The Language of Power (The Steerswoman, #4)

by Rosemary Kirstein

“All magic,” he said, “is movements of power, or transformations of power. In fact,” he admitted, seeming a bit surprised at the thought, “everything that happens at all is movement or transformation of power. And magic is what happens when you have a very close control over the movement or transformation of power, and can use it to do something complicated and difficult, something that wouldn’t happen naturally, all by itself.”

And despite the fact that the world consisted only of now, with memory before but shadows and mist—despite this, the steerswoman knew with perfect certainty that never before in her life had she felt so completely protected. Violence before her, and magic behind her. With these, nothing could harm her.

Some were questions Rowan had herself asked, of her family and fellow villagers: asked and asked more, until they grew tired of her, and declared that she must be mentally deficient, to not know all these things as matters of simple fact, to need explanations for the obvious.