Page 85 of The Queen and the Half-blood
Swallowing, she shifted her attention to the brazier. “Come on, then,” she muttered. “Let’s get started.”
“First, you need to quieten your mind … as I showed you in Duncrag,” the chief-seer replied.
Lara closed her eyes. Gods, this was the most difficult part. Her first couple of sessions with Ruari had felt like she’d been trudging through a bog. Her thoughts often flitted off in various directions. But she was determined to do better this evening. There wasn’t any time for a wandering mind. She had to focus.
Moments passed, and as Ruari’s instructions filtered through the tent, she forgot about her audience and focused on the rise and fall of his voice.
And, eventually, a stillness crept over her.
That was better. It felt as if a calm pond had settled deep inside her chest.
“Are you ready to try again?” Ruari asked softly.
“Aye,” she whispered back.
Her eyes flickered open then, and she tightened the fingers of her right hand around the cairn stone, as she had in Duncrag. Her gaze then shifted to the flames dancing in the brazier. To her surprise, she forged a connection immediately. It was so much easier in a calm state, and the reassuring feel of the stone against her palm made something quicken inside her, an understanding that she’d lacked previously.
At Gateway, she’d wielded fire like a blunt instrument, but now, it felt like a lyre. She just had to learn how to play it. Tentatively, she reached out her left hand, wiggling her fingersslightly. And in response, the flames in the brazier jumped high into the air.
Ruari muttered an oath, but Lara ignored him. She needed to retain her focus, her inner calm.
Meanwhile, Cailean, Bree, and Alar looked on intently. They wanted to see what she was capable of—and she’d show them.
An instant later, the flames were dancing on her palm, like the corpse candles had on that fateful day. The day she and Alar met.
The flames on her palm went wild, flaring upward in greedy golden tongues. Of course, they were mirroring Lara’s emotions—for thinking of the man who stood just a couple of feet away caused the still waters inside her to ripple, as if stirred by a breeze.
Shit.Despite that she’d done her best to distance herself from him since their argument, he still affected her. A painful knot of loneliness, longing, and frustration clenched deep in her chest then. She was stronger than this.
Sensing her turmoil, the flames on her palm scattered haphazardly.
Lara sucked in a deep breath, frustration beating against her breastbone.This won’t do.
“Give each thought a name, remember.” Ruari’s voice intruded then. “And imagine putting them, one by one, into a sack.”
Lara nodded, doggedly following his instructions. She’d master this.
“Now … tie the sack up and throw it aside.”
She did. It worked, and moments later, the flames danced merrily on her palm once more.
“What else can you do, Lara?” Alar asked, a challenge in his voice. “Show us.”
Heat washed over her.Prick. He was right though: summoning fire to her palm wasn’t so hard. However, she was suddenly nervous to push it further. What if she lost control?
The flames guttered.
Breathing an oath, Lara closed her eyes and let stillness settle. She hadn’t realized what a bubbling cauldron of emotion she was on the inside. All it took was a few words from the Half-blood, and her temper spiked.
Fire doesn’t lie.
She was going to have to work hard if she wanted to wield fire successfully with Alar present.
Opening her eyes, she noted that the flames flickered eagerly in the center of her palm now, as if waiting for instruction.
“That’s better,” Ruari said, his tone soothing. “Mark things rather than respond to them. The flames will respond better if you stay calm.”
She loosened her grip on the cairn stone with her other hand, gently rubbing it with her thumb. And when she did, the flames formed a neat ring and began to dance like revelers around a Bealtunn Fire.
