Page 45 of Tangled Power
“We are not going to ignore whatever happened with Luc’s magic,” Juliette said, bringing her hands to her hips. Only yesterday, she had been warming up to him. His inadvertent display of power must have put her back on her guard.
“There’s nothing to say,” Luc replied. “I don’t know what happened. It was so short a time. I don’t think it’s a key piece to our strategy. It seems more relevant to focus on whatever you and Rose did.”
Juliette pursed her lips and looked at Rose. “What do you think?”
This was new. Juliette had been in her position the longest. She’d held her own against a whole separate set of Compass Points. He’d never seen her proactively defer to another.
“I think the scale of Luc’s power will be important in whatever we’re meant to do.” Rose’s gaze darted to Luc. “But I don’t think he is meant to do it alone. We need to figure out how to merge our magics, like you and I did.”
“But you and Juliette wield the same element. Do you think we could do that with other elements?” Carter cut in.
“We need to find out,” Rose said. “The more I think about it, the more it seems like what we’re missing. No matter what we saw with Luc’s power today, it’s unreasonable to think one of us could hold a god. There has to be some way to unify our powers. This is the second time Juliette and I found a way to do that, even if it was through shared elements. We would be foolish not to explore that further.”
Carter looked thoughtful.
Rose glanced down at the compass as she tugged it from beneath her tunic. “We could always follow the compass again,” she said, reading it. “It’s pointing north. At least Aterra doesn’t know that’s how we found him.” Rose shrugged.
“It seems fruitless to follow him again if we know we can’t stop him,” Juliette said. “We should find some way to test your theories before we pursue him. As you say, we are clearly on to something.”
“We weren’t able to get it to happen again while we were pushing the horses. I’m not sure what the key is that allows me to reach for your magic in the first place.”
“I think I have to open my power to you while you’re reaching for it. I can’t be using it on my own.”
“Well, that’s new,” Carter said.
“You saw how my wind stream dissipated as Rose pulled my magic. I still think we’re missing something though,” Juliette added.
“What do you mean?” Rose asked.
“I would have ceded my magic to you when we tried to push the horses. I was waiting for your tug, like in Loch. But I never felt it.”
Rose nodded and looked to Carter. Luc wondered what she was thinking. It was like he could hear her mind working. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Carter, do you think there is anything in the Vesten histories that could help us? I know you said you didn’t get through much of them, but they seem an important source.” Luc loved watching her like this. She relentlessly thought through an option once an idea started forming in her mind. “Would you be willing to let us all read them?”
Carter seemed understandably apprehensive. These were texts that he wasn’t even allowed to read when he was a scholar. Only select scholars and the Vesten Point could see them. Luc thought she’d maybe finally asked too much of him. But then his hand reached into his pants pocket, no doubt grasping the coin, and he nodded.
Luc covered his smirk. Rose had won him over more than he’d realized by giving him the Vesten artifact.
“We have pretty comprehensive journals from Kenna,” Carter said. “She was the original Vesten Point.”
“Sandrin, then?” Rose asked. “I think we’re on the right path with our powers working together, but I think we need to find a way to do more of what my and Juliette’s wind did. I’m hoping we can find more detail on how this is supposed to work in texts from the time of the Covenant. They couldn’t have left us this blind on how to achieve our purpose.” She let out a tired breath. “And if we don’t find anything, we practice what Juliette and I have been doing to keep our powers familiar with each other.”
“It also keeps us moving north,” Luc added. “Even if we don’t learn anything, we’re still following Aterra’s trail.”
Her shoulders sagged just a little at his comment, like all she needed were those few words of support. She looked at the others. “Any objections?”
“Well, that, at least, sounds like the start of a plan,” Juliette said, “if still a bad one.”
“I started reading Kenna’s works when I became Vesten Point,” Carter said, scratching his brow. “She seemed particularly interested in the Compass Points’ powers, likely because they were so unknown and everyone was still adjusting to existence.”
“Do you think they will have any information about the connection between a god and their Compass Point?” Luc asked.
All eyes fell on him. He arched an eyebrow. “You were all thinking it,” Luc said wryly as he waited for Carter’s response.
“It’s possible,” Carter started. “I can’t guarantee her journals have what we need, but I agree with Juliette. It’s worth looking into before we chase after Aterra again. We need something to be different before another confrontation.”
“It sounds like the best plan we have,” Rose said. “Let’s get going.”
