by R. C. Reigh
"Speaking of Dane, though, I wanted to ask you about this." I touched the amulet that rested just below my collar bone, “He gave it to me the day we healed his injury, but I'm not really sure how it works."
"Hmm, so you're healing his injuries, perusing the library together, and now you're accepting his gifts? It sounds like a lot more than just getting along." Nylle, Lady Celeste's second emissary, raised an eyebrow at me. Her dark features appraised me skeptically. Out of the two, Nylle reminded me the most of Cora with her no-nonsense attitude.
The truth was, I didn't know what was going on anymore. How had I gone from hating him to whatever this was? It all seemed to be happening so quickly.
"Nylle, enough," Celeste chided and reached out for the amulet that I had unclasped and extended toward her in my palm. She turned it over a few times.
"It's beautiful," Elza admired, leaning over to get a better look.
"It is," Celeste agreed with a gleam of excitement in her soft brown eyes. "This is a magician's amulet. It will help you to channel and enhance your magic. They are most commonly used by humans, but others have been known to use them, as well. There are various stones, but yours is an emerald, which leads me to believe this was made specifically for you."
She handed it back to me before adding, "I don't think I've ever seen one with such intricate metalwork. It's quite lovely.”
"It was made specifically for me?" My mouth parted in shock.
"It would appear so. This combination of stone, metal, and enchantments compliment your personal magic too seamlessly for it to be a coincidence," Lady Celeste replied.
"Could someone else use it?" I asked, rubbing my thumb over the stone.
"You're considering giving it away?" A look of disappointment crossed her features.
"No, I just meant, what if I wanted to lend it to Cora or something?" I hadn't intended to come across as ungrateful, but Dane had sent me the gift several weeks ago. At the time, I had refused it. I had thought it was just a random purchase to try to impress me, but the idea that he would have put so much effort into having something created especially for me left me bewildered.
"I suppose so, but since it has been designed specifically for you, it will meld better with your magic than it would with anyone else's." she said thoughtfully.
"How would he know enough about my magic to have this commissioned?" I nearly whispered.
It was more of a statement of surprise than it was a question, but Celeste replied anyway, “He wouldn't. I would think that he probably reached out to your father or your previous professors in the mystics back home. They would know enough to have the magician's amulet created for you."
"Oh," I blinked down at the delicate necklace in my hand. "It sounds like quite a bit of effort went into this."
I felt a bit guilty knowing that many people I knew well had probably had a hand in creating this gift and I had once rejected it.
"He seems to like you quite a bit, or at least he seems dedicated to getting to know you." Elza winked. "You know, if you'd like, I could help you out. With just a little work I could have the two of you like this," she crossed her fingers together, "Inseparable. Well, unless he finds his Fated mate, but the chances of that are next to zero, so you shouldn't have to worry about it."
"Fated mate?" I scrunched my brow at the term.
"Yeah, it's a shifter thing. It's kind of like having the love of your life preordained for you. For most people, their soulmate can change throughout their lives depending on factors that take place from infancy to adulthood that make them who they are. With Fating, it's one person. That's it, that's who you're meant to be with. Think of it like some missing pieces of your puzzle, you know? Your other half, if you will. But, like Elza said, it almost never happens anymore." Nylle waved her hand dismissively like the whole idea of love was a bunch of folklore.
"Oh my gods. Wouldn't it be romantic if the two of you were Fated or something?" Elza sighed. A dreamy look consumed her heart-shaped face. She clasped her hands together all starry-eyed.
"Don't mind Elza. She's just a little spirited." Celeste looked over at her emissary in amusement.
"She's not Fated to the prince. It doesn't work like that. She can barely tolerate him," Nylle smirked.
"She can tolerate him. They were just making googly eyes at one another over in the reference section." Elza narrowed her brow at her lanky friend.
"We were not making googly eyes at each other," I protested.
"Fine, but you have to admit that you absolutely loathed him when the term started, and now? Well, not so much, right?" Elza batted her eyelashes at me, almost as if she were daring me to contradict her.
"That is true. I don't hate him like I used to. Not really at all, actually." I softly wobbled my head from side to side. "I mean, he can still be a massive jerk, but I don't think he can actually help it."
They laughed and I joined in.
"Well, that's good news considering you're going to have to marry him in a few years," Nylle pointed out.
They chuckled, and I pretended to return my focus to my book as I struggled with a new realization. For the first time in my life, those words hadn't sent me into fits of anger, anxiety, or panic. As a matter of fact, they didn't sound all that terrible at all, and I wasn't really sure how I felt about that.
Roarke
It was well past curfew when I heard raised voices coming from the corridor. Figures, I'd been gone less than three full weeks and Kessara had gotten herself into some kind of situation with the wolf prince and a stupid boyfriend.
Leave it to the Necromancer's daughter to keep me on my toes.
I cut through a classroom that had a second door leading into the hallway where the voices were coming from. When I reached the other door, I cracked it open and peered out. Kessara and the wolf prince Dane were nearly nose-to-nose in a heated argument.
"Stay away from them," he barked as he shoved an accusatory finger at her. "I don't want you meddling in their lives."
"So, only when it suits your agenda, then?" she shot back at him with one of her smart mouth remarks. "I believe it was you who came to me, not the other way around, wolf.”
I cringed. Dane had already cut a deal with her then, just great.
"Not that it is any of your business, but Cora and I are friends." Kessara's eyes flashed defensively.
"You're not her friend. It's just another pretense for getting what you want." He glared at her.
"Well then, if you're so close with her, why don't you go and tell her to stop talking to me and see what she says," Kessara snapped back at him as a tinge of colorful magic illuminated her fingertips. "Oh, that's right, she'd hand you your furry behind on a platter for trying to tell her what to do. It's laughable that you'd think I’d be any different."
"Oh, please. Everyone here is just a pawn to you. You couldn't get a rational person to befriend you, not without magic, anyway,” he taunted.
"Says the boy who can't even get his Fated mate to fall in love with him," Kessara shot back.
Wait. Say what? Fated?
Dane growled, and I could see the tensing of his muscles and neck. He was close to shifting. Unlike us, the wolves couldn't shift just one portion of themselves. Once they started, they had to let the process complete itself before being capable of turning back. Their wolf side was what made them so volatile, and once they shifted, it was harder for them to reign that animal in.
My thoughts flickered to something my father had once warned me of. It was a tale he had witnessed for himself once.
The wolf wasn't the only animal contained within the Carpathians.
There was yet another side to them altogether. A berserk and dangerous werewolf side that was said to be entirely feral animal and zero percent human.
My senses raced into alarm. I couldn't allow Kessara to work him into a rage that could possibly unleash that beast. It was time to intervene.
"Is there a problem here?" I asked as I casually stro
lled out from the classroom.
"She doesn't need your help, dragon." Dane whipped his aggressive attention to me as I joined them.
Kessara's body language, on the other hand, had turned subtly less tense, and I swear I saw a hint of relief when she looked at me.
That was unexpected.
"Nah, dude. I'm helping you, because I'm pretty sure she'd destroy you," I added. I couldn't let him get me riled up or allow this to escalate. "Listen, Dane. You really don't want her to cross that line. Come on, let's head back to your tower and give yourself some time to cool down."
At first, I thought he was going to tell me to get lost or come at me, but then there was a shift in his features. It was as if for a brief moment, the human side of him realized he was on the brink and needed to back down. Within seconds, he quickly steeled it away and glared at Kessara.
"This isn't over, witch," Dane spat.
"It is as far as I'm concerned, wolf." She glared back.
If looks could kill, she would have had us planning Dane's funeral. I stepped between them, breaking his line of sight and the interruption seemed to once again break him from the trance of his fury. With a snarl, he quickly turned and began to stomp off.
Without a second glance back at Kessara, I rushed forward to keep up with him. He walked along beside me for a few minutes, and once he was sure she was gone, he turned to me.
"How much of that did you hear?" he snapped, his scowl forming a deep fissure between his brow.
"Quite a bit, actually," I admitted.
"And now you're going to go running your mouth to your brothers, I'm sure," he nearly snarled his contempt.
"Listen, Daneatious. I've got more than enough of my own problems to worry about yours, but I will say this, wolf. You had better really know what you're doing." I straightened up to my full height, and my tone turned to a warning. "When it comes to Kessara, you are playing with fire."
For a moment, he glared at me. Then he narrowed his eyes and took a step into my space.
"Are you threatening me, dragon?" he barked.
Why did wolves always have to be so darn confrontational?
"No, I'm trying to keep her from putting a target on your back," I shot back. I was trying my hardest to remain non-confrontational.
He stared at me for a few moments as if sizing me up.
"Huh, that's interesting. Because with the way you said that just now, I can't help but wonder if that fire you mentioned is what she's capable of or your own?" He glared at me before turning his back and storming off toward the Carpathian tower.
Well, damn. . . I didn't even know how to respond to that.
Cora
The smile on my face said I was up to something when I stepped into the arena for practice. Dane gave me a questioning look, so I jerked my head toward the path behind me. When Amelia turned to take a seat in the stands, he had to do a double take. A goofy, love-struck grin spread across his face before he had a chance to suppress it.
The look in his eyes was all the thank you I needed, but as I joined him in the arena, he still took the time to clap his hand on my shoulder appreciatively and mouthed the words out of the sight of my cousin.
Nearly a week had passed since Dane and Amelia had last spoken. He was giving her space, and she had no clue what she was doing. She had never had more than one pathetic excuse for a boyfriend in her life.
He would ask me how she was, and she would try to get me to talk about him while she beat around the bush. It was a mess. I was stuck in the middle and, gods, was I so tired of it. It was why I I decided it was time to give her a little push.
I had guilted her into watching me spar. Frankly, it had been all too easy to convince her. Now that she was here, it was up to him to chat her up during and after, and I had no qualms about blatantly telling him that. Fortunately, he seemed to have already understood.
After a few rounds where he went way too easy on me (I'd have to deal with that crap later) we broke. I gave an encouraging nod toward Amelia in the stands. He immediately took the hint and headed off in her direction.
Gods help me, they figure this out soon. I didn't know how much longer I could stand being the third wheel in their relationship.
DANE
“She's going to kill you for going so easy on her," Amelia chided as I made my way up the stands to her.
"Was it that obvious?" I asked, prompting a quick nod and a smile from her.
Gods, she was beautiful.
I had to get things moving. Cora was obviously getting frustrated with doing all the heavy lifting. Honestly, she shouldn't have to. Amelia and I were on cordial terms at this point. The fact that she had come to the arena at all, when she never had before, was a good sign.
"How's your arm?" she asked, holding out her hand for me to show her.
I pulled off my arm bracer and she took my hand in hers.
"Healed shortly after the venom extraction, thanks to you." I grinned proudly.
She examined it with a pleased expression. Ever so lightly, she ran her fingers along where the mark had been. The feel of her soft skin against my arm sent a tingle of sensual heat across my flesh. I didn't want to pull away, but I didn't know how long I'd be able to keep myself from crossing the space between us if this prolonged. Luckily, she patted my arm and let go.
"Looks good," she commented.
Cora and Ellis had taken to sparring, so I slid onto the bench in the row below her and leaned back, propping my elbows up next to her.
"How's the healing practice going, anyhow?" I asked casually as we watched our emissaries fight.
She scrunched up her nose for a minute, almost as if she wasn't sure before she replied, "Good. I still have so much to learn, but it's been good."
Her response didn't seem all that confident, but I wasn't about to pry.
"Well, you fixed me up, so I am sure you are a natural," I complimented.
She gave a half shrug before she allowed her gaze to roam around the arena, taking in the space.
"I've never really come in here before. It's rather impressive. Nothing like the arena back home, but I guess everything here at the Bastion is, well, more," she smiled. "It's such a beautiful place, you know?"
"It really is, isn't it?"
Seeing an opening, I decided to take it.
"You know, I've been meaning to get out and explore a bit more. Maybe sometime you'd want to take a walk with me? We could visit some of the gardens, and you could tell me more about your training," I asked, hopeful.
Her lips parted with a deep inhale. It wasn't an angry action, but more surprised. I couldn't help but wonder what was playing out in that pretty head of hers. I did my best to act casual, despite being on pins and needles, as I waited for her response. The longer it took for her to respond, the more dread I felt building up in the pit of my stomach.
"I'll let you know," she finally said, picking at her nails.
My heart sank like a heavy stone that had been tossed into the lake. At least it wasn't a flat out no, but it sure as hell felt like one.
Amelia had me thrown for a loop. I thought things were good between us. Even Cora seemed to think that there was a decent chance Amelia and I could be friends, possibly even more. Yet, she was still so resistant to everything about me.
"Alright, just let me know," I replied lightly-heartedly and faced the fight again.
I couldn't resist closing my eyes in frustration. Gods, did I feel like a fool.
"I'm back. Ready to go?" Cora asked as she bounded up the steps a few moments later.
I could tell she was expecting Amelia to say no. I couldn't blame her. She didn't know.
"Yeah, sure," Amelia replied as she rose and turned away from us to pick up her things.
Cora pivoted to me, brows hitched together in a way that conveyed question and surprise. I sighed and shook my head before Amelia turned around. As Amelia shuffled past us, Cora's expression morphed into that of pity, which didn't help my pride.
Elbows out, I laced my fingers together behind my head and heaved a heavy sigh as, yet again, I watched her walk away.
Amelia
I was reading Dane’s letter on the balcony when Cora joined me, dressed in her robe and toweling her mid-length locks dry from her bath. It had been two days since the little paper wolf had floated into my lap and began pacing my knee. It was the same night I had watched her and Dane spar in the arena.
Cora glanced down at the letter, and she looked at me. I knew that look.
“So what the heck is your problem?” she asked as casually as if she had just asked me if I wanted to grab dinner.
Part of me wanted to ignore her, but the other part needed my best friend. I shook my head and dragged my hand across my face.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, allowing my emotions to take over.
She threw her towel back toward our quarters and dropped into the chair in front of me.
“Lay it on me, cuz’.”
She leaned forward to look at me, propping her elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. With a sigh, I read the letter out loud,
“Dearest Amelia of Avonlee,
It was wonderful to see you this evening. I’m sorry if I upset you or offended you in any way. My intent wasn’t to make you uncomfortable. I had hoped we might be able to start to get to know each other as friends, perhaps something we could build upon in the future, but I will understand if you are not ready for that. I promise not to pressure you and I will respect your space.
