by Rin Grey
Elizabeth winced. “It’s that obvious?”
“Yes,” Digger said bluntly.
Elizabeth heaved a sigh, staring off into space, still not looking at him.
Digger couldn’t handle it. “Liz, don’t tell me what is going on if you like, but please do me the favour of not lying to me about it,” he said softly.
She actually had the grace to blush. “You want the truth? The truth is I’m trying to avoid telling you what a frecking idiot I’ve been. Will that do?”
His heart skipped a beat. Was she opening up a little? Did he really want her to? He hesitated, wondering if he was ready to face the truth.
“I guess it’s better than a lie.”
Elizabeth looked over, her eyes dark and hard. But he could see the sadness behind them. And the guilt. “I’m not good at lies,” she said softly. “So if you want me to level with you, I will. Otherwise, maybe it’s better if you just don’t ask.”
Digger’s heart thumped painfully. “That doesn’t sound like much of a choice.” He hesitated. “This isn’t a one off thing, is it?”
“I’m sorry, Digger,” she said softly. “I am an idiot, and I have no idea why I can’t stop myself being one. I really don’t deserve you, and it’s not fair for me to keep doing this to you. I think it’s better if we end things here.”
“That’s what it always comes down to isn’t it?” Digger said in frustration. “If I don’t like it, I can leave. It never even occurs to you to change, does it?” Bitterness edged his tone. It really was over.
His heart hurt more than he’d ever expected it to.
“It occurs to me. It even seems the sensible solution. Right up until…” she trailed off, and shrugged.
He knew exactly how she felt. How many times in the last few weeks had he thought he should just walk away? And yet, here he was.
He could no more walk away from her than she could from whoever it was.
“He’s a mage, isn’t he?”
She winced again, but nodded slowly.
“How long?”
Why he was asking he wasn’t sure. Did he really want to know? Would it make any difference?
She hesitated, looking at him searchingly for a moment, then shrugged. “This time, only these two times, but we were on and off for roughly thirty years before I left the Dome.”
Her words hit him like a mine shaft collapsing in on him, knocking all the wind out of his lungs.
Digger stood up and strode over to the window to stare out of it. Thirty years! As long as he had been alive. He was prepared for her to say she was involved, but not that.
He knew, theoretically, that she was far older than him, but somehow, that had never been real until this moment. But the thought that she’d been with someone else for as long as he’d been alive really rammed it home to him.
How could he possibly compete with that?
“I don’t stand a chance, do I?” he asked hollowly, not looking back. His heart seemed to want to give up beating, and each breath was an effort. He could barely find the energy to force the words out.
He knew the answer before he even finished the sentence.
“Digger, I’m sorry.” She sounded wretched.
Wretched was nothing compared to the emptiness that echoed in his heart. “I guess this is it then. I might as well leave.”
“That’s probably best.” Elizabeth’s voice was hollow. She didn’t sound happy, or relieved, or like she wanted him to go.
He turned back around, to see her sitting with her head in her hands. Telling himself he was a fool, he walked over and sat back down. “Is there another option?”
“Not that I have any right to ask of you.”
“Ask me anyway.”
“Stay.”
Freck, he wanted to. It didn’t matter that he knew it was going to hurt eventually. It didn’t matter that there was someone else who he could never compete with. Staying was better than walking away.
“Then what?” he asked cautiously. “You aren’t going back to the Dome?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Then what is it between you and this guy?”
“I have no idea. I’ve never been the one who decides how it is going to go. He just… turns up from time to time, then goes again. I can’t say it’s over with him. I doubt it ever will be. But it’s not like it’s ever going to be anything more than this. If you can put up with the occasional absence, we continue as we have been.”
“You don’t think he’s… going to ask for a commitment.”
“Freck no. He’s… well, someone important, and I’m a nobody. There is no way there will ever be anything more between us.”
Digger raised an eyebrow. “He said that?”
She gave a wry smile. “Not in as many words, no. But it’s the truth none the less.”
Could he do it? Stay here with Elizabeth, knowing her heart was given to someone else? For all she said she wasn’t going back to the Dome, he knew he would never be certain.
But given that his only other option was to walk away, he didn’t have much choice.
The half image of the blonde haired baby that he’d been holding somewhere in the back of his mind, faded away.
“One more question,” Digger said finally.
She just nodded.
“He’s the one who kicked you out of the Dome before, isn’t he? And the one you believe double crossed you and Jocelyn?”
There was a long pause, before Elizabeth said softly. “Yes.” She looked up at him, and gave a wry smile. “Complete idiot, aren’t I?”
Digger couldn’t help but return her smile with one just as wry. “If you are, then I guess I am too.”
She gave him a tentative smile. “So you’ll stay?”
“Why not? It’s not like I have anywhere else to go. As you said, it doesn’t really change things, does it?” Even as he said it, he knew it changed both everything, and nothing at all.
He loved her. He’d take the chance to be near her, even if it meant hurting every time she was absent, knowing she was with him.
She leant against him, and buried her head in his shoulder, not saying anything.
For the first time since she hadn’t come home from Jocelyn’s meeting, he realised things were going to be all right. The distance he’d felt from her was gone. They were together again, even if not under the most ideal circumstances.
He’d take that.
This wasn’t forever. He’d get old and feeble, and she’d be gone. All the more reason to hang onto it while he had it.
The End
Prophecy Unravelled
Wayward Heir
Rin Grey
Wayward Heir Table of Contents
Prophecy Unravelled Blurb
Map of Linarra
Title Page
Elusive Heir
Contested Heir
Divided Heir
Wayward Heir Wayward Heir Blurb
Chapter 1 - Training
Chapter 2 - Persuasion
Chapter 3 - Control
Chapter 4 - History
Chapter 5 - Surprises
Chapter 6 - Evaluation
Chapter 7 - Excuses
Chapter 8 - Journal
Chapter 9 - Fate
Chapter 10 - Confessions
Chapter 11 - Temptation
Chapter 12 - Endings
Chapter 13 – One Last Adventure
Chapter 14 – Interruption
Chapter 15 - Defiance
Chapter 16 – Seeking Solutions
Chapter 17 - Arrangements
Chapter 18 – Promises
About the Author
Wayward Heir Blurb
They think her loyalty has been tested and proven.
The Salingas have finally accepted Elizabeth as heir and let her into their inner sanctum. And she's fascinated by what she finds there.
But reading a mysterious journal from an ancient ancestor sha
kes her. Why can she see the scenes as though she were there? Just what is her family up to?
Before she has a chance to find out, fate intervenes, and Elizabeth must choose.
Is she the Salinga heir or a mage of Linarra?
Chapter 1 - Training
Mitch threw the ball against the wall. It bounced off the desk, and he caught it, then threw it again. But his heart wasn’t in it. He couldn’t work up the enthusiasm for anything right now.
He’d given up studying long ago. What was the point? He couldn’t imagine going back to school after all that had happened in the last few weeks. What could they teach him there that would be important in his future? Everything he needed to learn was here, with Elizabeth.
If only she’d teach him.
He threw the ball with more force this time, and when it bounced off the desk it bumped one of his books onto the floor, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t believe she’d disappeared again after only just getting back. She hadn’t even talked to him or reassured him that she’d be back to teach him more.
For all he knew, she’d forgotten all about him, just like she’d forgotten she had a family at all for fifty years. That thought left a bitter taste in his mouth. He’d been so relieved when she’d shown up and announced that she was his grandmother, and she was rescuing him from the Dome and would teach him magic herself. He’d thought it the perfect solution.
He’d forgotten all about the fact that she’d never been around.
He probably shouldn’t be surprised that she wasn’t around to teach him. He just wanted so desperately to know more. To know everything he could about his magic.
He’d come a long way from the days when he’d been so terrified to find out he was a mage. The more he learned about his magic, the more he itched to know.
If only Elizabeth hadn’t made him promise not to practice while she was gone. If it weren’t for the fact that he was a little… wary—not scared, no, just wary—of her, he was sure he could have made some progress, even in her absence. As it was…
There was a knock at the door, and he missed the ball. His attempt to catch it sent his chair toppling, and both he and the chair ended up on the ground. He jumped up quickly and rushed to open the door, face burning.
Elizabeth’s amused smile greeted him.
Finally.
A part of Mitch wanted to shout in glee. Hopefully he’d get to practice some more now. But a part of him couldn’t let go of the fact that she’d abandoned him for so long already, and she didn’t even seem to have noticed. She was laughing at him.
And a part of him was embarrassed. She was sure to have heard his chair fall. Hopefully she didn’t think he’d been practicing in her absence, or she might refuse to teach him again.
“I was just studying…” he stammered, angry at himself for the apology as soon as the words were out of his mouth. She should be the one apologising.
“No need to make excuses, Mitch. Study session is over for the day.”
That must mean…
Mitch held onto his grudge for just a few seconds, but the lure of finally getting back to learning won out quickly. “Are you going to teach me some magic?”
“Not yet. First let’s see how much you remember.”
And for the next half hour, Elizabeth grilled him on every single magical trick she’d taught him in the last few weeks. As though he might have forgotten. Well, she had been gone a while…
At first it was good just to use his magic, but after a while, the resentment began to build again. He could do all these things already. He wanted to learn new stuff. In fact, after he’d been floating his ball a foot above the bed for nearly two minutes, he was about to tell her so when she smiled.
“Well, Mitch, I think you’re ready,” she said definitively.
“Ready for what?” The ball clattered to the ground again, and this time, Mitch didn’t care. This sounded promising. Maybe she was going to teach him something real now. Something bigger and more useful than the practice exercises he’d been doing for weeks.
“Ready to be a mage. I’m satisfied that you have total control of your magic. You can practice on your own when you like now.”
Mitch stared at her in disbelief. “You mean that’s it?” Had he really waited all this time just for that?
Elizabeth laughed. “What, you expected some big display?”
“Well, no, but…”
Truth be told, he wasn’t too sure what he’d expected. But this basic test of what he’d already learned, after a week of not being allowed to use his magic, wasn’t it. Mitch stared at her in disbelief, then blurted out the first thought that came into his head. “Why didn’t you do that before you went away?”
Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, then gave a short laugh. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have. But I was so caught up in what was going on with Jocelyn that I ignored all the signs that you were ready.”
Her ready apology took all the fight out of him. He wanted to stay angry with her, but it was next to impossible when his mind was humming with excitement. The frustrations of the last week faded away in light of her announcement.
He was a mage. He could do magic by himself.
A whole world of possibilities suddenly opened up, and he was overwhelmed just thinking of them.
Until Elizabeth’s quiet words interrupted him. “I think you’re ready to learn the real spells now. As a mage, you will need to learn how to defend yourself.”
“You mean, like, with magic?” The thought was both sobering and exciting at the same time.
Elizabeth nodded solemnly. “Being a mage will sometimes make you a target. There will be times when it will be necessary to use your magic in order to protect yourself or those you care about. Magic is always used only as a last resort though. A good mage will try everything to prevent a conflict and resolve it through mundane means before resorting to using magical force.”
Her words made sense, and Mitch would consider the issue in depth.
Later, when the excitement of learning some exciting, real, useful magic wasn’t overpowering all other thoughts.
“So you’re going to teach me how to fight with magic?” he asked eagerly.
Elizabeth laughed. “That was my plan, yes.”
Mitch had no trouble paying attention as Elizabeth began to explain.
“Combat magic falls into roughly four main categories. Fire magic is pretty self-explanatory, and is simple, yet effective. Air magic requires a little more finesse, but its subtlety is exactly why it is valuable. You can also, of course, use raw magical energy to physically rip apart your enemies. It’s very powerful and satisfying, though it tends to be just as dangerous to you and anyone around you, as it’s notoriously uncontrollable. Finally, using healing magic, but in reverse, is probably the deadliest magic of all. Using magic to stop the heart or choke someone is instant and foolproof. It is also, of course, one of the hardest of all combat magics, and rarely will you have the time or magic it would take to use it.”
Mitch nodded thoughtfully. The idea of stopping someone’s heart or choking them magically sobered his excitement somewhat. Elizabeth had shown him one or two basic healing spells, knitting his skin from simple cuts and healing the burns he had given himself one day while heating water. Those had left him exhausted enough.
He listened intently as Elizabeth explained the technical details of how to perform each type of magic. After nearly half an hour of pure explanations, he began to suspect his head was going to explode with all the new knowledge.
The most frustrating thing was, this wasn’t exactly the sort of magic you could practice or learn by experimentation. He wouldn’t know if he could do it or not until he tried.
Elizabeth must have realised he was starting to get a little overwhelmed by it all, because suddenly she stopped and laughed. “Well, perhaps that is enough for one day. There’s plenty of time yet for you to learn all this. How about we do something more practical instead?”
Elizabeth shook her head, stood up, and walked out the door.
Mitch barely had time to wonder what she was doing before she returned and tossed something at him. He caught it almost instinctively, and when he realised he was holding her sword he was thankful he’d done a better job of catching it than the ball earlier.
He stared at the elaborately carved and jewelled hilt and scabbard, then up at her. Adrenaline and excitement flooded through him, almost more overpowering than learning combat magic, matched only by a healthy dose of nervousness.
Combat magic was theoretical, and its use seemed vague and distant. But right now, he had a sword in his hand. “Are we going to practice sword fighting?”
Elizabeth nodded. “There is more than one way to defend yourself. Some think swords are easier than magic, some think they’re harder, but the reality is, there are times when you need something other than magic to defend yourself with.”
Elizabeth buckled another sword at her waist, its hilt and scabbard plain leather.
She indicated that he should do the same, and Mitch fumbled to buckle the sword around his waist. “I’ve never used a sword before…”
Well, he’d played with sticks and wooden swords as a child, but he’d outgrown those games many years ago. And unlike many of the other boys, he had no father to show him how to do the real thing, and a mother who’d forbidden him to try.
“Then it is about time you learned.”
“Does Mother know?” Mitch asked hesitantly.
“No. I’ve tasked Digger with taking her out of the house for a while. But if she objects, you can place the blame entirely on me.”
Mitch suspected he was going to need to avail himself of that permission, but right now, he didn’t care. His hand strayed to the hilt and rested there, thoughts of magic all but forgotten.
He followed Elizabeth down the stairs, the presence of the sword making him shift his weight awkwardly. He wasn’t really sure why, since it wasn’t even as heavy as he expected it to be. He kept being afraid it was going to hit the step and trip him.
