detail, as I have told Lizzan in our furs? For I only care to accomplish one thing.”
“Look how he no longer grunts and growls as he makes his argument,” Degg said to the other councilor with a grin. “My lessons have finally sunk in, and he can speak quite well when something is important to him.”
“This should be important to him,” Lady Junica snapped.
Smoothly Preter broke in, “Never would any monk interfere with a sacrifice to Vela. More likely, they will offer to throw your prince a feast before the . . . festivities begin.”
“The festivities?” Lizzan laughed at him. “Are monks so in need of entertainment?”
“Sometimes,” Preter admitted while blushing.
Perhaps taking pity on him, Lizzan abandoned her teasing and looked to Tyzen. “What will be the alliance’s approach?”
“We will appeal to them as we did to Krimathe,” the young prince told her. “For they might be critical to our purpose if we hope to defeat the Destroyer. Their monks might provide defense against his spells and use to their magic to assist our warriors.”
“As those from Toleh will,” said Preter. “But above all else, we hope they might help teach others in the north to do the same.”
“Teach people to use magic?” Lizzan stared at him as if he’d gone mad. “In so short a time? Do not monks study their entire lives?”
Preter nodded. “Most do. But there are those with an affinity for natural magics who learn more easily.”
“An affinity?”
“You have likely heard of some who are. Those who always know when the weather will turn. Or they know where it is best to dig a water well. Or their gardens always grow even if they are tended less.”
Lizzan’s eyebrows shot upward and she met Aerax’s eyes. “Like your mother did.”
Arching a brow, Preter looked to him. “Did she?”
Aerax grunted an assent.
“Then it is people such as your mother whom we will try to find. For their magic is not dependent on a god’s whim and is not bound by the same limitations.”
Degg frowned at him. “What limitations?”
“That a god’s power must be invited in.” He gestured to Lizzan. “That is the purpose of Vela’s quests. The goddess cannot merely change whatever she wishes; she must perform her magic through others. Vela does not transform your ale to water before it touches your lips. Instead you have agreed to let Vela work her magic through you, and so the ale changes to water as it flows over your tongue. The same it is for her priestesses and oracles, and also for most monks—many of us in Toleh invite Vela to work through us, others invite Nemek. But in truth, nobody needs a god to work through them to perform magic. It is simply much easier to learn if that conduit is already open, and a spell that might take years to master will only take a fortnight for others. Such as when a god has already touched them . . . or their ancestors.”
He paused, looking to Tyzen, who sighed and lifted his hand, palm up. Lips pursing, the prince blew softly across his skin as if encouraging a spark to life. Aerax shot a glance over his shoulder as an answering wind blew heated air against the back of his neck.
A murmur rose up from the others as a ball of flame suddenly danced in the prince’s palm—though both Preter and Tyzen were looking to him.
“As I told you,” said the monk to Tyzen, sounding pleased, before he told Aerax, “You are sensitive to magics, too. You felt the spell Tyzen cast?”
Aerax scowled and shook his head. “I only felt a breeze.”
“There was no breeze,” Lizzan said, eyes bright. “So you are as your mother was.”
“Or as your father was,” Lady Junica said, and Aerax’s scowl deepened, but the councilor was not looking at him. Instead wonder lit her face. “King Icaro and his children likely are, too. For they are all descendants of Varrin, and though he was not yet a god when he had children, still he was a powerful sorcerer . . . and his magic did not come from the gods. So he must have had an affinity for natural magics, too. A strong affinity, for his power rivaled the gods’ power.”
Preter nodded. “Very likely he did.”
“If Varrin had lived only a generation past, he would have defeated the Destroyer before so much harm was done.” She sighed before turning to Aerax. “You should take these lessons.”