by Rin Grey
She led both horses back to Digger and hovered near him while he mounted, his movements more confident now, reassuring her. She swung into the saddle beside him and they rode slowly through the twisted and stunted trees.
They’d pushed the horses hard and though they were no longer winded, there was no real urgency. Digger needed to take it slowly. Even though his physical wounds were healed, the stress had taken a toll on his body.
Any bandits who had survived her magic would sleep for several hours yet and when they woke up, it would take them several more to get rid of the headache.
As she ducked her head under the low lying branches, Elizabeth reached into her pocket to pull out the necklace that had caused them so much trouble.
She studied the heart shaped locket for a few moments, the small sapphires embedded in the climbing flowers on its face the only hint it might be of any value. She turned it over in her hand, checking again the initials engraved on the back, L S & K M, confirming it was the piece they were after.
On a whim, she flicked open the small catch and looked at the portrait miniature inside. The couple looked so young, so carefree. Yet she could see the similarities to the sad old widow who had begged their help to retrieve it after its theft.
How could she have refused, even though the payment would barely cover a week of rent?
Digger grinned over at her and asked lightly, “Worth it?”
Elizabeth looked over at her friend, noting the bloodstains on his clothes. “We achieved our aim and we’re both still alive, but it was a close call. I don’t think I could have forgiven myself if my stupidity had cost you your life,” she said soberly.
The fact that she admitted to that emotion showed she was more shaken by the experience than she cared to admit. The remnants of adrenaline still flooded her body, leaving her fired up, with nothing to fight. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a niggling concern remained.
Yet there was no danger now.
Before Digger could think up a reply to her startling admission, she kneed Rianna into a trot. “We’d better get out of here, the sooner we’re home, the better.
Chapter 3 - A Message
Digger smiled down at Elizabeth, naked beneath him.
Even after five years together, he never ceased to be amazed at her beauty. He ran his hands gently over her body, sure she hadn’t aged a day in that time. Every curve was perfect.
His fingers brushed over her flawless skin, down her arms and across her stomach. There wasn’t even a hint of scaring from the many times he’d seen her sustain minor, or occasionally not so minor, wounds.
Except for today. A small wound on her arm, barely more than a scratch, its presence a reminder that she hadn’t had the magic left to heal it.
She’d used it all healing him. His heart gave an extra, uneven thump. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the close call, or the fact that she’d given everything she had to save him.
He was sure the wound would be gone tomorrow.
Her muscles rippled under his hands, responding to him as readily as they did to any physical challenge. Nothing stopped Elizabeth for long.
His fingers lingered on the tattoo of a sword entwined by a rose, just above her breast. A moment of drunken whim was all she’d said when he’d asked. But the date inscribed on the blade of the sword, a date so far in the past, he would have been but nine years old, belied her words.
She was a fascinating woman, and her mysteries just added to the intrigue.
His fingers trailed lower, between her legs, and his desire rose. Her own response was immediate and enthusiastic, her lips parting and her breathing deepening.
These sessions, after a thrilling chase, a fight, or using her magic, were always the most intense. This time though, he sensed something more. There was an urgency, almost a desperation to her lovemaking that was out of character.
He’d been a little shaken by the morning’s events too. For a moment, he’d wondered if that was the end, if he was going to die there, but she’d saved him, as usual. He should be used to it by now, it wasn’t the first time, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Then again, she shouldn’t be so shaken by it either.
Elizabeth had dragged him into many impossible situations, but she’d never failed to pull him back out. Today was no different. Yet, she was acting as if it were. If anything, that should have shaken him, but it didn’t. They were both here, both alive, and that was always something worth celebrating.
As if sensing his distraction, Elizabeth rolled over onto him, pushing him down onto the bed and flicking her hair out of her eyes with a grin. Then her grin grew sultry as she slid onto him and slowly thrust up and down.
Digger groaned, all other thoughts leaving his head, his attention wholly on her.
Sweat glistened on her tanned skin, contrasting with her sun bleached blonde hair that fell forward to frame her face, the ends just brushing her chin. The tattoo heaved just above her left breast with each breath.
She was going too slowly. Digger sat up and pushed Elizabeth back, covering her body with his own. She gasped raggedly and urged him to move by wrapping her legs around his torso, pulling him closer, her movements as hurried and desperate as his own.
Her desperation, her need, struck a chord in him. It was in moments like these that he really felt alive. The connection he felt to her through that shared need welled up in him. His arms clenched around her.
Strong waves of release surged through her, her deep groan of pleasure and surrender echoing in his heart, her breath hot on his skin. Satisfaction and elation flooded through Digger, setting off his own climax.
Several minutes later, their desires spent, they lay entwined on the bed, Elizabeth’s head in the crook of Digger’s arm. As he ran his fingers lazily through her hair, enjoying its silkiness, Digger considered himself a lucky man.
From the day he’d first met Elizabeth, when she’d stepped into his fight without being asked, she’d changed his life.
His gut twisted as it always did when he remembered that day.
He’d been off duty when it happened, his shift finished for the day. He’d been just heading to the local alehouse for a cool drink, when the boy had fled past him. Instinctively he had grabbed the lad, even as his captain, red in the face from rage, had shouted at him to apprehend him.
Not an unusual occurrence, but everything had changed when the captain had punched the boy in the face and ordered Digger to kill him.
The habit of obedience had warred with the belief of justice in Digger’s heart, and justice had won. Knowing he would probably regret it later, he’d released the boy, who’d promptly fled into the crowd.
With his quarry gone, the captain’s anger had turned on Digger. “Arrest him for dereliction of duty!” he’d thundered to the guards.
Having no other choice, Digger had run. But to no avail. The other guards had caught up to him about a mile out of the city gates and he found himself fighting for his life. He had tried to appeal to their sense of justice, but he already knew it was pointless.
That was when Elizabeth had appeared.
He had no idea where she had come from, though later she told him she’d followed him from the city where she’d witnessed his rebellion. He hadn’t even seen how she’d dealt with the guards, a sword had nicked his throat and he’d passed out. He would have died if she hadn’t healed him.
Up until that day, he’d never seen a skilled mage before, though it took him only seconds to work out that was what she was. He knew they existed, of course, he’d heard stories, but trained mages were rare in Selenthia.
Untrained mages popped up occasionally. Like his sister. Every now and then, some youth would start doing weird things, like setting things on fire with their mind, or blowing things to pieces with a wave of their hand, but just as people started to work out what was going on, the mages from the Dome would show up, and hustle them off to their magical kingdom, and they were never seen again.
Elsa, his sister, had been taken when she was just fourteen. He’d rushed home too late to do anything but comfort his weeping mother.
How Elizabeth had escaped that fate he had no idea. She’d never been inclined to discuss what had happened. Occasionally he amused himself with the thought of her overpowering any mages sent to capture her.
Mostly he just hoped they never came looking for her.
His arms tightened around her. He knew that many here in Niacin would offer everything they had to be him, but he wouldn’t give up this life for anything. Together they could face the world.
Elizabeth had shown him another way of life. Before he’d met her, he’d scorned the mercenaries in Arlis, insisting, as all the guards did, that they would do anything for money. Hired swords they were referred to and he knew that was true.
But now he had a choice in what he did, a choice in whose side he was on. Elizabeth was rarely swayed by money. She chose the jobs she did by how exciting they were or, as she had today, by the look in a woman’s eyes when she talked of her dead husband. On the rare occasion her judgement had failed, and they’d been on the wrong side of a deal, she’d had no compunction in betraying her employer. Digger never had to doubt his morals when he worked with her.
Every day was a new adventure, and never one that left him with a sour taste in his mouth. What more could he ask for?
He glanced down at Elizabeth, a smile on his face at the thought of how happy she’d be when they returned the necklace to the old woman, and found she was asleep, worn out by the morning’s adventures. For a moment, he let his arms tighten around her in an expression of emotion he never would have shown had she been awake.
Elizabeth was always careful to keep their relationship casual. She’d offered him a place to stay when he’d had nowhere else to go, and then never asked him to leave. She hadn’t ever asked him to stay either. He wasn’t quite sure why an official commitment scared her so much, but he certainly wasn’t going to risk it by pushing for one. He didn’t need one anyway.
Or so he tried to tell himself.
Sometimes, he couldn’t help but be aware that there was something missing. Though she shared her life and her bed with him, there was a side of her that she didn’t show even to him. She kept her heart locked away, not allowing him more than a glimpse into her real emotions.
Most of the time, he was content with that. Especially since he knew it wouldn’t achieve anything to ask for more. In reality, the future was always uncertain in their line of work. It made sense not to get too attached.
Digger pushed those doubts away. Really, today hadn’t been all that unusual. He snuggled up to Elizabeth and let himself relax.
The next thing he knew, she was moving languidly beside him, stretching and getting out of bed. Digger glanced out the window, but the sun was still high in the sky. They couldn’t have slept for more than a few hours. Still plenty of time until they had to return the necklace.
Elizabeth padded, naked, to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of ale out of the cupboard, drinking straight out of the bottle, before setting it on the bench and making herself a sandwich with thick slices of bread and meat.
“Do you want one?” she asked.
“What, a drink, or a sandwich?” Digger rose and walked out to the kitchen to make his own sandwich, openly admiring her nakedness as he did.
Elizabeth returned his smile with an answering one, picking up the bottle for another drink and then paused, a fluttering at the window distracting her.
Digger glanced over at the homing pigeon sitting on their window sill. It wasn’t the first one, although Elizabeth never mentioned who the messages were from. The only time he’d asked, she’d brushed him off, and he hadn’t tried again. Elizabeth had her secrets and he wasn’t always sure he wanted to know the answers.
Elizabeth crossed to the window, bottle still in hand and opened it, seemingly oblivious to the view she was presenting to any passers-by. She retrieved the scrap of paper wound around the bird’s ankle and read it silently, the expression on her face growing grim.
A sense of foreboding crept over Digger.
So it was bad news. That was unusual. Usually the notes had no obvious effect on her mood. He waited, uneasily, for her to return to the drink, but she simply set it on the bedside table as if she’d forgotten it.
“Is everything all right, Liz?” he ventured, curiosity finally overcoming his caution.
Elizabeth looked up, obviously a million miles away. “Hmm? Oh, this?” She glanced down at the note in her hand, and her eyes clouded over again. She didn’t answer his question, or look back up.
A tendril of concern wound itself around Digger’s mind. “Yes, that,” he persisted.
Elizabeth turned towards him, looking through him for a few moments, before her eyes focused, and she gave a distracted smile that didn’t reach her eyes “Just something I have to take care of.”
That didn’t tell him much. “Now?”
Elizabeth nodded, crossing to the bed and starting to pull her clothes on.
She’d shut him out again. As clearly as if she’d slammed a door in his face. Even though she was standing right in front of him, he couldn’t reach her. He wasn’t even game to try, afraid that if he did, she’d turn away forever.
He didn’t dare push for more, no matter how much he wanted to.
At the same time, he could guess how this was going to go down. Three years ago, she’d received another message that had visibly affected her. That time, she’d returned from her ‘something to take care of’ many hours later, completely drunk.
He’d watched her drink a man under the table many a time, but that was the only time he’d ever seen her drunk.
Even in that state, she hadn’t given any clue what it had been about.
He hesitated, but he couldn’t just let it go, without at least trying. “How long will you be?” he asked, trying to keep his voice casual. “We’re supposed to return the necklace tonight.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Would you mind taking care of it? I’ll be a couple of days at least.”
This was also different. He tried to take comfort in that. Then, she hadn’t cared about anything. This time, she seemed to be making plans at least.
If only he knew what.
She didn’t wait for an answer, unfastening her belt pouch and pulling out a small, round, grey stone. The type you might find in the bottom of a fast flowing stream.
Digger had a sneaking suspicion this one hadn’t come from any stream though. There was something engraved on it, but without getting closer he couldn’t tell what it was.
Elizabeth turned the stone over in her hand, a slight frown on her face. Then she shoved it into her pocket and started buckling on her sword and gathering her backpack with her usual overnight supplies.
Digger pulled on his own clothes. It was obvious she was in a hurry. Maybe he could help.
Maybe he could even go with her.
“Do you want me to saddle Rianna?” he offered.
Elizabeth shook her head, shouldered her backpack, then pulled out the stone and stared at it for a few moments again.
Then she turned and smiled at Digger fondly. This time, she wasn’t distracted. She was seeing him clearly. “Hopefully this will only take a couple of days, a week at the outside. I’ll see you soon.”
Her smile reassured him a little. Her promise to be back even more. How she was going anywhere without her horse though, made no sense at all.
He nodded, still confused, then watched as the stone in Elizabeth’s hand began to glow.
Just as he was wondering if he should duck, Elizabeth winked out of sight.
Digger stared at the spot where she had been standing, shocked.
He’d seen Elizabeth do many amazing things with her magic, but that one was the most surprising. He shook his head in disbelief.
He had little understanding of how magic worked, but it seemed to him that she might have mentioned that she could do that
. He could think of several situations in which it would have been more than handy.
He shrugged and walked across the room to make himself another sandwich.
Chapter 4 - Home
Drawing on the abundant magic within the forcefield of the mage kingdom of Linarra, Elizabeth’s disembodied consciousness sighed in satisfaction at being able to fill herself with as much magic as she could hold.
It took more than half of the magic she had gathered to materialise again on the round, stone terrace in the clearing.
The view should have provided calm. The tall, green trees stretched up to the pale, milky-blue imitation of the sky that existed within the Dome. The grass was green and lush, dotted with bluebells. Even the air was easier to breathe. Was it because of the abundant vegetation, so different from the arid conditions elsewhere on the continent?
Or maybe it was just that she almost felt like she filled her body with magic with every breath. It practically crackled in the air around her.
A familiar ache reminded her of all she’d left behind when she'd left this place, as it did every year when she returned to perform the ritual. A feeling of belonging, yet not belonging.
Her presence here always felt like a concession. She could never forget that the privilege to come and go as she liked, could be revoked at any time. If that happened, she’d be stranded here.
Or out there.
She wasn’t sure which would be worse.
Today though, she’d had no choice. Without the magic available here, the teleportation would have been impossible, even if she had been at full strength. If she hadn’t had a nap after healing Digger, she wouldn’t have even made it this far.
The official in charge of the receiving area came across to her, his eyes bright and curious, and waited politely for her to state her name for the record. They didn’t get many they didn’t recognise here.
“Mage Elizabeth Marie Salinga.”
He wrote it down, painfully slowly, then held out his hand for her stone.
