“I will see to it tomorrow morning,” Selwyn replied, his voice coming from off to the right. “What do you want for an object?”
“A stick or pinecone will do nicely,” Errol informed him as I emerged into a hollow of flattened weeds. Errol was stomping around in an ever widening circle. I joined him until we had cleared a circle about ten feet in diameter. Just then Selwyn appeared from the opposite direction. He carried an assortment of objects which he dumped into a heap on the edge of the circle.
“I got a whole selection. Are you ready?” he asked as he brushed his hands off on his britches.
“I am. Are you, Zezilia?” Errol asked.
I looked at him in surprise for a moment. “I guess so. I am still shaky as to what to do.”
“The experience of moving, unlike the experience of sending, is unique to each talent.”
“So, you cannot tell me how to do it?” Panic formed in my middle. The text book had given me nothing on how to move things and if Errol wasn’t going to help... I suddenly envisioned us standing in this field until sundown waiting for me to figure out how to access my amoveo and sense the energy.
“Don’t look so scared,” Selwyn admonished. “All he means is that your way of doing things is going to be different than mine or his. We can still give you hints on how to access your amoveo.”
“Stand here,” Errol instructed, indicating the center of the open space. I obeyed as he crossed to the pile of objects. After selecting a leaf, broad and crimson, he set it on the ground three feet in front of me. “This will be your first object.”
He and Selwyn took a stance to my right and my left. “Would you demonstrate, Selwyn?”
I looked up to find Selwyn concentrating on the leaf. “Look at the leaf, not him,” Errol instructed.
I turned to where the leaf had been, but it wasn’t there anymore. Instead it floated three inches before my face, twisting in an invisible breeze.
“Hold out your hand,” Selwyn instructed.
The leaf settled in and nestled my fingers before ceasing all movement.
“The first step is to sense your amoveo.” Errol lectured as he retrieved the leaf and returned it to the ground. “It is located beneath your breastbone. Now look inside and tell me when you locate it.”
Closing my eyes, I focused my mind inward. I still wasn’t sure what I was looking for, so I started with what I knew. Using the technique I used for visualizing in the beginning of my training, I imagined a gray space. The glimmerings that represented Errol and Selwyn beckoned to me to touch. Looking down past the glimmerings in the direction that I guessed to be my feet, I began my search.
“You won’t be able to see it like you see minds,” Errol commented.
I frowned. So, how was I supposed to detect it?
“Visualize your form,” Selwyn offered, “and look where it should be in the picture.”
I thought of the image I had seen briefly in the mirror that morning, skinny and long-limbed. Adreet constantly predicted that I was going to be tall, but I still hadn’t grown more than an inch or two since leaving my parents. Once it was firm in my thoughts, I looked where the book said my amoveo should be. Something glowed. I was so startled I almost lost the image. “I found it. I think I found it.”
“Touch it,” Errol instructed.
Reaching out mentally, I touched the glow. A warm essence filled my mid section and seemed to flow outward to fill my arms and legs. Then, last of all, it reached my head.
“Good.” Errol’s presence brushed against my consciousness. “Now open your eyes and touch the leaf with the energy.”
I opened my eyes and focused on the leaf. The crimson sheen and the light construction flickered through my thoughts. Lifting my arm, I reached out and did something. It was unlike anything I had ever done before, almost as though the essence within me called to something within the leaf. Whatever it was, suddenly the leaf was in my hand.
“Very good,” Errol said as he took it from my hand. “Now do it again from the beginning.”
“I did it right?” I asked. I was a little confused. From what they had been saying up to this point I had expected to do something amazing the first time. True, the calling of the leaf had been amazing, but I hadn’t lifted all the leaves in the field or something like that.
“Perfectly.” Errol smiled and then returned the leaf to its place.
“But...”
“Perfectly and on the first try. I am impressed,” Selwyn added. “You should be proud.”
“But you said that Ilias raised everything in the room on his first try.” I gazed in confusion from one man to the other.
Selwyn laughed.
Errol didn’t laugh, but his lips twitched slightly before he explained. “It wasn’t on purpose. He tried for three days to find his amoveo unsuccessfully. So, when he found it on the fourth day, he didn’t pause to focus the energy and just lifted. Everything in the room went flying. Now back to work. You still have a great deal to accomplish this afternoon. I replaced the leaf; now do it again.”
I turned my thoughts back to finding my amoveo, but a small part of my brain rejoiced in the fact I had done something in less than an hour that had taken Ilias four days. I couldn’t wait until Candra heard this.
Hadrian
A TAPPING AT THE DOOR brought my attention from a letter before me. I reluctantly tore my concentration from the foolish actions of a talent trainee as related by his trainer. Focusing on the young man standing in the doorway, it took me a moment to recognize Renato’s worried features.
“Yes?” I asked.
“There is an message from the king.”
“Please place it here.” I motioned to the shrinking stack of letters to be
