Reckless Magic

“They could break the ban onintermarriage for one. They could allow the full magic to flow between us andthey could release us from their dictatorship,” the whole Monarchy thing mighthave been new to me, but I knew enough about world history that if what Avalonjust told me was true, then I also knew that what he was saying could probablyget him killed.

“What marriage ban?” I asked,feeling more confused than ever.

“The one that got us into thiswhole mess to begin with. We are not allowed to marry outside of our own kind.”

“You mean, like humans?”

“No, well, yes, but mainly a Witchhas to marry a Witch and a Titan has to marry a Titan. They keep uscompartmentalized that way, and they restrict the flow of magic. See beforeKing Derrick, an Immortal could marry whomever they chose and no matter whothey married their child was always unique. Like a Witch could marry a Titanand then have a Medium for a child. It was all allowed and the magic flowedfreely. But since Derrick, our magic is deteriorating and the royal familycould care less,” Avalon laughed bitterly.

“But isn’t their magicdeteriorating as well? Won’t they eventually have to intermarry?” I asked,feeling like I was begi

“They are the royal family. Theycan marry whomever they choose,” Avalon said slowly as if I were having troubleunderstanding his words. I didn’t really blame him. “Not that they would marryjust whomever, they only choose the best of the best. And for them that meanseither a Witch or a Psychic. They rotate between generations. Up next is a mostpromising Psychic, I’m sure.”

“What? So Kiran has to marry a Psychic?”I had a hard time getting the actual word out.

“Yes, that’s the law. Just to ensurethe royal blood stays strong. His father of course married a Witch, and nowit’s his turn to carry out the imperial edict.”

“Huh….” was all I could say. I knewAvalon had just enlightened me on an overwhelming amount of new information;but the hardest part I found myself unwilling to accept was that by law it wasillegal for me to marry Kiran. Not that I would even think that far ahead, orhave those kind of feelings for him; but the fact that it was against the law,that I was not even an option, was making me a little resentful.

I thought about Lilly then andrealized what she was up against. A wave of fear flooded my entire body and Irealized that I had to do something to help her. I shuddered at the thought ofthe court inevitably finding her guilty. My mind began to reel with thecrushing feeling of hopelessness that settled on me. I had to talk to Kiranabout it, he had to do something.

“So anyway,” Avalon changed thesubject, still sounding riled up from his tangent. “Move that tree.”

“Excuse me?” his command brought meout of my i

“Move that tree,” he said itslower, but firmer.

“You’re not very nice you know,” Igave him a playful pout.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. I justdon’t like those damn Kendricks,” he smiled playfully back. “Please, move thattree.”

I focused my energy on a mediumsized tree that sat about twenty feet away from us. I let the electricity surgethrough my blood and build, using my mind to direct the tree. I lifted it outof the ground slowly; the roots and branches hung limply down on the groundbelow where it was now suspended in midair, completely unearthed.

“What now?” I faked a yawn, as ifholding the tree in midair was the easiest thing in the world.

“Now put it back,” he smiled smuglyas the tree wavered a little bit while my mind grasped the task.

Blowing things up and rippingthings apart was easy. I had never had to put something back together before. Ifocused my energy back into the ground. I lowered the tree slowly with my minduntil it was positioned just above the earth. I let my mind snake through theroots of the tree, my energy focused completely. I let them dig back into thesoil, searching for their homes once again. Slowly and methodically I returnedeach root and branch to its original position and let the tree rest peacefully,balanced once again deep within the earth.

“Good,” Avalon admired quietly.“You’re better than I thought you’d be.”

“Well, thank you,” I gave asarcastic bow, but was actually very thankful for the words of encouragement.

We spent the rest of the afternoonlike that. Avalon giving me task after task, each one getting more difficult. Icompleted all that he assigned me and continued to impress him. I would thinkthat after hours of using my magic I would have felt fatigued or depleted; butinstead I felt more empowered. The more I used the magic, the more magic I hadto use. I was filled with a never ending supply of omnipotence.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Pssst…..” Avalon tried to get myattention during French, but I did my best to ignore him. “Hey, Eden.” Hewhispered harshly.

“What?” I whispered as softly aspossible, realizing I could never be quiet enough to escape Ms. Devereux’sstern glare.

“What are you doing tonight?”Although Avalon sat directly behind me during the hour of horror known asFrench, Ms. Devereux had positioned me at the front of the class; always underthe watchful eye of the firm French teacher. I had done my best to catch up,but the woman could not understand a world in which French was not spoken fluentlyin every home. Since I didn’t grow up with parents who spoke multiple languagesand summered in the South of France, I thought I had ample excuse to be a bitbehind; she saw it differently.

“Nothing. Leave me alone,” Iwhispered even quieter back.

“Good,” Avalon replied a littlelouder than I felt comfortable with.

I turned my attention back to mybook work and concentrated as hard as I could on my conjugations. I was sureAvalon had some great plan for the evening. Over the past week and a half I learnedto just go along with the adventure; which usually meant an isolated area,usually forestry, working on my magic. Avalon was always very concerned that Iwas practicing what powers I had.

I never complained and always hadfun. I enjoyed learning all of the super-human feats I was capable of. But evenmore I enjoyed spending time with Avalon. He was always amusing and alwaysadventurous. He was like the exact opposite to how careful and easily-scared Iwas. We complemented each other well.

“Do you own anything sexy?” Avalonwhispered hoarsely to me, striking up another in-class conversation.

“What?” I blurted out, too loudly.My cheeks flamed red and I dropped my pencil on the ground.

“Mr. St. Andrews, Ms. Matthewsplease continue this inappropriate conversation after class. Merci beaucoup,”Ms. Devereux seethed through her strong French accent. I blushed even redderand averted my eyes back to my homework.

As I stared down at the foreignlanguage I could barely understand a small ball of paper landed right in frontof me. I expected it to be an apology from Avalon, although I could hear himsnickering behind me. I unrolled the wrinkled piece of paper, curious more thananything.

Maybe you should save the dirty talk for private….

I glanced over at Kiran to confirmthe sender. He was staring at me with a smaller version of his signature smirk,but something was different about his eyes. I rolled my own eyes at him andgave him my own playful version of a smirk, but he just looked back down at hishomework. Instead of feeling irritated like I would have expected, I felt alittle bit sad, missing the days when he would have made more sport out ofembarrassing me. I realized this sounded twisted, but I was suddenly nervous Ihad lost his attention.

–-

“I’m sorry, Avalon, did you want toask me something?” I asked Avalon sarcastically, as he sat down at our regulartable. “Because I would appreciate it if you asked me your inappropriatequestions here, alone; not in the middle of French class where the teacheralready hates me and the entire class is listening in,” I pretended to bereally upset, but Avalon realized a while ago I was incapable of getting angrywith him. He did enjoy trying to make me mad though.