Yawning, he got up, set his cup in the sink, and headed to his room. When he rounded the corner, he wasn’t surprised to see his father occupying a chair in the sitting room.
“You have your work cut out for you with that one,” Waterfall said.
“Why do you say that?” Silverlight asked as he sat in the opposite chair.
“She’s got fire in her.”
Silverlight studied his father, not sure what he meant. All the fey hearted had passion and a thirst for magic. Otherwise they wouldn’t be brought into the fey world. If Waterfall thought she had some other type of fire, then that was a different matter altogether.
However, Silverlight suspected that Waterfall was reliving the night he’d shown the woods to his own fey hearted, Beatrice. They had ended up getting married, and Silverlight still remembered his parents together, laughing, teasing, and in love. Beatrice’s death had changed Waterfall, and this night had to remind him of their first meeting.
Waterfall looked at his son. “I think you’ll find that behind the soft words and mild manners, she’s got more determination than any three people combined. Rose is as deceptive, though unintentionally, as the flower for which she’s named.”
“So I should beware of thorns?”
“Being obtuse doesn’t suit you, son.”
“No more than overly floral metaphors suit you,” Silverlight countered. “I’m going to do my job and help her find her place.”
“Good. I didn’t want you to get swept away in that romantic drivel that some fey spout.” Silverlight suppressed a snort as Waterfall kept talking. “What is your plan for tomorrow?”
“We'll start her with basic magic, gardening, weapons work, and do a tour. I’ll try to keep the introductions to a minimum, and the surprises, but I want her to see what her routine will be like.” Silverlight thought for a moment. “What did you think about the way Pearl took to her?”
Waterfall nodded, as if he’d expected the conversation to turn in this direction. “Pearl does like people, but this is the first time I’ve seen her do more than a flyby to spark admiring comments. Maybe when I wasn’t around she’s let a human touch her before, but curl up on a shoulder and ride around? Unheard of. It shocked George. Pearl never took to him at all.”
“Do you think it’s a sign?”
“Of what?” Waterfall shrugged. “If you’ve figured out a way to communicate with the elementals, please share, but last I heard they were still keeping their secrets.”
Silverlight closed his eyes to keep from rolling them. Waterfall knew he didn’t have any better method of talking to the elementals than did anyone else. That was a conundrum that had bothered the fey for as far back as anyone could recall. Even though the historians believed that the elementals had taught fey to open the Slit and find fey hearted, they also agreed that if they’d ever been able to communicate with the elementals, the knowledge of such events was lost.
It was a shame. The elementals were the embodiment of and greatest source of magic. There was also no greater source of knowledge or wisdom. On the rare occasion that one of the elementals dispensed some information, it was typically through clues and signs.
“All I know is that Pearl seemed more than happy to stay with Rose. In the morning I’ll ask if she stayed the night. Now, it’s late. Could I get some sleep? As you mentioned, I have a busy day ahead of me.”
Waterfall nodded. “Of course, you have lots to do in the morning.”
“I’m excited,” Silverlight admitted. “Tired but excited.”
Waterfall smiled slightly, eyes soft. “I’m proud of you, son. She’s as good as any fey hearted I’ve seen.”
Silverlight nodded, waiting for him to continue.
“Your mother would be proud.”
After his father left, Silverlight went to bed, those words still fresh in his mind. Enough time had passed that what she would think or say wasn’t fresh in his mind. Waterfall’s words had filled a void. His mother would be proud. And he would do his best to keep honoring her memory.
It was shortly after dawn, and Waterfall was already awake. He moved around his kitchen, setting out breakfast for two and brewing a large pot of tea. Even with the late night, he had been unable to rest. The thrill of his son having found a fey hearted had kept his mind active when his body longed for sleep.
He heard a cursory knock at the door before it creaked opened. Looking up, he saw Summersky close the door and remove her coat.
Summersky smiled knowingly. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t get much sleep.”
Waterfall snorted. “You should know, having gone through the same thing not long ago.”
“Yes, and when my son returned with a fey hearted you very firmly told me that he was hardly the first to do so and my worries were unnecessary.”
The tea finished steeping and he poured two cups, then carried them over to the table and motioned for her to sit. When they were both seated he met her gaze. “I believe I owe you an apology. At the time I thought I understood. After all, I brought back a fey hearted many years ago. But it’s different when you’re a parent.”
Summersky shook her head. “All is forgiven. You had no way of knowing.”
Waterfall nodded, and the two of them turned their attention to the food. He remembered when Everblue, her son, had returned with his fey hearted. Summersky had been nervous, but she’d managed to hide it from Everblue. Waterfall could only hope his son was as unaware of his parental worry as hers had been.
There was a brief time last night when that concern had faded, but late at night it had returned. Finding a fey hearted was one thing, but helping her adapt to this life was an entirely different challenge. Much of that depended on Rose, and he simply didn’t know enough about her to guess how things would go.
Waterfall took a sip of his tea as he tried to find the correct words. “What do you think of Rose?”
Summersky smiled. “When I examined her, I felt that she would be an excellent member of the fey community, and that is all I can say at this time.”
That was the impression he had gotten when he’d examined the girl, as well, but he had hoped that Summersky would offer more insight. Understanding the female mind had never been his strong suit. Waterfall took a bite of his oatmeal and changed topics. “How is Everblue’s fey hearted doing?”
Summersky’s smile faded. “She misses her family, but I think she is slowly settling in.”
“Good. Good.” Waterfall tapped his fingers on the table. “I have this urge to go to Silverlight’s house and tell him all the things that did and didn’t work for me when I was instructing Beatrice.”
“Waterfall,” Summersky scolded. “You have to let Silverlight do this on his own. We’re here if he needs support, and until then, our job is to stay out of the way.”
“Beatrice would have told me the same thing.” He smiled sadly. “I wish she were here.”
The empty place in his heart had never truly healed after her death. She had been his partner, mother of their child, and best friend for so long that a few years was not enough time for him to recover.
Summersky reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
Waterfall huffed out a breath and pulled his hand away. “The worst part is that I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.”
“Why?” Summersky leaned forward.
“That’s the problem. There is no reason. I simply feel that this is the calm before the storm.” Waterfall shook his head. “I know it doesn’t make any sense. Ever since Beatrice died, I can’t help but worry more than usual about Silverlight. I thought the feeling would ease when he became an adult, but if anything, it’s gotten worse.”
Summersky grimaced. “Now there are more things out of your control.” She paused. “You need to trust that you did a good job raising your son. You need to trust that he can take care of himself and handle most of his own problems. And you need to trust that he will come to you when he finds a challe
nge he can’t face alone.”
“I know.” Waterfall wilted under her knowing gaze. “How have you managed to do that with Everblue?”
“By being cognizant of my actions and asking myself if I’m doing the best I can for my son.”
“It sounds easy when you say it like that,” Waterfall said, his voice dry.
“Oh, Waterfall, being a parent is never easy.”
Remembering Silverlight’s first sword lesson, how hard he’d focused on doing everything just right, Waterfall said, “But it’s worth it.”
“That it is.”
Chapter 7
Rose woke up to a heavy weight on her chest. She opened her eyes and swallowed a yelp. There was a dragon sitting on her chest. For a moment it looked like it had two heads, but as she blinked the heads came into focus. There were two dragons sitting on her chest. One was Pearl, but the other was a cobalt blue dragon that Rose hadn’t seen before.
The dim glow of sunlight filtered through the screens that divided the room. She looked around, trying to figure out how to turn the lights on, when a warm yellow orb appeared near the ceiling, providing an increasing amount of light.
“I guess that’s my cue to get up,” Rose muttered.
The two dragons on her chest seemed to have other ideas. Pearl shoulder-checked the blue dragon, and licked Rose from her chin to just below her eye.
Rose wrinkled her nose. “Thank you, Pearl. If you could move, though, I could actually get up.”
Not to be outdone, the blue dragon took a few steps back and charged forward. It head-butted Pearl, sending her tumbling off Rose’s chest and onto the bed with a hiss. With Pearl out of the way, the blue dragon pranced up to Rose’s face and ran a wet tongue from her chin all the way to her forehead.
“Yes, I’m awake. Can you move so I can get up?” If Rose had known the dragon better, she would’ve moved it off her, but after this display, she wasn’t sure how it would react to being picked up. Pearl probably wouldn’t have minded, especially if she got to ride on Rose’s shoulder, but this one seemed to be more temperamental.
Pearl got to her feet, shook herself like a dog, and with a disgruntled look over her shoulder, took off and flew around the room. The blue dragon cocked its head to the side and stuck its tongue out again.
“Oh no. I’ve had enough licks for now.”
Her words didn’t deter it, though. It was a fraction of an inch from making contact with her face when she heard a hiss. Rose and the blue dragon looked over just in time to see Pearl dive down, feet outstretched, and knock the blue dragon off Rose’s chest.
The dragon grunted when it hit the ground, and Rose twisted in the covers to peek over the edge of the bed. It was only an eighteen-inch drop to the floor, but she wanted to be sure the dragon was all right. It wouldn’t do to have one getting injured in her room on her first day there.
The blue dragon didn’t seem to be hurt because it was launching itself off the ground. With both dragons now in the air, Rose scooted out of bed and into the bathroom. When she ducked behind the screen, they were circling each other and hissing. She hoped they would settle down now that she was out of the way.
Rose was washing her hands when she heard a thud and grunt. She hurried out to the bedroom to see Pearl righting herself inches above the floor and shooting back up to the ceiling. She darted forward, nipping at the blue dragon that tried to hit her with its tail. Pearl barely got a tooth on the blue one when it twisted around and nipped at her. Pearl grunted and fell back, circling. The blue dragon flew over the bed, and Pearl pulled her head back, opened her mouth, and shot a short burst of flames at it.
Rose gulped. As bad as it was to be the cause of fighting dragons, it would be far worse if she was the reason her new dwelling burned down fewer than twelve hours after she moved in. Ducking to avoid the dragons’ notice and zigzagging to dodge the heat from another shot of flames, Rose raced out of her room.
“Silverlight!” she shouted. “Help! There are dragons fighting in my room!” Rose sucked in another breath as she ran through the arch that led to his part of the house. She stumbled to a halt when she saw him striding toward her, his brown hair sticking up and wearing loose pajamas.
“Pearl?” he asked. At her nod, he walked past her. “What does the other dragon look like?”
“It’s about her size and cobalt blue,” she answered as she followed him back to her quarters. There was a thump and another hiss coming from her bedroom.
“Of course it is,” Silverlight muttered as he walked into the room.
Rose came up next to him, ducking when a ball of flame went flying past her head. Silverlight just frowned. If he wasn’t afraid of the flames, maybe she shouldn’t be, either. On the other hand, they felt real enough from this distance, and she didn’t want to risk burns. It was a little early to be betting on a magical healing.
She groaned inwardly as she took in the damage the dragons had done in her absence. There were a couple of scorch marks on the walls and ceiling. A table had been knocked over, as had a few decorations. The dragons had also toppled the screens that separated the different parts of the room. Now that she thought about it, the scorch mark on the ceiling was proof enough that the flames could cause damage.
The two dragons were rolling through the air, a ball of blue and white. They separated for a moment, and Pearl grabbed the blue dragon by its tail and jerked her head sideways. The blue dragon crashed into the wall before falling onto the bed. It shook itself and flapped its wings. Satisfied that everything was in working order, it took off again.
Silverlight calmly walked over to the window. There was an odd sheen to the glass, and when he pressed his hand against it, the glass vanished. The blue dragon shot flames at Pearl, who barrel-rolled to avoid them.
Silverlight turned to face the room and narrowed his eyes. Translucent barriers came into existence, creating a narrow corridor between the dragons and the window, while blocking off access to the rest of the room. The barriers were clear but faintly green. For whatever reason, Rose caught a whiff of lilies even though there weren’t any flowers in the room.
“Dragons out!” Silverlight bellowed. “No fighting indoors.”
Pearl dodged an attack by the blue dragon, did a loop, and flew out the window. The blue dragon couldn’t pull up fast enough and hit one of the barriers, which crackled at the contact. The dragon sneezed and went cross-eyed for a moment.
“You too, Cobalt,” he ordered.
The dragon wobbled in the air but turned and flew to the window. Cobalt sneezed on Silverlight as it flew by.
“Ornery creature.” Silverlight shook his head. He looked at the window, and the funny-looking glass reappeared.
Rose touched the green barrier with one finger, expecting to get zapped or something. Instead, her finger moved through it, and her skin tingled lightly. She kept her hand moving until her wrist was through, at which point she sucked in a breath and stepped forward.
The barrier that had prevented Cobalt’s crossing allowed her to pass with nothing more than a prickle wherever it touched her skin. Rose cocked an eyebrow at Silverlight and turned back to face the barrier. Her hand went through this time, too.
“It was designed to contain dragons, so you and I may pass through it freely.” He demonstrated by walking through the barrier.
If any of the books and stories were right, creating something that was selective like that was more difficult than creating a barrier that blocked all movement.
“And the glass in the window?”
“It’s a barrier made by the magic.”
Rose touched the barrier. “Will I be able to make these?”
“I believe so, but it is too early to say for sure.” He focused on the barrier, and it vanished. “I must apologize for their behavior. Cobalt and Pearl don’t get along. They usually avoid each other.”
She shrugged. “I woke up and they were both sitting on my chest. That morphed into a battle to give me affection and then
an actual fight.”
“Someone will talk to them.” Silverlight righted two of the room’s screens and studied the third.
Rose knelt down next to the screen on the floor. Last night it had looked so beautiful, but now the corner was broken. The joint had come apart, and a small piece had come off. It would have to be glued or nailed back together.
Her fingers slid along the wood, and she marveled at the craftsmanship and finish. The flowers were so vivid that she was momentarily awash with a memory of the smell of roses. The broken wood moved, and she jerked her hand back. As she watched, it rejoined the top of the frame and slid into the groove on the side. The screen was still lying on the ground, but it was whole again.
“Interesting,” Silverlight said.
“You didn’t do that?”
“No.”
“I didn’t try to do that.”
“Of course not. How would you know it was possible? The magic fixed it.”
“But why?”
He shrugged and righted the screen.
As Rose looked around the room, she saw that the scorch marks on the ceiling were gone, too, and the burned spots on the sheets had been fixed. The room looked untouched by squabbling dragons. Silverlight was picking up overturned chairs, and once they were back in place, no one would know what had occurred this morning.
He walked over to a wall hanging, a tapestry that depicted the ocean, and swung it out from the wall. The rod holding it up was hinged on one side, and behind the tapestry were three rows of shelves. A few of them contained neatly folded clothing, and there was a narrow area where a jacket was hanging. Below the jacket were a pair house slippers and several types of boots, ranging from ankle- to knee-high.
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