disadvantage."
"How so?"
"Well, an advantage because we can pull from the witches we're fighting," he said. "If you can find a witch's life source, you can use your magic to drain her and weaken her."
"And the disadvantage?"
"The more powerful spells take a lot of energy to cast," he said. "If you've already used up most of the life fuel in an area, that makes it a lot harder to use those bigger spells. Or if you're in an area where there's not a lot of life to pull from. Like a desert or something."
I nodded. In theory, I understood what he was saying, but I had a feeling it was the kind of thing I needed to experience for myself to truly understand.
"Do you want to keep going?" he asked. "Or should we call it a night? Tomorrow's going to be a big day."
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm not looking forward to this party at all."
He grabbed his backpack, then put his arm around me and escorted me out of the room. "It's important to your father," he said. "All you have to do is smile and say hello to everyone and act like the beautiful princess that you are. Easy, right?"
I groaned. It sounded like torture. All those people staring at me and expecting me to look and act a certain way. Definitely not my thing.
"I don't know about easy, but I'm sure I'll survive it," I said, pausing on the step above him. "Then we'll talk about our plans, right? After the dance?"
He nodded. "Then we'll talk."
I kissed him on the nose and he laughed.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," I said with a curtsey.
He bowed to me. "See you tomorrow, my beautiful princess."
They Never Return
The morning of the dance arrived, and all I wanted to do was keep training. I'd made a real breakthrough the day before, and I was anxious to get back down there and practice. I'd planned on trying to get a few hours in before I had to start getting ready, but Tulianne woke me up bright and early with a full schedule of pampering that would have made the most experienced debutante wide-eyed.
Apparently getting ready for a ball was an all day event for a princess.
"You really don't have to give me a massage," I told her when she brought out the tray of oils and aromatherapy herbs. "I can just take a shower and be done with it."
"Nonsense," she said. "A princess must show up at a ball in her honor looking relaxed and at her most beautiful."
"Can't we just perform some kind of glamour that would make me look relaxed and beautiful? You guys can do glamours with demon magic right?" All this attention was making me incredibly uncomfortable.
"Why would we perform a glamour on someone like you?" she said. "All that would do is hide your natural beauty."
I snorted. Natural beauty apparently took all day to create. Still, the massage felt pretty good and maybe Tuli was right. I needed to relax. I'd been putting a lot of pressure on myself lately.
After the massage, Tuli drew a steaming hot bath and filled the large tub to the top with bubbles. She brought me a glass of juice made from an exotic fruit that only existed here in this world. It tasted like a mix of strawberries and peaches. Only sweeter.
Once I was settled in, she turned to leave.
"Wait," I said. "Can you stay? Talk to me for a while?"
She smiled and I could see the hint of a blush on her dark cheeks. "You want to talk?"
"Yes," I said. I'd come to enjoy our talks. So much of my time in the shadow world had been spent in hiding. I liked talking to Tuli because she showed me a different perspective to what life was like here. "I mean, you don't have to or anything. If you've got something else you need to be doing, I totally understand."
She shook her head and came to sit on one of the marble steps leading up to the tub. "I have nothing else to do," she said. "I just thought you might prefer some privacy."
I laughed. "Believe me, all I would do is sit in here and stress out about what this party is going to be like."
"Why stress?" she asked. "You don't like parties?"
Wow. Where
"How so?"
"Well, an advantage because we can pull from the witches we're fighting," he said. "If you can find a witch's life source, you can use your magic to drain her and weaken her."
"And the disadvantage?"
"The more powerful spells take a lot of energy to cast," he said. "If you've already used up most of the life fuel in an area, that makes it a lot harder to use those bigger spells. Or if you're in an area where there's not a lot of life to pull from. Like a desert or something."
I nodded. In theory, I understood what he was saying, but I had a feeling it was the kind of thing I needed to experience for myself to truly understand.
"Do you want to keep going?" he asked. "Or should we call it a night? Tomorrow's going to be a big day."
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm not looking forward to this party at all."
He grabbed his backpack, then put his arm around me and escorted me out of the room. "It's important to your father," he said. "All you have to do is smile and say hello to everyone and act like the beautiful princess that you are. Easy, right?"
I groaned. It sounded like torture. All those people staring at me and expecting me to look and act a certain way. Definitely not my thing.
"I don't know about easy, but I'm sure I'll survive it," I said, pausing on the step above him. "Then we'll talk about our plans, right? After the dance?"
He nodded. "Then we'll talk."
I kissed him on the nose and he laughed.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," I said with a curtsey.
He bowed to me. "See you tomorrow, my beautiful princess."
They Never Return
The morning of the dance arrived, and all I wanted to do was keep training. I'd made a real breakthrough the day before, and I was anxious to get back down there and practice. I'd planned on trying to get a few hours in before I had to start getting ready, but Tulianne woke me up bright and early with a full schedule of pampering that would have made the most experienced debutante wide-eyed.
Apparently getting ready for a ball was an all day event for a princess.
"You really don't have to give me a massage," I told her when she brought out the tray of oils and aromatherapy herbs. "I can just take a shower and be done with it."
"Nonsense," she said. "A princess must show up at a ball in her honor looking relaxed and at her most beautiful."
"Can't we just perform some kind of glamour that would make me look relaxed and beautiful? You guys can do glamours with demon magic right?" All this attention was making me incredibly uncomfortable.
"Why would we perform a glamour on someone like you?" she said. "All that would do is hide your natural beauty."
I snorted. Natural beauty apparently took all day to create. Still, the massage felt pretty good and maybe Tuli was right. I needed to relax. I'd been putting a lot of pressure on myself lately.
After the massage, Tuli drew a steaming hot bath and filled the large tub to the top with bubbles. She brought me a glass of juice made from an exotic fruit that only existed here in this world. It tasted like a mix of strawberries and peaches. Only sweeter.
Once I was settled in, she turned to leave.
"Wait," I said. "Can you stay? Talk to me for a while?"
She smiled and I could see the hint of a blush on her dark cheeks. "You want to talk?"
"Yes," I said. I'd come to enjoy our talks. So much of my time in the shadow world had been spent in hiding. I liked talking to Tuli because she showed me a different perspective to what life was like here. "I mean, you don't have to or anything. If you've got something else you need to be doing, I totally understand."
She shook her head and came to sit on one of the marble steps leading up to the tub. "I have nothing else to do," she said. "I just thought you might prefer some privacy."
I laughed. "Believe me, all I would do is sit in here and stress out about what this party is going to be like."
"Why stress?" she asked. "You don't like parties?"
Wow. Where
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