Page 25 of Muse

I tried to force a smile back, but it didn't feel right, so I slid past him and went inside. I wondered if I should've gone home. I feared how Adora would react if she saw me returning as anything other than absolutely elated, so I needed a place to recoup. Which meant that I hadn't quite recouped yet.

“Is something the matter? Did something happen?” he asked.

I shook my head and walked deeper into the house, and I tried to keep my back to him so he couldn’t see the truth written on my face. “No. Everything is fine.”

He rounded me slowly, and I didn't move away this time. I let him look me over with his dark, worried eyes. "Then where has your light gone?"

“I had a lucenition. Adora set it up for me, and I had to go,” I explained.

“What happened?” he asked.

“He…” My cheeks burned, and I couldn’t meet Soren’s eyes anymore. A strange mixture of shame and revulsion felt like a painful weight in my chest, crushing down on my heart and lungs, so my breath came out harder. “It didn’t go well. My performance was lackluster, so he… needed to draw out my magik.”

Soren’s voice was low and horrified when he asked, “Hetookyour magik?”

"It was my fault because I wasn't focused enough on my conduction," I explained hurriedly. "And he needed to see what I had to offer."

“Was it Herve Chaunter?” Soren asked.

I lifted my head and looked up at him. “What? How did you know?”

“Because that man is perverse,” he said in a frustrated growl. “No one everneedsto take your magik from you, Isadore, and they never should. I have had lucenitions with dozens of muses over a number of years, and not once have I ever siphoned their magik."

"Well, it does not matter." I shook my head as if I could shake away the memories of today and make them gone. "It is over, it is done, I am fine. We should get into practice."

Soren looked at me in dismay. “Izzy, we can’t practice. You need to recover and replenish. How much did he take from you?”

“Not much. I stopped him before he got his fill,” I admitted.

"Good for you, Izzy," he said oddly proud. "Come, sit. I'll make you tea."

He led me to the sliding pocket doors off of the main room, and when he opened them, he revealed a true enchanter’s library. All of the walls were lined with shelves, and in between the gaps were tall windows that let in the warm sunlight and offered views of the surrounding yard.

Each shelf was lined with books of all colors and sizes. Some were bound in dark leather, others with patterned fabric. As I walked past and glanced across the spines, the titles implied a wide range of topics, from ancient incantations to histories of long-forgotten kingdoms.

In the center of the room was a sofa made with plump red velvet cushions, and on either side were two small end tables. Soren led me over to the sofa as if I were infirmed. I considered protesting, but his hand on my small back was comforting.

“Lay back and have a rest,” he directed me as I sat down. “I will be back in a few moments with some tea.”

While he went off to fetch it, I lounged back on his plush sofa as he instructed me. It was deliciously comfortable, especiallycompared to what I had at home. Adora made all her purchases based on style, not on comfort.

The books on the shelf were so tantalizing. I wanted to read them all, but without Soren's explicit permission, it felt invasive. There was something so intimate about inspecting another person's bookshelves.

“And here we are,” Soren said as he returned with two teacups swirling with a pale lavender liquid.

When I sat up to take it from him, I realized how weakened I truly felt. Herve may have extracted more from me than I originally realized.

I sat with my back against the arm and had my legs spread out across the remainder of the sofa. Since this was the only place to sit in this room, I started to move them for Soren, but he stopped me.

“You’re fine. No need to move.” He held his teacup in one hand, and with the other, he lifted up my legs slightly. Then he sat down and set them across his lap.

I breathed in the tea before I took a sip, and it smelled floral and sweet. “What is it?”

“This is my personal blend of herbs and potions that I call a Muse’s Elixir. It will heal all that ails you,” he assured me before drinking it himself.

I cautiously sipped it, and it was delicate and delightful. The taste was sweet and earthy, drawing from blooming lavender fields and rich soil. As it went through my body, I could feel it mending fragments of my weary soul, stitching together the frayed threads of inspiration and magik. Almost immediately, I felt more alert.

“Better?” Soren asked with a crooked smile as he watched me gulp it down.

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