(Isla)
I remained inside the circle without moving.
After a while, I forgot I was waiting for anything to happen. The quiet became easier to accept, and my thoughts became clearer than they'd been all morning.
"Caius," I said softly.
"Yes?"
"I think I understand."
His expression stayed calm.
"What do you understand?"
"I came here expecting the symbol to teach me something."
He nodded.
"But the first lesson wasn't in the symbol."
He smiled.
"No."
"It was in me."
For a moment neither of us spoke.
Then Caius reached for the journal and turned to the next page.
"That's exactly where we needed to begin."
Caius turned another page of the journal before holding it out for me to see.
"The first lesson was learning how to approach the symbols," he said. "The second is learning how
