'If she lives so far away, how did she get into the pool of the river where we saw her?'
'It was not her we saw. It was her shadow.'
Fenn frowned and wrinkled her pert little nose as she wrestled with the concept. 'I do not understand.'
Taita reached into the leather pouch on his girdle and brought out the bulb of a lily that he had brought with him for the purpose of demonstration. He handed it to her. 'You know this bulb.'
She examined it briefly. 'Of course. We have gathered many such.'
'Inside there are many layers, one within the other, and in the centre the tiny kernel' She nodded, and he went on, 'That is how our entire universe is shaped. We are the kernel at the centre. Around us there are layers of existence we cannot see or sense - unless we have the power to do so. Do you understand?'
She nodded again, cautiously, then admitted candidly, 'No, I don't, Taita.'
'Do you dream when you are asleep, Fenn?'
'Oh, yes!' she enthused. 'Wonderful dreams! They make me laugh and feel happy. Sometimes in my dreams I can fly like a bird. I visit strange and beautiful places.' Then a haunted expression replaced the smile. 'But sometimes I have dreams that frighten me or make me feel sad.'
Taita had listened to her nightmares as she lay beside him in the
night. He had never shaken her or startled her out of them but had extended his own power to calm her and bring her back gently from the dark places. 'Yes, Fenn, I know. In your sleep you leave this layer of existence and move into the next.' She smiled with comprehension, and Taita continued, 'Although most people have dreams they cannot control, some have the special gift to see beyond the tiny kernel of existence in which we are encapsulated. Some, the savants and the magi, may even have the power to travel in spirit form to wherever they choose. To see things from afar.'
'Can you do that, Taita?' He smiled enigmatically, and she burst out, 'It must be strange and wonderful. I should love to be able to do that.'
'One day perhaps you shall. You see, Fenn, you saw the shade of the witch in the pool, which means you have the power. We need only train you to use and control it.'
'So the witch had come to spy on us? She was really there?'
'Her spirit was. She was overlooking us.'
'I am frightened of her.'
'It is wise to be so. But we must not surrender to her. We must counter her with our own powers, you and I. We must oppose her and break her wicked spells. If we can, we will destroy her and this world will be a better place for it.'
'I will help you,' she declared stoutly, 'but, first, you must teach me how.'
'Your progress so far has been miraculous.' He looked upon her with unfeigned admiration. She was already developing the mind and spirit of the queen she had been in the other life. 'You are ready to learn more,'
he told her. 'We will start at once.'
Her instruction began each day as they mounted and rode out side by side. It continued through the long days of travel. His first concern was to instil in her the duty of a magus, which was to employ with care and responsibility the powers with which he or she had been endowed. They must never be used lightly or frivolously, or to achieve petty or selfish ends.
Once she had understood this sacred duty, and acknowledged it with a formal vow that he made her repeat, they moved on to study the simplest forms of the magical arts. At first he was careful not to tax her
I I
powers of concentration and to set a pace that she could maintain. But he need not have worried: she was indefatigable, and her determination unbending.
First he taught her how to protect herself: to weave spells of concealment that would shield her from the eyes of others. She practised this at the end of each day, when they were secure within the makeshift stockade. She would sit quietly beside Taita and, with his assistance, attempt to work a spell of concealment. It took many nights of diligent application but at last she succeeded. Once she had cloaked herself, Taita shouted for Meren. 'Have you seen Fenn? I wish to speak to her.'
Meren looked about, and his gaze passed over the child without pause.
'She was here but a short time ago. She must have gone out to the bushes. Shall I search for her?'
'No matter. It was not important.' Meren walked away, and Fenn giggled triumphantly.
Meren whirled round and started with surprise. 'There she is! Sitting beside you!' Then he grinned. 'Clever girl, Fenn! I was never able to do that, no matter how hard I tried.'
'Now you see how, if you lose concentration, the spell shatters like glass,' Taita chided her.
Once she had learnt to shield her physical body, he could teach her to mask her mind and aura. This was more difficult. First, he had to be certain that the witch did not have them under scrutiny: until she had fully mastered the magical techniques she would be most vulnerable to interference from any malign influence while she was attempting to do it. He had to search the ether around them before they could begin the instruction, and keep his guard high.
Her first task was to understand the aura of life that surrounded every living thing. She could not see it, and would never be able to until her Inner Eye was opened. Taita was determined to take her at the first opportunity on the arduous journey to the temple of Saraswati. In the meantime he had to describe it to her. Once she had grasped the concept of the aura, he could go on to explain the Inner Eye, and the power of savants to employ it.
'Do you have the Inner Eye, Taita?'
'Yes, but so does the witch,' he replied.
'What does my aura look like?' she asked, with ingenuous female vanity.