He liked listening to their stories, a glimpse into simpler lives.A chicken Sebastien had somewhat inexplicably found wandering in the woods near Rupert’s hunting lodge had introduced herself with the elaborate and unlikely name of Esmerelda. The black hen with fancy face tufts spoke of a cottage in the woods, a fence covered with golden roses, and a beautiful girl who’d loved her. With no idea how to return Esmerelda to her home—she couldn’t seem to give specifics and he couldn’t exactly ride around the vast Aswad Woods looking for a cottage with a rose garden—Sebastien put her in with the other castle chickens, giving her a special hutch, and the hen settled in, saying thank you most politely. Sebastien visited her on occasion, asking after her happiness, his spirits always a little brighter for hearing about the roses the color of sunshine and butter, and the singing girl who scattered scraps for her chickens.
Being around and talking to animals always soothed Sebastien’s spirits. It was his private solace. It only occurred to him after a number of years of this—to his chagrin, as he’d somehow assumed he was simply that lovable—that the universal adoration of every animal he encountered might be magically induced. The truth smacked him between the eyes when he happened to hear a tale from a traveling bard passing the winter at Castle Vega about a piper who could seduce people and animals alike with his songs, merrily leading them in any direction he chose.
With Nina and Nonna sitting like angelic sentries on either side of him, two cats curled yin-yang style on his lap and a third draped over the high back of the chair he sat on, it finally occurred to Sebastien that perhaps he possessed this same ability. He’d always kept the ability secret out of some instinct of self-preservation. If true, however, he was guilty of concealing himself as a sorcerer.
This would not go over well. Rotten Rupert might get to celebrate Sebastien’s execution after all.
He tried subtly posing the question to Ali and Dianna overtea the following afternoon, after offering them iced cakes he’d filched from a more popular princess’s cart while flirting with her maidservant. “Do you think it’s possible for a person to have a special way with animals?” he asked nonchalantly. “Delicious tea cakes, aren’t they?”
They were too sharp for such nonsense, exchanging looks. And frowns. “I’ve worried about this,” Ali said, not at all happy. “Who else knows?”
“I don’t even know,” Sebastien protested. “I just… wondered.”
“It would be most unfortunate if yourspecial waywith animals is actual sorcery, Sebby,” Dianna added severely.
“It would explain what’s going on with Nina and Nonna.” Ali pointed a finger at the two hounds, sitting at exquisite attention, as always.
“And the cats,” Dianna added. “We haven’t glimpsed so much as a mouse dropping in years.”
“The possibility of magic explains far too much.” With a sigh of disapproval, Ali had gotten up and retrieved a book from their shelves.An Encyclopedia of Sorcery, Magical Specializations, and Practical Arcania.She flipped to the index as she sat, ran a finger down it, then turned just a few pages back.
“Zoopathy,” she read, lifting her gaze to Sebastien and raising her brows, then continued to read the section aloud.
The art of communicating with and commanding animals. May take the form of psychic magic, typically in the former case, or more traditional sorcery in the latter. In most cases, the magic-worker talented in the psychic realm of zoopathy is confined to working with all lower forms of life and cannot apply their skills to human beings. Also, plant life is exempted (seephytomancy, phytognomy,andDruidic lore). A sorcerer, however, may enjoy abilities in zoomancy as a subset of larger and greater abilities in transformational magic and biomancy. All of these are rare abilities and are typically pursued bypractitioners at the hobbyist level. Only three academies offer coursework in zoopathy specifically at the time of printing.
They sat in silence a moment. Dianna turned to Sebastien, giving him a fierce glare from under her straight black brows. “Is this what you’re doing, darling—commanding and controlling animals?”
It sounded so bad put that way and Sebastien stroked Nina’s head. She leaned into the caress, gazing up at him with worshipful brown eyes while Nonna laid her chin on his knee, patiently waiting her turn. “I don’t think so?” Sebastien said, regretting he’d brought it up. He’d lived this long with the secret. He should have continued to keep his mouth shut. “I hear them talk tome, sometimes, but mostly they just seem to know what I want. It’s not like I’m controlling or manipulating them. It doesn’tfeellike magic.”
We love you,Nina said.
We just want you to be happy,Nonna said.
Both wagged their tails with politely enthusiastic thumps. It made Sebastien feel vaguely ill to contemplate that they might not truly love him as he’d thought, but that he’d been using some sort of magical coercion to force them into being adoring slaves.
Never,Nonna said.
Adore you,Nina said.
He petted both their heads, grateful for the reassurance—even as he wondered if he’d somehow induced them to say so. Kismet, however, often spontaneously shared gossip about the other horses in the royal stables, which Sebastien was certain he had never wanted.
“What does working magic feel like, though?” Ali asked.
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“This could be very bad,” Dianna put in darkly.
“I don’t think it matters,” Sebastien offered. “No one has ever guessed. I’ll just be careful how I use it. After all, there’s nothing wrong with faithful, loyal, well-behaved dogs and helpful cats.”
“You’re not thinking this through, Sebastien,” Ali said, closing and setting the book down with a thump.
“What is the worldwide, cardinal rule for all magic-workers?” Dianna asked him, continuing Ali’s thought, as the close sisters so often did.
“The blood geas,” Ali answered.
“The blood geas,” Dianna added darkly. “Every child found to have magical ability must be bound by it.”
“I’m not a child,” Sebastien pointed out in relief. “I’m a grown man of twenty.”
