Chapter 370: The Fruits of Labor
"Ms. Collins, I genuinely do not know whether Ms. Montrose collapsed because I drew on her mana. What I can tell you with certainty is that I did not take more than I should have." Elder Loujt holds his ground.
"I said I was tempted. I did not say I acted on it." He adds, slower, making sure each word lands.
Silence.
Sonia breaks it when she sees Maeve and Alicia still not responding. "Maeve, you have to believe him. I know my uncle. He does not lie. He is telling you the truth."
She takes a breath. "And I took some of her mana too. I felt it was necessary, to add her mana to my Light so I could purify more effectively. If drawing on her mana is what caused her to collapse, then I am at fault as well." She says it quickly, almost frantically.
"You took her mana too?"
Liam’s voice cuts across the room.
He and Linus had been in the kitchen when Liam felt it, a sudden spike in mana that brought him to his feet mid-sentence. He was out of the kitchen before Linus could ask what was wrong. He just yelled "Mana spike!" over his shoulder and kept running.
"I did as well." Elder Loujt sighs.
"There were three people drawing on her mana at the same time?" Liam’s eyes go wide.
"Wait." Alicia holds up a hand. "She has no mana. How was her mana even present to draw on?"
"She told me she was trying to find a way to contribute mana she did not have. I believed her, because she always finds a way. And just before the second attempt, she did tell me to be ready. So when I detected her mana signature, I drew on it." Liam explains.
It hits Maeve all at once. "Three people. There were three people drawing on her mana simultaneously, and one of them may have taken more than he should?"
"Who took more than he should?" Liam’s eyes snap to Elder Loujt. "You?!"
Elder Loujt raises both hands. "I did not take more than I should. I just said that."
"You drew on her mana without her permission! That alone is a violation!" Liam’s body goes rigid.
"I did it because it was necessary. My Water needed her mana to help disperse the storm." Elder Loujt’s grip on his temper is slipping.
"You should not have done it! I was the field commander! I was the one designated to use her mana! The rest of you were supposed to follow my lead!" Liam’s voice fills the room.
"Two are better than one. We already learned that the hard way. I thought I was helping!" Elder Loujt fires back.
"Uncle was not the only one. I drew on her mana too." Sonia tries again, but the two Water mages talk straight over her.
She waits. Tries again. Still nothing.
"Why is no one listening to ME?!" Sonia erupts.
"ENOUGH!"
Linus’s voice hits the room like a wall.
Everyone turns.
He is standing at the edge of the living room, making it clear he had not wanted to step in at all.
"Enough. All of you." Linus says, his voice quieter now but the irritation still present underneath it. "There is no use pointing fingers. Thea is already unconscious. Would it not be better to focus on how to help her? A blood transfusion, for instance. Would that help?"
Maeve’s expression shifts, turning inward. "It might. I will call the hospital." She is already leaving the room, phone in hand.
Linus waits until she is gone before speaking again.
"It was no one’s fault." He says quietly. "Thea did not collapse because her mana was overdrawn."
He pauses.
"She collapsed because she lost too much blood."
"Blood?" Liam stares at him.
Linus nods. "She cut her wrist. To draw blood. I believe the blood carries her mana signature somehow."
Liam’s mouth opens. Nothing comes out. It opens again. Still nothing.
Sonia’s hand flies to her mouth.
Alicia’s frown deepens. She bites her lower lip and says nothing.
"Blood." Elder Loujt whispers, almost to himself. He sinks back onto the sofa slowly. "I should have known."
"You know something about blood and mana?" Linus asks.
Elder Loujt is not registering who is speaking to him. He is somewhere else entirely, and the answer comes out before he thinks to redirect it. If he had noticed it was Linus asking, he would almost certainly have deflected. But he does not notice, so he simply mutters it.
"It is nothing but a theory. An old one. A mage carries mana in his body. Not just in the flow, but everywhere. Every cell, supposedly, carries some trace of it. But no one has ever proven it."
He pauses.
"It is a path none of us ever thought ethical to pursue. It would require experiments on living people."
Linus files it away quietly. He recalls what Lockley put together on Loujt. According to the dossier, he is an Emeralis citizen, born and raised there, and has spent all fifty-five years of his life within its borders. Dae and Huri are the same.
Though Dae has been traveling extensively and arrived in Solarys about a month ago.
Sonia’s file is considerably thinner. When Lockley dug deeper, he found that Sonia Hart’s passport is brand new. Solarys is its first destination. Linus is fairly certain Sonia Hart is an alias.
He speaks like someone who has known magic his entire life. Which makes them another group, separate from Maeve’s Custodians. I need to find out more.
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About an hour later, Sonia and the Vaelins make their way back to their residence on foot. The sun has not yet gone down. The moment they step out of the Monfort gates, the atmosphere hits them like a wall.
People are everywhere. On the pavements, in the parks, on front steps. Walking dogs, pushing prams, sitting on benches. Alone or in groups, it does not seem to matter. Everyone has found their way outside.
Laughter and shouting and the shrieking joy of children carry down every street. Parks overflow with people eating on picnic blankets or chasing each other across the grass. Even those who are unwell or confined to wheelchairs have been brought out to balconies and doorsteps to sit in the sun.
It is infectious in the most literal sense. By the time the Vaelin group has walked half a block, the gloom has lifted off them too. Sonia finds herself smiling without deciding to. Elder Loujt lets out a quiet laugh at something Dae says. Even Huri, who is rarely anything but composed, is visibly lighter.
It is very hard not to be.
A ball rolls across the pavement and bumps against Sonia’s leg. She looks down. A giant rainbow-colored beach ball, nearly as big as she is, sits wobbling against her shoe.
"Miss!" A child of about ten is waving at her from across the grass. "That’s mine! Can you throw it back please?"
Sonia picks it up and sends it sailing over to him.
"Thank you!" He screams it at full volume and immediately goes back to his friends.
Sonia watches him for a moment, still smiling, before falling back into step with the others.
"You look happy, Your Highness." Elder Loujt observes.
Sonia does not mind the comment at all. She twirls once, right there on the pavement. "I am. It is very fulfilling to know that we did this."
Elder Loujt nods slowly. "It is. And this is why we do what we do. We must protect those children. Some of them will grow to be mages, and if they are not trained properly, they will be consumed by it."
He takes a breath. "And this world will be destroyed by mages who were never taught how to carry what they have."
He glances at Sonia. "And we must always remember the cost."
Sonia’s expression quiets. "Are you still thinking about Thea, Elder?"
"Yes, Your Highness. I am." He is quiet for a moment before continuing. "I must be honest with myself. I am a Vaelin Elder. Sworn to protect this world, or die in the attempt. And yet."
He sighs.
"Here I am, walking in the sun that was cleared by a young woman with no access to her mana. She set out to do something, and she did it. She gave her own blood for it. Without hesitation. Without complaint."
"I refused to cooperate because of my own ego and pride. I was certain I could do it alone. Not once did Ms. Montrose scold me when it turned out I could not. She simply adjusted and made a decision with her own life on the line."
"I am ashamed, Your Highness." He says it plainly. "Thea Montrose has humbled me. Deeply and completely."
Sonia is quiet for a moment. She understands what is underneath what Elder Loujt is saying. His animosity toward the Monforts was the root of his pride and ego today. She knows because she felt the same pull.
"You are not alone in that, Elder. At first, I wanted nothing to do with Liam Monfort either. But I have to be honest with myself now. He is not what I expected. And his father is not what I was taught to expect either."
She slows her pace and looks at Elder Loujt.
"Is it possible that the records are wrong, Elder?"
