“I am focusing,” Heath said, frustrated. “I promise you, I’m thinking of nothing but Merletta right now, and I still can’t see her surroundings.”
“That’s precisely my point,” said Reka with maddening calm. “You are focused on her, yes. But the purpose of this exercise isn’t to see what she’s doing. It’s to develop your farsight. You need to focus on your craft, not just the object of your obsession.”
“It’s not an obsession,” said Heath, irked. “Maybe if you find your pair, or whatever you dragons call it, one day, then you’ll understand.”
“Maybe,” said Reka, unconcerned. “But I hope I am not so absurdly sentimental over it as you are. Unlikely,” he added after a moment of reflection, “given I am not an over-emotional human.”
Happily for the progress of the training session, Heath’s reply was cut off as the dragon was suddenly hit with a new thought.
“That reminds me,” he said brightly. “Today seems a good opportunity to spend some time on your other sight, the one that aids you in seeing others’ emotions.”
Heath opened his narrowed eyes fully, abandoning the attempt to expand his farsight beyond Merletta’s features. “Really? Shouldn’t we master the farsight first?”
Reka shook his head. “You are more capable with the farsight than you believe. You just need practice. It will broaden with time. Learning to use your magic in other ways as well might even be beneficial in strengthening your farsight.”
“All right,” said Heath amicably. “So how does the other sight work?”
“You tell me,” Reka said. “What is it you see?”
Heath shrugged. “I don’t really know how to explain it. I wouldn’t have thought of it as seeing, but I suppose that’s what it is. I can sometimes just tell things. Like that someone is hiding something, or that what they say isn’t what they mean, or that they’re troubled even when their features don’t show it.”
“But not all the time?” Reka pressed.
Heath shook his head. “Definitely not. And it’s unpredictable when it will kick in.”
The dragon nodded sagely. “It has so far been a random escape of your magic, not in your control. But I have no doubt you could learn to channel it.”
“How?” Heath asked.
“The first step is to gain control over your magic,” said Reka. “Don’t misunderstand—I don’t mean that your magic is somehow wild, or out of your control. On the contrary, your power, while substantial, is the most muted I’ve ever seen. Until recently, it felt from the outside as though it was dormant inside you, probably not even detectable to a human with only limited power, although impossible for a dragon to miss. What you need to do is wake it up, and learn how to draw it out and harness it when you wish to use it. In time, I suspect you will be able to live with your magic in a state of constant active-ness.”
Heath smiled faintly. “You make it sound like a wild animal living inside me.”
“Far from it,” Reka contradicted. “It is not another force inside you. It is completely and inextricably you. That is a truth that the non-power-wielders—like your king—have utterly failed to grasp in attempting to impose restrictions on the use of your magic.”
Heath sighed. “Yes, but let’s not talk about politics today,” he pleaded. “I had more than enough of it yesterday, between the meeting with Prince Lachlan and the Chief Counselor, and Percival’s usual tirades over dinner.”
“Nothing would please me more than to avoid discussing mundane human politics,” said Reka, no acknowledgment in his lofty tone that he’d been the one to bring it up.
Heath let it go. “So how do I wake up my magic?” he asked instead.
“Well, clearly the process has already begun,” Reka responded. “What we want is for you to have more control over that process. When you reach inside yourself, can you feel your magic?”
Heath frowned. “I don’t really know what you mean by reach inside myself,” he admitted.
Reka didn’t seem daunted. For a moment he was silent, considering. Then he said, “Can you sense my magic? And that of your family?”
“Of course,” said Heath. “Yours rolls off you in waves compared to theirs.”
Reka nodded. “Focus on that sensation. Reach for my power with your mind, identify it, examine it.”
Heath did so, noting the constant flow of the dragon’s magic, and how even when Reka was resting, it reached out from him, filling the air around him.
“And now,” Reka said, “look for that faint trace of similar power inside yourself.”
Heath did so, using the extra indefinable sense that only power-wielders had. “Nothing floats around me like it does you,” he said.
Reka nodded again. “That is partly because your power is nowhere near as strong as mine, and partly because for the most part it remains buried deep inside you. But surely you can still sense it.”