Page 59 of Blood of the Stars

“Maybe.” Aeliana glanced at Cyrus’ blood, unsure if healing was the right word for what she’d done.

“Regardless of which she did first, she sifted through lies and adjusted his body. It’s evidence she can access both a primary and secondary spoke.” Sylmar’s beard and mustache split into what might have been a smile. “It’s unheard of for that to be present in an initial test.”

The others who’d gathered around all hummed their agreements, setting them off into excited chatter that made Aeliana’s head ache.

“What’s a secondary spoke?” Cyrus asked.

“Usually progenies can only access one spoke, and even then it’s the constructive or destructive side that’s more dominant, like your hands.” Velden waved his in the air, involuntarily flicking water. “Every once in a while, a progeny is a bit ambidextrous. That’s why Sylmar can do some limited healing even though he’s a destructive somatic. He can use more points along his spoke. The most advanced progenies can access a second spoke, always adjacent to their primary.”

“Velden and Sylmar are the only ones here with secondary spokes,” Jasperus added. “It’s why they can adjust water and metal so easily.”

Aeliana eyed the water still dripping off Velden’s hands. “I thought it had to do with the…”

“Being half-Sayhleen?” Velden laughed. “No. But I’m guessing there are more Sayhleens who wield water than fire.”

Sylmar shifted, drawing Aeliana’s gaze to his staff. “That’s how you change the shape of your staff.”

“Sylmar and Velden can probably access more points on the spokes than all the rest of us combined,” Lukai admitted. “But they can access an element because of the connection between their primary and secondary spokes. Elements connect the spokes like the rim of a wheel.”

“Or the crust of the piece of pie.” Velden grinned at her, licking his lips and rubbing his belly.

Aeliana pulled her taro leaf from her pocket, examining the spokes again. “So Sylmar is a destructive somatic, and his secondary spoke is…”

“Constructive pneumatic,” Sylmar said.

She traced the two lines out to the rim, then traced the line of the rim that connected them. “So anyone with these two spokes would have access to metal?”

Sylmar shrugged. “In theory. Magic is like a muscle. It needs to be trained and maintained. It’s possible more progenies would be able to access a secondary spoke and rim magic if they trained harder.”

A few groans spread through the group, and Jasperus headed back to the cookfire.

“What?” Sylmar’s frown turned fierce as he stared the remaining progenies down. “Velden and I have dedicated our lives to training. It makes sense that we have access to the rim.”

“They’re also significantly older than most of us,” Kendalyhn said with a smirk.

“But Aeliana’s not.” Lukai beamed at Aeliana. “And she can already access a second spoke.”

Aeliana felt her face heat under his pride, along with something deep in her belly.

Kendalyhn rolled her eyes before joining Jasperus at the fire.

“It’s true. It usually doesn’t present until you’ve had significant training.” Sylmar stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Some access a second spoke decades later. But we’ll be able to train you on both right from the start.”

Why didn’t they see this as concerning instead of exciting? This was further proof that her magic was flawed. Dangerous.

The unease returned with a flutter in Aeliana’s stomach. “I won’t train unless we set some ground rules.” She stood, limbs shaking. The coldness in her voice sobered the few who were left. She gestured at the blood splatters. “This method was wrong.”

“It was an illusion,” Sylmar said.

“Until I drew blood.” Her voice broke, memories of Arvid and Vera cutting her overlapping with the memories of Cyrus being injured, first by Vera and again by Sylmar.

It didn’t matter if the memories weren’t all real. Maybe that made it worse.

“It was too much like blood magic,” she said. “It was too real. Marking him along his scars, making him scream the same way he did that night. If you make me watch those things over and over—I can’t—not after Arvid and Vera.” Her voice grew hoarse as so much of her abuse lay exposed before people who, despite being friendly, still felt like strangers in many ways.

Lukai inched closer, wrapping his hand around hers. The moment their palms touched, comfort flooded through her, but it felt more like a distraction meant to keep her from addressing the real problem at hand. Iris covered her mouth, blinking furiously, and Velden and Sylmar exchanged wary glances.

“Are you saying—did you first tune in to the memory of the illusion?” Sylmar’s face paled above his beard, the ridge of his scars going from a deep purple to a spidery pink. “Did you see it that clearly?”

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