"What sort of thing is a good first lesson?"

"I had Fingon pushing a rock around. Enhancing your muscles is easy, too, but it can be dangerous without proper precautions when you're first trying it because putting any extra strenght in is easy, but putting in only as much as you want is harder and you could break something by accident, including yourself."

"A rock would work." She looks around the room, then takes a ring off her finger and sets it on the table and concentrates.

After a while of nothing happening, she says apologetically, "Maybe I didn't explain it well enough."

"How long does it take ordinarily?"

"Less time than that, unless you were particularly unsuited to Effort...did it hurt at all?"

"No....does everyone have the aptitude?"

"I've never heard of someone being unable to use magic if they tried to study it. I think it's probably just that it's hard to describe--I'm describing it as feeling like touch, but in a way it's its own sense...have you heard the metaphor of the blind man and the rainbow?"

"..no."

"Where I'm from if you're trying to explain something without a good enough point of reference people sometimes say you're trying to explain rainbows to a blind man."

She grins. "We say you're trying to teach a deaf one perfect pitch."

"That'd do it too, yep. I could try explaining it a couple more ways and if that doesn't work maybe it had better wait."

"I appreciate it anyway. And the prince is by all accounts very decent, I'm sure he'll deign to translate."

"He was very kind about it when I threw up after killing a bunch of orcs."

"You'll get a feel pretty quickly for the ones who think you're a person and the ones who think you're a well-trained puppy dog. But even kind people probably shouldn't have the power to do as they please. Just in general."

...

"I'm sorry. I'm sure you've had a lovely first impression and here I am being relentlessly cynical and ruining it. It's alright to enjoy yourself. They are beautiful and so are the things they build."

"It's not that. The reason I'm here in the first place is that she presumably made a mistake in getting us away from someone was trying to kill us because she's going to be a Great Mage and he doesn't think anyone should have that kind of power."

"There are ways of checking power short of murdering people who are going to grow into it."

"You're totally right, just--touched a nerve, I guess."

"I can imagine. I hope your sister is safe."

"I hope so too."

There's a knock on the door. 

Illia glances at the other woman.

She stands. "It's your room, you should tell them to come in or not."