I am powerful, as fire is powerful.
When I conceived the idea of Pietas performing a ritual to remind himself of his own prowess, I knew it would have to include the elements of fire, air, water, and wind. That he used to do it in public but now only in private made me wonder... Why? Why did he stop performing this in public? Why only with his twin sister? He and Dessy cannot be in the same room without sniping at one another. He doesn't trust her, not after she betrayed him many years ago. So why her?
I realized it had to be because he showed her his most vulnerable side to prove he had no fear. Not of injury, not of ridicule, and most certainly not of her.
But it was not until I wrote book two, Forged in Fire, that I realized why he started doing the ritual in the first place. More on that later in the ritual series.