Storm Born Page 0,87

back, by the way?"

Kiyo walked out just then, carrying the bowl of water. He froze when he saw Dorian tying a cord above my breasts and around my upper arms.

"What's this?"

"An awakening," said Dorian.

"It's fine," I said. "Set the water over there."

Kiyo did so and then stood next to me, arms crossed and eyes on the gentry king.

Again, Dorian took his time in tying my upper body. He used multiple cords, and able to see better this time, I realized he had indeed woven them into an intricate pattern. Aesthetic and functional.

"There." With a last tight knot, he straightened up and regarded his work. "Not bad. It seems I haven't forgotten how to tie a decent knot after all. One more thing, and we're set."

"One more thing" turned out to be a blindfold.

"No way," I said.

"Eugenie, my sweet, your outraged protests are adorable, but they only continue to slow us down. If you want me to help you, then let me. If you don't, then take me to one of those places where human women wear revealing clothing and quickly lose their virtue through alcohol."

I let him blindfold me, feeling uneasy. I trusted Kiyo and sort of trusted Dorian, but the other bindings had already unsettled me. I didn't like being trapped or in someone else's control. The bright world went dark as fabric covered my eyes.

"This is all giving me a bad feeling," Kiyo said nearby.

"On the contrary," said Dorian, "it's giving me a very warm, very pleasant feeling. But I suppose we should return to the lesson at hand, hmm?"

"Is this the part where you explain the bondage getup?" I asked. "Or where I find out you just did it for fun."

"No, no. As hilarious as that would be, I do have my reasons. Now. I'm going to pick up this bowl of water that Kato so kindly fetched - "

"It's Kiyo," came the irritated response.

"So sorry. Anyway, I'm going to set it somewhere out here in this miniature wasteland, and you will tell me where it is."

"Oh. I get it. I'm supposed to, like, work on my non-visual senses? Listen to where you set it?"

"You won't use any of your physical senses at all."

I heard him walk away, presumably with the water, but I couldn't tell where he set it. He paced and paced in circles, kicking rocks and scuffing his shoes so I was clueless by the time he returned to me. When he spoke next, his words were right by my ear again.

"Now, given freedom, even with just a blindfold, you'd be inclined to move and want to use something - anything - to find the water. You'd turn around, sniff the air, whatever. Now you have to accept that all of that is gone. You cannot rely on what you usually can. You are trapped and powerless - more or less. Give in to that. Open yourself up to whatever comes. Find the water."

"How?"

"By reaching out to it. Tap into a sense other than the usual five. Remember the exercises we did last time, about reaching beyond yourself - in this world, not the spirit one."

"I thought magic was inborn. Isn't that what separates humans and gentry?"

"It is inborn. And your inner magic summons and controls storms. To do that, you must summon and control the appropriate elements. And to do that, you must be able to find them. Hence, you focus outward."

"How do I do that?"

"Just concentrate. But relax too. Think about the water. How it feels, what it's like. Spread your consciousness out around you, but don't go into a trance and let your spirit slip out. That'd be cheating."

"How long does it take?"

"As long as you need."

He retreated, and I sat there and waited for some revelation. Okay. Somewhere around me was a bowl of water. And something inside of me was supposed to be able to sense it. I wouldn't have believed any of it if the living room on the other side of the patio door didn't stand as proof of my supernatural powers. But I hadn't had to think to cause the storm. This was different.

All I mostly felt at first was my own body. Dorian's binds didn't hurt me, but they were snug. The stitched-up cut stung a little. The back of my head ached. My leg muscles felt stretched and inflamed. I slowly took inventory of every part of me, assessing how each one felt. I could feel the beat of my own heart, the steadiness