by Kara Jaynes
He was all I could think about, all I could see.
My world. My sun. My light.
Forbidden light.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
About the Author
1
Glacia
It was an effort not to roll my eyes. “Try again,” I said, hoping my exasperation didn’t show.
Taloos frowned at a page of the book sitting in his lap. “‘Once upon a t-t . . .’”
“‘Time,’” I said. Magic have mercy, this was painful.
“‘Time.’” Taloos’s head dipped lower, his face scrunched in concentration. “‘Th—th—there was a pr . . .’”
“‘Princess.’”
Taloos slammed the book shut. “It’s time to get moving. We’ll want to reach the city today.”
I exhaled in relief. Each day since we’d left the village, I’d been trying to teach Taloos how to read, and it was emotionally taxing. I couldn’t understand how reading could come so slowly for him. All I had to do was glance at a page, and the words flew out at me. I couldn’t not read.
I stood, and then sat back down on the large tree stump. My feet hurt. We'd been walking for weeks, the forest still stretching as far as I could see in every direction. I didn't mind that part of it. The forest was life, filling me with its calm, quiet energy.
It was dawn, and we'd finished breakfast right before reading lessons. Taloos was now putting out the small campfire. Silvan walked over, kneeling before me to inspect my feet.
“We need to get some money to buy you shoes,” Silvan said, concern in his voice. He reached out long, slender fingers, rubbing the soles of my feet gently. “You have blisters.”
“I'm all right,” I said stubbornly. “My feet don't hurt that much.” Invisible sparks skittered across my skin at his contact, and I was extremely thankful I had bathed in the forest stream the night before. Dirt had caked my feet from days of walking, but today, they were clean.
Silvan smirked. “Your feet wouldn't hurt at all if you had a proper pair of shoes.”
“Deer and rabbits don't need shoes.”
Silvan's smirk widened into a grin. How I wished I could kiss those lips, run my fingers through his hair.
Silvan was my savior and protector. Long ago, he had saved me from a life of isolation, hidden away in the gray stone halls of the Chosen, and he'd kept me safe from the dangers in the outside world. I loved him more than life. I would die a thousand deaths for him.
I suspected he knew this, but I couldn't be quite sure.
There was also the problem of Silvan being an Elite. As the last survivor of his people, Silvan was bound by his duty not only to protect the inhabitants of this world, but with the expectation of staying clean and apart from the world. Part of that meant no intimate relationships.
Silvan sighed gently, and releasing me, stood.
The skittering feeling left, and a sigh escaped me, too. I quickly turned away to hide the blush I felt on my face.
“Do you want to try reaching for the magic, again?” Silvan asked.
I nodded, even though part of me didn’t want to. If Taloos’s progress in reading was slow, my progress in magic was non-existent.
I inhaled through my nose, and closed my eyes, waiting for Silvan’s instructions.
“It’s there,” Silvan intoned, “in your heart. In your stomach. A power, a force. A light. Seize it, and hold it.”
I tried. I thought I could maybe feel something? I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination, or real. I wanted it to be real.
I mentally fished around, trying to find the enchantment that was supposedly inside me.
“I can’t find it,” I mumbled, after a couple of minutes of standing there like a fool.
“That’s all right,” Silvan said. He sounded soothing, but I could still detect a hidden undercurrent of frustration. “It takes time.”
We’d been practicing since my near-death experience with the dragon that plagued Taloos’s village. I’d only survived because Silvan had come barreling out of the woods in the nick of time, shifting into a dragon and slaying the other. But if I could learn magic myself, I wouldn’t be so reliant on him.
But I couldn’t even feel the magic that supposedly coiled inside me, and it was already early fall.
“Truly,” Silvan said. “It’s all right. Your magic is probably asleep. It’s just taking its time to wake up.”
I threw my arms out, tilting my head back. “Wake up, magic!” I shouted. “I’m ready for you!”
A squirrel chittered at me from a nearby tree, and Silvan laughed. I smiled up at him, savoring the sound of his amusement. Of this moment. The silver-haired boy and his sparkling blue eyes.
“Fire's out,” Taloos interrupted. “Time to head out.”
I cast the brown-haired boy a withering look before pushing myself off the rock to stand.
“What?” he exclaimed.
I didn't respond. I stretched, ridding myself of any lingering sleepiness. It was impossible to stay tired in the forest. There was too much to see, and to learn.
“Anyway,” Taloos said, reaching for his pack and slinging it over his shoulder, “we should be reaching Stagfort today. Tomorrow at the very latest.”
We'd taken a long-about route to the city, stopping at nearby villages and farms. Taloos and Silvan helped farmers with yard work and chopping firewood, and I washed dishes—after a farm woman taught me—and helped manage children. In exchange, we were usually given a meal and a place to sleep for the night. There had been a hidden purpose for it all. Silvan wanted to make sure the dragon hadn't been terrorizing any of the other towns. If it had, however, those villages no longer existed.
“Good,” Silvan said in response to Taloos’s statement. He was already striding down the forest path we'd been following for days. “When we get there, I intend to find some work.”
“What kind of work?” I asked, running forward. It was hard to keep pace with Silvan, but I noticed the more I tried, the easier it got. I was getting stronger.
“Well, we can get by easy enough in the woods and a few villages,” he said, “but having some proper supplies would definitely help in us having a better go at it, especially once the weather turns.”
“Ooh!” Taloos had caught up, his face flushed with excitement. “We could hire ourselves out as mercenaries.”
I snorted. “You're too young to be a mercenary.”
“Am not,” he protested. “I turned seventeen last spring. I'm a man.”
“You’re older than Silvan?” I asked. He didn't act older.
Silvan glanced at me. “Actually, I’m seventeen, too.”
I stopped walking to stare at him. “When did that happen?”
Silvan didn’t stop walking. “A few days ago.”
I hurried t
o catch up, my face burning. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to miss it.”
“Eh, it’s just another day.” Silvan smiled at me. “My brothers and I didn’t celebrate birthdays, anyway. It wasn’t our custom.”
“I didn’t know you had brothers, Silvan,” Taloos remarked. “Where are they now?”
“Dead.” Silvan’s smile dropped, a stony expression replacing it. “Don’t ask any more questions.”
We were quiet for several minutes after that, lost in our own thoughts, but I suspected they were all on the same topic.
Death.
We had all experienced loss. I’d lost my parents and people. Taloos, his mother. Silvan had lost his entire culture.
The silence stretched on. I wanted to lighten the mood, but I didn’t know what to say. What could I say?
Taloos solved the dilemma. He poked me in the ribs with a stick. “You could be a mercenary, too.” He winked.
I laughed, and the air seemed to thaw. Taloos could never stay solemn for long, and the further we got from his village and his past, the happier he seemed to be.
“I would make a terrible mercenary,” I replied.
“Hmm.” Taloos scrunched his face up in mock deliberation. “Perhaps you could be a barmaid?” He dodged my slap, unable to hold back his grin. “Fine, fine. In all seriousness, you should hire yourself as a painter’s model.”
“A what?”
“A model,” Taloos repeated. “You're pretty. I suspect artists will be lining up for a chance to paint you.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. I thought he was grossly exaggerating. “I think I'd make a better barmaid,” I quipped, half-joking.
“Glacia won't need to work,” Silvan growled. “She'll be studying magic. I will work enough for the both of us.”
I considered his words, a warm glow settling over me. Silvan wanted to support me.
Taloos was quiet for a moment as he mulled over this new information. His face brightened. “I can help, too. I'm sure between the two of us, Glacia won't want for anything.”
Silvan's back stiffened as he walked, and he shook his head, silver locks shifting. “Thank you, but no. I don't need your help.”
Taloos hooted. “Well, aren't you Mr. Responsible? Why don't you just marry her and be done with it?”
I stumbled and would have fallen if Silvan hadn't put out a hand, steadying me. “Careful,” he murmured. His face was almost as red as mine felt.
“I don't think I shall marry.” I tried to make my voice sound lighthearted, but it came out strangled. When Taloos glanced at me questioningly, I darted off the forest path. “Oh, look. Flowers!”
I liked flowers well enough, but what I needed was some time for my face to cool. It felt like it was going to burn off from embarrassment.
Of course, I would never marry, because Silvan would never marry. The idea of settling for anyone else was horrible. Unthinkable. I couldn't even fathom it, not even for a good man like Taloos.
Did that make me desperate? Crazy? Possessive? I didn't know, but I did know that it didn't matter what my head told my heart. My heart had settled the matter.
I picked a few flowers, and when my face felt normal, I hurried back to the path where the boys were waiting.
Taloos frowned in puzzlement. “All that fuss for some flowers?”
“Hey, they're pretty,” I said. I cast a worried glance at Silvan, hoping he didn't mind the delay.
He smiled briefly and began striding down the path again. I followed, careful not to engage Taloos in more conversation, content to let him chatter. The beast tamer talked enough for the three of us.
I watched Silvan from behind as we walked, observing how his hair glinted when direct sunlight hit it. Silver hair. How curious. Did he have silver hair when he was born? Did anyone else have silver hair? Did he carry the blood of some strange, forgotten race? I wanted to ask him, but I didn't want to offend him if he wasn't ready to answer.
The last of the Elite. He still felt duty bound, I could sense it. Yet the fact that he wanted to care for me made my stomach warm with happiness.
Whatever his duties and obligations, Silvan kept a place in his heart for me.
2
Silvan
Why don't you just marry her and be done with it?
Taloos’s words tumbled about in my head like leaves in high winds. Why didn't I just marry her?
I inhaled sharply through my nose as my gaze roved across the trees, watchful for any danger.
I already knew why I couldn't marry her, and Glacia knew, too.
I was an Elite. Protector of the Realm, a guardian of the world. I wasn't supposed to tie myself down to anyone. I had a higher goal, a loftier purpose than love.
Despite that, I still loved her. The slim girl walking beside me was like a light I could see at the edge of a world of shadow.
Forbidden light.
I wanted it more than anything in my life.
The guilt that came with that desire hit me like a hammer's blow. I was the last of my kind, because I ran. When the demons attacked my home, I ran to protect Glacia, rather than stay and defend my homeland. When I went back to help them, it was too late.
My people were dead. But Glacia was still alive. Despite my sadness, my grief, I knew I wouldn't have changed that, had I been given the choice again. I would always choose Glacia.
Because I loved her.
But guilt did strange things, and I knew that despite my betrayal, I was still an Elite. I had duties and obligations I had to fulfill.
So, while I couldn't bring myself to leave her, I couldn't act on my feelings, either. I was frozen, unable to move forward or back.
Would Glacia stay content with mere friendship, or would she tire of it and move on? I knew the beast tamer was interested in her. I had half a mind to snap his scrawny neck, but I didn't chase him off because I knew that, in reality, Glacia would probably be happier with someone like Taloos. Honest, brave, straightforward, and able to give her more than I could promise.
A lot more.
I glowered at a passing bush as I walked, and a small animal scampered out of it with a whimper, scurrying deeper into the woods.
“Ah, look, you see? The path widens up ahead,” Taloos said, satisfaction painting his voice. “We're almost there.”
I didn't say anything, annoyed with myself for getting lost in my thoughts.
“I've never seen a city,” Glacia said. She'd been quiet since Taloos’s embarrassing comments a few hours ago. “Will it look anything like back home?” She frowned, shaking her head slightly. “Back at the Halls, I mean.”
The Halls of the Chosen. Glacia hated acknowledging that it had once been her home.
Taloos looked confused, which was understandable. He hadn't come across the sea, like Glacia and I.
I shook my head in response to her question. “I doubt it. We aren't near any mountains. It'll probably be like Taloos’s village, only bigger.”
“Much bigger,” Taloos agreed. “You'll see. It's amazing.” His eyes glassed over, his voice taking a faraway tone. “I suspect I shall find my fortune there.”
I snorted dismissively. “Fortune isn't something you find. It's something you make.”
“Well, I'll make it there, then,” Taloos countered. “There's always lots going on in a city.”
I held back a biting retort. I didn't like Taloos. On the other hand, if it weren't for Glacia, I suspect I might. He reminded me of my old friend, Daiki.
“Have you spent lots of time there?” Glacia asked.
Taloos lifted a shoulder. “Eh. Some. Not much, actually. It’s quite far from the village, even with a more direct route. But my mum used to sell some of her spinning and such there. She was quite clever, you know.”
“I believe it.” Glacia laughed as she walked along, doing a good job of keeping pace. I walked quickly, eager to reach the city.
As the path began to climb, I remembered Glacia didn’t have shoes and slowed my pace a littl
e, feeling a flush of shame creep up my neck and face. She had sore feet, showing blisters and a few sores, but she never once complained, and refused to walk slower than us. She was tougher than she looked.
I broke into their conversation. “The trees are growing thinner here.”
“Oh.” Taloos looked about. “So, they are. Say, let’s climb that ridge.” He pointed a short way off to the right. “We should be able to see Stagfort from there.”
We followed the enthusiastic beast tamer as he scrambled up the rocky ridge to stand precariously over the edge, gripping the trunk of a thin pine for balance. “There it is!”
I helped Glacia climb so she wouldn’t trip over her skirts. When she reached the top, she stood very still, her gaze locked on something below. “It’s a lot bigger than your village.”
Taloos laughed. “You bet it is.”
“It’s foggy,” Glacia remarked.
Taloos tilted his head. “True. Strange that it would hang around the city this late in the day, even by the river.”
I joined them and gazed down at the city. There was a long, snaking river running perpendicular across the plains, the city built alongside it, but that wasn't what made me stiffen, my eyes widening with incredulity. There was a fog that hung over the city like a ghostly veil, and only in Stagfort. It dissipated before it reached the river or plains. That wasn't what got my attention. Based on their reactions, I knew Taloos and Glacia couldn't see it, the thick web of enchantment that hung over the city like a cloud of ash. Someone with immense magical ability lived there. Chewing on my lower lip pensively, I reached out my power, trying to test the strength that cloaked the city. I clicked my teeth in annoyance. I was too far out to touch it.
Stagfort was still many miles away, the path winding back and forth down the steep incline in an obnoxiously slow manner. I could shift and fly there in a few short minutes. Of course, because it wasn’t night, I’d then have an entire city in an uproar over a dragon, not to mention blowing my cover. I had no idea if the magic user would see me as a threat, so I wanted to keep the nature of my ability a secret. Perhaps he or she was harmless. When we drew closer, I'd be able to test the caliber and nature of the enchantment.
“Let’s go.” Taloos turned around and scrambled down the ridge to stand on the path. “I want to get there before the gates close this evening.”
