“I believe we are all honored to make the acquaintance of such an elusive treasure. Rumors of your potential survival have circulated throughout the furthest divisions of Drancos,” the general added in a courtly tone.
I cast a shy smile in the direction of their voices. “Thank you, but I’d hardly consider myself a treasure. Honestly, I’m so out of touch with the realm that it would be more appropriate to call me an antique.”
Nixie’s shrill voice laughed softly somewhere near Killian. “There’s no need to be so modest. You have no idea how popular you are, despite never being out in the realm.”
I tilted my head with a puzzled brow, but Killian and Nixie only chuckled amongst each other instead of adding an explanation. Miron squeezed my shoulder. “Go easy on her, Kills. She’s had a big day.” His soothing touch sent soft tingles through my nerves.
“You’re right, my apologies, princess,” Killian added as he stifled his laugh.
“That’s quite alright.” I nodded. “I am thankful enough for your aid. I must admit, I was a tad concerned that you wouldn’t believe Miron’s story.”
A scoff sounded from Peter, followed by an exasperated huff. “It wasn’t an easy tale to trust,” he said tightly. “But I must admit, he actually was being earnest this time.” He strode across the tent and stopped a few feet in front of me. “He explained the situation to us. I’m so sorry about what the king and prince did to you. To be honest, I thought Miron was making most of the story up. That is, until he mentioned what was happening to your hair...”
I self-consciously touched at my shortened striped locks. “My hair?”
The king scuffled across the tent once more, and I tuned into the glugging sound of a pitcher draining something into a cup. “That’s correct. You likely can’t tell beneath that blindfold, but I’m a mage too, although I’m only a caster with a single streak of silver. My power allows me to aid in the healing of minor injuries and more serious ailments.” He crossed the tent back over toward me and stretched out something that sloshed. “If I may, can I request that you drink a glass of water?”
A drink of water?I glanced over nervously at Miron, hoping for some type of confirmation that I wasn’t about to guzzle poison. He shifted and took the glass from Peter’s hand, then gulped down a large sip. “Tastes like plain water to me. Here you go, Elle.” He stretched the cup out toward me, splashing a single cool drop on my reaching fingers.
“Thank you.” I accepted the glass from him and sipped the clean tasting drink. “Might I ask what this is for? Not that I’m ungrateful for a proper drink, but is there a deeper reason behind this?” I tipped the glass back and took another large sip from the cup.
This time it was Killian’s voice that spoke up. “It’s to test a small theory of mine...”he said a little ominously. “You see, when we first broke through into Ashbourne, something strange started happening to Peter.” He paused as I guzzled down the rest of my cup, then he approached me to refill it for a second round. “His magic began deteriorating, and the silver streak in his hair had begun to turn brown.”
I gasped, nearly dropping my cup as Killian filled it from my hand. “Brown?”
“That’s right,” Peter chimed in. “My natural hair color is a dark brown shade, so essentially, my hair was turning back to normal as my magic faded.”
I touched at my hair.Did that mean that my natural hair color would have been black if I hadn’t been born a sorceress?
General Fabian cleared his throat. “Killian has developed the theory that the dilution of magic power has something to do with Ashbourne’s water supply. We have sent samples off to Drancos for further study, but it seems difficult to believe that something as simple as water could have an effect on magic. Our theory seemed thin, since we only had King Peter to use for gathering data, but after hearing Prince Miron describe your living environment...”
“Tell me, princess,” Killian piped in. “Is it true that you’ve only drank tea until recently?”
The tea...
My eyes widened beneath my blindfold as I turned my stunned expression back toward Miron. “My hair didn’t start turning black until after you brought me water!” My head spun wildly as my fingers latched around the cup in my hands.The king hadn’t been giving me tea to be prestigious... He’d been doing it to fuel my magic, but how?
“Is that so?” Killian remarked in fascination. “We found that with Peter at least, boiling the water first allowed his magic to resurface to its original strength and even return his silver hair. If you’ve only had tea until this point, then perhaps our theory isn’t too far-fetched, after all.”
I sipped the water again with a more curious tongue.It tastes so plain.How could it possibly affect magic so strongly? If their theory was correct, and Ashbourne’s water supply was truly tainted against magic... Would that explain where the rest of the mages were hiding?
Nixie's soft voice joined the fray. “There’s one simple way to confirm our suspicions.” She directed her voice toward me. “Estelle? Would you be willing to test your magic on me?”
My chest tightened from the request at first, but then I remembered my previous experience with my vision.I hadn’t seen anything...I took another large drink of water until I drained my cup’s refill. The water sloshed uncomfortably around in my stomach, but I paid it no mind.What if they’re right...? What if my magic truly wouldn’t work?
I handed the cup over to Miron and he took it hesitantly. “You don’t have to do this if you’re not comfortable, Elle.”
I gave him a relaxed smile, then turned back to where I’d heard Nixie. “I’ll give it a try. I control my powers, not the other way around. Let’s see what this water can do.”
I gave Nixie a confident nod and she shuffled in front of me. “Alright then, I’m ready whenever you are. No one else is behind me, so you’ll only look at me.” Her smiling voice sent a wash of comfort over me. I had never done a vision for the sake of simply doing one before. There was no overwhelming pressure to perform and seek out a proper answer.
My heart rate settled into a much calmer rhythm, and then I slipped my fingers beneath my blindfold. The gentle silk slipped easily over my eyes as I kept them pressed closed. Once the strip of fabric was free from my head I took in a clear breath and blinked my dark eyes open.
A bright pair of green eyes and a freckle-faced red-head smiled back at me. I ended up having to cast my gaze downward in order to stare directly at her eyes. She was far shorter than I had imagined. The familiar heat of my magic began to swirl within me, but before it could build up any substantial momentum... it fizzled.
I fluttered my lashes in an attempt to restart my magic’s focus, but no matter how many times I locked onto her eyes, there was nothing there. I twisted around and looked at the collection of men who all gripped me with anticipatory expressions. None of their eyes flickered my magic.
My gaze turned to Miron and his ocean-blue stare held me with a loving hope. “Your hair, Elle...” He gaped, mystified. “It’s all black now.”