Having not heard Krew speak to me, Owen said even more angrily, “Jorah! Stop it, dammit. Right now.”
I stopped with one hand, only to use it to send a breeze at Owen that would knock him down. At the last minute, being afraid that I would chuck him like I had Keir, I sent out even more magic to catch him. Just to be safe.
He grunted as my magic knocked him off his feet. And sure enough, he looked as if he landed in a pillow of my silver magic.
“Not funny.”
I snickered. It was a little funny.
Jorah.
Uh-oh. The full name comes out.
“You are far too contumacious for your own good,” Krew grumbled as he moved toward me.
I squinted at him and spun, my back now to the glowing lake. “Is that even a word?”
“I—” He ran a hand down his face. “I don’t know!”
I tried not to smirk at his honesty. He was clearly frustrated with me. Now was not the time to laugh.
Krew glared at me. “Stop. I know you are mad because of the plan to get the ring. I know you didn’t like it. I know it’s been a waiting game all day and we still don’t know all the answers. I’m frustrated too.” He’d been walking while he spoke to me, and now he was right in front of me. “Stop, Jorah. That’s enough magic for one day.”
I shook my head. “No. No it’s not. The water hasn’t changed yet. And I’m not skilled enough to use this magic for anything else, so let me at least try to do this.”
He put a hand on my arm, and I found that not only the lake was glowing, but I was also lit up with my magic. “You can try again tomorrow, love. But that is enough for today.”
The tenderness of his words had me finally cutting off the magic. At almost the same time I did, I felt it. The thin line of blood trailing out of my nose.
I guess I had used far more magic than I thought despite using it in less time than it normally took Krew and Keir to practice. I’d only seen this once before, when Keir had used so much magic putting out the fires in Nerede that he’d also bled from his nose.
I wiped at it and took a step forward. There was no adrenaline high this time. There was no change to the lake either. All that remained was a bone deep exhaustion.
“Are you all right?” Krew asked gently, handing me a handkerchief from somewhere.
I let out a long sigh. “I’m scared. And worried. And tired. So no. I’m not all right.”
“Here, let her sit a moment,” Owen offered, as a tree trunk was moved toward me laced in green magic.
I gladly sat down, my eyes looking upward to try to find the stars from around the branches. I kept wiping at my nose, but it was slowing already. “Aren’t you going to say I told you so?” I asked Owen.
He shook his head. “No. This is a lesson I hoped you’d never have to learn. It doesn’t feel good when you reach the level of burnout. Better get a little food and get to bed.”
“Just to await the ball tomorrow. Can’t wait.”
Owen sat next to me, nudging me like he always did with his elbow. “I have no doubt you’ll heal this lake someday, Jorah. Maybe it isn’t about the amount at once, but how often you try. Maybe on try ninety-nine it works, I don’t know. But I think even the forest wouldn’t want you to kill yourself in trying to save it.”
One lone tear escaped out my eye. “Okay.”
“And I know you are worried about the ball, unsure if you should even go, but I know for a fact you have grown leaps and bounds with your magic this last week, Jorah.”
“I—”
I couldn’t even argue before Owen was cutting me off. “I don’t care if you don’t trust it yet. You can contain it as well as any Enchanted I know. And you are using enough of it throughout the day now.” He paused. “You’re ready.”
His words were too much to bear. Far kinder than I deserved. “And if I walk in that ballroom and see the king, unable to keep my magic from showing, and he finds out in the first few moments I have magic?”
Krew provided, “Then it’s a good thing I still have my magic too, love. It will be handled, one way or another.”
