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It was easy. All the paths inside her felt open from the infusion of his magic.
“The current flows to your heart.”
Her heart picked up pace.
“Envision the veins that run between you and the world. Now find the vein that flows from you to what you seek. Let the current run forth from your head and your heart. Follow it outward.”
She let her eyes slide shut. Her sense of connection to her mount strengthened, and she trusted her horse to understand where she needed to go.
Cassia’s senses expanded outward, past the messy glow of magic right around her—her powerful companions. Beyond their auras, the world was disappointingly barren. Not like Orthros, where spells grew like roadside flowers.
“There’s so little magic here,” she said. “All the mages are in the keep, aren’t they?”
“Well done,” Solia said.
“Can you tell how many?” Lio asked.
“I’m afraid not,” Cassia said. “But there are different…flavors…of mage?”
Mak chuckled. “What a Hesperine analogy.”
“This is a very Hesperine exercise,” Solia muttered, “but it will do as a focus aid.”
“What do you use for focus aids instead?” Mak asked.
“Sharp objects,” Kella put in.
“I was trained by a spellsword, after all,” Solia said.
Despite Solia’s remarks, Lio sounded as if he were enjoying this exercise. “How many affinities can you sense in the keep, Cassia?”
“Hmm.” Cassia tilted her head. “That strain of a comforting song is surely Tuura, and I’d know Hesperine magic anywhere—Karege. The sparkly one is Hoyefe?”
Kella laughed. “An excellent description.”
Cassia concentrated, then wrinkled her nose. “There’s the one with the burnt aftertaste—that must be the Dexion.”
“Disgusting excuse for a fire mage,” Solia said.
“There’s the scent of a storm that I associate with Eudias,” Cassia went on, “then cool water that seems Kyrian to me.”
“That’s right,” Kella confirmed.
Cassia was trying to detect the arcane, not mundane, but she felt the urge to taste the air. She tried moving her tongue in her mouth, then felt foolish.
“No, that’s a good idea,” Lio said. “Using physical movements to focus your magical senses is a proven strategy for humans. And once you’re a Hesperine, your mundane and arcane senses will actually be in Union, which will make it easier.”
“Oh. That’s helpful.” She sniffed the air. “That incense smell is what I associate with undertakers.”
“It covers up the stench of death,” Mak said with displeasure. “Those are the necromancers who are allowed to be here.”
“Then there are a few others I can’t identify…they’re too faint.”
Lyros said dryly, “That’s Master Gorgos’s contingent. Not powerful enough to make an impression.”
“You’re getting better at distinguishing different affinities.” Lio’s praise warmed her. “You just identified progonaia, haima, mageia, and manteia in the area, without allowing the powerful concentration of magic around you to distract you. I’m confident you will sense hulaia when we find it.”
Cassia opened her eyes. She was startled to find them surrounded by tents, with the keep some distance away. She hadn’t realized how long she’d been lost in the exercise or how far they had ridden. “I can still sense the magic in the keep from here.”
