King of Blades (Blades #2)

Chapter 12

At long last the day Jaimathan had been praying for finally came.

"Brother Pelles has all the things he needs to perform the ritual to bring back your magic," Shelton told him one cold and snowy morning. "And I have an Asir."

That came as a surprise. It seemed like something everyone would have been talking about, having someone with such rare powers in the castle. But Jaimathan hadn't heard anything about it.

"Ah, there he is," Shelton announced with a smile.

Jaimathan looked toward the door to Shelton's office in time to see Second King Coulta enter the room.

As far as Jaimathan knew, Coulta's only magic was from a broken curse. The Asirim didn't get their powers that way, he knew that. After all, he'd been born with it himself.

"Coulta's mother was an Asir," Shelton explained, almost as if he'd read Jaimathan's thoughts. "He possesses her magic, but the curse magic is stronger and makes it impossible for him to use those powers himself. However, they can be used in other ways. I know this because he was possessed by spirits to save Wildas's life in battle. Only someone with the powers of the Asirim can be possessed by multiple spirits at one time and survive, and only if they've trained their bodies for it. Coulta survived because they broke his curse. And you can see more proof of his magic in his eyes and when he casts a spell."

Coulta lifted a hand and produced a handful of fire that was black in color, but glittering within the black were flecks of silver. He knew from his own magic that silver was the color of the Asirim magic.

Coulta closed his hand and the fire vanished. "I know the magic comes from my mother because she used her powers to tie my soul to someone who could make living with my curse bearable."

Jaimathan had a feeling he knew who that person was. Fae had commented about how fascinated she was by the obvious, deep love between Wildas and Coulta.

"Is it rude of me to ask what the curse was?" Jaimathan asked without thinking, then quickly added, "Yes, that is rude of me. I'm sorry. Forget I asked."

Coulta shrugged. "I'm not ashamed of it. I was cursed to obey the commands of whoever had control over me, because my father disobeyed the sorcerer he was apprenticed to. He was supposed to bring my mother to his master for the old man to marry, but ran away with her instead. When the sorcerer found them, he cursed the product of my father's disobedience."

There was clearly more to the story, but Jaimathan felt he had asked too much already. He changed the conversation when a new thought occurred to him. "I won't have the marks, will I?"

"You shouldn't," Shelton answered. "It's only a mingling of the Asirim magic, not the curse magic. Or so we hope. The ritual hasn't been tried with someone with two kinds of magic before and Coulta's magic is slightly unpredictable."

Jaimathan thought about the marks visible on Wildas and Myri. He assumed Anil also had them somewhere. It would probably be very difficult if Jaimathan ended up with some of his own. Especially if anyone else knew of this ritual. 

He got to his feet with a nod. "I'm ready."

Jaimathan had been to the royal temple in the castle several times since his arrival in Ryal, but he'd never seen it as it was when he stepped inside with Coulta and Shelton. It was darker than usual, with only a few candles burning. The room was also empty but for Brother Pelles and the two guards at the door to tell others that the temple was closed. There was a heavy scent of incense in the air, though of what kind he wasn't sure.

Brother Pelles, dressed as always in his dark blue robe, motioned them forward and Jaimathan walked with Coulta to the altar where paintings and statues of all the major gods were arranged. Jaimathan sent them a quick, silent prayer asking for their help in the ritual.