“We’re lucky to have an empathetic leader such as yourself,” Aurelio says, flashing me a small smile.
Is he trying to get me to blush? I dive back into my work, shaking off the fluttery feelings in my chest. Unfortunately, Aurelio doesn’t take that as a sign to leave me alone.
“May I ask something?”
“What is it?”
“How is this ancient magic different from divine magic?”
I blink. That’s what he wants to know? I’ll admit, it’s a much nicer topic than my deep, dark feelings about the situation, but it’s not what I expected.
“Ancient magic draws power from the user’s energy. Divine magic comes as a blessing from a god or goddess. I explained that much earlier. In practice, divine magic only requires a specific prayer, and the magic user can perform a specific number of each spell per day as allotted by their patron god or goddess. You also need a staff blessed by the Holy Mother to channel that magic, or it could damage your body.”
“That sounds both terribly convenient and inconvenient,” Aurelio remarks.
“It has its pros and cons. Ancient magic, on the other hand, is entirely different,” I continue. “Only those with imperial blood can wield it; our bodies are constructed a little differently from regular humans. We’re sturdier, we live longer, and we have a lot more innate energy running through our bodies to fuel our magic. Magic is a part of us, physically and emotionally.
“We learn to channel our magic through ourselves from a young age. Everyone has their own preferred way of doing it, so until we’re around thirteen or fourteen, we have to figure magic out on our own. Once we’ve figured out the channeling process, we learn to regulate our energy usage, decrease our recovery times, and perform specific magic under pressure. We’re not bound by specific spells, charms, or enchantments; whatever we can imagine, we can breathe to life if we have enough magic and focus.”
“You make it sound as though an imperial human could crush anything with the flick of a wrist,” Aurelio chuckles.
“Easier said than done. To crush someone with a flick of the wrist requires years of practice to become so second-nature.”
“Interesting. So, even though your only limitation is your mind, that makes it incredibly difficult to cast magic because your mind is your limitation,” Aurelio summarizes, his brows scrunching together in thought. “You’d think there would be a way to make that easier overall, but maybe not.”
“There is no ‘easy’ when it comes to ancient magic. Even if I think I know the way a simple fire spell affects my body, if I’m not paying attention, I can have a really bad off day, burn down half the city, and nearly kill myself in the process. It’s an extreme example, but it has happened to previous frustrated rulers of Celestia.”
“What did I miss in history class?” Aurelio mutters.
I crack a smile at that one. “A lot, apparently.”
“Apparently. So…this healing you’re doing,” Aurelio starts, his eyes darting back to the child I’m working on. “How does it work?”
“Well, it’s kind of hard to describe. Give me a moment.”
I close my eyes, allowing myself to sink into the sensations of magic. I can feel the pulse of energy through my body, from the electrifying sensations in my heart to the twitch of my muscles to the surge of the energy coursing through my self-created channels. It runs from my heart up into my arms, then all the way down my hands. I’ve also got two channels intertwining through my middle, then diverging to run from my hips all the way down through my heels, where I have secondary energy release points.
“It’s kind of like…channeling lightning through your body. Only you are the source of that lightning,” I explain. “It’s warm and familiar, but terrifying and exhilarating all at once. I hold so much power right beneath the surface of my skin. If I restrain it too much, I can hurt myself; if I let it out all at once, I can cause calamity-level devastation.”
“That sounds like the adventure of a lifetime every day of your life,” Aurelio laughs.
“You know, when you think about it, it really is,” Daelia chimes in. “I never know if today’s the day I’ll trip in a public square and set off an explosion that destroys half the merchants in the city.”
“Whoa, that can happen?” Aurelio gasps.
I roll my eyes. “That’s a little dramatic, Daelia.”
“Is it, though? You used to sneeze and accidentally set things on fire as a kid,” she teases.
My heart seizes in my chest to see Aurelio look at me with that adoring expression on his face. I want nothing more than to punch both him and my sister now.
“Aw, that sounds adorable. Does she sound like a kitten when she sneezes, too?”
“She does,” Daelia replies, shooting me a devilish grin.
“I’d appreciate it if we’d focus more on saving the lives of these children and less on my embarrassing childhood,” I snap.
That’s enough to get the two knuckleheads to knock it off. I set to work curing the illnesses of the villagers in a tense silence, then shakily rise to my feet afterward, watching as Daelia heals the last injury. I don’t feel dizzy or anything when Ophelia comes up to thank me, but by the time she’s through her third sentence, I realize I’m not hearing anything she’s saying. Daelia’s words are a little fuzzy, too.
