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Adonai looked thoughtfully at Cindy.

"I'm not sure you and I understand the concept of an empath in the same way," he murmured softly. "What does it mean to be an empath in your world?"

Even Shael looked at Cindy anxiously awaiting her answer.

"Ah," Adonai murmured, a smile creeping across his face once more. "Yes ... no. What you call an empath is nothing like what we call an empath. Empathy, yes, being able to sense emotions ... but that is still quite different from being an empath. An empath is someone who has much magic of their own, like Rhea, but who can also absorb it from those around them. And not just magic, abilities ... but also emotions, energy, thoughts, desires ... pain."

He looked back at Cindy, serious once more. "And it's not just sharing it, either ... I don't know about magic or anything, but as Shael said, it seems as though Rhea takes her energy ... and I have also felt it, I have to admit ... and when it comes to pain ... she could simply take the pain away from others - physical, emotional, whatever - and make it her own. The other person would feel nothing of it ... but an empath would feel it all, unless they had some way to channel it out of their own body."

Adonai passed a hand over his brow.

"My question is," he murmured, "now what? How do we first of all determine whether or not she truly is an empath? And if she is, how do we continue to teach her to control her magic, if we do not even know how it works? Is it even controllable?"

Shael's brow furrowed with worry. "Such a young child should not take on the pain of others," she said quietly. "She's a child ... she shouldn't have to worry like we do."

"Shields will do her no good," Adonai said firmly. "It's not like she can just not use it ... it's something that is as much a part of her as her skin. She must learn how to control it, not run from it."

"Perhaps," Shael suggested, putting one hand on Adonai's to calm him, "we could all work together to find a way to work with Rhea ... or perhaps, when better weather comes, I could ask Aragost. He's always been helpful to me ... and we would not even have Rhea if it were not for him."

"Yes," Shael murmured. "Aragost would know ... there is very little that he does not know."

"Mama!" Rhea's voice came from down the hall. "I thought it was time for my lessons!"

Shael looked to Adonai. "Would you?" she murmured. "I haven't the energy yet ..."

Adonai nodded and rose from his seat. "You two just relax," he smiled warmly at them, though his eyes were still troubled. "And Shael, make sure you put dry clothes on soon ... I don't want you sick."

Shael smiled. It was a baseless worry, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

Shael nodded slowly. "It ... would be a terrible burden, to be an empath," she said softly. "To feel the pain of others, to take in on yourself ... if she cannot control that, she will be torn apart ... but Adonai is right, to simply shield her from the world would do her no good either, for shields may break, and she would be left more vulnerable than ever."

She sighed and passed her hands over her eyes. "And yet I can think of no way to help her ... to teach her to harness her abilities ..."

"You would know better than I," Shael said quietly, lowering her eyes, "so I will leave it to your judgment what is done with her instruction."

She only hoped that Rhea would be prepared for the mixture of people and magic that she would experience the following summer, when they would travel to the city.