Cormal had always known that, hadn’t he? Tramad had always made it sound so important, and like it was a greatpersonal achievement. As if Brannal, who hadn’t come from any “magical line” at all, wasn’t one of the most powerful Mages who’d ever existed.
But Cormal’s father had been so fixated on being thebest, that he had—
“Son of a wraith,” Cormal spat, barely noticing when everyone in front of him flinched. “That’s why I didn’t live with him when I was little! That’s why he was so angry when my mother brought me when I was six. She was sick, and she couldn’t take care of me anymore. He yelled at her in private. I never really understood, but I was so young, I thought it was one of those weird adult things.” He scoffed. “It never occurred to me… He’d hidden me away, just like he hid you. He hadn’t planned to reveal my existence unless I manifested an element. But my mother came to the castle, and othersknew, so he couldn’t just get rid of me. Only then Ididmanifest fire, and he could spout off all that rhetoric about our magical family always producing Mages. But he washidinghis children and abandoning them if they didn’t give him what he wanted! Hiscursedsecrets!”
It was getting hard to breathe, everything was burning hot, and Cormal couldn’t quite figure out what the problem was, until there was a voice at his ear saying, “Cormal! Cormal! Look at me.”
Blindly, he looked at Kinan, wondering distantly where he’d come from.
“Hey,” Kinan said, something weird about his voice. “Come with me. No, oops, all right.Fire and water, Molun, bring him, please.”
Cormal was being pulled away, but Kinan was still there, and Cormal tried to listen to him.
“Here’s the first thing you should know about being here. Everyone loses control sometimes, and it can be a littledangerous if you can control fire, but there are always Mages who can help with that, like Molun.”
Yes, Molun was always good about getting Cormal wet if he needed to. Was that why Cormal was wet right now? He looked down at himself and realized that he was soaked through, but there were still flames flickering periodically around his body as he marched through the hall, going wherever he was being directed.
Kinan was still talking, but it was like there was a shield up between them, and Cormal couldn’t quite make everything make sense. But he was trying, because his hands were shaking, and there were fireballs in them again, and if he didn’t focus on something else, he was pretty sure horrible things would happen. The world around him was a blur as he moved, but he could try to concentrate on Kinan’s voice.
“You see,” Kinan said, voice taut but somehow kind, too, “we know all about that. We don’t mind if Mages lose their tempers from time to time. Of course, we want to teach everyone control, but we know that doesn’t come instantly. And even once you’ve learned control, it can still be compromised by big shocks.
“I didn’t know Tramad that well; I was sixteen when he died, but he was my mother’s Summus, so I saw more of him than most children would have. I didn’t expect any news like this, and Cormal clearly didn’t either. Truthfully, it’s not been an easy few months for Cormal, and I think this was kind of a tipping point. And you know, sometimes, all you can do is lob fireballs, and you just need to go somewhere where it’s safe to do that. And in the meantime, Water Mages help a lot, as you can see. But we’ve got places that are safe for Fire Mages, too. Yes, here it is. Cormal. Cormal!”
Cormal managed to focus enough to see where Kinan had brought him.Thank all the elements.He rushed past everyone and put them out of his mind. Hehadto get the fire out.
With a howl of rage and pain, Cormal hurled flames at the wall over and over and over again. It felt like lava was eating through his veins, and he screamed all the things that he thought of his father for keeping all these secrets, for thinking that he could just discard people if they weren’t the way he wanted.
He screamed until he was hoarse, until he was finally curled up against the wall and crying.
A hand touched his arm tentatively, and Cormal’s head snapped up, terrified. He blew out a breath in relief. Thank all the elements, it was one of the only people who could be in this room with him.
Despairingly, he remembered that he’d been trying to make a good first impression.
The green eyes had bred true in her, though she didn’t look much like her great-grandfather otherwise. Her nose was small and pointed, as was her chin. Her hair was a beautiful strawberry blond instead of the wild red that Cormal possessed, like there was always a flame lit on top of his head. Weirdly, she was looking at him with an expression of sympathy that he surely didn’t deserve. Kinan was hovering just behind her, and he looked deeply worried. Molun and Delana were both at the entrance behind a water shield that they let drop now that Cormal wasn’t incinerating the room. Everyone else was peering in anxiously.
The girl—his grand-niece—patted the arm that she’d touched.
“It’s going to be all right,” she told him. Then she confided, “That’s what grandpapa says whenever I lose my temper.”
Cormal smiled at her, trying to blink back the tears. “And is everything all right?”
She nodded. “It usually is. He’s pretty smart.”
“I’m glad,” Cormal told her.
All he could see was the father of his childhood, who wouldnothave reacted in such a tolerant way to Cormal’s outburst.But it wasn’t Tramon’s fault he looked like the father who had abandoned him. And given how Cormal had turned out compared to Tramon, maybe that abandonment was actually the best thing that could have happened to the other man.
Cormal sniffed, scrambled for a handkerchief, and scrubbed at his face. It was suddenly wet, and he nodded towards the Water Mages, grateful he could get the salt off his face. He sat up, so even though he was still on the floor, it was almost like they were having a proper conversation instead of dealing with him in the aftermath of a temper tantrum.
“I’m really sorry you had to see that,” Cormal told her. What had her grandfather called her? Livala? “I intended to make the best first impression. You’re the first novice since I became Summus. I didn’t mean to make my problems more important than what’s happening to you. I apologize.”
Livala shrugged. “I gotta come here, don’t I?”
“What? No,” Cormal hastened to assure her.
She shot him a look. “You think the Mages want me setting their books on fire?”
Cormal huffed. “That might make them a little nervous,butthey’ve got Water Mages just like we do. I bet they have rooms like this, too. If you choose to be a Mage Warrior, then we’d be very lucky to have you. But if you’d rather be a Mage, then I’m sure it would be to their benefit. If I’ve convinced you that this is the dumbest place to be ever, then we can try to set you up with a Mage who will tutor you wherever you are. I can ask around if that interests you, I promise.”
