Uttering something incoherent to himself, Vesryn ran his fingers through his hair. Apparently noticing the sorry state, he untangled the dangling leather strap, rebinding the top portion.
The prince’s lips twitched. “You said I needed to work on my lesson planning. That delightful body lock trick sparked the idea of drawing Serenna’s power out with a more…enjoyable approach.”
“Excuse me?” Jassyn could only express his disbelief through a scoff, unable to form a response. He couldn’t begin to decipher how the prince had beeninspiredwhen they’d had him tethered with a knife against his throat.
Vesryn smirked. “Serenna struggled spectacularly.”
“I didn’t ask.” Jassyn’s ears singed. Regret assaulted him, making him wish that he hadn’t bothered reaching out to his cousin this evening. “If you’re quite finished informing me of”—he pointedly kept his eyes fastened on the prince’s—“whatever you did with Serenna, can we discuss why I asked you to come?”
“Thanks to you, I actually didn’t, but—”
“Scorching stars, I’m referring to the coercion on the magister,” Jassyn all but pleaded, shoving his palms into his eyes.
“Why do you need my help with Thalaesyn?” Blessedly redirected, Vesryn joined him at the table. The prince unceremoniously readjusting himself had Jassyn rolling his eyes. “This really could’ve waited another day.” Vesryn gripped the back of achair, releasing a humored grunt. “Or another minute. What I felt through the bond nearly had me—”
“Again, I didn’t ask,” Jassyn said, driving a hand through his curls. “And quite frankly, I really don’t want to know.” Vesryn opened his mouth and Jassyn silenced him by holding up a finger. “You’re the commander—I figured the authority of your presence would be helpful in the event of any…reactions on Thalaesyn’s part if I inquired about the compulsion.”
Vesryn snatched a slice of beef from the discarded dinner plate. Jassyn’s lip curled as the prince shoved it into his mouth. With the hand he just had in his trousers.
“Since you mentioned it,” Vesryn said around the mouthful, “I’ve been trying to determine why there’d even be coercion on Thalaesyn. It’s possible he might know something from the first time the wraith attacked the capital.” A muscle jumped in the prince’s jaw before he grabbed Jassyn’s glass of water and guzzled the contents. “He somehow survived that night when so many others in the palace didn’t.” Shaking his head, the prince dropped into the chair across from Jassyn, evidently intending to finish the leftovers. “My sire banished him to the dungeons until the completion of Centarya, but I never thought to ask why.”
Jassyn traced the binding on the tome, studying the way the prince’s brows contorted as his eyes unfocused on the cold plate of food. “You have a theory,” he prompted, hoping to guide Vesryn out of the canyon of his thoughts.
The prince blinked out of his contemplation. “It’s more of a pattern I’ve noticed with the wraith,” he said, rolling up a slice of cured veal. “I doubt it’s related to the coercion on Thalaesyn, but it might be worth mentioning.” Vesryn dipped the meat into a saucer of ground mustard. He paused, seeming to realize that he was thieving the remnants of Jassyn’s dinner. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked, shoving the veal into his mouth.
Jassyn flapped his hand, urging him to continue.
“I’ve realized that the wraith have only targeted the elven-blooded in recent decades. Those beasts haven’t attacked pure-bloods since the first few raids on the city—before we even had the elven-blooded population.” Vesryn tugged the plate closer to him, elbows mantling on the table like a hawk hovering over a hare. “That alone is probably why everyone in the capital has dismissed the threat.”
“But the wraith didn’t abduct anyone from campus like they do in Kyansari,” Jassyn brought up. “They killed us indiscriminately.” Skin pebbling, he stopped himself from feeling the memory of the warrior’s gauntlet crushing his throat.Except I was spared.“Why would they drag off citizens from the capital but not here?”
“I don’t have an answer for that, but it doesn’t sit well with me.” Vesryn moved on to a crusty edge of bread, stacking slices of meat on the flat surface. “The assault on Centarya only strengthens our theory that there are two distinct groups of wraith. The repetitive raids on the capital and the sporadic attacks in human realms have nothing in common with the intelligent wraith who came here—or those organized wraith who nearly killed me in the wilds.” As if reminded of that confrontation, the prince rubbed the scars on the center of his chest.
“The disparities might point toward different levels of thinking—or maybe motivation.” A disquieting feeling had Jassyn suddenly restless. He rose, shelving the tomes behind him in one of his bookcases. “If the wraith are after the elven-blooded specifically, it logically makes sense for them to target Centarya.”
The prince’s eyes followed him, flashing with residual anger. “That Essence wielder working with the wraith has obviously been on campus before since they opened portals for the army.” Vesryn stood, finished with scarfing down the rest of the meal. “I can only assume they’re someone disgruntled from the capitaland star-bent on purging the elven-blooded.” He crossed his arms. “Even after a century, there are still those vocally opposed to mixing elf and human blood.”
Jassyn averted his guilty gaze.I’ll have to tell Vesryn about that encounter I had with the elven wraith so he’s not scouring the capital for someone to blame.But the knowledge of that warrior using Essence wouldn’t change anything beyond the prince’s theories, as the campus was already preparing for a potential return.But the coercion on that wraith might connect all of our questions.
Vesryn’s nomadic attention wandering around his sitting room towed Jassyn from drifting into a sea of thoughts. “Let’s get this over with,” Jassyn said, seizing the prince’s elbow before his cousin could fiddle with his books. “And let me do the talking. Magister Thalaesyn doesn’t know I’ve been assessing him and I’d rather be the one to tell him.” He steered the prince out of his chambers before Vesryn shook him off in the hallway.
“How familiar are you with coercion?” Jassyn asked while they descended the stairs, leading the way to the Infirmary.
The prince shrugged, picking something unsavory out of his teeth. “I know my sire is the only one strong enough to wield it. I haven’t tried to replicate that magic and wouldn’t even know where to start.”
Skimming his hand over the cool marble railing of the staircase, Jassyn mentally organized his thoughts to settle the worry weighing on his shoulders. “Do you think the king would know if we manipulated his power?”
“You described the coercion like a shield made of telepathy and I’m assuming my sire tied off the magic.” Vesryn nodded to a magus who held an entrance door open for them. “I know his power is tremendous, but I can’t imagine he can perceive every elf he’s placed under compulsion.”
At some point, Jassyn wanted to ask if the prince found anything peculiar with the king’s increasing strength in Essence—something that shouldn’t be possible. Regardless how expansivea Well to draw from was, strength was determined by the number of abilities.One thing at a time.
Entering the magus’ courtyard, both rising moons hung as dim crescents amid the scattering of stars. A warbling of birds roosting in the willows ushered them along the cobbled walkway. The tranquil melody of their evening songs warred with Jassyn’s nervousness for the coming conversation with his mentor.
Vesryn suddenly skidded to a halt, his boots scuffing over the pathway’s stones. His face went slack, horror widening his eyes. “What if I’m compelled?” The prince touched his head, as if feeling for the strands of magic. “Stars, do you think there’s coercion on my mind and I don’t know it?”
“There’s not.” Jassyn strode ahead, anticipating what his mentor’s reaction would be with both him and Vesryn showing up unannounced. “At least there wasn’t a little over a week ago.”
The prince’s fingers started twitching as he worked himself up. “How can you be—”
