Kaylin frowned. “How did the Shadow touch you at all?”
“Right.” Terrano turned to the former Shadow at the heart of the Tower of testing. “Can you answer that?”
“Not with certainty, but yes, I have some suspicions. Understand that the power of Shadow, like that of fire or water, earth or air, is not sentient as it exists in the world in which you live. But tosummonany of these things touches the heart of the element itself—and that has a crude, visceral sentience. As with all things of power, it does not wish to be summoned and enslaved.”
“I’ve heard it theorized that Shadow is like the elements—but if it is, it’s not part of the Keeper’s Gardens.”
Brows rose. “You are familiar with the garden of the Keeper?”
Kaylin nodded.
“Shadow is not an element that life requires,” Ariste said. “It is not an elemental force woven into the fabric of this world, this plane. Without water, we perish. Without air, we perish.Without earth we cannot build homes. Fire is a necessity for those who do not have even the barest traces of magic. But the elements vie for dominance; it is the Keeper’s duty to calm them.
“Shadow is not an element in that sense. But it can be summoned, and its power utilized. It is far easier to summon than fire, water, or earth, and it does not fight the summoner for dominance. Those of weak will lose control without realizing that it is lost.”
“Why does Shadow even exist?”
“You must ask the Ancients,” she said with a deep smile. “I do not know. But the nature of the living oft leans toward hierarchies of power. What constitutes power changes between races, but the struggles to build or maintain it exist within the cultural context. What seems polite and peaceful to you might seem hostile and aggressive to those within the culture itself.”
“We’d like you to skip the lectures,” Terrano snapped.
“Shut up, Terrano.Idon’t want Ariste to skip the lectures, as you call them.”
“It’s just because of his voice!”
“Does it matter why?”
“You got what you came here for.”
She started to ask Terrano why he was so uneasy, but stopped. She wouldn’t get an answer—just more argument. She could ask him at home.
“You served whatever now rulesRavellon. You served unwillingly—but you served with intent and the abilities you used for other reasons before the fall ofRavellon.”
Ariste nodded, eyes literally glittering. Something about the face froze for a moment, as if the mask chosen couldn’t accommodate the expression Ariste wanted to make.
“But to do that, wouldn’t that mean you had a clearer understanding of what, exactly, rulesRavellon?”
Silence. The music left Ariste’s voice; the warmth fled as well. In its place was neither cold arrogance nor anger; it was asif embers had faded and only ash remained. “Let me ask you a question in return for the question you have asked.”
Terrano snorted. Kaylin nodded. But she thought she might never ask a question like this one again, given the sudden cessation of the sound that had so held her attention. Terrano, as usual, was half right.
“You bear the Marks of the Chosen. You are called Chosen, and that is an accurate title, an accurate word—but you yourself did not choose. Do you, who bear the Marks of the Ancients, understand the Ancients’ will? Do you understand their intent?”
Kaylin shook her head.
“If you were tasked with answering a question about their will—just the small part of their intent that overlaps your own life—could you answer it?”
She shook her head again.
“Even though your life has been so profoundly changed, so profoundly affected?”
“...I understand the point you’re trying to make.”
“You are what you are. You bear the Marks, but you do not allow them to transform you. Had the Ancients paused to speak to you at all, you would have been more irrevocably altered.”
Kaylin frowned. “Let me ask a different question in response to your question.”
“This is why Ihatethese conversations,” Terrano muttered.