The Spell Realm (The Sorcery Code #2)(28)

“Gala, stop it . . .” Blaise took her hands and gently pulled them down to her sides. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault that you can’t control your emotions yet—it just means we need to expedite your training.” She still looked upset, so he added, “And besides, I have a feeling you would’ve teleported us out of here if things got too hot.” He grinned at her, inviting her to share in the humor.

She shook her head, still looking distraught. “Maybe . . . but there is no guarantee of that. My magic is still too unpredictable.” She sounded frustrated.

“Look, Gala, I was flattered,” Blaise said, framing her face with his hands. “That was quite a reaction to my kiss.”

She started to respond, and then he saw her looking up behind him. Letting go of her, Blaise turned quickly, ready to battle whatever might be there—but it was just the chaise, finally arriving from the lake.

“I think we need a change of scenery,” he said, looking around the burned meadow. “Let’s go back to the lake now.”

“Yes, please.” She sounded eager, and he knew she was as anxious to leave this place as he was.

“Let’s go then.” Leading Gala to the chaise, Blaise did a spell to get it back to its normal size, and then they got on it. Thinking back on the fight with the bearwolves, he wished he’d insisted they fly to the village the night before, instead of walking with the hunters. It took no time at all to reach the lake this way.

“This is as good a place as any other to try to have some more lessons,” he said as they descended on the shore of the lake. The place still took his breath away with its beauty. Looking at the still waters, he remembered swimming there with Gala, and a wave of warmth rolled through him. He definitely needed to teach her how to control her emotions, he thought wryly. It wouldn’t do to have her burn down the entire forest if they became more intimate.

They walked to a small grassy area on the edge of the forest. Gala sat down on a fallen tree, and Blaise joined her there.

“Please sit comfortably,” he said, noticing that Gala was perched in an awkward manner.

“Does my posture matter?” she asked, looking at him.

“The key is that you are comfortable,” Blaise explained.

She adjusted her legs, folding them underneath herself, and pulled back her shoulders. There was a sensuality in her posture now, and Blaise shifted a bit in reaction. Focus, he told himself. Don’t think of that kiss.

“I am by no means an expert at this,” he began, taking a few deep breaths to relax himself. “All I know is that these techniques helped me focus when I was a child. My mother taught them to me. You see, I was overly active and had trouble concentrating on some tasks, so she thought that this, along with some spells, would help me relax and clear my mind. Later on, when I was in a very dark place after Louie’s death, I practiced these relaxation methods to help me regain some equilibrium.”

She sat there listening, absorbing his every word.

“Close your eyes and focus on your breathing,” Blaise told her. “Think of nothing else.”

She closed her eyes, her face assuming a serene, introspective expression.

“Now follow your breath,” Blaise told her, trying to make his voice as soothing as possible. “Don’t try to control it, but just focus your conscious awareness on it. In and out, in and out . . . Try to feel the exact moment when the ‘out’ breath ends. Can you feel it? Can you tell when the ‘in’ breath becomes the ‘out’ breath?”

From his own experience, he knew that it was very hard to pinpoint that moment, but trying to do so quieted the mind tremendously.

“Now try to gently slow your breathing,” he said after a couple of minutes. “Start counting in your head to five on the ‘in,’ and to five on the ‘out.’”

She nodded, continuing to breathe as he’d instructed, and he could see that she was doing exceedingly well for a first-timer. That was good; if she mastered the technique, it would enable her to calm down if she needed to. He could see all the tension in her face and body ebbing away until she was as relaxed as he had ever seen her. Instead of her customary expression of excitement and curiosity, she looked serene, beatific. It almost seemed like she was—

Blaise’s jaw dropped. No, it didn’t just seem like it. Gala actually was beginning to float upward. So far she was only a few inches off the ground, but he had no idea how high she would go if allowed to continue. “All right,” he said gently, not wanting to startle her, “now slowly start getting back to your regular speed of breathing.”

She followed his instructions, and he could see her slowly descending. When her folded legs touched the tree, he told her to open her eyes.

“That was wonderful,” she said, beaming at him. “I felt very even and calm. Then I started feeling a lightness as well.”

“Yes, I could tell.” Blaise smiled.

“You could?”

“You started floating upward,” Blaise explained, his smile widening.

“Oh.” She frowned a little. “Does it mean that I failed?”

“No. You seem to start getting into trouble when you are at extreme points of any emotion or sensation. I think this floating happened because you were maybe too calm and relaxed. It doesn’t make the technique any less useful, however. If you are overwhelmed with a stressful emotion, using this strategy should help you get closer to a safe, neutral state,” he said, hoping he was actually right.