by Nicola Shill
‘It changes everything doesn’t it?’
‘Yes, it does.’ She hadn’t taken her eyes from Cassandra during the brief discussion and now addressed her directly. ‘Do you want to come back?’
Cassandra’s eyes were filling with tears, although she couldn’t have said why. It wasn’t from sadness. It was probably the dawning realisation that this was really going to happen: Zabeth was going to allow it. She nodded her head, cleared her throat and said loudly, ‘Yes.’
Zabeth floated down from the branch and hovered in the air in front of Cassandra’s face. She placed a hand on Cassandra’s forehead and closed her eyes in concentration. When she opened them, she smiled warmly, then backed away. ‘Ready?’
Cassandra nodded.
Zabeth glanced around. Cal stepped out of her front door and Lorcan dropped off the branch to join Zabeth. Zabeth nodded once and the now familiar wind began to spin around her.
‘Wait!’ shouted Cassandra.
The wind stopped, and Cassandra was still human size. Lorcan hovered beside Zabeth, not floating as he usually did, but flapping with jerky, panicked movements that made him bob up and down. Cassandra clasped her hands tightly in front of her chest and began to wring them feverishly.
‘Cassandra, what’s wrong?’ Lorcan asked. ‘Don’t you want to do it?’
At that moment, Cassandra managed to wrench her grandmother’s ring off her finger. She threw it to the ground away from herself. ‘Okay, I’m ready,’ she said. ‘You won’t shrink that will you?’ she asked Zabeth.
Lorcan hissed out a breath and sank like a deflating balloon to sit on the ground beside the ring.
Zabeth laughed. ‘No,’ she said, and began the process again.
Cassandra closed her eyes in preparation for the sickening feeling of falling. She was relieved that she had remembered to remove the ring. It would have been a shame to shrink all of the precious stones in it. Suddenly, that thought connected itself to an image of her tiny spider’s-web shawl. In the nick of time, she pulled it out of her pocket and threw it also outside the vortex.
The wind picked up speed and intensity and almost immediately she heard Zabeth shout, ‘Whoa!’ and it ceased. She opened her eyes, wondering what the problem was, and found herself looking out at the world from the fae-sized perspective that had become so dear to her.
‘That was easy,’ said Cal.
Lorcan was looking stunned. ‘Really quick.’
‘I think it’s because Cassandra welcomed it wholeheartedly this time,’ said Zabeth.
Only then did the nausea kick in. Cassandra turned and dashed into the undergrowth, pulling up just in time to avoid colliding with a tree. She rested one hand on the trunk, bent over and began to retch. Luckily, having been walking all night, it was more sound and motion than actual substance.
From close behind, Lorcan called out, ‘Cassandra, wait,’ then his hands were on her shoulders and the feeling passed. He pulled her upright, wrapped her shawl around her arms and turned her towards him. She looked up. His beautiful dark eyes stared into hers as he lowered his head. Their first kiss was no more than a gentle meeting of lips before Lorcan pulled away to search her face for consent. If Cassandra could have climbed inside his body, she would have. She wrapped a hand around the back of his head and pulled him down for a proper kiss. He needed no more encouragement; his lips attached to hers and their mouths opened. She felt the tentative touch of his tongue and met it with her own. He groaned and adjusted his grip around her so that he could step her backwards to press her against the tree. His big, warm hands began to slide up her ribcage.
The sound of a throat clearing and a giggle broke their kiss, but Lorcan didn’t flinch away from Cassandra, he merely shifted one hand to brace himself against the tree and stood with his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling with the same deep, rapid breaths as hers. Cassandra leaned to the side to peek around him. His free hand slid across her back, keeping her in place. Zabeth stood frowning at them, and Cal stood alongside, smiling widely, with Kiro at her heels.
‘Time to go home, I think,’ said Zabeth.
Cal laughed.
Lorcan had his breathing under control now. He tucked Cassandra under his arm as he turned so they were both facing Zabeth. ‘Right,’ he said. He guided Cassandra back out into the clearing.
A snake was already coiled in the pale morning sunlight. Cassandra wasn’t familiar or comfortable enough with snakes yet to be able to tell, or even care whether it was the same one as last time.
Her ring still lay on the ground where she’d thrown it. The decorative dome was the size of her head now, and the central diamond was only slightly smaller than her fist. She walked over to it and tried to pick it up, but it was way too heavy for her to lift and she was only able to drag it towards herself.
‘What will we do with it?’ Lorcan asked Zabeth.
‘You can store it in my house for now,’ offered Cal.
Lorcan nodded and stood the ring up. Cassandra helped him roll it to Cal’s front door. He didn’t really seem to need her help, though; the ring was apparently lighter under his touch. Cal opened the door and Lorcan rolled it inside. Cassandra stepped in after him. Her immediate impression of the interior of Cal’s house was of dim cosiness.
‘Just leave it there,’ Cal said from the doorway. ‘I’ll find a spot for it later.’
‘Thanks, Cal,’ Cassandra said as she stepped back outside.
Cal patted Cassandra’s shoulder. ‘Glad you’re back. Everyone can stop being so gloomy now.’
Zabeth was standing beside the snake with one hand resting on its body. ‘She’s all warmed up and ready to go.’
Cassandra tried not to laugh, but it did sound comically as though Zabeth was talking about a car.
Lorcan walked forward to kiss Zabeth and she pulled him in for a hug. Cassandra wondered if she was supposed to do something similar. She had much to thank Zabeth for, but a kiss seemed a little too familiar, and she wasn’t eager to get close to the snake before it was absolutely necessary. When Lorcan ducked out of her embrace, Zabeth walked over to Cassandra with a knowing smile, took her hand and patted it.
‘Thank you,’ Cassandra said.
‘It was my pleasure.’
— CHAPTER 63 —
Mixed Emotions
Lorcan lifted Cassandra into his arms, feeling fantastically like a conquering hero claiming his prize.
Cassandra was wriggling in embarrassment and asking to be put down, but he ignored her. With a beat of his wings, he seated himself on the snake with Cassandra sitting sideways across his thighs. A final nod of thanks to Zabeth and Cal, and they slithered off into the bush.
Cassandra relaxed and snuggled into his chest. ‘I can hear your heart beating.’
He bent his head over hers. ‘Can you now?’ His breath tickled her ear.
She rubbed her ear and dropped her hand to his chest where she discovered his kindred stone. She held it up in front of her eyes.
‘I don’t want to be rude, but this doesn’t look very special.’
‘I suppose it depends on your definition of special. Do you mean special, or pretty?’
She shrugged and allowed the stone to drop back down against his chest.
He picked it up and held it in his palm. ‘Do you know what it is?’
‘It looks like a shard of black glass.’
‘It is. It’s obsidian. It was created in a volcano.’ He dropped it back into place.
Cassandra puffed out a short laugh. ‘Of course it was. How could I have thought that anything about you would be ordinary?’ She stoked her finger over it and then stroked her whole hand over his chest. He sighed deeply and it seemed to give her the courage to run her fingers gently back and forth. He wanted nothing more than for this moment to last forever.
It was a stark contrast to the last time they had travelled this same route. Then, he’d regretted having to drag her away from her home; now, he knew that he was, truly, bringin
g her home.
Lack of sleep was finally catching up with Lorcan. Although he wanted to stay awake and treasure every moment of this precious private time with Cassandra, the rhythmic motion of the snake and Cassandra’s soft warm body nestled into his lulled him to sleep.
He awoke with late morning sunlight striking his face as they exited the drain at the bottom of the mountain. He realised that he was slumped forward with his cheek resting on the top of Cassandra’s head and that she was trying to gently slide her hand out from a gap she had found in his shirt. He laid his hand over hers to hold it in place as he kissed the top of her head and then sat up. He was glad he hadn’t drooled. ‘I fell asleep, sorry.’
He could hear the sleepy smile in her voice when she said, ‘So did I.’
The snake parked close to the agora and Lorcan gave it a pat of thanks, then lifted Cassandra down and took her hand as they walked.
As blissful as the last few hours had been, this was the moment he’d been dreading. It was time to tell her the truth. He had to do it before anyone else did. He stopped walking as the agora came into view. Cassandra turned towards him.
She looked so happy.
He didn’t know how to start.
‘Who would you like to see first?’ he said.
She grinned and bounced on her toes, then threw her arms around his neck. ‘Everyone!’ she shouted and smacked a kiss on to his lips. If she kept that up, someone would hear her and come to investigate, and then he would lose this opportunity to talk to her privately. He kissed her until he felt her exuberance change to passion and, though it nearly killed him, he broke the kiss off and held her at arm’s length. He read confusion and rejection in her face and opened his mind to hers. Yep, confusion and rejection … and fear. He needed to get on with this for her sake.
‘I think you should see Ith and Iznaya first.’
‘Okay.’ She frowned, now even more confused.
‘There’s something you need to know.’
‘Okay.’ More frown. More fear.
‘Ith’s sick.’
‘So, fix him.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Not you, a healer.’
‘They can’t.’
A whole lot more fear, building to terror, but she hid it well. ‘What do you mean they can’t? Of course they can.’
‘We’re not immortal, Cassandra.’
The emotional cocktail of horror, panic and grief that assaulted Lorcan nearly knocked him down. Cassandra pulled out of his grasp and began to run. He felt her urgency to get to Ith. He flew after her, though it was difficult to open his wings enough to get any decent speed in this thick bush. Maybe he should have waited to have this chat until they had arrived at the agora; maybe he should have taken her out to the beach where they would have been assured of privacy … and open space. He caught up with her just before she broke through into the agora and snatched her off the ground. She screamed as he soared with her up into the branches of a tree. She struggled so hard, he almost dropped her and he had to adjust his hold so that her arms were pinned to her sides. Maybe sitting in a tree hadn’t been the best location choice, either. He should be pleased that she had so much trust in him that being dropped hadn’t occurred to her as a possibility. At least this time she hadn’t kicked him in the shins or tried to rip his wings off.
‘Cassandra, calm down so I can let you go.’
Unlike the time with the snake, she listened to him and stopped struggling. He wriggled backward a little so that he was sitting in the join between branch and trunk with Cassandra secure on his lap.
‘Let me down to see him,’ Cassandra said. She was starting to cry.
Lorcan nodded. ‘Okay, but not like this. Just give yourself time to work through this first rush of emotion.’
She turned her face into his chest and cried … and cried … and cried. Lorcan held her tightly and rubbed her back and spoke soothing words, but he didn’t attempt to alter her mood until she was all cried out, then he dried her face and helped her to feel calm and strong.
‘I’m ready,’ she said.
— CHAPTER 64 —
Nothing to Fix
Lorcan would have done almost anything to anaesthetise Cassandra against the pain of seeing Ith on his deathbed, but as difficult as it was sure to be for both of them, he knew that the best thing he could do for her was to provide support as she dealt with it herself.
He held her close against his chest as he floated them down from the tree, landing near the entrance to Ith and Iznaya’s yard. They could hear the children’s happy noise through the grass hedge and Lorcan was surprised when he felt how much Cassandra had missed them. He put his arm around her shoulders and walked with her into the yard. When the children spotted her, they raced over and clustered tightly around her, competing for attention. She hugged and greeted and listened to excited stories about what had been happening in her absence, but Lorcan could see her looking around for Gita. And he knew she wouldn’t find her here.
Iznaya came running out of the house. She pulled Cassandra into her arms and kissed her cheek. Joy and relief glistened in the unshed tears filling her eyes as if Cassandra were her long lost granddaughter who Iznaya had feared was gone forever.
‘We’ve missed you so much!’ she exclaimed. ‘Ith will be very pleased.’ She took Cassandra’s hands and looked at Lorcan. ‘Have you told her?’
Lorcan nodded. He could feel Cassandra becoming upset again and tried to calm her with his touch, but there was a limit to his abilities and Cassandra was hard work. If he’d been good at healing, he would have become a healer.
Iznaya led them over to where Ith was asleep near the house in a hammock set up between two trees. As ever, Boggins was close by, snoozing under the hammock.
‘He’s at the end of his life,’ Iznaya whispered. ‘A few weeks maybe. He’s very strong.’
‘Can’t you fix him?’ Cassandra asked, despite Lorcan having already told her the answer. ‘You must be able to fix him!’
‘Not this time.’ Iznaya’s soft smile conveyed reassurance and understanding.
Lorcan sensed that Cassandra didn’t want reassurance and understanding. She wanted a solution and couldn’t understand why he and Iznaya didn’t want the same. ‘What about Zabeth? I’m sure Zabeth could fix him. I’m sure she’d come if she knew.’
‘She knows,’ said Iznaya. ‘There’s nothing to be done. There’s nothing to fix.’
‘Nothing to fix! He’s dying!’ Cassandra was starting to shriek.
‘Calm down, Cassandra. He doesn’t need this,’ Iznaya snapped in an uncharacteristically testy voice. Lorcan pulled Cassandra in closer under his arm, wanting to protect her.
Cassandra glanced guiltily at Ith and noticed him stirring. ‘Is he in pain?’ she whispered.
Iznaya shook her head. ‘He’s quite comfortable, just tired. His body is winding down. He’ll sleep more and more.’
‘Does he know?’
‘Of course.’
Cassandra slipped out from under Lorcan’s arm and walked quietly over to stand beside Ith’s hammock. He sensed her presence and opened his eyes. A broad smile animated his pallid face.
‘Hello, Cassie,’ he slurred sleepily.
Lorcan watched her valiantly trying to restrain her tears and curl her lips into a smile. ‘Ith,’ was all she said, but it was enough to shatter her false bravado. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her mouth curled into a grimace. ‘I’m sorry,’ she choked out. Lorcan wasn’t sure if she was sympathising or apologising.
‘No … no,’ Ith said. Cassandra was looking at the ground, so Ith reached out and took her hand, pulling it on to his chest and squeezing weakly until she looked at him.
‘Good.’ He smiled and nodded his head. ‘It’s good … it’s good.’
Cassandra shook her head in disagreement while her silent tears threatened to escalate to sobbing.
‘Glad you came back,’ Ith said, jiggling her hand. ‘Tell me about it.’
Cassandra regaled Ith with her trials and tribulations until he drifted off to sleep.
Lorcan didn’t want to leave her, but he had responsibilities to attend to. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. ‘I have to go,’ he said. He pressed his finger under her chin and turned her face towards him. ‘I’ve been half-hearted with my work lately and there’s some stuff I have to catch up on.’ He kissed her on the lips, then stepped away and took to the air.
— CHAPTER 65 —
Reunion
News of Cassandra’s return had blown through Gillwillan like the wind and it seemed that everyone was converging on Ith and Iznaya’s yard to congratulate her on her discovery that she was actually one of the good guys.
An ear-splitting scream signalled the arrival of Tani and Oonnora. Cassandra looked around to see them elbowing their way through the crowd. Tani, apparently deciding that this method was too slow, fluttered up and over to sink down almost on top of Cassandra. She already had Cassandra wrapped tightly in her arms when Oonnora made it through and joined in. Cassandra noticed Brack standing not far behind, smiling warmly at her, as though he was glad to have her back. Then Ilvi dropped out of the sky into the middle of the hug.
Cassandra saw Gita’s parents way over the other side of the yard. She wanted to apologise to them for failing to keep Gita safe, and she also needed to thank Garris for helping to rescue her, but it was simply impossible: everyone was talking to her at once, competing for her attention. In the end, she surrendered and allowed herself to be swept up in the festivity.
It was late afternoon before the crowd dispersed. Garris’s parents had already vanished. Oonnora and Tani were sitting on the two chairs beside Ith, speaking quietly to him. Cassandra looked around at the children and noticed that the hooligans had disappeared. Only Pax remained.
