Page 100 of The Seeker

He shook his head, and a flicker of turmoil burst forth, his internal defense crumbling. “You know I’m against magic, Runa.”

“So, you’re for oppression,” I snapped, unable to hold back. “You’ve toed the line for a long time, Otho, and while that might have been okay before, I’m drawing a new line.” My fury dipped as I explained, “It’s too late to take magic away from everyone. Trust me, I would rather that be the case as well. But magic exists. We can’t go back. I—I love you, Otho.” My chest ached at the admittance. “But this is bigger than either of us, bigger than a magical bond. So, either help Askel and I use magic as an equalizer, or stand against us. The choice is yours.”

CHAPTER 34

By the time I made it back to the market, the sun had set and the twin moons were on their opposing horizons. Askel had already finished packing and was sitting on the edge of the empty stone fountain, Nala’s reins in his fist.

He peered up as I approached, jumping to his feet. “Oh thank Hel; I was worried.”

I gave him a sad smile, accepting the reins from his hands and guiding Nala toward the exit.

“How did it go with Otho?” he asked once we were out of the main square, which had a tendency to echo secrets to any who wanted to hear.

“As well as can be expected,” I answered honestly. “Otho is still undecided, but he let me leave with the book I’d hidden.”

“And the others?”

“Burned or in Shianp,” I said with a sigh, careful to guide the horse around a loose stone tile on the road ahead of us. “We will have to make do with what we have.”

“And a meeting space?” he pushed and I could feel his nervousness.

“Milo said he will talk to the mill owner; he’s got enough room inside the mill for about fifty people. Beyond that, he can’t think of anything.”

Askel’s lips twisted. “Is your brother well?”

“Yes.” I allowed all of the pressure to drain from my shoulders. It had been a struggle to face both Milo and Otho in the same day. “He’s working with Sullie as a merchant. Helene doesn’t love it, but its work.” I left out the part where Helene had sneered at me the entire time I was there. It was painfully obvious that she blamed me for introducing Milo to the merchant business, but as far as I could see, the alternative was to starve, so she should be more kind in her reactions.

“Well, at least we’re moving forward, with or without Otho.” He rubbed the non-existent hair on his chin.

“I know, it’s just . . . hard,” I admitted. “I didn’t really believe in weighteds when I first learned of them, but . . . it’s a challenge to be in his presence sometimes—to remain angry at him.” My mind drifted to another thought, one I’d become curious about but didn’t have the answer to. “Askel, would you be willing to learn to seek?”

His brows furrowed as he glanced at me before looking back to the road. “I thought seeking was a born affinity?”

“It might be,” I said. “But so much of what I thought was real lately has turned out to be the opposite. What if seeking can be taught just as reading can and the early seekers were worried that seeking would turn into a war if too many people knew how to do it? What if all of what we were taught is still merely about control?”

He was silent, and I knew I’d given him something big to think about. “That could be.”

“Until everyone has magic, I’m only trusting what I’ve tested myself, seeking abilities included.”

“Fair enough,” he replied with a smirk. “Well, I’m ready to learn when you’re ready to teach me.”

“We will start tonight.”

We walked in silence the rest of the way home.

The following days blurred into one as we worked to pull everything together for our magic lessons. We’d been offered the mill for a teaching space—seeing as there wasn’t enough work to keep up with what they’d offered during the war—and we’d accepted.

It wasn’t quite as large as I’d hoped, but Askel had gone with me to work out the details, and his face lit up with excitement as I showed him around.

We would make the best of it.

The bulk of our time was split between the garden, which grew far more than we could harvest just the two of us. We’d asked around town regarding individuals looking for work, and we now had two assistants helping us harvest and sell at the market. One was Emmett, my former classmate, whom had fallen on tough times since our school days, and the other was a young woman by the name of Cyr, who was barely more than a child, but she was a hard worker, taking every coin she made home to her mother, who was pregnant for the second time since Adis had been eliminated, her father having fallen at the frontlines.

The rest of my time I split between training with Askel, and making clothes from what Signa had left behind. Almost everything had been repurposed now, and thought I was still partial to wearing breeches, I had made myself a few nice skirts, and a corset top that was cooler on the warm days than the long sleeved shirts I’d purchased in the mountain town.

Training with Askel was a light in the dark nights, when I found myself unable to sleep over worry for Otho, my brother, and the future of the Seid. While he still trained me in combat from time to time, much of our time was devoted to trying to draw the seeking power out of him and both of our magics. Unlike me, he struggled to find that dark part inside of him where magic glowed, and I realized that I truly had been blessed with the ability to quiet my mind. I believed it had something to do with my upbringing, from having to hide myself from the world for too long, but I didn’t vocalize that to Askel.

The rest of the little time we had left was devoted to going door to door, inviting people to learn magic. While almost all of the remaining Seid families met us with enthusiasm, many of the non-Seid families sent us away without an answer.