He gasped. She glanced up, frowning at the bushes, before continuing to wash herself.
Her pale blonde hair cascaded in a long train, framing her heart-shaped face. Green eyes caught flecks of sunlight. She licked her ruby red lips in concentration as she washed her arms.
Killian had to take this opportunity. She was without her enchanted dress, her tools. She was naked.
She turned again. Killian licked his dry lips. Her front was even more compelling, her stomach flat, her breasts and thighs undoubtedly womanly. She held herself unconsciously, somehow with a presence that was almost regal. He drank in her body, like a man drinking the last drop of water in the desert. With a great amount of difficulty, Killian tore his eyes away.
42
The imperial legion is remarkable, is it not? The strongest, fittest, most lethal force in the world. They fight wherever I send them, and are loyal unto death. How do I maintain such loyalty? The question is easier to answer than you may think. You see, most soldiers’ greatest fear isn’t death. It’s being maimed. Spending life as a cripple. But you won’t see cripples in Tingara. If one of our legionnaires loses an arm, or a leg, we replace it with a limb twice as strong. Scattered through the legion are meldings. And occasionally, we reward special loyalty by saving the direst cases. I’m sure you’ve heard of avengers.
— Emperor Xenovere V to Primate Melovar Aspen, 524 Y.E.
ELLA finally decided she was clean enough and walked towards the grassy bank where she had left her clothes.
She looked up to where they should be, and screamed.
It was Killian.
He sat with his back to her, holding everything of hers on his lap — her clothes, her tools, her bag, everything.
"Here, put this on," he said, his voice strangely gruff. He flung a dress out with his arm. It landed a few paces from him.
Ella could see the collar had been ripped off where she had drawn some runes. It was just a ripped grey dress now. Her other dresses would have suffered the same treatment. Ella had prepared herself well, or so she thought.
Lord of the Sky, what a fool she had been.
One arm covering her breasts, she scurried over to the grey dress and put it on. While he wasn’t looking, she felt in the secret pocket.
"I’ve taken the liberty of collecting all of your little tools and tricks and throwing them in the lake," he said. His voice was still strange, as if tense with emotion.
"You did what!"
"Your little bottle of black liquid. Essence, I suppose. Your long, thin, metal quill-thing."
"You… You…."
He turned around. He had changed from the Killian she’d met. This man was weary, she could see it in his eyes. They were still just as blue though. His long tousled hair was still a fiery red.
He regarded her seriously.
She faltered under his gaze. Her mouth went dry.
"Now, what are you doing here? The truth."
Ella thought about simply running. Then she looked at Killian. He was tall. His legs were strong. Here she stood dripping wet with no boots on. She wouldn’t get far.
"I asked you a question," he said.
She looked up at his face again. His eyes were different, she realised. Where before there had been a mischievous twinkle, a reckless daring, he now seemed more serious. He looked at her with a more steady expression, as if really seeing her. She didn’t know what had brought about this change. She didn’t even know if she liked it.
Ella’s story about being madly in love stopped in her throat. It seemed too trite all of a sudden.
"I came to get back our Lexicon. It was my fault you got into the Crystal Palace, my fault you stole our most precious possession. My brother is fighting out there. People are dying. Please, Killian. I want it back."
She waited for him to burst out laughing. Instead he simply shook his head. "You need to understand. Your people are squandering the knowledge, Ella. Lore shouldn’t be kept secret and fought over. It shouldn’t define a group of people, causing them to identify with it and raise arms against anyone who is different. Lore should be shared amongst everyone. When the houses are one, don’t you realise the things we can do?"
This was the real Killian. Ella realised she was seeing him for the first time. There was a strange fervour to him. It reminded her of the white priests. "What are you talking about? Are those your words, or the words of someone who put them in you?"
He sighed. "It doesn’t matter. If you even saw the things we have already accomplished... But no mind," he shook his head sadly. "I believe you, but I can’t believe you would be so stupid. Who else is with you?"
"No one."
"Who else!"
Seeing Killian angry suddenly made Ella aware of just how vulnerable she was. If he was going to hurt her, if he was going to do anything to her, he would have done it, wouldn’t he?