The Truth Over The Wall

Chapter 26

*She is kind, sweet and special. She critiques you, she appreciates you, she loves you. She forgets stuff sometimes but she is always there for you. This one's for you :)*

As whimsical as Kara and Joseph had been in Amara's upbringing – mandatory chocolate breaks at each junction of her studies for instance or allowing for any or all of Amara's pets when it took her fancy to bring them to the tea table, to be served in the best china – on one thing they were almost positively severe: manners. Politeness in every conversation and courtesy in each encounter.

Amara had found it funny at the time when Joseph would insist she apologize to Alfonse (her pet snail) when she had accidentally left jelly marks on his shell.

It's not as if, Amara would pout, I'm ever likely to come into contact with much company. They barely let me look out the windows...and yet they insist on preparing me with such high etiquette.

I mean, really? She would sulk, when am I ever likely to meet a real prince or princess?

Amara shook her clear of these thoughts as the Princess Hanalea of Tafah described the application of hexes at length. To Amara's left sat the serving Lieutenant to the Marabeckan King's army and to her right sat the Crown Prince of Araaia.

Alright, Amara conceded as she paid attention to Hanalea's lecture, I guess you had a point. She directed this thought at her parents - wherever they were.

Before her mind could dwell any further on where exactly that might be, Hanalea snapped her back to attention.

"Now," Hanalea maintained her perfect posture; her hands folded behind her back as she walked back and forth before Amara and the boys. A General addressing his troops could not have been graver.

"There are many methods," Hanalea allowed, "That a witch might adopt to invoke his or her powers. They might use spells - or magical objects to enact their spells, such as wands or staffs. These objects do not possess any magic of their own, but can be rendered magical by the witch by preserving a part of her own essence in a vessel that is a natural conductor for magic. Such as?"

Here Hanalea raised her eyebrows and Amara did not need to ask to know that she meant for her to answer this.

"Trees mostly," Amara replied, "Their permanent connection to the earth makes them a channel for its power."

It was not as though Hanalea expected Dominic or Alistair to respond. This was Amara's lesson after all, Dominic was there as the familiar face to keep her company with the Tafahans. And Alistair was there to remind Hanalea to curb her more violent tendencies; so basically to keep her from stabbing anyone again.

Or so they told her. After mutual consultation they had agreed to maintain their presence throughout the lesson to intervene when the lessons got a little...awkward. And this usually happened when Hanalea addressed the witch as a whole using a particular set of words.

"Good," Hanalea nodded at her without looking, "And can you name the wood most preferred by your people?"

Amara took a deep breath and clenched the fingers of her folded hands ever so slightly. Dominic would not have noticed anything amiss, save that Amara's lips pressed tight for a second before she exhaled the answer, "Rowan, oak and ash." In an undertone, she muttered, "Not my people."

This had been going on for about three days now and each day Dominic saw Amara's mouth press together for a longer time before she would reply and punctuate it with the same words: Not my people.