Page 118 of The Sundered Realms

Right now? Liris blinked, then began to smile as she reached for her pen. “Not where I thought the evening was headed a little while ago, but I probably should have expected this. Us being us. How about—can I do multiple things at once? Dispel and spell?”

“Depends on the spell,” Vhannor said, looking at her quizzically. “Where did you think—“

His eyes were already starting to widen in dawning realization, but Liris couldn’t resist: “Kissing, Vhann.”

There wasn’t really enough light to tell, but she was absolutely sure he was blushing. Probably mortified they were both such nerds that it either hadn’t occurred to him or he’d gotten distracted with talk of spellcraft.

Liris continued teasing him, which was perfectly justified and really counted as looking out for him—he’d just approved of that, after all. “Alone in our own bubble, where no one can disturb us... Come on, Vhann, even I’m not that sheltered—“

Vhannor didn’t have far to go to kiss her swiftly, cutting her off.

Liris maneuvered to her knees so she could get in closer, hands sliding up his body as he wrapped his arms around her.

When they broke for air, Vhannor rumbled in a low voice that made her shiver against him, “Lady’s choice.”

“If you expect me to choose between kisses and magic, I refuse,” Liris told him.

Vhannor smiled, and Liris did not melt against him but possibly only because he was holding her up. “Encouraging on all counts,” he murmured. “Let me rephrase: Which would you like to focus on first?”

Liris sighed, stole one more kiss—well, at that length maybe it didn’t count as stealing, but she stopped, didn’t she?—and said, “Magic. But I expect to have more time for kisses later.”

Vhannor kissed her one more time anyway, and she could feel the heat of him. “Let’s make sure of it,” he said, and it sounded like a vow.

They worked, and slept, and flew—and kissed—and Liris learned. It was an exercise not just in focus, but in endurance thereof, and that her life had thoroughly prepared her for.

She practiced dispelling complicated spells alone. She practiced changing spells, though only simple ones—anything too complicated she’d have to avoid, because not even Vhannor would be able to save her. There wasn’t much more known about Gates or ley magic, but she could practice combat strategies, to have spells ready to fight with for any situation. She learned as many principles of spell patterns as Vhannor could teach her in the time they had, to maximize the chance she’d recognize enough to figure out any spell on command without assistance.

When they stopped in Theiraos’ rocky terrain to eat, Vhannor said, “I can see you thinking. You’re supposed to be resting now so you can think later.”

“I’m bad at not thinking,” Liris admitted. “With as many patterns as we’ve looked at, I can’t help wondering how Jadrhun is actually planning on doing this. Even with the power from detonating the Gate, how does he think he’s going to communicate to the universe to un-break itself? Or put itself back together?”

“That’s one reason we’ve always known it can’t work,” Vhannor said. “Spells are... like written instructions, but the theory is that people—or rather, the sapient beings casting the spells—are the vessels through which magic can interpret instructions. If Jadrhun doesn’t know how to heal the realms, he can’t direct the magic to do so.”

“Jadrhun’s not stupid, though, and he excelled at the same spellcasting college you did, so he must know that,” Liris pointed out. “Which means he thinks he does know how to direct the magic. Like he’s come up with some new way spells don’t have to be written at all, or—“

“Spells don’t have to be written.”

Liris stared. “See, this is the sort of basic theory I am always missing.”

Vhannor looked stricken, like he’d realized this had probably just shattered the confidence he’d been trying to build in her.

Liris waved him off, her mind too busy snagging on this new idea to worry about that. “It’s fine, I’m learning, I just... feel like this is the sort of fundamental question Jadrhun’s done something with. Keep talking, please?”

“You do know this, though,” Vhannor said, frowning. “You’ve seen dancing layers in a spell, or floral arrangement—“

“Notated.”

“And you dispel them by performing them,” he pointed out.

Okay, fair point.

“Writing isn’t inherently more magical than any other art. Written spells are just more reliable, reproducible in effect. You also have a greater ability to specify, which is the main key—other forms are more difficult to make complex enough for sufficient power.”

“Like circles,” Liris mused. “Not the only shape, but consistently effective. Why are they the shape that works best for magic, anyway?”

“That, I don’t know,” Vhannor admitted. “I’m not sure anyone does.”

Liris smiled slightly. “You should know better than to say something like that to me.”

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