“Almost like it was being consumed,” Yannoma said contemplatively.
“The Great Cataclysm required Life Magic and Elemental Magic, right?” Perian asked. “We already knew that Kinan can be affected by Life Magic, but it wasn’t making him, uh, solid. That leaves Elemental Magic for that part, but it seems like there’s… not a direct link. What if we feed Kee Life Magic while he’s trying to get through the shield?”
“I don’t know how,” Trill reminded them. “It didn’t work at all when I tried yesterday.”
“Oh, right,” Perian said, blinking. “We can definitely work on that. I’ll try to explain what I do, and we can work on it until you can replicate it. Let’s hope I’m as good a teacher as you are.”
Trill smiled at him, grateful for Perian’s willingness to phrase this like it was on both of them.
Expression serious, Brannal said, “I’m concerned about the amount of effort and energy that was involved for a relatively small percentage of the body for a relatively small period of time.”
Cormal glared at him. “We can still try again.”
Grimacing faintly, Brannal added, “I didn’t mean to imply we couldn’t test again. Simply that—”
“We can’t, actually,” the Prince announced.
They all turned to look at him.
“What do you mean?” Perian asked. “We’re willing to help, I promise.”
The Prince smiled, though it looked a little forced. “And that’s extremely generous of you. I appreciate it more than I can say. But think of what will happen if something goes wrong.”
“Nothing’s going to happen!” Cormal snapped.
The Prince’s expression was soft but resolute as he looked at Cormal.
“No, but think about it,” the Prince entreated. “What Brannal said was perfectly true. It was a lot of energy, and there’s no saying what would have happened if Brannal hadn’t stopped his shield when he did, or if Perian hadn’t given me energy.”
“So we’ll keep doing that,” Cormal said staunchly.
“But what if Perian’s influx of energy can’t match the output? What if we do everything as best we can, but something goes wrong and I disappear? On Perian’s estate? Surrounded by him and his allies?”
Cormal opened his mouth, but after a moment, he closed it again, a scowl on his face.
“I’m not giving up,” the Prince said, staring intently at Cormal, then moving his gaze to the rest of them. “I promise I’m not. This is closer than I’ve ever gotten, and that’s amazing. But you and I both know what my mother would do under those circumstances. Perian has done far more for me than I deserve, and I will not, under any circumstances, paint another target on his back.”
“I don’t—”
Trill was sure that Perian was going to say that he didn’t mind, but Brannal reached out to squeeze his arm, and the Prince’s gaze went from Cormal to Perian.
“We need to be smart about this. I think we needed to experiment yesterday because you came up with a novel idea. It was important to find out if you were on the right track or not. We’ve been able to demonstrate that this method has an effect, but there are costs to it. Given that Life Magic has been lost for centuries, I think we’ve actually worked out quite a lot, but there are still so many unknowns.” He swallowed. “I know it’s a lot toask, but it might be the best bargaining chip we have with my mother.”
Perian straightened sharply and screeched out, “I’m not bargaining for your life!”
The Prince smiled at him fondly. “I know. I’ll be the one doing the bargaining.”
They all stared at him. He huffed a breath. “Look, I know you’d do this just because you could, like you did last time. But that didn’t work out well for you, and I won’t let it happen again. If that means I tell my mother there’s a possible cure but it comes with requirements, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Cormal was looking at the Prince with unfettered admiration. Trill was glad they’d found one another.
“She’s going to accuse me of using you,” Perian protested.
“I’ll be clear,” the Prince said, with a trace of arrogance they didn’t usually hear from him. “She knows you, even if she’s chosen to forget. But the best way to bargain with someone is when you have something they want. Shedoesn’twant to have to figure out if she can have an heir to the throne who’s intangible. There are so many drawbacks.”
“We could make it work,” Cormal protested immediately.
The Prince cast him a fond look. “I know you’d try. I know I have a lot of friends and allies who would try. But it certainly wouldn’t be conventional or straightforward.”
