Page 4 of Muse

Elated and dizzy, the only thing I could think about after we’d finished was quenching my thirst. There had been moments during the conduction I was afraid that I might pass out, but the air was still sparkling and crackling, even after we all stopped projecting our magik.

“You were incredible,” Soren said, his voice behind me, and I nearly choked on my punch.

I wiped the juice from my lips and turned to face him. For some reason, without the muses standing around us, he seemed more imposing.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

"I am sorry if I was hard on you earlier," he said, and to his credit, his eyes looked apologetic. "I knew you could be better, and I wanted you to be your best."

“I understand the method to your madness, even if it was flustering at the time,” I admitted. “But I was already so nervous. You knocked me off balance, and I refocused.”

“And when you give your all, you’re nothing short of amazing,” he said with a pleased smile.

I blushed and stared down at my punch glass. "I don't know about that. Perhaps it's just that you are so enchanting."

"Oh, certainly that was part of it," he agreed wryly. "It goes without saying thatmyenchantment brings out the best in everyone.”

“It goes without saying, and yet, you’ve said it,” I teased him.

“When I was born, the Matronae gave me a double helping of talent but none of humility. That is the bane of my existence,” he said with exaggerated sorrow.

"In truth, I should be thanking you," he said, and the sincerity caused me to arch my eyebrow at him. "Your conduction made me look more skillful than I am, and that was more than I could hope for with my first official audience before the Queen."

“Perhaps we bring out the best in each other, and there is no need for gratitude to extend either way?” I asked.

"Or it could go both ways if we're feeling generous," Soren said.

“Are you the generous sort? I hadn’t really pegged you as the type.”

“You’ve hardly seen me outside of rehearsals, and the pressure of the situation may have dampened my deeply charitable spirit.”

"I have been curious. How do enchanters occupy themselves in their free time?"

Since I was six years old, my life had been filled with a regimented training and practice schedule, which wasn't uncommon for muses. However, Briar and Wrenley had always pointed out that Adora had started me younger than most, and my path was far more intense than theirs had been.

Still, practice was a big part of life for all muses. My little free time usually involved reading or walking in the park.

"A little of this, a little of that," Soren replied vaguely, turning his attention toward pouring himself a punch from the nearby crystal bowl. "Imbibing when I have the chance." He took a sip of his drink, and his face immediately crumpled in disgust. "There isn't a drop of alcohol in this!"

“Muses are to be sober on the night of their conductions,” I reminded him of the rules of behavior for muses and enchanters, known as the Regula.

"But now it's over, and you should be free to do as you please." He abandoned his punch glass on an empty table, and his gaze had turned to survey the celebration, presumably for wine or other spirits. "And the sobriety section of the Regula definitely does not apply to enchanters."

A server walked by with a tray of honeyed wine in crystal goblets for guests, and Soren scooped two off as they went past.

“Finally, a proper drink to celebrate,” he said as he handed me a glass.

Even though I knew I should decline, the encouragement in his eyes was too much for me to deny. I smiled and took a long sip. I had tried wine before, but never after I had recently performed a conduction, and I was pleasantly surprised with the warm, tingling feeling it sent through me.

“Much better,” Soren said after he took a long drink, and he looked over at me with a strange smile playing on his lips. “You’ve got color to your cheeks again. How are you feeling?”

“Light,” I replied. “Like I could float away if I’m not careful.”

“I won’t let you float away too far. I wouldn’t want you to get lost in the clouds, not when you have such a promising vocation ahead of you.” He leaned back, his whole demeanor had relaxed, and the air between us felt different.

The celebration had created a charged atmosphere, a kind of prickly excitement that bounced between people. But the conduction had drained both Soren and I, and now the honeyed wine had a hazy aura around us.

We were still in a ballroom filled with hundreds of people from the kingdom, but we were tucked back in the corner beside the unpopular punch. Maybe it was residue from the magik, maybe it was the wine, but I felt languid, cozy, and utterly beguiled, hiding away in a quiet little bubble with Soren.

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