"So quick to break your promise?" Noble pursed her lips. "Anything must have a different meaning than I thought."
"It isn't that I don't want to," Counsel hedged. "It is that the Sorcery of Names is not something that can be taught in a moment. It isn't meant for human mouths to be able to utter at all. I know a handful of True Names and a few minor modifiers. I cannot even properly string them into a Verse."
"Sorcery of Names? Verse?" Noble felt her head spin for a moment. That was a lot of information! She knew the term True Name from those who were lucky enough to receive one from the Spell, but that is where her knowledge ceased.
"You know my master was the last Transcendent sorcerer of our kingdom. As his slave, I held his books and listened to him repeat Names over and over until he got them right. Silently, I practiced too. I don't know if his training was intentional, but I learned a lot. He was the closest thing I had to a father." Counsel rubbed his head.
Noble was not sure how to feel about the information, and thankfully the man did not give her a chance to respond. He simply continued with his tale.
"I was able to form my core right before he died. He was impressed that a nothing like me had Awakened. I think with more time, he might have even freed me. But that time never came. When he was slain on the battlefield by the Tyrant, I took up his place and screamed every word I had ever heard my master say. I fought to protect his body. He deserved a proper burial."
"So you were freed by his death?" Noble realized immediately that she had spoken out of turn.
Anger flashed across the man's face like she had not seen before settling back into sadness. "Even as an Awakened I did not gain my freedom, I finally found my way into your parents' household. They were the first people to treat me like equals. They released me. We became friends."
Counsel fell deep into thought. The rest was easy to guess. Brenna's parents, Queen Emira, and Counsel had fought alongside each other until three out of four of them made the fateful trip to meet the Lord of the Mountain.
Emira blamed Counsel for the loss of her brother and sister-in-law. For his part, the man seemed just as burdened by the loss.
"I wish things had ended differently both with your Master and my parents," Noble offered.
"Me too," the man forced a weary smile. "It breaks me that I cannot fulfill your wish. But True Names are a talent that is almost completely lost to humanity."
"Can I at least hear you do it? I only got to watch from afar last time." Even if Noble couldn't do it herself, learning how it was done would add to her storehouse of knowledge.
And knowledge was power.
"Step toward the wall and find something to hold on to. You too, Kosi!" Counsel widened his stance.
Kosi ignored the warning, but Noble rushed to the side. Taking hold of one of the metal loops lining the walls, she gave the man a short nod.
Counsel spoke and the air around them became alive. It whipped with hurricane-force winds, pulling bits of dust and sediment from the walls and floor. Noble squinted against the gale.
Thankfully, her skin was mostly covered, or the dust and silt would have tried to lodge in her pores.
'Ah!' Her feet, which hadn't been touching the floor anyway, lifted even higher as the sensation of floating became irresistible. She gripped the ring, hoping that it was not so ancient that it would give way against her weight.
Disturbed by the sudden change, Kosi dug his claws into the stone. the sound of his nails scraping slowly across the ground mixed with the grating of the wind.
Then, all at once, the world went quiet. The dirt settled on the floor around the edges of the room. The fire, which Noble had assumed would go out in the whirlwind, sprang back to life and ringed the middle of the wall in candle-like flames.
Tucking back the stray hairs that escaped her helmet, Noble brought herself upright once more.
"That was incredible! How did you do that?"
"I invoked the Name of the wind and becoming greater. It is the same as what I did in the fight with the Tyrant only I strung it together with the Name of moving swiftly upward and the name of branching wide." Counsel gave a half-smile.
"Is that what you meant by Verse?" Noble was beginning to understand.
"It isn't a proper verse. It is far too clumsy. Unfortunately, all the words I know have to do with battle. My Master practiced those the most often. Even then those few Words are most of what I can use." The man looked down, embarrassed that he did not have more skill. "I think once I get a better handle on my Aspect, I may be able to wield more names."
"You mean talking to creatures?" Noble was confused about how the two might relate to one another.
"That is an ability related to my Aspect. I followed in the way of my master. My Aspect has to do with communication. It is why I can pronounce the words at all." Counsel furrowed his brow. It bothered him that he was not further along in his study.
"I imagine it isn't easy." Noble tried to speak the words that she had heard Counsel use. They came out in a garbled mess.
Counsel burst out laughing. "Forgive me. I did not mean to tease you."
He tried to control the bounce of his shoulders.
Noble giggled. "Was it that bad?" She tried again and again. Each time came out more mangled than the last.
Part of that was because neither she nor Counsel could stop laughing. But mostly the difficulty lay in the fact that the words were not meant for human mouths. They were so foreign as to remain beyond reach for all but the most gifted mortals.
"Here, try these others..." Counsel was too amused by the game to stop.
He gave her all the words he knew, but all of them felt like gravel in her mouth. After a couple of hours of trying and failing, Noble puffed out her cheeks.
"Alright, I get why you told me no when we started. I am not any closer to any of those than I was when I began."
Counsel chuckled. "Do not despair, My Lady. It was never meant to be no matter how hard you try. It has taken me many years to get the words that I have. If it makes you feel better, there is one I know in my head but I cannot get my mouth to make it no matter how hard I try."
"Oh? What word is that?" Noble tilted her chin in disbelief.
Using the Name of the Wind, Counsel blew some of the dirt in front of them before writing the Name in the dust. Noble could not read the ancient writing, so she waited for the man to explain. "This was one of the first Names I heard my Master use. I know it in my head, but that will not translate to my speech."
He said the word, but this time nothing changed in the room except Noble's face.
A spark of recognition moved across her face. 'That sounds a lot like...'
Noble spoke a single word.
Suddenly, the shadows fled.