Abaddon's Gift

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Naena didn't arrive the first day after Bo's death.

Theon made certain he arrived back at Amos in time to work with her, but she didn't show up. The second morning, as time ticked closer to their appointment, he felt a lacing concern roil through him. He understood that he may have lost her in the same moment he obeyed Luk's wishes and set about to test the bond between her and Graydon.

When she arrived with a paper in her hand, he had only a moment of relief.

"I need your help with something, no questions asked," she said.

Seeing an opening, a chance to possibly keep her in his life, Theon nodded.

"Very well," he answered.

Though some small part of him wished he could run in the other direction, a larger part did a giddy little jump. Hopeful that Naena's destruction would be swift and lethal.

She placed the paper on his desk, pushing it toward him.

Momentarily, Theon had a giddy little twitter as he wondered what the paper might contain. A spell to skin a man alive, perhaps. Or an unwinding spell, simple to come by and create but few mages used for their own petty gains. She was on track to discover Bo's killer, he thought to himself, ready to pounce and rip the little bastard's throat out.

Theon looked down and found himself mildly disappointed, then thoroughly confused when he saw a contraceptive spell laid out on the paper.

Either Naena had decided to have sex—something that the boys often did with and without such a spell—or her plan for revenge was more twisted than he wanted to be involved with.

"I do need to ask the meaning of this," he said. "It could be that you need help, or this is suggestive, or you wish to counter this."

"It can be countered?" she asked. "Start with what it is."

"A contraceptive and protection against sickness," Theon said. "This is a very good one, as far as such things go. There's no chance of pregnancy with this."

"Pie."

They had begun learning about fractions and percentages. Using pie as an example made it easier for Theon to understand, which had made its way into other lessons. Especially those about magic, those worked well with pie.

"There is no pie," he said. "Or, I suppose a better explanation would be that you made the pie, ate the pie, and left not so much as a crumb or scrap in the bottom of the pan."

She frowned at him.

"The man still... and the woman can still..." he trailed off again as he wondered if Naena knew about that. "You do know how sex works, correct?"

"I said no questions."

"Fair enough. Both parties still perform and the resulting... fluids... are similar, but nothing results from it besides pleasure. It's not a healing spell, but I can see why it might catch your interest. It does interact with the body and my own spell, the one I use, caught my attention in my first year. These things affect our bodies without really affecting our bodies. You see?"

"No."

Theon struggled for a moment.

"Imagine, if you will, a man eats but dies of starvation. He drinks, but he dies of thirst. These things are possible, though I've never managed them before."

"It has other applications, you mean."

"Yes. Are we having a regular day or—"

"I want you to show me how to make this," she demanded.