Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The next day, Kole mistphased us back to the castle in Solisarium so I could attend a second lesson with Matron Olsander. And even though I was itching to begin my research, I knew that I needed to concentrate on learning to mistphase since the tutor only had a few days available to teach me.
The attack in the maze had made me, Kole, and my parents realize how vital this skill would be should the creatures ever breach the palace again.
Similar to the day prior, Matron Olsander was strict and unforgiving, but her unique magic that probed inside me and helped me figure out how to disentangle my magic helped.
The only difference between this lesson and the day before was that Nuwin was missing.
He’d told Kole that he had to attend a family event with his brother, Norivun, but he looked forward to seeing us again the next day.
“Well done, Primelle.” Matron Olsander nodded enthusiastically, her jowls jiggling.
I’d just completed my second mistphase for the day.
“You did that mistphase even faster than yesterday. Now, I want you to go farther and with even more speed.” She pointed upward, near the windows.
“You see that ledge there? The highest one? Land on it.”
I nodded and turned my attention inward once again.
Sweat beaded upon my forehead. To keep my magic untangled and separate was extremely taxing, but Matron Olsander insisted that with time, it would become second nature, similar to the level of expertise Kole had mastered.
But at the moment, it took all of my concentration.
I closed my eyes and probed my mental magic.
Sparkling heat swirled within my body, and I grasped onto it, then pictured the ledge, pictured disassembling, pictured traveling to precisely where she’d told me to land.
As Kole had guessed, it was my mental magic that enabled my mistphasing, which meant that mental projection was how I ultimately completed the feat.
In a flash of magic, my body morphed into mist and shadows, air and wind.
A second later, a pop came from within me, and when I opened my eyes, I squealed in glee.
I stood on the ledge at the very top of the training room.
Large windows lined my back. Outside, a dazzling view of Solisarium filled the skyline.
Fae flew everywhere outside of the castle’s magical dome that warded off unwanted visitors, and the wintry backdrop and frosty rooflines in the distance portrayed a land of ice and snow.
“Well done!” Matron Olsander called from below. “I believe it’s time we went outside and practiced even greater distances. Now, return to my side, and we’ll depart.”
Kole stood near the wall and gazed up at me with pride shining in his eyes, and that strange sensation in my chest fluttered again, that thing that came alive in his presence that I had no words to describe.
By the time evening arrived, I’d been able to mistphase a dozen times within the training room and across the castle’s vast courtyard.
I hadn’t been able to leave castle grounds, though, since I still hadn’t figured out how to mistphase through wards, but Matron Olsander said that would come with time, and we would work on it more the next day.
“You’ve made much progress in only two days, Primelle. I have no doubt your immense magic can be thanked for that. Now, we have two more lessons. Return tomorrow, same time, and we’ll continue.”
I dipped my head, feeling breathless from all of the mistphasing. Even though it wasn’t physically taxing, it was mentally, and I was completely exhausted. “Thank you so much for everything you’re doing for me. I truly appreciate your time and help.”
“Very well.” She straightened her back, her large belly protruding against her robes. “Now, I must be on my way, but I shall see you again tomorrow.”
I nodded once more. “Of course, thank you.” And even though I was considered the royal in the room, I still bowed to her.
In her own right, Matron Olsander deserved reverence for all that she’d done for not only me, but other young fae too.
“You honor me with such a blessing. Thank you, and absolutely, I shall see you tomorrow.”
I returned the next two days for my remaining lessons and worked as hard as I could to learn everything Matron Olsander had to teach me. I slowly grew stronger and faster at mistphasing, and by the end of my final lesson, I was able to mistphase all the way across the great Solisarium capital.
“You have the skills now to become an expert in mistphasing.” The matron crossed her arms and lifted her chin.
Her smiles were few and far between, and her no-nonsense attitude could be quite intimidating, but I also knew it contributed to her pupils’ unparalleled success.
“And now, you simply need to practice, practice, and practice some more. My work here is done.”
As the matron implied, I still wasn’t an expert, but I also knew I had the fundamentals down. And I knew that she was right. With enough practice, I would one day be as proficient at mistphasing as Kole.
I grasped her hands. “I truly cannot thank you enough. I’m over the moons at what you’ve taught me.” Despite her gruff exterior, I pulled her into a hug.
She harrumphed against me. “Enough of that, Princess Primelle. No need to make a fuss. I’m simply doing my job.”
Nuwin stepped forward from where he stood by Kole, and a cheeky smile spread across the prince’s face. “If you want to deliver more hugs, Princess Primelle, my arms are very open.” Nuwin stretched his arms wide.
Kole growled and slugged his friend. “In your dreams, Prince.”
Nuwin snickered, and Matron Olsander sighed. “Best of luck to you, Princess Primelle. And remember, keep practicing, and you’ll one day be an expert.”
After we said our goodbyes and Nuwin left with promises to visit us in the near future on the Silten continent, I clasped Kole’s hand. My eyes grew moist as I gazed up at the stoic warrior, and that feeling in my chest reached for him, that strange sensation again fluttering around inside me.
“I honestly can’t thank you enough for this.”
He smiled tenderly, and his eyes grew hooded. “I’m glad it worked, and I knew you could do it.”
I squeezed him back, then felt inside my dress’s pocket for my book.
We’d known that my last lesson today would be quick, and since the time was drawing closer to which I had to return Legends of Our Realm, my parents had agreed that I could visit the Isle of Song following my last mistphasing lesson.
Kole arched an eyebrow. “Shall I mistphase us, or would you like to?”
My heart began to thrum because now that my lessons were over, all of my attention was shifting to finding answers to who created those creatures, why they wanted me, and what they were after, which meant that my research was officially beginning.
I shook my head. “I still don’t trust myself to go that far. You better do it.”
“Is your book stowed safe in your pocket?”
I patted the side of my dress. “It’s right here, and with any luck, after returning it, Master Fistideeous will be happy to help me again.”
Because while I was skilled in research, I wasn’t a gargoyle. The small creatures were renowned for their uncanny ability to sniff out information that eluded most fae. With any luck, he could help us uncover answers about the creatures too.
Kole mistphased us to the Isle of Song, the island that sat off the eastern shores of the continent and was renowned for holding the most prestigious university and library of our land. It was so revered that our continent’s greatest scholars lived there.
The second Kole’s mistphase calmed, I breathed in the warm sea air. Around us, grasses swayed in the breeze, but the island was far enough south that the breeze wasn’t overly biting, and there wasn’t any snow.
In front of us, a huge monolith waited, pulsing with magic. Similar to the one other time I’d been here, the library completely took my breath away. However, this time I didn’t arrive on the docks far below at the seashore. Kole had mistphased us right to the library’s steps.
“So this is it,” Kole said quietly. “I’ve never seen it before or been to this island.”
“Good thing you can mistphase so competently.” I bumped his elbow.
“Previously, it took me days to get here by ship, and that’s only because I paid extra to secure passage on a vessel that employed Faewood fairies who wielded their air and water elements to propel the ship to go faster than naturally possible. ”
He chuckled. “Stay with me, Princess, and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
I laughed at his husky declaration, and we walked forward to the huge stone stairs cut into natural rock that climbed to the building that resembled a temple. Pillars lined the walkway at the top of the stairs, and intricate mystical engravings decorated each one.
Kole pointed at the engravings. “I’ve heard those engravings come from a time when the gods and goddesses walked the realm.”
“I’ve heard the same.”
Heady power pulsed around the library. The entire building had been carved from the scarred rock that naturally rose from the land on this island.
Since the university had been constructed at the highest point on the Isle of Song, all around us, the Adriastic Sea was visible, glimmering in the distance.
Waves could be heard too, crashing below on the distant shores, but they were faint, only detectable if the wind grew silent.
We reached the top of the steps, and I thought of Master Fistideeous, the gargoyle who had helped me last month when I’d begun my hunt for the Stone. “Some say the land here feeds the gargoyles’ minds, and that’s why they’re so knowledgeable.”
“Then let’s hope they can answer a few questions after you return that book.”
Before us, huge doors waited, and even though it was daytime, torches hung and lit up the twenty-foot-tall rock entryways.