Sleeping later in the morning helped Camwyn stay awake during his lessons, and extra exercise seemed to keep his hand from lighting up every night. One mug of sib at midday kept him alert through his lessons and supper with Mikeli when that was required. His brother treated him more as an ally, less as a child, as if discussing a maturing body and marriage made him older. Mikeli even brought up the problem of the old regalia and his own difficult dreams. “It’s talking to me every night now. Telling me to let it go. I tell you, Camwyn, I do not know what to do or whom to ask for advice. It wants to be with Duke Verrakai, and it wants her to put it on. Should I release her from her oath? Even command her to take it? But then who would take over in her place? Beclan is too young and not yet in control of his magery, according to her letters.”

At that last, Camwyn twitched. Mikeli glanced at him, one eyebrow raised. “Can he learn that, do you think?” Camwyn asked, doing his best to feign only mild interest.

“He had better,” Mikeli said, in what Camwyn thought of as his king voice. “We cannot have a magelord in Tsaia who is not both master of his magery and committed to the Crown and to Gird’s law.” His voice softened once more from king to brother. “Duke Verrakai thinks he can, and she learned to, so I suppose it can be done.”

Camwyn wondered if he could learn to control his own magery before anyone found out about it. If only there were someone he could ask … but Duke Verrakai was an inconvenient distance away.

“Do you think it’s … sort of … leaking magery?” he asked instead.

“Leaking? What do you mean?”

“Well…” Inspiration struck. “Beclan had been where it was, in Verrakai House, when he showed magery. And it’s talking to you, you say. What if, because it’s old and was a magelord thing, it’s so full of magery that it leaks out? And it can seep into people, making them mages when they weren’t.”

Mikeli looked thoughtful for a few moments, then shook his head. “I don’t think that’s how magery works, Cam. Not the magery in people. I think that’s different from the magic in magical items like a sword.”

“Are you sure? How would you know?”

Mikeli shook his head again. “I don’t know for certain. How could I? But it just seems like they ought to be different. Do magical items have a will?”

“Magic swords can light up when they are near something dangerous. Didn’t Duke Verrakai’s magic sword make a light—?”

“She was holding it, and she’s a mage,” Mikeli said.