Pia pulled herself up and slid off her bed, moving to stand in front of me. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Those are the absolute most ridiculous excuses for not telling someone you love them that I've ever heard!” she shouted in my face.
I jumped to my feet. “Who said anything aboutlove?”
Pia gave me a knowing look, and I shook my head in denial. I was about ready to argue with her when I caught sight of the clock on her desk.
“Shit, I gotta go,” I said frantically. Sawyer was likely already waiting to collect me for wielding practice. I gathered my cloak and bag, and raced down the hall to my room.
I was right.
“You're late.” Sawyer tapped his imaginary watch.
“Sorry. Lost track of time.”
“I’ll cut you some slack this time, but don't let it happen again.”
“Oh, whatever. Let's go.” I made my way down the spiral staircase and led the way to the combat arena.
We both got situated then stood across from each other on the mat. He bent down to tie his boot, and I tried to mentallyprepare myself for the outcome of this session. I had no idea what to expect.
Sawyer, along with mostly everyone else in the kingdom, didn't know much about the powers I had from my constellastones. I should be able to get away with just using some basic commands on him, which in theory would prevent me from overexerting myself. It worked on Sebastian—until it didn't. I’d have to find a balance though. If I kept it too simple, I risked Sawyer asking questions.
“Alright, Willawood, let's do this!” Sawyer hollered with a clap of his hands.
Anxiety tried to creep up inside of me, but I shoved it down. If I lost my composure now, it’d be a dead giveaway that something was up.
I secured my footing, cementing myself firmly to the ground in preparation for harnessing my powers. “You have to drop your shields,” I reminded him.
Sawyer raised an eyebrow. “I would if they were up.”
“Oh. Sebastian usually—” I cut myself off. Keeping your mental shields up around the clock was not typical. Sebastian had a personal reason for why he felt the need to do so.
Probably because of his damn father.
“Never mind,” I said. “Give me a second to think of a command.”
Stick to the basics.
Although I no longer needed to, I clamped my eyes closed and brought my mind into a state of deep relaxation, focusing on the things that granted my soul tranquility. Usually this step required me to imagine the ocean, but today my mind jumped straight to Sebastian. I didn't fight my subconscious, letting the thought of him consume me. I relived the feeling of his hands in mine. The way it felt to be wrapped in his arms while he embraced me. How his clothes smelt like snow and pinewood when I wore them. I soaked in the reminders of him and felt all the tension in my blood vanish.
When content, I spoke my order into the air. “Throw your dagger at the practice target.”
Succumbing to my trance, Sawyer unsheathed his weapon. He spun his torso and threw the blade straight at the chest of the mannequin to his right. He stared at the dummy, then at me with his mouth agape. He'd never been on this end of my power, so even the simplest compulsions were bound to amaze him. “That's a badass gift, Willawood.”
I shrugged off his compliment and got back into formation, just wanting to get this lesson over with.
Sawyer retrieved his dagger, and I tried a few more simple commands on him. I made him run a lap around the arena like I had Sebastian do before. I also compelled him to use his magic to make a rainstorm fall over himself, finding quite a bit of joy in knowing that he’d have to spend the rest of our session soaked.
We'd been going at it for over an hour, and although I was exhausted, my body wasn't getting weak yet. Hopefully that meant my plan to use simple magic would keep me conscious for the rest of the week.
“Let's try one more before we call it a night,” Sawyer told me, water dripping from his forehead.
“Haven't we done enough?” I groaned.
“What's wrong, Willawood? Tired already?” Sawyer taunted.
“Yeah,” I scoffed. “Actually, I am.”
“Seb must be taking it easy on you if you think this is hard.”
