The Art of Blood and Power (Book 2 in The Gifted Trilogy)

29- Grief and Coping Strategies

In the end, the twins Elian and Elvio ended up joining Accalia, Cicero and I on our trip back to the Ember Court. I threatened to shorten their names to Ian and Vio but at their blank expressions towards the joke, I doubted either would answer to anything other than their full names.

    They kept to themselves during the journey home, only speaking occasionally to Accalia but mostly keeping to themselves, whispering back and forth to each other in words too quiet for my ears to make out. Towards the end of our journey, I steered my horse to trot next to Accalia's. She was a natural rider, telling me that Visilla must have horses as well.

    "What is their Gifted ability, anyway?" I asked, tossing a look backwards towards where the two somehow managed to ride their horses in complete unison, the horses trotting at the exact same tempo, each boy with an identical expression of repressed curiosity.

    "In our country, we call it 'the blessing'" Accalia explained to me, shooting a backwards glance towards them as well. "Elian possesses the blessing of controlling water, while Elvio controls fire."

    "But they're twins, how is that even possible?" I asked. I had never heard of two siblings from the same family possessing different abilities, much less twins. Interbreeding between different Gifted groups was even more infrequent in Naturian than Gifted/non-Gifted couples.

    "Their mother had the water blessing while their father possessed the fire blessing" she explained. "In our land, we believe the blessings we are given at birth to be an indication of the type of people we are. If given the choice between two different blessings from our parental lineage, we lean more towards the blessing that better embodies our character.

    "In our land, we believe that one's blessing symbolizes the quality they value most in life. For water, it is balance. For earth, it is strength. For fire, it is passion. For air, it is freedom. For light, it is truth and for darkness, it is control. If our stories are correct, then it would seem that, among the two possible blessings, Elvio values having passion over balance, while Elian values the latter."

    I considered her theory about the different qualities of the Gifted before asking, "have you ever heard of someone possessing more than one power- I mean, blessing- before?"

    She frowned at my question. "I've never heard of that happening. I don't think the balance of nature would allow for that to occur."

    "The balance of nature?" I questioned curiously.

    "Of course," she replied confidently. "It is from the world around us that men were first given the blessing. Nature gifted a piece of itself to six separate individuals as a reward for their appreciation of the earth. They swore to use their abilities to protect others, but a few centuries passed and people soon forgot the lessons taught to them by their ancestors."

    I listened, intrigued by Visilla's version of the Gifted origin story. While it differed from Naturian's legend, Accalia told it with such faith in its truth that it was hard to not be convinced that it was the truth. I wondered if it were possible for something to have more than one truth.

    "If a human were to possess more than one of the blessings, it would upset the balance of nature and likely lead to severe consequences" she shook her head. "Besides, it's impossible for someone to value two things equally. In the end, the quality they most value will win over the others when given the chance. That is how the balance between nature and man is maintained."

    I considered her words with significant thought. While it sounded like a child's tale at first glance, I couldn't help categorizing the different people I'd encountered into the boxes she described. Back in the throne room after the final trial, Marlowe had stressed to me the importance of keeping Naturian from witnessing a civil war, claiming that the good of the continent depended on the balance of power. I didn't know most of the other kings as well as I knew Marlowe and Kess, but Orion had exhibited an undeniable level of strength, both through choosing to defy his fellow kings to save my friends as well as being the first of our allies, despite knowing the possible danger standing against Nox might put his family in.