4
MAGIC LESSONS
After some coaxing Patha returned to the table and sat stiffly like she had to carefully balance, or she would fall. She kept her eyes downcast, trying to concentrate on not getting emotional. Lar retained a slight vacuum around her hands, not because he feared she would set the place afire, but because he knew her worry of doing just that. He didn't want her concerns to become self-fulfilling prophecies. Certainly, Rashel and Yeolani weren't worried about being turned into kindling. They waited patiently while her story, such as she remembered it, slowly came out in spits and sparks, as if she were stirring at embers long since banked.
“I was about five the last time I was…normal.” Patha kept her hands under the table and made no eye contact, worried about sparks, but L
