by Casey Odell
He shrugged and laid the stone on the desk. “Not in the palace. The language died years ago, I’m afraid. Along with many of the people who could. Though there was an elder in the forest who could, but I hardly think you’d want to go back there.”
“Do you know what it could be from? There’s something strange about it. It gives me almost the same feeling that the water had back in the Haven ruins.”
“I don’t feel anything.” He looked at the rock again, then shrugged. “Perhaps it’s just old magic and you are more sensitive to it. It could be from an old Haven, though, there is no telling where it came from without knowing what it says, really.”
“Yes, I guess you’re right. It’s just strange.”
He held a hand out to her. “Come, let’s get you to bed.”
She snuggled back in the chair, the leather creaking loudly, and yawned. She’d rather be slightly uncomfortable than move at the moment. “This will do.”
“If that is what you wish,” he conceded but didn’t seem too thrilled by it.
Claire stretched her hand out toward the rock.
A questioning look crossed his face.
“It calms me for some reason,” she told him, knowing how preposterous that must have sounded. But it was the truth. Like the water in the Haven ruins, anxiety seemed to melt away when she touched it.
He handed the mysterious artifact to her and slipped into the seat next to her.
With a little adjusting, she finally settled comfortably, head on his shoulder, rock hugged tight to her chest.
“Will you share what he wanted?” she murmured, her eyes closing.
“Maybe someday.”
If she’d had more energy, she would have protested that. So much for the whole just ask thing. But if he was that secretive about it, then it couldn’t have been anything good.
He rested his cheek on her head and whispered something in that pretty language of his.
But she slipped back into a deep sleep before she could ask what it meant.
S he had that dream again. The one where she ran after her mother, but no matter how hard she tried, no matter how fast she ran, she could never reach her.
Her eyes snapped opened in relief. Sweat dripped down her forehead. Her heart beat frantically in her chest. Even with Farron there, she still had a terrible dream. At this rate, she was never going to get any sleep. His arm was wrapped around her waist and the warmth of his presence pressed along her back, his breaths long and even, still in a deep sleep. Well, at least one of them would get a little sleep, though she’d have preferred it to have been her.
Claire sat up slowly, careful not to disturb Farron. Her room was dark still. The cool night air felt great against her skin. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She’d never told him about her experiment with Razi a few days past. It wasn’t easy to tell the person one was bedding that another man had rifled around her mind, especially if he already had issues with him.
Commotion from the courtyard below reached her ears. Curious, she carefully slipped out of bed, grabbed her robe up off the floor, and headed for the balcony. She stepped out into the dim light of the moon, tying her robe tightly closed. Down in the courtyard, a small group of armored soldiers stood at attention. Razi stood among them, bare of armor, dressed normally with only a dagger at his side.
What was going on? She held onto the stone railing tightly, almost forgetting her fear of heights. She tried to listen carefully to the man speaking, but the words were too soft and jumbled by the time they drifted up to her.
“They’re probably sending him out on a mission,” Farron said from behind her. “They do it at night so the townspeople don’t see the soldiers.” He leaned in close, his hands resting on the railing on either side of her. “Come back to bed,” he whispered close to her ear.
Claire stared down at the soldiers for a moment longer. How come Razi had never told her he was leaving? Not that she cared all that much, but still, it would have been nice to know. What about their training? Did he still feel bad about what he’d done to her? He’d been quiet, barely saying a word about it since then.
“Claire, are you alright?”
“Hmm?” she said as she was roused from her thoughts. She turned to face Farron finally. “Yes, I think so.” In truth, she really wasn’t sure if she was.
He knitted his brows together and looked at her for a second before putting a hand on her forehead. “You’re burning up. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yes, I just had another bad dream, that’s all.” She grabbed his wrist and pried his hand away.
A perturbed look took over his face. Farron straightened up and crossed his arms. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Claire looked up at him. He’d thrown on his pants, thankfully, but his top half was bare, and a little too distracting. Quickly, she averted her eyes back down to the courtyard. “Nothing,” she said softly, and instantly felt bad for lying to him.
Farron sighed. “Well, when you feel like telling me, you’ll know where to find me.” He turned and went back inside
Anger started to churn in her stomach. Now he knew how she felt whenever he avoided answering her questions. What gave him the right to be mad at her for it? She stormed back into the room, her fists clenched at her side. “That’s not fair!”
He stood quietly on the other side of the bed, his arms crossed.
“You never tell me anything, so why are you getting mad at me for not sharing?”
“Because,” he said, his voice even.
“Because what?” she asked when he didn’t expound.
“Because I don’t like it!” he snapped. “I don’t like you training with him.” He pointed toward the window.
“So, you’re jealous, is that it?”
“No— yes— I don’t know… maybe.” He sat on the bed, his back to her, and let out an exasperated sigh.
Claire was speechless for a moment. She didn’t think it had bothered him that much. “He’s the only one that’ll teach me.”
“He works for the Council.”
“Yes, I know that. You and everyone else have made that perfectly clear,” she said. She sat on her side of the bed and looked at Farron. “He’s not as bad as you think he is, you know.”
Farron turned and gave her a pointed look.
“It’s funny,” she added with a short laugh. “I remember telling him the same thing about you. And don’t forget, you used to work for the Council as well.” She gave him a smile, trying to lighten the mood a little. “And if I recall correctly, almost everyone has warned me about you before.”
He scowled. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Perhaps,” she shrugged. “Or it just means that I am bad at following advice. Just because he works for the Council doesn’t make him evil, Farron. He has his reasons, as I’m sure you did when you worked for them. And you turned out alright in the end, didn’t you?”
“You’re too trusting, Claire.”
“And you could learn to trust a little more,” she snapped back. “Look, I know you don’t like him. I’m not asking you to. But unless you or Lianna decide to start teaching me, he’s the only one I have. Besides, I thought you would at least be glad that I managed to regain my powers.”
His attention snapped back to her. “What?”
“Well, sort of. Not entirely, yet, but with some more practice…” She trailed off when she noticed the worried look on his face. “What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy.”
“No, I am…” He shook his head. “It’s just, when the Council and my brother find out, they’ll try and exploit you, you know.” He sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want you to learn, I just don’t want them to touch you. I worry about you, Claire.”
“I know.” She looked down at the bed where her fingers wrung in the blankets. The thought of the king and the Council using her has worried her for quite some time now. “Before,” she said softly, “when you asked me what was wron
g, I’m sorry I lied to you. I just wasn’t sure how to say it…”
“Say what?”
Claire took a deep breath. How exactly was she going to explain what Razi did to her? “He did something to me— Razi, I mean, when he found my powers.”
“What do you mean he did something to you?” He started to bristle already.
“I’m not exactly sure what. When he touched me, it was like he was able to reach inside of me… delve into my mind, my memories. He was able to help me recall that night I faced the Roain when I awakened,” she shuddered, “and somehow he was able to draw out my magic. It hurt, a little, but I’m fine, really.”
Farron was silent for a moment. “I’ll kill him,” he finally said. He collapsed back onto the bed, scowling.
“Don’t joke like that!” Claire grabbed a pillow and whacked him with it. “I don’t know if you’re serious or not!”
“I might have to hunt him down,” he said, grinning evilly. “Going into your mind like that, seeing things that I don’t even know yet.”
Claire crossed her arms in a huff. “It’s not like I asked him to!” She hadn’t been too thrilled with the idea either. Still, it was a little fun seeing him get so upset about it. Who knew he cared so much? She leaned over and looked down at him, trapping him in place with her arm. “I’ll start sharing when you do, Fare, there’s no need to get jealous,” she teased.
“I’m not jealous.”
“You are, too.” She grinned.
“Can you blame me? I wasn’t exactly your first choice.”
“Fare…” She didn’t know how to reply to that, they both knew the truth.
“You may not have noticed, but I like you, Claire. I just don’t always believe you feel the same way about me.”
Claire’s heart sunk a little. He may be arrogant, but his heart was as fragile as the vase she’d thrown at him a few weeks before. “Listen,” she said, placing a hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t interrupt her. “I may have chosen someone else before you, but if I didn’t like you, you wouldn’t be in my bed right now.” She took her hand from his mouth, leaned down, and kissed him lightly. “I just need time,” she whispered. “I’m still trying to figure everything out.”
“Yeah,” he said as he drew her down and wrapped his arms around her.
He didn’t seem too thrilled with her answer. He had agreed to take things slow, but she knew it was wearing on him. With her life in upheaval, she just didn’t know if she could give him everything he wanted.
“I just don’t want to see you get hurt again, Claire. I… I don’t want to let you go.”
She could feel her pulse begin to quicken. It almost sounded like he wanted to say something else, but ended up changing his mind at the last moment. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him, trying her best to keep the tone light to ease his worries.
“I almost lost you before, more than once, Claire.”
She pulled back just enough to look at him, wearing a look of mock surprise. “Are you saying that you’re scared? Have I finally scared the ice prince?”
He just raised an eyebrow, clearly not amused. “Your recklessness scares me.”
She buried her face in the crook of his neck and hugged him tightly. “I’ll be fine,” she repeated, but even as she said it, she wasn’t convinced that it was true. She just hoped that the uncertainty didn’t show in her voice.
He simply sighed and held her close. Worry had set in, making his body stiff, but Claire tried her best to relax. If she did, maybe he would follow suit. But it wasn’t hard; she was exhausted and was quickly losing the battle against her eyelids.
The simple truth was that she never felt safer than when she was with him, and perhaps that was why the nightmares subsided whenever he was around. But even lately they’ve been sneaking through. And she could have sworn the lines on her arm had grown longer. The pain and aches were growing more and more frequent, and an overall uneasiness was constantly brewing at the edge of her mind. She even had gone so far as to keep the stone from the library on the table next to her bed. At times it would help to put her at ease, but even that was becoming rarer.
She would be fine. She had to believe that, or least make him believe it. He might have been trying to be her knight in shining armor, but she had a feeling that even he wouldn’t be able to save her, the road she was heading down. It seemed that, for the first time since she’d met him, he was the one that was getting in over his head.
T he light in the small courtyard was gray, matching how she felt. Clouds blocked most of the sun and a light sprinkle of rain fell in uneven intervals, making the air feel cooler and her spirit even more so.
Claire stood in the middle, dagger drawn, eyes closed, hair braided, trying her best to concentrate. To find her power the same way Razi had the other day. But she found nothing. Only small traces that ultimately led nowhere.
The soft click of footsteps disturbed her train of thought. Slowly she opened her eyes and turned around to face them, expecting to find Farron and finally catch him in the act of sneaking up on her. But the smile faded from her face when she didn’t find the elf, but a slightly perplexed Razi instead.
“Still practicing on a day like this?” he asked. Dark brown leather armor covered most of his body, creaking lightly as he walked. A single dagger sat around his waist. The mark on his right hand was hidden by elbow length gloves. He was dressed for battle; she just wasn’t sure against what, or who.
She sheathed her dagger. “I thought you left.”
“Not yet,” he said. A twinge of amusement touched his red eyes. His black hair was pulled back from his face, displaying his high cheekbones and fine features to great effect. “What kind of teacher would I be if I didn’t even say goodbye to my pupil?”
Claire crossed her arms, feeling wholly underdressed in his company in dark slacks and crimson wrap-around shirt. “Let me guess, the Council is sending you on a goodwill mission?”
“Of sorts.” He stopped in front of her and tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “The Beasts of Old are stirring across the land. You fought one yourself.”
“A Roain?”
“Just one of the many kinds.”
“There are more?” she asked, a slight tingle of fear sweeping through her.
“Many more,” he revealed. “And they are waking up. The seals are wearing thin and they are not happy. Entire villages have been destroyed already. And since we do not have the power to seal them up again, it is my job to destroy them.”
Her eyes grew wide with worry and horror. She couldn’t imagine willingly facing another one of those things. And if there were different kinds, and many more of them, it was a wonder that she was able to get any sleep at all. “Does Lianna…?”
“Occasionally, when the King allows it.”
She took a deep breath, her body growing cold. “Will I?”
“We cannot force you to do anything, me chaqana. But when you have reached your full potential, you will be asked. It is as noble as it gets, and with our kind of power the beasts are not too hard to, uh, dispose of.” He grinned and eyed her closely. “With what happened to your hometown, I would have thought you would leap at the chance to save others from suffering the same fate.”
She looked away, averting her gaze to the ground. Although true, she couldn’t help feeling pangs of anxiety stab through her. The last fight with a giant beast nearly cost her her life. And many sleepless nights.
Besides, it wasn’t a giant beast that had attacked her hometown, unless she counted the savage centaurs. And although she wanted to stop them, the same surge of fear overtook her whenever she thought about actually coming face to face with one of those again.
“Do not worry.” Razi put a hand on her shoulder. “Those fears and doubts fade away when your power grows. If your power grows.” He smiled and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
She threw a glare at him and shrugged out from his grasp. “They will,” she said. “They have to. And maybe b
y then, I will be braver than you.”
“Hmm, I guess we will have to see about that.”
“Last night, I saw you with your troops. Why didn’t you leave with them?”
“And miss seeing your face once again?”
She didn’t know why he and Farron didn’t get along. She was discovering more and more how similar the two really were.
“Of course I send my men out first. Why do all the walking when I can do this?” Without warning, he grabbed her wrist.
Claire’s eyes grew wide, but before she could protest, she was swept off her feet. Wind swirled around them with wisps of a gray smoky substance blurring the surrounding world.
Before she knew it, they were high above the palace, the courtyard looking a little too small. She threw her arms around his shoulders, her fingers gripping like talons. Though he had been in her mind, he must have missed the part of her being terrified of heights, especially if there wasn’t anything substantial underneath her feet.
Deep laughter sounded loud in her ears, and she could feel the vibration in his chest as he no doubt found humor in her display of distress. Truly it must be fun since it seemed everyone she had encountered recently seemed to take joy in torturing her.
“Razi,” she shrieked, trying to keep the shrillness to a minimum. “Razi, put me down please!”
“Me chaqana, I have not shown you the best view yet.” He landed on the tallest round tower of the palace, the gray tile shingles clinking lightly under his feet.
She clamped her eyes closed tight. “I’m sure it’s lovely, so please put my feet back on solid ground.”
“But you have not even looked.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Just one look.”
“No.” She shook her head, eyes still closed.
“I promise to bring you straight down if you do.”
With a groan, she slowly cracked her eyes open. As promised, the view was magnificent. From up here, she could see the whole city spread out below the cliffs. The clouds had started to part far in the distance, the sun’s golden beams breaking through in great pillars of light.
