Chapter Fourteen

Eon's POV

He had been working on these damn rocks all night, and barely any success.  The feeling of being watched made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.  He quickly glanced around the room, not finding the source of his unease.  It quickly drifted away and he felt normal once again.  What was that?  Out of all the time he had spent here at the palace, this was the first time that he had felt this way.  He sat the rock down that he had been working on. 'Maybe I need some rest.'  He put on his nightclothes, and crawled into the cold bed.  It was almost as if he could smell the scent of Rielen's hair.

Rielen's POV

As soon as Rielen had a free period, she scoured the library, searching everything from Spirits, to the Religious Section.  Nothing mentioned what she had encountered the night before.  Could it have been removed like the other books?  Why would they keep this a secret?  She slammed her hand down on the table with frustration.  'Ok, that hurt,' she thought.  'I have really developed an anger issue lately.' 

Turning around, she saw a boy about her age, silently laughing into his hand.  He was well dressed, and had a different aura than the other boys she had come into contact with.  The other girls would call him handsome. 

Rielen, of course, only had eyes for Eon.  She could not help thinking that he looked familiar, though.  "Who are you?" She demanded.  He ignored her, and left the library just as silently as he had shown up.  Rielen felt the energy inside her bubble up.  She held it in, and took some soothing breaths.  The last thing she needed was to get in trouble for blowing up the library.  'The next time I see that guy,' she thought, 'I need to at least let him know that sneaking up on me is not a good idea.'  She grabbed a random book off the shelf to appease Hyla about her trip to the library.

She could risk asking one of her magic teachers, but she didn't want the King to know what she was up to.  Something about the visit to his office gave her a bad feeling.  One thing was for sure: for now, he could not be trusted.  Besides, she did not want her visits with Eon to be taken away. 

'The Spirit said that I would meet them again' Rielen thought. 'How do I do that without almost killing myself? Is there a way I can build up my resistance, like when it was difficult to cast magic at first?  I wonder if this is something that I can ask incognito to one of my magic teachers?  If I were to choose one, then magic theory would probably be the perfect subject for this type of question.  It's settled!'

"I was wondering… Is it possible to build up my magical resistance even more than I already have?"  Her teacher looked at her confusedly.  "Well, mages that have reinforcement type magic do this by training their body physically.  I do not see why you can not do that in a different way with other types of magic."  A long lecture then ensued about how this could be possible.  Rielen took notes on everything.  Ultimately, it was going to be trial and error on whether she could pull this off or not. 

At her weekly visit with Eon, Rielen mentioned her theory about strengthening her magic.  Eon described the different types of training he went through with his reinforcement magic.  He talked amicably about all the different types of exercises they put the boys through in physical training.  Rielen could see how that would be useful in the military.  "I wonder," she started, "is it possible to create different things with your reinforcement magic? Like, could you possibly force it out in front of you to create a battering ram? Something like that> I know I am not explaining myself well." 

Rielen felt heat on her cheeks as she managed to stammer out her thoughts.  "I never thought of it like that," Eon said. "Let me run some tests this week and see if it's possible."  With that, their time had run out.  She waved goodbye to him, as her heart began the slow ache it felt when not in his presence.  Surely being a magic user will allow her to have some choices in her life.  'I would like at least a normal life where I can be someone's wife.  Even if I do have to work for the kingdom.'

Eon's POV

Leaving her was always hard for him, but he forced himself to keep taking steps in the opposite direction.  All he wanted was to have her by his side and protect her from the world.  He could see her slowly hardening in the confines of the palace.  The free spirited girl he had fallen in love with was slowly getting locked away.  Maybe that was true for him as well.  He felt like a different person since coming here.  In no way did he regret it.  He just wished that they could have a simpler life.  A simple life together. 

He let himself imagine for a minute how she would look on their wedding day.  With a veil in her hair, and a white dress.  The image slowly filed itself away in the countless daydreams he had of her.  He sighed.  Thoughts like this were constantly filling his head these days.  His magic training mostly consisted of their physical training, and with his reinforcement magic it was easy.  Too easy.  What Rielen said did give him purpose, though.  The thought of creating a new technique with his magic intrigued him. 

'If I can create a force at a distance,' he pondered, 'then can I create a shield around myself?  Could I shield someone I was protecting instead of just reinforcing my body?'  His thoughts were racing with possibilities and potential ways to use his magic.  His drive was to protect Rielen from anything and everything.  'If I cannot do anything else, then let my magic be her shield when things go wrong,' he vowed to himself.