“Let’s start heading back,” suggested Koran. Internally Katie flinched at the break of silence, but physically only moved her eyes. “I’m ready for lunch.”
They made their way back to the palace and had a large lunch with several dishes already prepared and waiting for them. The rest of the day went by with more sightseeing, an exquisite dinner, and an early bedtime.
It was still quite dark when Katie woke up the next morning. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but she knew that she should be headed towards Chancellor Levi’s office. Katie rushed because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to find the office on her own.
Katie let out a gasp of surprise when she opened her door and found Onix waiting for her.
“Are you ready?” he asked her.
Katie nodded.
“Very well,” he said. “Follow me.”
Katie followed Onix down the hallway and through yet another set of passageways and staircases. The quiet morning felt cold, even though inside was quite warm.
After a while, Katie was sure that they weren’t headed towards the Chancellor’s office and began to worry. When she voiced this Onix reassured her that they were headed in the right direction.
“The Chancellor asked me to bring you to our training grounds. He felt there was no need to return to his office if you weren’t going to be using it.”
Onix continued to lead. They went through a door and Katie found herself outside. The brisk wind buffeted her face as she stepped outside. They walked down a simple path along the side of the palace. Katie always felt like most of her time was spent on the east side of the building, but now she knew they were on the other side. To her left, there was a drop of about twenty feet that fell into a large garden.
They walked down the white wooden stairs and at the foot a spacious field opened up. The field was largely composed of dirt with a few weedy grass patches attempting a shot at life. The small mountain loomed over them at the end. Katie figured she was in a sort of courtyard behind the main palace. Tyson and Koran were standing in the middle of the field while Artemus spoke to them.
“The Chancellor isn’t quite ready for you yet and offered that you may sit by the stairs and spectate while you wait,” Onix told Katie.
“Can I be a part of that?” Katie asked, pointing towards the field.
“I’m afraid not. The Chancellor was very clear that you were not to exhaust yourself, even in the slightest.”
Katie sighed but nodded in understanding. She sat on the stairs with her elbows on her knees. Not being able to hear anything that was being said, Katie watched Tyson, Koran, and Artemus disinterestedly for five minutes.
The man named Lawrence stepped out onto the field from out of nowhere, from Katie’s perspective. They talked a bit more before Lawrence and Artemus stepped away from Tyson and Koran.
Things got exciting when Artemus threw a knife at Koran, who dodged it easily. Then Lawrence and Artemus launched their attack of dull, wooden knives at the two young men who were both attempting to dodge them.
Despite their age, Lawrence and Artemus were quite adept at knife throwing that even Koran couldn’t dodge them all and was hit quite a few times.
After many minutes of that, Artemus had Koran and Tyson run laps around the field for fifteen minutes. Koran didn’t seem particularly bothered by this much, but Tyson was quickly getting out of breath, but he never asked to stop or take a break.
Katie felt a tap on her shoulder. She gasped and jerked her head back. Levi was standing there. He beckoned her to follow him. Part of Katie wanted to stay and watch Tyson and Koran, but she knew better to not ask. She picked herself up and followed Levi up the stairs.
The Chancellor led her down another path along the palace that she hadn’t noticed before. There was a brief moment where she could look down and see Tyson and Koran before they went through a tunnel passageway.
They walked up several more flights of stairs until they reached a balcony that looked over the east side of the river.
Katie half expected him to lead her to another training ground, and half expected him to lecture her.
“Is there something wrong?” the Chancellor asked quite intuitively.
Katie let out a small, nervous laugh. “I’m almost expecting my training to consist of lectures.”
The Chancellor smiled. “I may be an old man, but I don’t feel like it. My hope is that I can teach you how to control your abilities to your full potential.”
Katie smiled.
“Now, look out at the river. What do you see?”
Katie was not sure how to answer the question, whether he wanted a literal answer or something more philosophical.
“I see a lot of water.”
“Exactly,” said the Chancellor. “And what do you believe you are most capable of?”
“Controlling water,” said Katie. “I just can’t do it all the time. So far, it has only been when I really need to.”
“Give me a chance to see if I can help you,” requested Levi. “We don’t have much time, but I hope that you will have more control over your powers when we are finished.”
“Do you also have these abilities?”
The Chancellor asked by pulling out a necklace similar to Katie’s. His uppermost star was gray and there was an imp hanging in the middle.
“The twelve Palatinii are able to manipulate the abilities of each source, though each of us is stronger with
