Mine to Spell (Mine #2) (13 page)

“
Exactly, but it must be with a spell. And any form of defending yourself from an attack is one point.”

“
No differentiating of points for defending? It seems like those spells could vary a lot.”

“
They do, and defending is important, but Chardonians don’t think it’s as meaningful as attacking an opponent where they could be critically injured.”

I don’t want to think on the critically injured part—neither giving nor receiving. “Chardonians don’t think? What about other countries? Do you have a tournament like this in Chryos?”

“All the time. And other countries, too. Chardonia is the only country that doesn’t participate in tournaments outside of its own. Most other countries are fairly friendly, but travel between countries is very difficult so it’s not as easy to maintain as we’d like.”

“
Truly? Do women participate in other countries? In Chryos?”

He laughs. “You’re insatiable.” I twist my hands together under the table, wondering if that’s good or bad, but before I can decide, he continues, “The tournaments in other countries vary a lot. Some are small, a lot are bigger, mostly because Chardonia makes it tougher and tougher for outsiders to come in.”

“But you’re here. And others come. Why not just go to another country’s tournament?”

“
Trust me, most do. But some, like me, are trying to get in to help. Or, in the case of this year, seeing if any changes are happening. Others want to show Chardonia up. I don’t know why they still think that, when only a Chardonian council member has won for as long as anyone can remember.”

“
Someone from the council always wins?”

“
Always. Well, except last year the Grand Chancellor’s son won, but he might as well be on the council.”

It’s true. I remember, after Zade beat Thomas and won Serena, hearing the announcement while I was waiting for her to wake and fretting she might not. For many hours I feared father wouldn’t allow her to. “Well, I suppose we’ll have to see what we can do about that then, won’t we?”

And it hits me that not only are we both competing in the same tournament, but that we may compete against one another. I don’t want to fight him. Though with as many participants as there are, it’s highly unlikely we’ll have to fight against each other, unless we both make it far in the tournament. If that happens, well, I’ll concern myself with it if it happens.

I change the subject to distract myself from that disturbing line of thought. “What about women? You didn’t answer that question.”

“Only because you ask so many questions it’s hard to keep up.” I start to apologize, but he smiles and says, “It’s not a bad thing. I like it.”

He does? That’s certainly new, but something I could become accustomed to. “What about women then? Do they enter tournaments in other countries?”

“Many do. Some countries still have more men competing, but Envado sometimes has more women than men. Probably another reason Chardonia doesn’t participate in them. They could never stand losing to a woman.”

Yet to me the thought has a nice flash of appeal. It also reminds me of Edward’s cowering. “I can understand how that might bother them. But I’m willing to defeat them anyway.”

“You will.” He winks at me, and a trill of happiness bounds through me.

There are still so many questions I want answers to. So much I need to learn before the tournament. There’s little time to think on his smiles and winks. I probably shouldn’t inquire, yet I can’t help it. There must be more to know about the man who’s willing to help me. Willing to wink and smile at me. “Did you have someone you left behind? Property you signed away?”

He gives me one of his grins, though this one has a touch of something I don’t understand. “No family. No property.”

“
Oh.” I study the rings on my left hand. No probably about it. I shouldn’t have pried. “I’m sorry.”

“
Don’t worry about it. I’ve been an orphan for a long time. I’m used to it, but it left me with no money and very few things.” He shrugs. “It happened so long ago, it’s just part of who I am.”

“
Don’t you get lonely?” Even though I should have already learned my lesson, I can’t help but ask because I’ve been lonely for a long time, except for moments like now when he’s here.

“
Nah. There’s a couple who took me in when I was a kid. They’ve taught me a lot. Sent me to school and made sure I had a lot of kids to play with. I was always the one that was sent to school with enough treats for everyone. Extra treats for someone having a bad day.”

“
I can see how you’d get along well with lots of people.”

“
You seem like you would, too.”

The thought startles me. “What makes you say that?”

“Other than the whole trying to evade me in the beginning, you’ve been really nice to talk to.”

The compliment warms me, stirring my magic. “I’ve never truly been given the chance to get along with very many people. I only ever had my sister and a few classmates. Class isn’t the best place to build relationships. The ball was my best chance to get to know more people, and I ruined that.”

“What ball? How did you ruin it?”

I rub my hand on the cushion next me. “Serena’s ball, the one where she was given her freedom. Do you know of it?”

“I’m quite familiar with it. What happened there with you?”

I learned too much from my outspoken sister. Though it’s good I did. If I hadn’t, I don’t think I’d have my freedom now. “I was being inane and taunting the freedom I’d gained under Zade’s supervision in front of Father. Wearing what’s considered tarnished clothes. Naturally, as soon as he saw me, he banished me from attending the ball and locked me in a room. I snuck out, but by then, all the fun was over and it was just fighting.”

“You’ve never been to another ball or other big activity?”

“
No. Serena went to one other ball when she turned sixteen before she ever met Zade, but hers was supposed to be my first. I’ve been around people at the tournament last year but didn’t have many opportunities to get to know others. We’re discouraged from mingling. Other than that, the only chance I got was at class, and the most girls they’d allow in a class was ten. The boys could come and go as they pleased, or probably as their parents pleased, so their numbers varied a lot. Some weeks there would be no boys. Other weeks we’d have twelve to fifteen.”

“
That sounds like a horrible idea.”

“
Oh, it was. It was supposed to be a good chance for us girls to learn what it would be like should our owners ever do something like take us to a restaurant, or ball, or some public event to show us off.” Thank magic I escaped that fate. “Mostly, it was an excuse for the boys to get huffy because there weren’t enough girls giving them attention. Some were nice, though. It was just better when they kept in smaller numbers.”

“
I bet.”

His gaze becomes intense, like he’s trying to see how much I hurt from the memories. To distract us both, I ask, “What about other Chardonian women? Why haven’t they figured out how to do magic when I have?”

He leans back. “I don’t know for certain. You have a phenomenal amount of power. That’s probably the biggest thing. Having so much of it makes it harder to not have something happen with it.”

“
That makes sense. I remember the first time I cast a spell, it was like something was struggling to get out of me.”

“
What happened?”

It feels strange to tell someone, but also like my magic, the story is bursting from me, excited to be told after years of cowering. “I convinced Serena to throw mud at the councilman’s horses after sneaking out during one of their meetings. When father found out, Serena took the blame and the worst of the punishment. I don’t know what he did to her, but she never again joined in my antics. Just as well. Father sent me to the basement alone without any light for my part in it. I kept thinking about how scared I was and how I wished more than anything there was light. Something built and built inside me until it popped out, a bright flicker of hope among my dark guilt.”

“And you never told anyone?”

“
I wanted to. I usually tell my sisters everything, but I was seven. Even then, I knew well enough that women didn’t do magic. I didn’t know if I was broken or what, but I did know it was something I needed to keep to myself.” It was then I started showing everyone only the side I wanted them to see.”

“
It’s great that you figured it out yourself, but what’s even more amazing is that you kept it to yourself all these years. That’s quite the accomplishment.” His words fill me with warmth. “It sounds like it was the fact that you have so much magic charged with an emotional experience that helped you discover it. There’s a lot of things Chardonian men do to make it harder on woman. Not only do they punish you into submission, but they say women can’t. And they put restrictions on you, like wearing gloves.”

“
Gloves change magic?”

“
Many people find it difficult to cast through any sort of barrier. That’s why most cast spells through their bare hands.”

“
But I’ve cast spells through my gloves many times.”

“
Harder, not impossible. And again, your level of magic would make it easier. Have you ever tried a spell with your gloves on and then the same spell without?”

“
No.”

“
You should. It’ll probably be different.”

I smooth down my hair with my usual spell, same as always. Then I take off my glove and try again. Only this time, the spell rips out of me so powerful, my hair will probably be stuck to my head for a week. “Wow.”

Lukas chuckles. “Gloveless for the tournament, I think.”

“
That would be wise.” This will take some getting used to. “Why do you wear glasses if you could fix it with magic?”

“
I don’t know enough about eyes to fix it myself and can’t afford someone who does.”

I hook a finger around two of my bracelets. “Is that why they can’t fix Zade’s limp? I thought he had a lot of money.”

“He does, at least from my understanding. His problem is that the warlock who first tried to heal it did so incorrectly, and he has yet to find someone that both knows how to properly fix it and has enough magic to do so.”

The thought lingers with me, reminding me that even when I gain more knowledge about magic, some things are still impossible to fix. Poor Zade. “It’s getting late. We didn’t spend much time preparing for the tournament.”

“This is all important, too. You can learn a lot from what’s outside yourself.” He leans a little closer. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to come back tomorrow.”

Mind? I wish it was already tomorrow. “If you have time, that would be nice.”

He gives me his smile small and full of happiness. Something warm and wonderful rushes through me, like magic, but brighter. It’s because I’m excited to finally be able to ask questions and actually get answers. That’s all it is. Asking and answering.

“
Tomorrow then,” he says.

“
Tomorrow.”

As I watch him go, I keep reminding myself it’s only about learning magic. But it feels like so much more.

Chapter Twelve

Lukas not only comes the next day but comes when I’d usually be asleep. He’s much too chipper for the early hour. If my own anticipation of him coming and teaching more hadn’t woke me extra early this morning, I’d think his sunny personality was wrong. Instead, it brightens me even more.

“
You must be serious about helping if you’re here this early.”

“
Course I am. I've had years of practice. You only have about six weeks.”

My throat falls to the pit of my stomach. And here I was hoping for something a little more… There isn’t anything to hope for except learning and surviving. “Thanks for the reminder.”

“Wish I could say sorry, but I’m not. You may have power and strength, but you don’t have the training, knowledge, and experience needed with it. Surviving long isn’t likely unless we change that.”

The thought of my death flashes through my mind. “When you put it like that…”

“We should practice. And no getting sidetracked today,” he says, like we both need the reminder. “What spells do you already know?”

“
Not many. Mostly things I saw father do, or things I suppose I wanted bad enough. My hair spell you saw yesterday.” I shrug. “I don’t really understand how most spells work and why I can do some things but not others.”

“
We’ll start there then,” he says. “The spells you can cast depend on your knowledge and power you have. Your spells have probably been working fairly well since you have a lot of power. But could be better since you don’t have the knowledge that goes with them.”

“
When I hexed Edward, why was it so effective? I didn’t know what I was doing. I was only more frightened than I’ve ever been. The spell was a reaction. Never used it before, yet it was entirely effective.”