Yushir stood and offered me his hand. I reluctantly accepted and he pulled me gently to my feet before guiding me out into the warm sun. He gestured to a patch of grass on the opposite side of the walk from the tree. “Please take a seat here and we will begin your first lesson.”

I was more than a little apprehensive as I took a seat on the plush lawn. Sitting was a little awkward with the robe and I kept tugging it down to cover my legs.

Yushir leisurely paced the path in front of me with his brow furrowed and a hand tapping against his cheek. “Now let’s see. What shall we begin with?” He stopped and his eyes widened. “Yes, that should do.” He spun around to face me and my nervousness tripled. The prince stretched out his hand and formed his hand into an ‘okay’ sign. “Mimic what I do.” I performed the task with more ease than I expected and a grin spread across my lips. He swept his arm in a small circle in front of him and thrust his hand out. “Now repeat that gesture.” I tried to make a circle but he shook his head. “No no no. You need to create a perfect circle or the magic will be very weak. It may not even come at all.”

I stiffened my jaw and tried again. And again. And again. I tried so many times my arm began to grow tired.

Yushir finally sighed. “Perhaps we should give it a try anyway.” I dropped my arm into my lap and hung my head. He patted my shoulder. “No need for that. The motions merely coax the magic out of you. The magic inside is the greatest matter.”

I winced. “So how do I do that?”

“Focus your thoughts on the tiny spark inside you and try to imagine drawing out the magic like plucking strings on a ball of thread,” he instructed.

I looked down at myself. “A tiny spark?”

“That is the spark of your element,” he explained as he pointed his ringed finger at my chest. “Every god and goddess has one contained within them at the point of their creation. I doubt the circumstances are any different for you.”

I sat up and nodded. “I’ll try.”

Yushir stepped back and to the side watching me carefully. I breathed out and returned my hand to the starting position. All was still and quiet in the garden as I dug around inside me in search of this fabled ball of thread. There didn’t seem to be anything different on my inside, but I stiffened my jaw and performed the hand maneuver anyway.

Nothing came out. Not a spark nor a sputter of water. I frowned and tried again. The result was the same. I felt nothing and nothing came out.

After a half dozen tries, Yushir stepped up to me with a tense smile on his face. “You are either a very fine actress or the worst magic user I have ever seen.”

I glared up at him. “I’ve never used magic before, okay? I wasn’t lying when I said I was just a normal mortal before I ate that fruit.”

He wagged his finger at me. “For what it’s worth, I believe you.”

I drew my legs up against my chest and wrapped my arms around them before I set my chin atop my knees. “I don’t know what that’s worth. I don’t know what’s going on at all.”

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“Then I will find a servant to help you understand the small things and the big ones will be less of a concern,” he promised me as he looked me up and down. “And I will see that she brings you a suitable set of clothes. Lord Eastwei will no doubt be wanting his robe back.”

I furrowed my brow as my thoughts strayed to the impassive man. Anything to take my mind off my most epic of failures. “Is he a lord or an emperor?”

Yushir lifted an eyebrow at me. “That is an unusual question for you to ask.”

I shrugged. “I heard that Pampir guy call him that in the garden.”

My guest rolled his eyes and sighed. “I see. That would explain matters.”

“It does?” I wondered.

Yushir nodded as he paced the ground in front of me. “Pampir is always trying to ingratiate himself with Lord Eastwei and he often does so by using the lord’s old title.”

“Then Eastwei was an emperor?” I guessed.

“Many tens of millions of years ago, but he gave up the title and retired to enjoy life in the heavens.”

I choked on my spittle. “Tens of millions of years?”

“Many of us live at least that long,” he mused.

I murmured as I shook my head. “I. . .I can’t imagine living even one percentage of that many years.”

He chuckled. “Nor could I before I hit my first million but those afterward are much easier to manage.”

I gaped at him. “You. . .you’re a million years old?”

He cocked his head to one side and looked up at the sky as he furrowed his brow. “I believe I celebrated my fifteen millionth birthday a few thousand years ago.”

My jaw hit the ground. “You’re joking.”

He shook his head. “Indeed, I am not. Barring injury or illness, immortality is truly living forever.”

I stared at him for a long moment before I snapped out of my stupor. “What do you guys do?”

His eyes twinkled as he winked at me. “There are always pleasures to be had, such as teaching a certain new goddess how to use her magic.”

I snorted. “That’s going to take us another fifteen million years.”

“Perhaps, but I believe victory will come in due time.” He set a hand on my shoulder and I looked up into his gentle eyes. “But you look tired. Rest for a while. I will see to fetching you an attendant.”

I turned my face away but nodded. Yushir slipped away through the arches where I could just make out the guards standing in the shadow of the high walls. My shoulders drooped and I eased myself onto my weary feet. The lesson had taken its toll and I shuffled off to bed.

The furniture turned out to be incredibly comfortable and the blankets were light and airy. I took a seat on the edge and looked down at myself. The robe was so soft but I feared becoming entangled in its silky threads, so I removed it.

I slipped beneath the covers and buried my head in the soft pillow. Sleep took me a few minutes later.