horse with a traditional saddle over riding in a carriage. Tell me about this blade. It fits my hand well.”
“My princess, you have a keen eye for weapons. I picked it out from the smith with you in mind. A woman’s blade to be sure. Light and balanced. The section towards the tip allows the weight to be kept down while still retaining the ability to deliver a telling blow. This guard protects one’s hand well while this blunted section here doubles as a counter weight and an additional reinforcement. With it, you can easily dent a helm or knock any poorly held weapon out of an attacker’s hand. In reality this blade only serves as half the battle gear of a warrior.”
“Oh? Pray tell, what it the other half?”
“The weapon smith that I purchased it from told me that he fashioned it after a mural of a shield maiden that won fame fighting in the last of the Millennium Wars.”
“A shield maiden. Fitting I suppose; although, I have difficulty picturing myself bearing a shield and sword into battle.”
“The shield and armor that I left him working on is light yet durable so it shouldn’t impede you much.”
“Armor? You do have a sense of humor.”
“I find nothing funny when it comes to matters pertaining to your safety.”
“Relax Alvin, I shan’t be throwing myself on the nearest blade when the occasion arises.” Em’risi experimented with a couple stances that she had observed the men practicing.
“If I may, I know that my color is gray while Halden’s are reds and yellows. I overheard you telling Landin what his colors are, but what colors are your energy?”
“I had never thought about it. To tell the truth, I do not know. I have never seen my energy.”
“Surely being Gifted, you have energy like the rest of us and if I were to guess, I would say that it is the same color as your eyes.” Em’risi laid the sword back on the rack and held out her hands to examine in the fading light.
“I can’t see anything. Your energy is like a thin gray fog emanating from your skin, but there is no light visible around my skin.”
“Varis told me that he saw a cloud of amethyst light surround your hand just before he felt like a bucket of ice water had been thrown in his face. Corman described something similar; however, he didn’t get the shock that Varis did and he said that is shifted to an ashy purple color for a few seconds.”
“So you weren’t guessing.” Alvin looked uncomfortable after Em’risi’s accusation until she smiled good-naturedly.
“Can I try something?”
“If I had a copper for every time that I heard that today… I would have three or four coppers. Go ahead if you like.”
“All right.” Alvin picked up a pebble and lifted it into the air with his energy. It slowly floated over until it was hovering in front of Em’risi. She reached out and touched the gray mass of energy strands that were entwined around the pebble. It was almost like she could feel them. Tiny threads that resisted her touch. A thickness to the air around the pebble.
“I see it. Really faintly, but your hand has a slight lavender glow to it.” Em’risi focused on her hand and was able to make out the faint stands of energy that were extending towards Alvin’s. Playing with them, she focused and found that they moved with her thoughts. It didn’t take much focus before they became more defined. With these strands of energy obeying her, she stopped their attraction to Alvin’s energy and he confirmed that he couldn’t see the light any longer. Fascinated, Em’risi copied Alvin’s weaves around the pebble. Hearing a gasp she refocused on Alvin’s shadowy face.
“I am not holding the rock anymore.” Em’risi glanced back at the rock that remained floating before her for a couple more seconds before it returning to the dominion of gravity and fell to the ground.
“How did you do that? I stopped holding the rock, but you kept it from falling.”
“I don’t know. I was just copying what you were doing. I wove the strands of energy around the rock just like you had. I don’t know what you were meaning when you talked about amethyst energy. What I saw was almost the same color as yours only a little tinted with purple, but… now there isn’t anything.”
“I wonder…”
“What do you wonder?”
“I wonder if you are changing your energy to match other peoples. If