The cool air smelled fresh and clean after the musty city odors underground. They passed a flock of velbloud. The fuzzy white creatures converged on the caretaker as he set out buckets of feed for them. Their long tethers striped the sand, making a pinwheel pattern. Shyla wondered how they managed to avoid getting them all twisted together.
She held a special fondness for the animals since they’d saved her life. Caught topside during the killing heat, she’d been desperate enough to wrap two tethers around her body as the velblouds floated into the sky. They had lifted her above the dangerous hotness. After the velblouds had reeled in their tethers and descended, the monks had found her lying almost dead among the creatures. If Zhek hadn’t been at the monastery, she’d have never survived.
“Shyla?” Jayden asked from a couple meters away.
She’d paused to watch the flock without any conscious decision to do so. Her thoughts about the monks reminded her of another concern. “Do we need to keep the torques to protect our people?”
He moved closer. “What do you mean?”
“Are there others in Zirdai who can wield magic? People we need to shield ourselves against?”
“Oh.” He considered. “No.”
Thinking of Mojag, she asked, “How can you be so sure? How many people have magic?”
Jayden pulled up his hood against the strengthening sunlight. “From what I’ve learned, only a small number of people have the potential to wield magic. But, of those not everyone can tap into it.”
“Is that why the Invisible Sword doesn’t test everyone, only those who show potential?”
“That’s right.”
“How do you know who has the potential?”
“One way is bloodlines. Certain families have the skill and they pass it down. Gurice inherited hers from her grandmother. In my family, my grandfather and my father could wield magic. My sister was tested, but failed.”
Questions about his sister pushed up her throat, but the scowl that arrived when he mentioned her warned Shyla to keep quiet.
Jayden continued. “Those that seek out the monks tend to have the ability. Hanif has sent us a few candidates.”
“What does he see in them?”
“An open mind, being flexible in their thinking and not set in their ways. Confidence. Intelligence. Resourcefulness.”
All great qualities. “But not everyone you test taps into their power, right?”
“Right.”
Memories of being chained in the dark threatened to overwhelm her. “Why do you have to test them? Why can’t you explain about the magic and teach them how to do it?”
Jayden huffed in amusement. “Even though the candidates are open-minded, all of them would think we’re insane. I believe a certain sun-kissed didn’t believe in magic even after she witnessed it and successfully wielded it. Then again, she wasn’t that open-minded to begin with.”
She refrained from punching him. “Then why did you test me?” she shot back.
“You have all the other qualities. And you fought back when Payatt took you through the sands.”
Still. There had to be a better way to wake a person’s magic. “Isn’t there another way?”
“Yes, there are plenty of ways, but they’re cruel. Stress and fear are the triggers. When people are pushed to the breaking point, they tap into that inner spark of survival. Our way allows the person time to experiment and then we’re there to teach them.”
Not many people were in those dire situations. “The people in the prince’s special rooms are terrorized.”
“And some of them do access their magic. But, unfortunately, they don’t know how to use it and no one survives the torture.”
“What about the deacons’ confession rooms? Those people live through it and are forced to become deacons. Do some of them have magic?”
“It’s possible,” Jayden said slowly. “Although we haven’t heard any rumors.”
“Might be why the Heliacal Priestess started having her Arch Deacons wear those torques.”
“An interesting theory. We don’t know when she stole them, or even if she did. It could have been one of her predecessors who passed them along. Or Banqui could have discovered their location and sold them to her.” He frowned.
Jayden suspected Banqui had betrayed the Invisible Sword by telling the priestess’s Arch Deacons where to find their hideout, but he had no proof. Shyla’s new information from Fadey would support his suspicions. However, she just wasn’t convinced it’d been him so she didn’t share it with Jayden. Not yet. Instead, she asked, “Who had the torques before they were stolen?”
Jayden gazed at the rolling sand dunes. “The Invisible Sword leaders.”
Good thing they didn’t have The Eyes as well. Shyla debated whether she should press him for more information about the old leaders. Instead, she considered his comments about magic. “What about Mojag?”
“What about him?”
“I think he’s using magic, but he hasn’t been through the test.” Nor would he or anyone since the “testing cavern” was part of the old hideout and off-limits.
“That’s ridiculous. Mojag hasn’t shown any potential.”
Really? She’d thought he’d be an ideal candidate. “Then explain how he followed you to the Invisible Swords’ hideout. Explain how he’s so good at avoiding people and getting around without being seen.”
“I’ve been training him. Most vagrants are adept at hiding from the guards and deacons. It doesn’t mean they have magic.”
She wasn’t convinced, but she didn’t want to fight about it. They’d been having a perfectly civil conversation. It was nice.
“We should go. The velbloud caretaker has noticed us standing here,” Jayden said.
“You go on to headquarters. I’m heading to the monastery.”
He frowned. Shyla waited for him to figure it out.
“You’re giving them the torques.”
“For now. It’s the safest place. If we think the priestess is using magic, we’ll get them back.”
“That’s a good idea,” he said.
Was that an actual compliment? Shyla didn’t let it go to her head. They walked together for a bit before Shyla headed south. Without Jayden, she had to stop every ten meters, turn around, and erase her boot prints. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked.
When she was within a kilometer of the monastery, she slowed. At least a dozen monks would be on the surface, blending in with the desert and keeping watch for any visitors. Not many people could spot them, but since she’d grown up with them and had taken her turn as sentry too many times to count, she noticed them.
This time she wondered if she could slip past them unseen. Plus she needed the practice. The look away command would work, but she’d have to smooth out her tracks with every step. Sleep might work, but when the monks woke, they’d be alarmed. Gone required more energy and they had to see her first, which would ruin the fun.
Reaching out, she sensed the hidden monks in the distance. Before she crested the next dune, she pushed her will forward.
Look away.
Then she pushed it back to her tracks.