Chapter 21 - The Power Called Special Eyes

  Nathan Evenhart:

  Chloe and I were walking through some corridors that I dared er before and didn’t even ked. The pce was enormous, and I had no idea how a 5-year-old child had memorized these routes and paths.

  “You’re not oo stay still, huh? How do you know all these ways?” I asked the little girl leading the way.

  “It’s fun to walk around, but I also had training from my mom. You’ll get it too. There are some routes we o memorize in case any kind of i happens.”

  I whistled, impressed. “Looks like they’ve thought of everything…”

  Chloe led me into a room after several flights of stairs. The floor was covered in grass, and there was even a small pond. The ceiling was very high but painted bck. The pce was dimly lit by some torches and even had a few trees.

  “It’s real grass! What is this pce?”

  “Of course, it’s real grass, silly. This is a pce where mom lets me camp and py explorer.”

  I looked around, amazed. They built this pderground just for this?

  “She said it’s also fun to practice magic here, but I ’t use it yet,” Chloe said as she went over to the small pond.

  “Yoing to be a mage too?” I asked.

  iled. “Yes! I love magid have read many books about it. I have lots in the library.”

  “Really? Did you also do that mana measureme?”

  She gave me a puzzled look. “Why would I? I already know I’m going to be a mage because my parents are mages. It’s even written in the books that you shouldn’t do the test to avoid acts if you e from a mage family.”

  “True… but what if someone skips the fine print…”

  “Who would be stupid enough to skip the fine print? They’re small to make you pay attention ahem.”

  I looked aretending to examihe surroundings. “You’d have to be really stupid…” I agreed.

  Quickly, I tried to ge the subject. “ you lend me some of yic books?” I asked her.

  “Of course, I’ll reend my favorites. I really like the ones where historians describe the philosophical depths of mana and what it represent for nature.”

  Wow… is this girl really 5 years old?

  “I meant something a bit more… practical. Something that teaches how to use mana…” I tried to expin.

  Chloe sat at the edge of the small pond. “I do have some that talk about that, but the best magic books only be accessed with authorization. Only mages buy them, and mom won’t let me have access to them. They’re expensive and limited.”

  I made a sad fad sighed, sittio her. It’s going to be useless then… I o learn this quickly.

  “But don’t worry,” she said, putting her hand on my shoulder. “When em awakens, we’ll have access to a teacher who will initiate us in magic. Then we go to the Magic Academy and learn a lot more.”

  I’m being soled by a 5-year-old…

  “And how will I know when my Gem is awakened?” I asked her.

  She ughed. “It’ll be like a little bird breaking out of its egg. You’ll feel it and might even hear something crag. At least, that’s what my mom said. When that happens, your vision will get a bit strange, like the world is surrounded by rainbows. And if you’re lucky, you might eve a ‘Special Eye,’ but that’s rare and almost never happens,” she said, making circles with her hands and pg them in front of her eyes.

  Special Eye?

  “What’s a Special Eye?” I asked my cousin.

  “It’s a rare side effect that happen to a mage’s body. Almost nobody gets it. No one knows the exact requirements, but when ic awakens, our mana travels at high speed throughout our body, including our eyes. The magical energy cause a side effect that stores mana in the eyes, creating what’s called a ‘Special Eye.’ These eyes tain unique magid no one knows what this power will be—you’ll have to discover it for yourself,” she expined.

  That’s so cool!

  “And how will I know if I have Special Eyes?” I asked, feelied.

  Wow, magic is really awesome.

  “You’ll be the only oo know if you have Special Eyes. They might have powers you’ll discover over time. Even you won’t know if you have them when yem awakens, but some rare people have their eye color ge immediately. So, if you want to check right away, just look at your eye color, but that’s not a guarantee. When the Gem awakens, if someone has a Special Eye, it starts the process in their eyes, and you have to wait a while for this sed awakening, where they gain access to the eye power, and the color ges then,” she said.

  So, it takes time and doesn’t have a definite firmation.

  “It’ll be hard to tell if we have Special Eyes when em awakens,” I murmured.

  Chloe ughed and patted my shoulder. “It’s rare for someoo get Special Eyes, so don’t think too much about it. I’m just happy knowing I’ll be a mage. Mages are rare, and a mage with Special Eyes is even rarer,” she said.

  I pondered a bit about the possibilities. Good thing I have mage parents. I’d hate to be born in this world without being able to use magic. I’m already disappoihat this pce has Aura and I ’t use it.

  “e o’s get ier. I love pying here, and the water is ,” Chloe said, pushio the water.

  “Hey!” I said, now soaked.

  She started ughing and then jumped into the water. “It’s freezing!” I excimed.

  “Just start pying, and you’ll warm up,” she said, spshing water at me.

  I got lured into a trap by a little girl…

  Katherine Evenhart:

  Everyone had just left the throne room, leaving only me and Margaery.

  I desded those steps. The right to stand ohrone’s step represehe level of trust, and not just anyone could stand there. Only the Legacies could stand on a step. It symbolized the authority we held in that pce.

  Anyone who entered would have to look up, and we’d be in the dominant position. Only the worthy and closest could stand oep, and it was even sidered a crime if an outsider dared to step on them.

  I looked at the throne and sighed. Margaery began to desd and walk in my dire.

  "Get used to it. It wasn't easy for me either, seeing my husband guiding us from that throne and then having to do it myself when he died. Now, you are the mother of the future Duke. You must honor your position," she said.

  I kept walking, following her.

  "I know... I just didn't want it to e to this. It's a whirlwind of emotions, having to return to this pce, and I feel guilty for putting my son in this situation."

  As we ehe corridor of the old kings, she closed the door behind us.

  "It feels like you're betraying your son and stealing his future, doesn't it?" she asked.

  That’s exactly how I felt. I could barely look at him without feeling like the worst mother in the world.

  "That's exactly it, Margie."

  "Of course it is, that's what you did," she said with a ugh.

  I gred at her.

  "But it was for his own good. I didn't want this either. Ideally, my daughter and my nephew would grow up away from these problems, and the best way to protect them was to keep them together. Even if you had tinued as a fugitive, there would e a time when he would have to return here and bee a Legacy of Evenhart, and you know that. Now, our children are protected, and even though we took away their right to choose their marriage partners, we gave them a life they could never have imagined," she said as we walked.

  "I still haven't fully accepted it. Even knowing it was the best oute, I 't accept the decision we made. My heart aches with what I've done," I admitted.

  Margaery stopped in front of a bnk wall, then turo me and said, "To hell with our ag hearts. We made the best decision in this chaotic situatio me tell you something I cluded long before we sent that dot. The truth is, I would have arrahis e even if we weren't in this situation."

  I stared at her, narrowing my eyes.