My right hand was completely numb.
I slipped off the bracer, rubbing my wrist. I hoped it was just a circulation problem from sleeping with the bracer on too tight.
It wasn’t.
Tentatively, I tried to push a bit of mana through my hand.
That was a mistake.
My hand ignited with agony, the muscles between my thumb and forefinger twitching uncontrollably as I fell backward and bit my tongue.
The ring kicked back in, but instead of soothing my pain, it just reversed it. The inside of my hand felt like ice, the numbness worse than before.
Cradling my hand under my arm for warmth, I found my mana watch and pressed it against my attunement.
85/85.
My mana was fine. It’d even gotten a little higher as I slept. I hadn’t broken my attunement in the same way that Sera had, but I’d managed to do something else.
After several minutes of consideration, I clenched my functional fist and slipped off the ring of regeneration.
Over the next hour, feeling gradually returned to my hand. That feeling, however, was agony.
I may have made a mistake.
I tried to go back to sleep. That was hilariously impossible.
I could hear people chattering downstairs, presumably over breakfast. I had to put a pillow over my head to drown out the sound. Any additional sensory input felt like too much.
I cradled my hand under the covers for the next couple hours until it returned to some degree of normalcy. I could move my fingers. Trying to use any mana sent me back into a state of pain that could best be described as tear-inducing, so I avoided that.
The ring was nearby the whole time, tempting in some respects, but it had also been a part of what had probably caused the problem. By suppressing my pain so much, I’d let it build to the point where the ring and bracer must have numbed the whole area to prevent the pain from affecting me.
I really hoped I hadn’t just injured myself badly enough to leave mana scars. My understanding was that scars formed from repeated overuse, and I’d been pretty good about avoiding that until recently.
Hopefully remembering this pain would serve as a sufficient deterrent to making a similar mistake again.
It also taught me a valuable lesson. I needed to stop using the ring when I didn’t need it or I’d be facing consequences like this in the long run.
It was nearly noon by the time I crawled downstairs, disheveled and still cradling my half-functional hand. I’d missed the morning’s classes.
And there was a stranger in the kitchen.
Specifically, sitting in the middle of the kitchen table, legs crossed in what looked like it was probably some kind of meditative posture.
The newcomer was about my height, wearing layered scholarly robes in crimson. The robes were in a Dalenos style, folded across the center of their chest and constrained with a cloth belt. Their short hair was cut unevenly at a diagonal, as if it had been sliced once with a blade and no further care had been given. They held a half-eaten apple in one hand and a carafe of some kind of liquid in the other.
This was clearly someone who did not care in the slightest what others thought about them.
I liked them immediately.
“Look,” they were saying, “If you’re going to shower me with gifts, you need to make them interesting. If it’s something I could just buy and forget about, it’s not worth risking Wydd’s ire.”
Patrick intercepted me physically before I could approach and make introductions. He took me by the arm and silently walked me out of the room.
Whatwhatwhat—
I panicked for just a moment at the unsolicited physical contact, but I allowed him to lead me to the entrance chamber.
“Sorry, sorry!” He let me go. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Believe me, you don’t want to go in there unprepared.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That was Sheridan Theas, wasn’t it? They’re wearing House Theas colors.”
I didn’t know a lot about House Theas, but I’d done some reading in advance of the meeting. They typically wore red, sometimes gold.
He waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “Yeah, but we didn’t know what we were getting into. I mean, maybe Derek did, but he’s been hiding from them for most of the morning.”
“Okay? What exactly is such a problem?”
Patrick sighed. “They’re not interested in anything we’ve been offering. I think they’re enjoying watching us fret, though.”
That was unfortunate. “Has Keras offered to tell them about dominion sorcery? That’s forbidden knowledge, it seems like the most likely thing to work.”
“Keras isn’t here. We’re saving him as a last resort, since most people don’t even know he’s been staying with us. And he said he had business to attend to, something to do with that earring.”
“Probably trying to get it to work. Makes sense. Okay, I can offer the same. I obviously don’t know as much as Keras does, but I could regurgitate the lessons.”
“Don’t think it’ll help, but you can try. Just don’t mention Keras being around unless you need to. We could offer to arrange a meeting between them as a potential ‘gift’ for Sheridan.”
I didn’t think that’d be enough, but it wasn’t a bad idea. “Okay. Do they know about my new attunement yet?”
“Not sure. They didn’t say anything about it. Neither did we.”
“Okay, good. Anything else I need to know?”
“Marissa isn’t here. She’s in class today. Probably not an issue, but figured you should know.”
I nodded. “What else?”
“Uh, just be warned that Sheridan is sort of… eccentric.”
“I can deal with eccentric.”
I headed back into the kitchen. Sheridan’s gaze turned toward me as I approached.
I lifted a hand and waved. “Good morning. I’m Corin Cadence.”
Sheridan picked up another apple from the table and threw it at me.
I stepped to the side, avoiding it, and bowed at the waist. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Honestly, who throws apples at people?
Sheridan stared at me for a moment, then beamed brightly. “Your reflexes are commendable, Master Cadence. Are you here to help negotiate for my ‘dark magic’ as your retainer puts it?”
I shot Patrick a glance. He shrugged at me. “That’s what it sounds like.”
I turned back to Sheridan. “Definitely. Doesn’t matter where magic falls on the light spectrum as long as it works.”
Sheridan looked me up and down, appraising. I suspect Patrick or Marissa might have found that intimidating, but I was too used to being among nobles for that sort of thing to shake me in the slightest.
“I appreciate your pragmatism,” Sheridan began. “Unfortunately, I’m not certain we’ll be able to reach an agreement. Alas, the services your dear sister requires utilize forbidden magic. While I would be happy to help her in private, under conditions she could not observe, it seems your friends are hesitant to agree to such basic precautions. And that leaves me in a difficult position.”
I took a few steps closer and adjusted my style of speaking. If Sheridan wanted pretentious noble banter, I could play that game. “Ah, but certainly you must understand that in these difficult times, we must all take reasonable precautions for our well-being. My darling sister has already suffered so much, I fear I must take every due precaution to ensure she is not harmed again. It’s the only reasonable course of action, don’t you agree?”
Sera shot me a look that wasn’t quite a glare, but probably sat between a glare and a withering glance. She obviously didn’t like being treated like a fragile teacup, but I was playing to the tone of the conversation. Hopefully she’d understand, even if she didn’t like it.