“A half hour?” Ryland groaned, melodramatically dropping his head down on the top of the seat. “Then we have another plane ride?”
“Yep.”
“But that will be a short one,” Alex added.
“How short?” Ry asked.
“Only about two hours,” Alex assured him.
“Then we’ll be there?”
“Yes,” I said with a sneaky grin, “after the car ride.”
“Car ride!”
“Oh, it won’t be that bad, we’ll be there before you know it,” I said, picking up my discarded SkyMall from last night and thumbing through it.
“Yeah right, you said that yesterday, and we’re still not there!”
“Well, whining about it isn’t going to get us there any faster,” I said, not looking up from my magazine.
“Only Mom can say that!”
“OK, let me put it this way,” I looked up at him, “stop whining, or I’ll call the flight attendant over here and make him yell at you for not sitting right in the chair.”
He crossed his arms over the top of the seat and rested his chin on them. “Fine,” he mumbled against his arm. I glanced over at Alex, who was trying very hard not to seem amused by our bickering, before turning my attention back to SkyMall.
“I like your necklace,” Ryland said suddenly.
“I’m not wearing a necklace,” I said.
“Not you,” he said, with a little too much attitude.
I glanced up to see he was looking at Alex.
“Do you?” Alex smiled, pulling the necklace he was wearing all the way out of his shirt. “Well, I’m glad to hear it, because you are going to have one just like it.”
I turned to take a closer look. It was a small circle pendant on a thin black woven leather cord. The pendant was silver in color and had a deep blue gem set in the center of what looked to be interwoven Celtic knots.
“Cool,” Ryland said, leaning over the back of the seat to get a better look.
Movement down the aisle caught my attention. “Ry, turn around and sit down, the flight attendant is coming and you’re going to get in trouble.”
“Can I stay up here?” he asked.
“Yes, just sit.”
“OK,” he said, flopping right way round.
With something between a grin and a grimace, I turned to Alex, “Sorry about tha–”
“Can I sit by the window?” Ry asked, smushing his face in the small gap between the seats in order to see me without standing up.
“Yes,” I growled. “Sit wherever you want, just sit!”
“OK, OK, geez,” he grumbled as he slid over to the window seat.
“And buckle your seatbelt!” I whispered just as the flight attendant walked by. Once he’d passed, I turned back to Alex, who was still looking bemused by our banter. “Sorry,” I whispered.
“Don’t be,” he said, his smile making my heart beat just a little faster. “He’s a good kid.”
“Yeah, so I’m told.” I couldn’t help but grin. “So, what is that?” I asked nodding towards his necklace. “I assume it has something to do with…”
He nodded, knowing what I meant. “It’s called a Sciath, it means shield. Every Holder has one.”
“What’s it do?” I asked, keeping my voice low enough to avoid the miniature set of ears in the next row.
“It helps us to use our abilities – to control them. For instance, if I didn’t have mine, I would still be able to cast, but I wouldn’t be able to control who saw my projections, or how long they lasted. It would also be possible for me to start projecting things against my will, though now I’m old enough for that not to be too big a problem. That’s more a issue with newly awakened Holders.”
“So, do you wear it all the time? It seems like you really only need it when you use your ability.”
“Well… there’s one more thing. It protects our weakness.”
“Your what?”
“Every ability comes with its own weakness. We’re not sure why, best we can figure is that nature likes balance. Our Sciaths hide our weaknesses.”
“Weakness like what? Like Ryland hearing random voices?”
“Sort of.” He nodded. “Ryland hasn’t had his Awakening yet, and so doesn’t have his weakness. Actually, what I told him is only partially true. When he gets to St Brigid’s he will get a charm that will control his ability, but it won’t be his Sciath. He won’t get that until after his Awakening. We give charmed necklaces to all the un-awakened users so that they have an easier time before the change. In Ryland’s case, it will stop him from hearing thoughts randomly or as you