Learning magic (and a question for my readers at the end)

[Note: in this scene, the twins' childhood friend Phen has come to retrieve them from the humans and bring them back to Émere. They are now sixteen years old.]

“How much do you two know about using magic?” Phen asked the twins after they'd set up camp for the night.

“Not much,” Éadra admitted. “We were too young to learn when we left. All I remember is that it exists; the humans can't use it.”

“I've used it a few times,” said Learé, a bit defensively.

“So have I,” Éadra responded, “but never with much success, and I couldn't replicate it later.”

“Well how about I give you ladies your first real lesson then?” offered Phen.

Éadra smiled. “That would be great!”

Phen assumed a more serious expression, but with a hint of a smile underneath. “Alright, I want you to close your eyes and focus inside you.” His voice was deep and mysterious, and the girls gave him a weird look. “I'm serious!” he said. “The magic is inside you, at your core. You have to learn to feel it if you're going to access it. Once you learn to control it, you can use it almost like another hand, or something. You can extend it outside of yourself and use it to interact with what's around you. Magic is to us like technology is to the humans. It's our gift.”

“Wow. Mystical,” joked Éadra.

“You have to be kidding me,” said Learé.

Phen just rolled his eyes. “Now close your eyes and try to feel it inside you.”

This time the twins obeyed. Éadra wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she focused her mind inward and tried to examine how she felt. She focused on her breathing and tried to clear her mind. Eventually she became aware of something warm and, in her mind, golden inside of her. She tried to access it, but it seemed slippery—too difficult to grasp. She opened her eyes again. “I think I found it,” she said.

“So did I,” said Learé with a sly grin. Too late Éadra noticed the twig her sister had hidden under her hand. Without any visible movement on Learé's part, the twig came flying at Éadra. Éadra flinched, but the twig didn't even make it halfway before falling to the ground.

“What?” exclaimed Learé, turning to Phen.

“Magic usually requires direct contact,” Phen said. “It is very difficult and takes a great deal of concentration to maintain a connection once the object is released. In fact, it's impressive that you pulled that off at all.”

“Ya, I couldn't access my magic when I tried just now,” said Éadra, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“Let's see if I can help you with that,” said Phen. “What do you want to do with it?”

“I don't know,” said Éadra. “Just . . . something.”

“It helps if you have a goal in mind,” Phen told her. “Something small.”

“What about healing this cut?” Éadra held up her hand where she'd scratchd herself earlier that day.

Phen chuckled. “That's not small,” he said. “Healing takes a great deal of practice.”

“That's too bad,” Éadra said. “I've always thought it would be cool if I could heal people magically.”

“Maybe you'll become a healer then,” said Phen. “Tell you what, why don't we try, just for fun? I'm not a healer, so I'm not good with healing magic, but maybe I can help you. Close your eyes.” Éadra obeyed, and he continued, “Good. Now find your magic again.”

It was much easier to find it this time, and soon she felt the golden warmth of her magic once again.

“Now,” she heard Phen say, “concentrate on the magic. Will a portion of it—just a small stream—to up through your body and into your hand.”

The magic was still slippery, and it took a while, but eventually Éadra managed to pull a small tendril up through her. She made it almost all the way to her hand before losing her grip.

“Shoot,” she said. She tried again, but was distracted by the feel of hands on her shoulders.

“It's okay,” Phen's voice said in her ear. “It's hard to get a hang of. Try again, and take your time. There's no hurry.”

Once again, Éadra grasped at the magic. But the feel of Phen's hands was distracting, and she kept losing it. He must have felt her tense in frustration, because he whispered, “Relax.” Éadra took a few deep breaths and calmed herself, then tried once more. This time she managed to pull the magic all the way to her hand.

“Now what,” she asked, struggling to keep it there.

“Now this,” said Phen, and she felt a trickle of water on her cut. “Water is a good conduit for magic,” he said. “Healers use it for almost everything.”

Éadra could see why. The moment the water hit her hand, everything it touched came sharply into focus. As she concentrated on the magic, she could see in her mind's eye exactly what was wrong. She could sense the torn skin and blood vessels, and she was able to direct the magic to close them up again. It was still difficult, and she didn't do a very clean job of it, but it still left her feeling exhilarated. Once she was done, she opened her eyes and looked at her hand.

“Wow,” she said. It was a bit of a patchwork job, with bits looking completely healed and others like tiny, wrinkled scars. Still, the cut had been small to begin with, so she doubted anyone would notice.

“Impressive,” Phen said. “You both are doing very well. With enough time and training, you could both become quite powerful. And I will take all the credit, of course!”

So, for anyone reading this, I need your opinion. I created the character of Phen a long time ago as a future husband for Éadra, and that is still what I want for them. However, in the book, they don't really get a chance to interact because Éadra spends most of the book as Erron's captive. The majority of Phen's screen time is with Learé, and I am afraid that readers will start to pair those two in their heads and feel that Phen/Éadra is a forced pairing when they are together in sequels. Now, I do intend to write a prequel before the sequel I have in mind, telling the story of the time the twins had among the humans and their return to Émere, so that will give me a chance to show their growing relationship. If I can do this well, do you all think this will help make their relationship believable, or what do you all think I should do? Phen and Learé are good friends, and I can easily see people reading too much into that. Obviously no matter what I do there may be people who prefer that pairing, but I would like it to not be the only pairing readers can accept. Thanks!