Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It struck me what Kole’s cryptic words had meant earlier, when he’d referenced our plan. Of course. After the horrific maze attack, he’d agreed to help me with research and learning to mistphase.
I clapped in glee. “I’m going to learn to mistphase today? Truly? Are you serious?” Excitement burst through me, and I launched myself at Kole and wrapped my arms around him. “Oh, thank you, thank you!”
Kole gathered me to him, his scent enveloping me, and Nuwin snickered.
“Well, if that’s the kind of thanks you’re giving out, Primelle, might I remind you that I helped arrange this?” Nuwin commented in a hopeful tone.
Kole glowered at him. “Not happening, Prince.”
I smothered a laugh just as a tsking sound came from the matron. I released Kole completely and faced her.
“It’s a little early for any kind of thanks to anyone,” she said tartly. “You may not even possess the magic necessary to mistphase.”
Composing myself, I dipped my head, but even though the matron seemed far from optimistic, I still flashed Kole a grateful smile. He’d known how much I’d wanted to learn to mistphase. Because if I could learn, I wouldn’t be so reliant on others to save me should another attack happen.
Matron Olsander sized me up, then drew her shoulders back. “As Kole stated, my name is Matron Olsander. I’m a tutor here on the Solis continent, and I also taught all of the royals.”
Nuwin winked at me. “Consider yourself lucky. Matron Olsander is the most sought-after tutor of our land.” The prince elbowed Kole.
“And if not for your warrior’s unrelenting insistence that I help him in this matter, I fear this training session wouldn’t have been possible, but alas, Kole can be a real pain in the arse when he puts his mind to something, so here we are. ”
“How did you arrange this?” I asked the warrior.
He shrugged. “I didn’t sleep much yesterday.”
With that, he and Nuwin retreated to the wall to watch. Warmth bloomed through me that Kole had been arranging this on his day off, even after he’d been up all night watching out for me.
His thoughtfulness and the fact that he’d used what little free time he had to continue focusing on me, and not him, made my lungs tighten and my stomach flip. That strange feeling itched in my chest again, but I pushed it down and forced my attention back to the tutor.
“Have they told you what my magic is?” The matron placed her hands on her wide hips.
I shook my head. “No, I only know that you trained Kole at the academy when he was younger.”
“I see. In that case, the reason that I’m the head tutor for the royal family and pupils at the Academy of Solisarium is due to my affinity. My magic allows me to sense and call out others’ magic in order to help them master their power.”
“Her magic makes her vastly superior in the art of teaching,” Nuwin called from the wall.
“Prince Nuwin!” she barked at him. “No further interrupting, or I shall have you doing chin-ups at the bar.”
Nuwin’s lips flattened, but merriment danced in his eyes. “Apologies, Matron Olsander.”
She returned her attention to me. “Now, we shall begin by me doing an internal assessment of you, Princess Primelle.” Her tone took on one of no-nonsense. “Please lower your Shield.”
I did as she said and immediately felt something foreign begin to probe inside me. I sucked in a breath, but the tutor carried on unperturbed.
“Hmm, fascinating.” Her brow furrowed, but a small smile curved her lips.
“This looks promising. You’re quite magical, my dear.
Magical indeed and very powerful.” Her probing went deeper, and she harrumphed.
“I can’t say that I’ve felt magic like yours previously.
Tell me, do you have abilities that are unique? ”
“I do, Matron Olsander.”
“Well, that would explain it. And like Kole, you feel different from Solis fae. Your magic is everywhere in your body, and it’s all swirled together. That will, of course, make things more difficult, but it’s simply a hurdle we will have to overcome.”
I stood quietly while she continued her assessment, and even though it felt so strange to be evaluated like this, it didn’t feel violating. If anything, it felt bizarre and slightly ticklish. When her magic probed my belly, I giggled.
Matron Olsander lifted her chin, her jowls wobbling. She rapped her knuckles against her thigh and withdrew her magic. “None of that, my dear. We’re here to work, not laugh like a silly hen.”
I immediately smoothed my expression.
The rotund tutor arched a silver eyebrow. “And has this young fellow told you anything about mistphasing?” She waved at Kole.
“A bit. He’s even tried to teach me, but I don’t know much. So far, every time I’ve tried to learn it, I haven’t been able to get past step one.”
She ruffled her wings, and the black leathery appendages gleamed in the light. “In that case, we haven’t a moment to spare. I only have time to teach you during the next few days, and I’m told you need to be back at your palace each day by sundown. Now, let’s get to work.”
Somehow, amazingly, after several hours of tutelage under Matron Olsander’s expert instruction, I finally learned the first step of mistphasing. As Kole had tried to teach me during our previous sessions, I had to untangle my magic from itself.
That proved to be the most challenging aspect of my learning, but with the matron’s precise instruction that involved her probing within me and guiding me with her magic as I attempted it, I slowly figured it out over the course of the morning.
By lunch time, I’d learned how to activate my mental magic only. And by late afternoon, I successfully mistphased halfway across the training room.
It felt incredible to disassemble my body into mist and shadows, air and wind, and when I rematerialized near the balance beam for the first time, I clapped in delight.
“I did it!”
Kole grinned, a true grin, and Nuwin whooped.
But Matron Olsander merely nodded once. “Well done, Primelle, but no celebrating yet. That was the most basic mistphase that one could do. A wee Solis child just out of maturing could have done that if they possessed the amount of magic you do.” She glanced at the clock.
“And considering it’s almost evening, we’re nearly done for the day, so focus.
This time, I want you to land precisely where I tell you.
Do you see that ledge above the weapons rack?
” She pointed, and I eyed the small perch perhaps twenty feet above the floor.
“I want you to mistphase there. To do that, you need to focus on what we’ve worked on. ”
Her magic probed me again and swirled around the heart of my mental magic, which I’d still managed to keep untangled from the rest. “All of your concentration needs to lie here. Do you understand?”
I concentrated on what her magic was showing me. “Yes, I think so.”
“Very good. Close your eyes, and picture that small ledge and nothing else. Now, begin!”
By the time we had to leave, I’d mistphased four times.
I still wasn’t able to go far, and I didn’t trust myself to mistphase farther from one end of the training room to the other, or up to the training wall’s ledges, but I’d learned the basics and had been able to land exactly where Matron Olsander had instructed me to.
When at last my first tutoring session came to an end, I was so ecstatic that I wrapped my arms around the rotund tutor.
“Thank you, Matron Olsander. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
A surprised-sounding guffaw came from her, and she awkwardly patted me on the back.
Grumbling, she disentangled herself from my arms. “None of that, my dear. As I said earlier, it’s too early for such celebrating.
You’re still like a wee babe with only the most basic of skills. That’s hardly cause for celebration.”
Still beaming, I pulled away from her. “To me it is. Every other time I’ve tried this, it felt impossible. I’m so over the moons at what you’ve taught me, and I’m elated that I managed to mistphase at all.”
She hmmed and sized me up. “Your magic is incredibly strong, which does help, but you still need much finessing. Come back tomorrow morning, and we’ll continue.”