A small voice in my head wondered whether the big purple monsters were after me because I was so rotten, whether they could sense that. It made me shiver, even in the warm water.
Inkiri clicked, drawing me close much like Charles was holding Kinnek close. “Kinnek and Vergis have offered to train Rory. Here.”
Heads tilted all around, apart from Vergis and Kinnek.
Lissir nodded. “That’s a very good idea. For various reasons.”
“Yes,” Inkiri said, maybe a bit too quickly. Kinnek looked at Lissir and tilted his head as well, but said nothing.
“I just…I don’t want anyone to ever be in mortal danger again. Couldn’t we maybe work on that first?” I asked.
Vergis snorted. “I’ll tell you if anyone is about to keel over. Apparently I do that now.”
“Oh?” Lissir’s orange eyes settled on Vergis.
“Ach, Rory told us that the cola assholes were about to take my baby, and so he called on Death to prevent that,” Kinnek said.
“I don’t understand.” Fellisse crossed his arms. “Everyone knows that magic cannot be used to kill, and yet Rory did that. We saw it.”
Kinnek inclined his head. “Correct. But those are the rules for our magic. Aër magic, bagu magic. Rory’s is nothing like that. Well, in a way it is, because the magic goes through him.
“When you start learning to ko, the first steps are relatively easy, and a koa—that’s a mage, Rory—can easily handle the amount of ko that he is naturally able to draw. Like a metal straw that will only allow so much liquid through in one drag. Unlike a muscle, that particular aspect of ko is fixed, and ultimately decides the limits of the koa’s practical capabilities.”
He was talking to me, mostly, so I said, “Like someone’s height? The way only tall people can get stuff from the top shelf?”
Kinnek considered that. “Yes, essentially. Of course, there is the skill of preparing sacrifices, and sensing magic is another aspect of ko all over again. Now you, little chocolate cookie, you can handle varying amounts of ko. As if you were a rubber man and could stretch as far as you needed to to reach the top shelf. For a bagu, that would be highly unusual—impossible—but you’re not a bagu. For all I know, human magic is simply like that.”
I leaned against Inkiri. This soaking thing, once you were in the tub, really wasn’t too bad. Still awkward, but I could learn to handle it, I was pretty sure.
Vergis sighed. “You have those dreamy eyes again. You’re zoning out, aren’t you? Ever stretched a rubber band too far, Princess?”
“Muffin.” There was a warning in Kinnek’s voice. “What my darling child, who seems to forget I have dozens of embarrassing childhood photos of him, wants to say is you need to learn better how much magic you can handle. Less of a firehose approach, more of a controlled trickle.”
“That’s why he’s been unwell so much.” Fellisse looked as if he’d finally realized something painfully obvious. “I should’ve thought of that.”
Kinnek made a very human-sounding noise. “How could you? He improved markedly faster when he was near the land, and I’m quite certain closeness with his mate helps also.”
Nokim cooed. “Aw, that is so sweet.”
Inkiri clicked. “Protecting you by being close to you almost feels too easy, Sadir.” He licked my throat, slowly, angling his head so his horn glided over my chin and cheek.
I almost told them what had happened back in Esaka, how that presence had told me doing magic might leave me hurt beyond healing. But I couldn’t bring that up. Should I bring up that freaky dream with the two girls who had been running for their lives? I had no idea what it meant, and at the end of the day, it might’ve just been an actual dream, my imagination gone wild. There was no reason to bother anyone with it.
Charles cleared his throat. “Are we expecting incoming?”
“Incoming what?” Lissir looked confused.
“He means, are we expecting an attack,” Vergis said.
Kinnek clicked. “This area is very well warded, and Charles keeps quite a few weapons.”
“Are you…a prepper?” I asked. He didn’t look like one, mostly because he was lounging in a pool with a bunch of horned people, but what did I know?
Charles shrugged. “No, but living anywhere closer to civilization with my horned spouse and our horned kid didn’t seem like a feasible option. Apart from that, I like being prepared.”
I nodded, because duh. Then I looked over at Vergis. “So, uhm. You’re half human?”
Vergis looked at me as if I’d asked him whether he wanted to go to prom with me or something.
