Page 32 of Tides of Shadows

I nearly laughed but bit my tongue. There was something gratifying in seeing Aidenar Cavareth, confident, adored, ever in control, utterly inept at something. Still, I pushed the thought aside. I was here to teach, not to mock.

I lifted a small leaf I had taken earlier from the gardens and placed it upon the table between us.

“Move it,” I said quietly.

He exhaled, extended a hand and simply blew the leaf away with a sharp gust of air.

“Try again,” I said, hiding a smile. “Lift it, just a little. Don’t let it fall.”

For half an hour, he struggled to control even the smallest movement. The leaf danced and spun wildly, as though mocking him. His frustration was building, his jaw tightened and shoulders went rigid.

I stepped closer. Unfastening the water flask at my belt, I poured a little into my palm and shaped it into a delicate sphere. It spun slowly, glimmering in the light.

“You must focus your whole mind on your element,” I murmured. “Feel how it moves, how its power flows through you. How you are part of it. All that your mind envisions may be shaped. I am water. You are air.”

I took his hand and turned it palm up. Then I guided the water to his skin. It rested there, spinning gently. A fragile sphere, alive with motion. Beneath it, I felt a faint vibration awaken in him.

“Now push me back,” I said softly. “Between us lies the air, your air.”

The sphere shimmered, swirling between our hands. His gaze, for once, was not mocking. Silver eyes met mine, with intent. Only after some time did he turn them toward his palm and the water rose. It lifted, trembled, and burst in a spray of droplets that sparkled in the light.

“Good,” I said quietly, letting the remaining water fall to the floor. “Now the leaf.”

I placed it upon his hand. He steadied his breathing and narrowed his eyes. Slowly, the leaf rose, quivering slightly, but it held its height.

“Well done. There might be hope for you yet.”

He said nothing, and for the first time since I’d known him, stood silent. I turned away, heading for the door, leaving him with the trembling leaf suspended before him.

“That’s all?” he called after me while simultaneously keeping the leaf afloat. “Where are you going?”

“For today, yes. Until tomorrow, Young Regent,” I said, allowing a small smile to touch my lips, one he would not see.

I left him there, alone with his leaf and his newfound hunger.

The next day, we gathered again in the council. The Inner Court, usually bright with sunlight, was heavy with unease. Lords whispered among themselves, guards stood tense at the walls. I could feel it, a shadow settling over the city.

I had not seen Dricus for several days. I did not think he had gone far, the Gathering was still underway, yet he surely tended his own affairs. He was like a cat, walking his private paths.

As I took my seat, I sensed Aidenar’s gaze. When I looked his way, he wasn’t watching me anymore, he was staring at his hand. The same hand where my water had rested the day before. The memory of that touch felt… too intimate. If he had mastered his gift sooner, I wouldn’t have to do it. But part of me wanted him to feel it, to believe that the power within him was real.

The council ran on in somber tones.

“...all carcasses of infected animals are being burned without delay,” one advisor reported, his voice echoing against the marble wall.

“As you hear,” Cassandra said, her chin lifting slightly. “The city remains under control. We will not allow the Plague to spread.”

Pride rang clearly in her voice. Say what you want of her, Cassandra cared nothing for the poor, but she would not surrender control. If she wanted Aidenar to win the Election she had to prove that they managed the situation.

Nevertheless, her composed confidence was broken when Eric Salvadore gestured sharply, summoning his scribe.

The scribe stepped forward and raised a stack of parchments.

“In the archives, we uncovered drawings, accounts, and classical descriptions of the four elements and the gods who once ruled them,” he said and paused for a moment. “But we also found older texts.”

The chamber grew still.

“They spoke of darkness as well. Of shadows that devoured the elements, mankind, and even the gods themselves. In those ancient records, there appeared a figure. A being born of shadow and death. Clad in dark robes, wreathed in a storm of black birds.”