Page 7 of Tangled Power
Aaron let out a breath, and his shoulders sagged. Her comment freed him to tell the rest of his story. “It was just such a big part of his life growing up. Everyone cared about his magic and where it came from. I always hoped he could leave it behind. Like when he became Suden Point, maybe others would no longer question his fae lines.”
Rose gave Aaron a gentle smile. It was incredibly naive to think that the center of fae politics wouldn’t care about lineage, especially when someone so unknown with such strength appeared. She appreciated Aaron’s sentiment, though. Luc didn’t deserve the baggage.
Rose rolled her neck and stretched her arms. Her body felt fine. It must have been a temporary burnout of her magic. A pang of grief hit her unexpectedly as she wished Mom were around to explain the situation. She had evaluated other Nordens at Compass Lake when she worked with Mom—though never the Norden Point. Or maybe Suden magic was different at the source? She’d been doing fine as a reclusive weapons master, but her overly selective process meant she didn’t have a wealth of experience from which to draw conclusions.
Her feet hit the floor as she attempted to stand. She needed to figure this out. Not just for Luc, but for all the Compass Points. She would need to arm them all with her magical weapons. Anything to improve their chances in the fight against Aterra.
“Aaron, could I ask a favor of you?”
He nodded slowly, his face partially pinched in worry as she stood, likely anticipating how Luc would yell if she injured herself getting up too fast.
“Could I evaluate your magic?” she tacked on more information before Aaron could respond. “I haven’t evaluated any other Sudens at their seat of power. I started with the Suden Point.” Rose stumbled over her words. “I need to know how an average Suden compares.”
Aaron’s lip twitched again. She could have sworn he fought a smile as she awkwardly attempted to describe his magic relative to Luc’s. She winced and kept rushing through, to get to the part Aaron would understand. “I need to know before Luc blames himself and his magic for whatever happened. I think I just went too far, too fast, with his power. I want to be able to tell him my magic was simply…exhausted.”
Aaron only considered for a moment before nodding. She suspected she’d hooked him with Luc blaming himself. It was apparent Aaron would do anything for his brother.
It tookRose only moments to find her place again in the rhythm of her swings, the forge fire still warm. Not that she was actually making a weapon for Aaron, but the same rules she explained to Luc applied. Her evaluation was more thorough when she lost herself in the familiar movements of making a weapon.
Aaron did his part. He stood where Luc had been and played with his magic. The difference in their power was evident even in the activity Aaron chose. While Luc had balanced a rock above his palm, pushing his element away from itself, Aaron drew lines in the dirt floor of the workshop—a more passive motion.
Glancing at the Suden over her shoulder and seeing his nod, Rose settled into the process. Her power pressed forward. Magically, he bore nearly no resemblance to Luc. That, right there, might have been enough information, but she wanted to be sure. Her power wound around Aaron and seeped into his skin.
It wasn’t an endless plummeting down a dark tunnel. The path to Aaron’s power had her skating across a plateau. A wide expanse unfolded before her. Halting, she sat on the ground, reaching for the connection to the earth magic he wielded. Emotions flashed through her mind: contentment, peace, and a gnawing anxiety with a particular focus. No full scenes, or moving images. This was more in line with her expectations of the process. Experiencing feelings, beliefs, and snapshots of those the evaluated held dear was what she usually saw.
This was enough. She knew what Aaron’s weapon would be. It would need to be defensive. Something to protect his family should danger arrive. He wouldn’t go out and chase it. Rosesuspected the focused anxiety was for someone Aaron cared about, who did tackle problems by chasing them down: Luc.
The safety of Compass Lake calmed Aaron, but danger didn’t just follow Luc, he actively sought it. Him leading the investigations on the mist plague must have been hard for Aaron to endure. Never knowing if his brother would come back or if he’d fall into the endless sleep himself.
Rose pulled back from Aaron’s magic. She had her answer. There was no problem evaluating a Suden at the source. She wasn’t sure if she was happy about the result—it seemed the best case. It just meant she needed to go slower with Luc’s weapon.
His power was different from anything she’d dealt with before. She had never worked with anyone who possessed that much magic. And the way her magic was drawn to his made it all the more challenging to control her exploration. She tilted her head, considering. Luc wouldn’t take this well. He’d still think his magic had hurt her. If anything, it overwhelmed her. It really was her fault. She had felt her exhaustion when she reached for the second scene—but she’d done it anyway. She was enthralled by his magic, and she wasn’t sure how to tell him that.
She heard a cough behind her.
“And what do we think we’re doing here?” Luc asked. He stood in the doorway, his arms crossing over his chest.
Rose glanced at Aaron, the two sharing a shrug before turning to face the Suden Point.
“I know you’re not testing your magic again so soon after passing out while using it…” Luc paused as if to give her a chance to refute his suspicion.
Her mouth curved into a smile, telling him she’d do no such thing.
“Rose,” he said, wiping his hand across his face.
Her smile broadened. His gesture was one of her favorites to pull from him. “I needed to understand what happened,” shesaid. She wouldn’t hide it from him. Too much of her life had been spent trying to keep secrets that others needed to know.
“Did you learn anything?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
She nodded. “I evaluated Aaron’s magic. While I didn’t make him a weapon, I know I could. This experience was much more in line with my past evaluations.” She shrugged. “Searching your magic was”—words failed her—“different.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Aaron said as he headed for the door, squeezing past Luc’s glare.
“It’s not bad, Luc,” Rose assured.
He shook his head, ready to disagree.
“It is more power than I’m used to, and my magic wants to…” She hesitated. “Well, it wants to know all of yours—all at once.”
