The Broken Kingdoms of Osvolta (Kingdoms of Osvolta #1)

34. Practice Makes Perfect

Chapter thirty-four

Practice Makes Perfect

S olveig stood before the group of newly anointed Hydromancers. Tern Genard was front and centre, with a hungry gleam in his eyes. Behind him were Tasy Roy, Sigra Rozen and Charla Laxie. The three girls huddled with their heads pressed together as they whispered. Renit Teria stood alone on the far side of the room; her eyes remained red as tears continued to flow.

“Welcome Hydromancers, for those of you who aren’t aware, my name is Solveig.”

“You’re the princess.” Sigra said, her eyes wide and shining, voice dripping with wonder. The other girls in her group giggled mercilessly at her outburst.

Solveig’s answering smile was tight. “I am indeed. However, within the guild, titles and social standings are of no concern. Your position here will depend solely on how little or how much you choose to train your powers. You’ll have daily training sessions here with guild leaders after your regular schooling.”

“First, who here can tell me some benefits of the Hydromancer gift?”

Sigra’s hand flew to the air as she wriggled on the spot, desperate to be chosen. Solveig’s answering smile was kind. She saw a lot of her younger self in the girl. Eyes full of wonder at what the future may hold, not yet tarnished by the reality, nor the hatred of the anti-magicists. To her, her power was still new, exciting, and Solveig hoped it would stay that way for as long as possible.

“Sigra?”

“Manipulators can wield water that already exists. They can heal the injured, stop waves and rain,” she rushed, barely able to contain her excitement.

“That’s good Sigra, thank you.” Solveig smiled at the girl. “Anyone else?”

“Charla? How about you?” The girl swallowed as she met Solveig’s gaze. “Can you tell me what a creator can do with hydromancy?”

Charla nodded. “They erm—” She paused, taking a deep breath. “Creators can manifest water from nothing. They can make rain in a cloudless sky, waves in a dessert, drinking water in the middle of the ocean.”

“That’s right, well done.” Solveig smiled encouragingly once more. “Last, can anyone tell me about the dangers for both manipulators and creators?”

“They can die,” Tasy Roy stated flatly.

“Yes,” Solveig agreed, “but how?”

“Use too much and you risk burning out all your energy. Creators are most at risk, because of the power it takes to create from nothing, but even manipulators should beware. Some may be tempted to use ley lines to boost them, but they can drain as fast as they give.” There was no feeling in Tasy’s voice as she spoke, staring straight ahead, and Solveig realised now why the girl knew so much. Her parents had burned out attempting to drain flood waters from the city three years ago. She’d been in her grandmother’s care since.

“That’s correct, Tasy, thank you.” Solveig smiled again, but this time it was solemn, in recognition of all the girl had lost.

“You’ll go over all of this and more in greater detail over the next few years, but before we begin your first session, are there any questions for me?” She surveyed the room. There was silence for a moment, and then Tern raised his hand.

“Yes, Mr Genard?”

“Are we going to learn how to harness our power the way you did?”

“You will have the time and opportunity to develop your powers as you see fit. For now, we’ll be starting with the basics. Some of you may already have some experience, but others.” Her gaze landed on Renit. “Require more help. Momentarily, I will have a water vessel brought in and one at a time you will practise creating a stable ball of water. You’ll let it hover in the air before returning it to the vessel without losing a single drop. We will do this over and over until you are all able to complete the task. Remember, you’re a team and all of you must succeed to progress to the next step. Is that understood?” The group nodded. “Fantastic. Then let us begin,” Solveig said, spinning on the spot.

She made to open the door, but it swung out before she could even reach for the handle, and in sauntered the Prince of Elithiend. With a water vessel moving along ahead of him, of its own accord. So, this was the prince’s power, Aire Wender.

“Afternoon,” he said with flippant ease. As though he wasn’t an enemy prince and hadn’t revealed himself as an Aire Wender, who had no business being inside the walls of the Guild of Hydromancers.

“Emmerich, Aire Wender.” He gestured to himself. “Don’t mind me. In fact, pretend I’m not here.” His eyes alighted on Solveig, and he chuckled, as though he could see the anger rolling off her skin in waves.

Solveig grabbed his hand, pulling him to one side. “What are you doing here?”

“Easy, Princess. I came to observe.” He smiled nonchalantly, eyes glistening with humour, his gaze falling to her mouth for a beat before meeting her glare once more.

“And I told you, you needed permission to be here.”

“Relax, would you? They granted it this morning, the king’s seal of approval and all.” He pulled a scroll from the back pocket of his trousers to show Solveig the written confirmation. “Now carry on with your class, pretend I’m not here.” he smiled as if it was the easiest thing in the world to pretend that the Prince of Elithiend wasn’t there.

She stalked back to the centre of the room, muscles tense as she stood before the vessel, taking a deep breath as she reached down to her well of power. Even now, it still felt significantly depleted, as barren as the Scorch.

The manipulation side of elemental magic was one of the easiest parts to learn. It was why they used it as a test in the manifestation ceremony. Anyone with an elemental affinity could manipulate with little training. What they taught in the guild was how to adapt and grow. How to pace your power to avoid burnout. That was the single most important lesson an elemental could learn. It was the difference between life or death. However, manipulation magic was also the only form that Solveig had ever mastered. Much to her family’s dismay. It was also the only class that she was qualified to teach.

Solveig held out one hand. Feeling her magic connect to the water within the vessel. Sensing every part as though it were an extension of herself. And then, silently, she commanded a section to separate from the rest. Raising the other hand to form it into a ball of water, perfectly round without a single ripple.

Manipulation may be the only magic she was capable of. But Solveig had honed her skills to the best of her abilities. Which she proved by dropping her hands and moving to walk around the room. The ball of water stayed exactly where she’d manifested it. Not one drop fled, as she controlled it with her mind alone. This was the first class that Solveig had taught at the guild after returning from the mine. She was pleased to see that it felt as though she had spent no time away.

She approached Tern first. Who had more interest in the world outside the window — where a group of teenagers engaged in weapons training — than he did in the class.

“Mr Genard, since you showed such incredible manipulation skill at your ceremony yesterday, you’ll go first,” she said. Her back to her own sphere of water as she directed it to return to the vessel from where it had originated, without once disturbing the rest of the water.

“Easy.” The boy said. With a little too much self-assurance for a ten-year-old. He sauntered over to the pedestal and thrust out a hand. The rest of the group waited with bated breath.

Tern’s brow dropped low in concentration. He managed to gather some water from the bowl, but no matter how hard or how long he tried. He could not get it to form into a ball, as she had asked.

“Thank you, Tern, that’s enough.” Solveig said, ordering him to stand back with his classmates. Whilst, she returned to the front, staring directly at the disgruntled boy.

“Lesson number one. The only reason some of you could perform the tricks you did in the ceremony was because of the temple itself. Had the ceremony taken place here, none of you would have succeeded. That is because they built the Temple of The Oracle on the cross point of two ley lines. Just by being in the temple, you could connect with the energy radiating from within the earth. It helped to manifest your power. Now you must learn to do it entirely from within. That, Master Genard, is why you could create none of those fancy shapes you were capable of yesterday. Next time, pay attention. And I won’t have to embarrass you in front of your classmates again.” Tern glared at Solveig; his face reddened slightly.

“Yeah, right,” he muttered. “You thrive off people’s pain, that’s what my mum says. What they all say, isn’t it?”

Emmerich pushed off from the wall he had been leaning against, as though he was ready to fight a ten-year-old over a bunch of harmless words. Solveig shook her head, spearing him with her eyes, a warning to back down.

“Some people say that yes.” She shrugged, turning back toward the boy. “All I care about within these walls is that you show me the respect I have earned as a Guild Leader. The same respect your other instructors will also require. If you decide to not pay attention, you must be prepared to back it up with impressive skill, which you have not done.”

The boy continued to glare, and Solveig ignored him. “Would anyone else like to give it a shot?” she asked, looking at each of the students. Until her eyes fell upon Renit. “How about you, Miss Teria?”

The girl met her gaze and wordlessly stood. Shoulders shaking as she made her way toward the pedestal. She held out a hand, closing her eyes for a moment before a cruel smirk took over her face and the water began rapidly flowing over the pedestal at her command.

Solveig blanched. “Miss Teria! stop this instant.”

She didn’t. Merely staring at the princess, her gaze devoid of any life.

“Out, everyone out,” Solveig commanded. Emmerich took charge, herding the rest of the children down the stairs, leaving Solveig to deal with Renit alone.

“Well, that didn’t go as planned, did it?” Emmerich walked up to where Solveig was attempting to dry off her sodden trousers in the weak sunlight.

“Something always goes awry on the first day. This is all new to them,” she said, trying to shrug him off, but he came to sit beside her instead.

“There’s something I don’t understand though,”

“And what might that be?”

Emmerich eyed her thoughtfully. “Of all people you could have chosen to go next, you picked the one child in the room who showed creator abilities from the off.”

“Was there a question there?”

“Why?” he pressed.

Solveig smirked. “I was curious what power she would have away from the ley line.”

“That would be fair, or…”

“Or what?” She sliced him with a sharp stare.

“Or maybe what you truthfully wanted was to cause a diversion.”

“And why would I do that?” Solveig laughed, though her eyes narrowed on him.

“I’m not sure,” he leaned back on his elbows, eyes falling shut, “but I will figure it out, Princess, that you can count on.”

“Can’t wait,” Solveig said as she stared down at the citizens milling around the market, one level below them. Grateful that the chill air dulled the ever-present stench of rot billowing up to assault their senses.

“Since your class finished early, how about that training session?”

“Just because we’re supposed to be working together, Prince, doesn’t mean we have to spend every waking moment bothering each other.”

“Oh, I know,” he smiled, leaning toward her. “But I showed you my affinity today. If you were so curious about what little Renit Teria could do, aren’t you even curious about what I can do?”

Solveig turned, meeting the prince’s gaze with a wry smile. “Oh, you want to play, Prince?” she jumped to her feet, holding a hand out to him. “Fine then, let’s play.”