natch), the jars ranging in size and opacity of glass. Some of them sparked and flamed, others were still. Lisette pointed to the jars he needed to pull. A few jars reverberated, as if the contents were too powerful to be contained by mere glass. Cameron eyed those uncertainly, not at all sure if he should be ready to duck and cover.
Fortunately, they were on the other side from those, and the jars he pulled were much tamer.
“Now, review for me. You learned the power levels for each type of element. Elements commonly found in nature are…?”
“A one in power. Anything with inherent power to it will be a two.”
“Very good. And the elements in your hands?”
Cameron regarded the two jars. “I would think reflected sunlight and untouched snow isn’t common-common, so maybe a two?”
“Excellent. You’re correct. What about the distilled frankincense?”
“Well, you just said distilled, so I would think a two as well.”
“Correct. I’ve distilled this down to enhance its potency. And the carrier oil?”
“One, unless you’ve done something to it.”
“I have not.” Lisette went back to the island. “You’ll discover as you go that most potions generally have between three to five ingredients. Never more than six. Part of that is because most potion ingredients are powerful and you can’t mix too many together.”
Right, he remembered reading about this. It had been interesting to him and one of the facets of magic that made perfect sense. “I can see that. Anything over a twelve in power is an anti-spell, right? So if you have six ingredients all mixed together, and they’re all at least a two in power, you’re in anti-spell territory.”
“Close to it.” Lisette put the jars down and regarded him, her head canted. “So that made sense to you, did it?”
“Sure. It’s like making sure you don’t have too much power going through an engine. Too much power would tear it apart.”
Lisette gave him a nod, pleased. “Your engineering background is making this easier on you. Anti-spells often have a tendency to backfire on the caster. They’re unstable by nature and generally result in either complete failure or explosions. That said, there are always magicians who try for them, and sometimes they do succeed. I personally wouldn’t gamble on it, though.”
“Seems like a really poor bet to make to me.” Cameron imagined he’d have to be very desperate or crazy to try it. Mostly crazy. “Okay, so if everything here is a two in power, except the carrier oil, then it’s a seven in power altogether?”
“Correct. We don’t try to force something to be higher in power. It often has the opposite result of our goal. We instead focus on blending together elements that work well together.” Lisette pointed to each in turn. “The reflected sunlight works in conjunction with the frankincense to warm and relax the muscles. The untouched snow cools the inflamed areas and soothes the pain. The carrier oil is a vehicle to mix everything together and apply it to the skin.”
“And I speak a spell to put it together?”
“Not all potions require it. But it does work better in this case if a mage applies it, as our magic can give a gentle boost to the salve.”
Cameron thought about that for a moment. It would be hard to apply something on your own back, especially if it took up most of the left side. Alric struck him as fairly independent though, and extremely shy about letting anyone see his injured body. His suspicions stirred. “Is that really what it is? Or is that what you tell Alric so you can apply it for him?”
“You’re sharp,” Lisette approved, eyes twinkling. “I’ll let you apply this after we’re done making it.”
Oh-ho. Why him and not her? Unless…more suspicions stirred. “Lisette, by any chance, are you trying to play matchmaker?”
Lisette kept her expression prim even as she pulled out a stone mixing bowl from underneath the counter. “Stone works best for potion making. Polished stone, that is.”
Cameron made a mental note even as he pressed for the information he really wanted to know. Because he needed to get to the bottom of this before he dug himself into an embarrassing corner. “I’m asking because I honestly can’t read the man. He’s giving me very mixed signals.”
Her eyes cut to his face, examining him. “Are you interested in him, then?”
“Excuse you, the man’s so hot it’s a wonder he doesn’t set things on fire. Me—I’m talking about setting me on fire. And he’s charming, like seriously