn’t get her anywhere. Controlling her elementia was her sole purpose, and Alexius could help her. Plus, she couldn’t say that spending hours upon hours with the boy of her dreams was that much of a hardship, even if she’d already found him to be a harsh taskmaster.

She focused on the flame, her brow furrowed with concentration. This time, it took her half as long to steal his magic. She held the fire in her hand and grinned at Alexius.

“Good,” he said. Once more, with a wave of his hand, the fire disappeared and reappeared in his palm. “Again.”

Her smile fell.

And so it went, the same lesson again and again—ten, twenty, thirty, forty times—until she could do it with ease. As they neared midday, Alexius finally called for a break and went to the balcony to gaze out at the landscape beyond the palace walls.

She stared at the flame, entranced by its beauty before she squeezed her hand into a fist to extinguish it. “You know, I’ve come to learn that this palace’s library has many more books about your people than the Limerian library does.”