Page 164 of Destiny of a King

“Tell me about Northland.”

Kaelan looked surprised by the question.

“My mother rarely spoke of it.”

“Perhaps because speaking of home made her miss it more.”

Dravic could understand that.

“Northland is different from Scotara,” Kaelan said. “Magic touches the land there as well, but not as it does in Driochmor. Ours is an earthly magic. We understand the land, the seas, the forests, the rivers, the animals, the changing seasons. We learn what they give us and what they warn us of. Our survival depends upon respecting them.”

Something stirred in Dravic’s memory: his mother taking his hand and leading him into the woods. Showing him which way moss grew upon a tree. Teaching him to watch the birds and how their sudden silence could be a warning. Telling him that the wind carried more than cold if one learned how to understand it.

He had forgotten so much.

“Nay,” Dravic said, recalling. “My mother did teach me some of it.”

Kaelan smiled. “I thought she might have.”

“She took me into the forest often when I was young. She showed me things. Explained things.” Dravic frowned, frustrated by how indistinct some of the memories had become. “Much of it has faded.”

“You were a child.”

Not so fond memories intruded on Dravic. “I remembered other lessons. Constant. Demanding ones.”

“Because you were forced to.” Kaelan shrugged. “You were being taught to be king. I imagine there was little time left for learning what a river or a tree wished to tell you.”

Dravic almost smiled.

“My mother told me that your da was beginning to understand before they died.”

Dravic’s attention sharpened. “Your mother, my aunt, spoke of my father?”

“Often. She had been pleased that though their marriage had been an arranged one, they had fallen in love. She said Edric became curious about the Northland ways. He asked questions. He wanted to understand what Ravina understood rather than simply dismissing it as magic.”

The little that he recalled about his da, he knew that sounded like him.

“He wanted to learn,” Kaelan continued. “My mother believed that given time, he would have.”

Dravic looked toward the fire again. Memories of his parents had always been painfully brief, preserved from the eyes of a child who had not understood how quickly they could be taken from him.

“My da and mum would have made a good king and queen.”

“Aye,” Kaelan said. “I believe they would have.”

Dravic remained silent.

“And you have more of both of them in you than you realize.”

Dravic glanced at him. “You have known me only a short time.”

“I know my family.” Kaelan smiled. “Besides, what Ravina taught you is not gone.”

Dravic disagreed. “It certainly feels gone.”

“It is part of you. You simply need to remember.”

“And how do you suggest I do that?”