Page 6 of The Night Prince 2

“Accommodations will be made,” Rhalyf finally spoke up.

Finley was so used to his voice as he’d spoken quite a bit that evening telling “amusing” stories and anecdotes that had most people laughing that it had been startling in its long silence. Finley might have chuckled a bit, too, but really couldn’t they see how careful he was to guide the conversation in the way he wanted it to go? He was a clever politician even if Aquilan was not. He made sure to steer clear of unwelcome topics. He seemed intent on doing that again. But Finley wasn’t going to go with the flow.

“Accommodations?” Finley lifted an eyebrow. “What accommodations will there be if the humans want to stay where they are?”

“I am certain many of the Houses will be amenable to that,” Aquilan answered, but his voice sounded as if he wasn’t quite convinced of that.

“Many, but not all!” Finley’s voice came out sharp. He lifted a hand. “I’m sorry, your majesty, but–”

“No apologies are necessary,” Aquilan waved it away. “I came here to hear your thoughts, not my brother or anyone’s filtered ideas of what you think. Tell me. Do not hold back.”

“I hope you mean that, King Aquilan,” Shonda said quietly. “This is a very freighted topic.”

“Whether I hear it or not, it will still be true and out there,” Aquilan said. “Won’t it?”

A nod from her.

“This country has a very ugly past with colonialism and slavery,” Michael explained. “Taking land from the people already on it and parceling it out to wealthy Aravae Houses would be a continuation of that dark legacy. Is that what you want your legacy to be?”

“Forgive me, that may all well be true, but there are not enough humans left, quite frankly, to fill a fraction of the old United States of America. Are you saying we should hold it all as some kind of preserve for humanity should you re-establish yourselves?” Rhalyf scoffed.

He had a wine glass in his hand. He always seemed to have a wine glass in his hand, but rarely seemed drunk. Finley wondered if he were an alcoholic due to his high tolerance. But there was nothing of wine in his sharp, incisive gaze. Maybe wine didn’t affect him like it did others. Or maybe he simply pretended to drink far more than he actually did.

“We aren’t speaking of all the land, but the best land,” Michael said firmly. “The already occupied land. But, if we were speaking of all of it, why couldn’t it be held for humanity? This is our world. While we are diminished in terms of population, we will come back. One thing that humans have never stop doing is persevering.”

“I admit I admire your positivity, but the world is not the same as it was. While the Leviathan threat has been pushed back, they will never be altogether gone,” Rhalyf explained. “And far other–nastier–things will eventually make their way through the rifts to Earth, which humans are even more incapable of fighting against.”

Finley’s jaw tightened. “Unless we have magic?”

Rhalyf turned that incisive gaze upon him. “You want to study magic, I believe?”

“I do. And… also, wield it,” Finley straightened up, preparing to give his speech about humans not being incapable of learning magic.

But Rhalyf didn’t let him. “You’re a bit of a scholar from what I saw in your journals.”

From what you found out after stealing my journals! Finley thought, but didn’t say.

“I am,” he answered instead.

“In all of your research, did you find the term Illumine?” Rhalyf asked.

“Yes, it is the source of magic within an individual,” Finley answered primly.

Another nod. “Yes, but because all of the magical textbooks are written by beings who are immortal or near to it, I’m betting they never explained something very basic about Illumine.”

“Basic–”

“Illumine is not just the source of magic, but the source of one’s life.” Rhalyf placed a hand over his heart. “When you cast a spell, you are using your very life to power it.”

Finley’s chest began to feel slightly tight. “Okay, but I don’t see–”

“You will, because you’re very smart,” Rhalyf continued smoothly. Finley was both stunned by the comment, but stung by the implication that he’d missed something adverse to his understanding of magic. “For an immortal race, using one’s life is cheap.” A beautiful ball of purple plasma appeared in his right palm after the snap of his fingers. He rolled it back and forth almost like a juggler. It was beautiful and expertly done. “It costs us nothing. I can conjure all day and night long with little adverse effects other than being a little tired. But for a human, whose source of life is finite, a single spell could exhaust it.”

A single spell?

Finley blinked as Rhalyf extinguished the plasma ball as he said it. “But then… but that means…”

“That actually wielding magic–even if a human were capable of doing so–would likely kill them,” Rhalyf answered simply.

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