Page 61 of Salt in the Seas
“What if I’m…” She trailed off, picturing the Wheel inside her mind and tracing the other spoke adjacent to the constructive somatic spoke. “What if I’m a destructive pneumatic and it’s all still muddled from how much magic I had in the beginning?”
“That’s why instead of testing all the spokes, we’re going to do a single test to rule out pneumatic skills.” Sylmar gestured for Lukai to sit on the desk. “I’d offer you the bed, but everything’s nailed down and this is the easiest way for you two to sit close—unless you’d both rather sit on the floor.”
Lukai eyed Sylmar warily. “It’s not the desk I object to. What exactly are we doing?”
“I want Aeliana to try sifting your soul.”
Lukai laughed uncomfortably, then shrugged, settling on the desk so his knees brushed Aeliana’s hands. She pulled them back nervously, glancing at Velden and Gaeren, who both seemed far more interested in the results than Aeliana.
“The bond should help.” Sylmar gestured for them to hold hands. “It could give us a false positive result because in general you can sense each other’s well-being, but if you can’t even sift the soul of your bond, it’s clear you’re not pneumatic.”
Their awkward positioning left their clasped hands resting on the tops of Lukai’s thighs, and Aeliana willed her hands not to grow even more clammy. She closed her eyes, more to block out Lukai’s proximity than anything else.
“I’ll let Velden take over.” A thump against the wood floor gave Aeliana the sense that Sylmar had backed up with his staff, leaving room for Velden to step in. Sure enough, the half-Sayhleen’s low voice came close to her ear, as if he kneeled beside her.
“Sifting the soul has a bit more art to it than the crude simplicity of adjusting the body.”
“Velden.” Sylmar’s expected warning tone made Aeliana smile, and her entire body relaxed a fraction.
“What? You teach your way, and I’ll teach mine.”
Aeliana peeked between her lashes to catch Velden’s grin.
“Where was I? Ah, the artistic quality of sifting souls. It’s about separating truth from lies, confidence from guilt, humility from pride. It’s easiest to sift the things that weigh heaviest on our souls, which is why novices often find lies and guilt more quickly, even if their eventual strengths lie more on the constructive side that sifts truth or possible paths in the future.”
She closed her eyes again and tightened her grip on Lukai’s hands. “But I would have destructive pneumatic skills anyway, wouldn’t I? I’d sift to find the lies and guilt in a soul.”
“Exactly,” Velden said. “And the lies of the past.”
Aeliana frowned. “How is seeing the past different from seeing memories?”
“How is sifting the past different from tuning in to memories,” Velden corrected.
They still sounded the same to Aeliana.
“Sifting someone’s past is far more about sensing the state of their soul during their past experiences. So while tuning in to a memory might give you a sense of that person’s emotion or senses during the memory, you’re not catching the way it affected their soul. A destructive noetic might tune in to someone’s sadness during the memory of attending their mother’s funeral, but a destructive pneumatic would sift through the soul’s past to know if the sadness was fueled by guilt or if losing their mother shifted how they viewed their father. The destructive pneumatic will never even see the memories the way a destructive noetic would. They’d simply feel the status of the soul.”
Aeliana bit her lip. Velden’s claim that this was a far more artistic spoke wasn’t as far off as it had originally seemed.
“So I reach in to get a sense of his past, not the memories, but the heart behind them.”
“Exactly.” Velden’s voice brightened, making Aeliana wonder if even he’d thought his own words were too abstract to be understood. “Lukai, make it a bit easier for her by sitting in something you feel guilty about in the past.”
The memory of Lukai handing over her blood to Sylmar, his willingness to go against her wishes so he could protect her, flashed through her mind, but that was her memory, not his. Lukai shifted on the desk. Was he thinking of the same thing—and feeling just as uncomfortable? It still sat between them, this ugly history that made it impossible for them to work at growing their bond. Or at least, it made it impossible for her.
The tension in the room thickened as the silence went on, but Aeliana was hesitant to truly try. She didn’t want to sense his guilt and shame. It might make it too easy to forgive him.
“If she’s getting nothing, is it safe to assume she’s not a destructive pneumatic?” Lukai’s hands twitched in hers as he spoke.
She opened her eyes and frowned, taking in the sheen of sweat on his forehead. He wouldn’t be this stressed about her seeing his guiltand shame over the blood. It wasn’t like it was a secret she was about to discover. Unless… was there something else he’d kept secret?
Velden still kneeled beside her, and he cocked his head with a knowing glance. Hadn’t Orra said everyone had secrets?
A desire to know filled her, and this time when she shut her eyes, she felt her starlock warm against her chest. She let that warmth travel across the thread of magic, but instead of letting it look for things physically broken and in need of fixing, she urged it to look for other forms of dissonance. It felt unfocused, like fingers blindly reaching for what might be within their grasp. But when she finally latched on to something, the focus became far too clear.
Kendalyhn sat before her, slightly younger, her face holding none of the contempt Aeliana was used to seeing. It was amazing how beautiful the other woman was when her lips weren’t tugged down in a frown. Smooth light brown skin, dark braids holding the hair from her eyes, but the rest curling around to frame her face.
Without warning, Kendalyhn bent forward, as if she might kiss Aeliana. Except this was a memory, which meant she was leaning in to kiss…
