The queen blinked.
“Your Majesty, I keep hearing how their magic is different. Mayhap they can accomplish what Lord Kendrick cannot,” Portia suggested.
The queen gasped, then stood. “Come with me,” she ordered.
This time, she and Kincaid had to jog to keep up. For someone so elegant, the queen moved like the wind. She led them to a large chamber with a stone table in the middle. Around the table, Aiden, Kendrick, Thane, and Brennus stood discussing something. Meryn, the twins, and Pip lounged around a smaller table, watching something on Meryn’s laptop.
Meryn looked up from her laptop and smiled. “About time y’all got here.” She pointed to the table. “Zoe, make that crystal hot.”
Kendrick exhaled. “It’s not that simple, Meryn. I’m a fire witch myself. To know the exact calculations to maintain a certain temperature for extended periods of time take meticulous…”
Zoe began to tune him out when he started going over formulas. She scrunched up her nose. Her magic never listened to such things. She assumed the crystal would be used to keep the sprites warm, so it shouldn’t be too hot. She raised her right hand, her power hand, and focused on the crystal.
“Zoe, stop…” Kendrick moved toward her.
“Sauna,” she said, focusing her mind on the warmth she remembered of the sauna at home.
The crystal in the center of the table flared a brilliant gold, then settled into a warm amber color.
Kendrick’s mouth dropped. “How!” he screeched.
Kincaid nodded. “I get it.” He looked at the other crystal and held up his hand. “Kitchen.”
Like the crystal she had enchanted, Kincaid’s flared, but instead of going from gold to amber, his started at amber and faded to an umber. Steady heat radiated from both.
“How!” Kendrick demanded again, walking back and forth between the crystals.
Meryn chuckled. “Aiden, you owe me two dozen more brownies.”
Aiden, looking relieved, nodded. “I’m happy to be wrong and more than willing to pay up.”
Thane stared. He walked over to the crystal and reached out a hand. He tapped the crystal. “It’s warm, but not enough to burn.” He looked to them. “How did you two manage to do something we could not?” he asked, pointing to his own chest and then to Kendrick.
Zoe shrugged. “I’m not sure. I think I just let the crystal know about how hot I wanted it, and it happened.”
Kincaid nodded. “Same.” He frowned. “It was surprisingly easy.”
Kendrick made inarticulate sounds behind them. Thane ignored him. “We use formulas for a reason. Without strict guidelines, disasters can and do happen. What if your magic turned the crystal into a small sun? We would have been incinerated.”
Zoe winced. “Thane, formulas, and math make my brain hurt. I had guidelines in mind when I sent my magic forward. I didn’t want it any hotter than the sauna I used back home.”
Kincaid pointed to her. “What she said. Except for me, I wanted it as warm as the kitchen gets when Aeson is baking.”
“We just think differently,” Meryn said, pulling something from her shirt.
“Hey Felix, how’s this?” she asked.
Zoe blinked, then blinked again. A small light buzzed away from Meryn to circle the crystals.
Meryn turned to Portia. “He said it feels perfect.”
Portia practically sagged forward in relief. “Thank the gods!” she stuck her head into the hallway. “Malcom, David!” Two warriors stepped into the room. “Have your warriors place these in the courtyard on opposite sides.”
Malcom looked eager. “Thank the gods,” he whispered. Heedless of his own body, he lifted the large crystal and began to jog out of the room, David with the other crystal right behind him.
Kendrick, still fuming, hands on his hips, faced them. “How long will that spell last?”
Again Zoe shrugged. “Again, I have no idea. I wasn’t really thinking of a time limit.”