…
We had to pass through a waterfall to get to the small cave, but it didn’t matter, since we were soaked anyway. The cliff the waterfall came from wasn’t very high, but it made me anxious all the same. The Wu-Hyll Mountains were getting closer, which meant the egg was, too.
Zach had already explored most of the cave, but he stuck close by me, ready to respond if I felt the presence of the Forces. But I felt nothing, only damp and chill from the freezing rain.
After we started a fire, we took turns using the dark depth of the cave to change out of our soaked clothes into semi-dry ones from our bags. Then we ate and settled by the flames. I offered to take the first watch, and almost as soon as our shifts were decided, Bromley fell asleep.
Zach sat next to me this time, both our bodies facing the cave’s entrance where the horses huddled under the mouth, away from the waterfall. I was much more aware of his presence than the last few times we sat around the fire. No, rather, I was just as aware as before, but the feeling was different. I was…nervous? Anxious? No, neither of those, although similar. It was something I couldn’t name or explain.
“Thank you,” I said at last.
“For what?” he asked, laying out his knives and cleaning them of the vipers’ blood.
“For scouting instead of Bromley.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t want him out there alone, either.”
I sighed. “He was angry at me. He said you should’ve stayed with me, that you could protect me and he couldn’t.”
“Ivy, don’t do this. Bromley was just a little shaken from the attack, that’s all. He’s worried about you.”
“Yes, the vipers scared him, and without that mage, things could’ve been much worse.”
Zach stopped cleaning his dagger and focused on the fire. “Who was she?”
“I have no idea. She’s never been to Myria before, that’s for sure.”
“She seems skilled.”
“Especially for one so young.” My nerves slid away as we fell into an easy rhythm of conversation. “Usually it takes many, many years for mages to perfect elemental magic like that. Even more strange, she’s wandering about without a master.”
Zach went back to cleaning. “She said her master was close by.”
“Even if that were true—which I’m not convinced it was—she still shouldn’t be able to exert that level of control over her magic.”
“Why not?”
“Mages are different from Royals in that they don’t need a trigger for their magic. And, also unlike Royals, their magic doesn’t specifically repel the Darkness. They’re born with only the ability to control the elements.”
“I knew that,” he muttered.
“There are three Master Mages for each kingdom, and they advise the Royal Council of kings and queens,” I continued, ignoring his interruption. “Each Master Mage takes on at least one apprentice mage every five years. Because it’s difficult to control their own power, they need a master to learn from and to keep their abilities in check. But she was able to perform that fire magic on her own, with no master in sight.”
Zach’s brow furrowed. “Then you think she’s dangerous?”
“Not necessarily. She must be very skilled to control fire like that—to have it burn in a perfect circle. So I doubt she’ll be accidentally burning down villages any time soon.”
Zach snapped his fingers. “That’s why you asked her to burn the rowan deer. Because you knew she had enough control for the fire not to spread.”
“That, and I couldn’t stand the idea of those poor creatures being…” My voice trailed off, lost in the sounds of the pounding water and crackling fire.
“I understand.” Zach’s voice was low, somber, but still comforting somehow. He put away his daggers and picked up his sword next.
I remembered the griffin knocking that same sword out of his hand, and how, without a weapon, Zach had stood up against the griffin’s talons to save me. Then the golden light…
“Do you think that mage has been following us?”
Zach paused his cleaning and pursed his lips.
“Maybe she was the one who killed the griffin. It had to have been vanquished by magic. There’s no other explanation.”
He frowned, staring at the sword, and remained silent.
“But then again, that certainly wasn’t elemental magic. I’ve never—”
“You just said it’s odd for a mage as young as she is to be so powerful,” he said. “Maybe she has a different kind of magic, as well.”
I wrung out my wet hair. “Maybe.” But even that didn’t add up. Mage magic was elemental. It had always been that way. There was also the fact that the mage had been in the forest with us, and none of us noticed she was there. Yes, she’d been stealthy in the trees during the viper attack, but it still seemed unlikely.
I studied Zach. The tightness in his jaw made it clear he wasn’t eager to discuss the idea anymore, so I switched topics. “Look, back there with the vipers…”
He sighed, and the tension in the cave grew. He suspected I was going to say that we wouldn’t have needed the mage’s help if he would’ve just Kissed me.
I remembered what Brom said, that Zach and I seemed different around each other today. More civil. Closer, even. I couldn’t ruin that.
“Yes?” Zach asked.
Shocking even myself, I reached over and touched his hand, my fingers brushing his inner wrist. I swore I felt his pulse speed up, but I couldn’t be sure.
“You saved me quite a few times back there. Thank you.” Our hands felt too hot, and I wasn’t sure it had anything to do with the proximity of the fire. It was a different kind of heat.
Zach twisted his wrist and caught my fingers in his palm and gripped them. “You’re welcome.”
I couldn’t move my hand away, and it wasn’t because he was holding it tightly. After a few moments, he let go and began tracing his fingertips along my palm. I was entranced with the feeling. His fingers, though callused, seemed so gentle against my skin as he trailed them down my wrist and back up to my knuckles. The garlands of my mark bent and twisted in movement with his hand as a tingling feeling spread up my arm, into my throat, and down my chest. I wasn’t sure what he was doing or what his purpose was, but I didn’t want him to stop the strange rushing sensation flowing through me. His index finger stopped over my pounding pulse, and his eyes locked onto mine.
His fingers pressed just a little harder into my skin, as if he were tugging me into him. I drew close, curious of the sensation that was spreading from my arm to my whole body.
Then a loud snore echoed off the cave’s walls, and Zach and I both jumped, our hands breaking apart, breaths sharp and quick.
We glanced behind us to find Brom snoring, softer now.
But the…whatever it was…was gone, and Zach packed up his knives and sheathed his sword without another word, then settled in for sleep.
My curiosity fled, replaced by familiar logic. That feeling between us was too intoxicating, too addictive. Dangerous. I had the sudden urge to stick my arm in the chilling waterfall in hopes of getting rid of Zach’s fiery warmth in my hand.
PART TWO
The Queen and Her Descendants
Born under holly
Born under thistle
Nestled in blankets of snow A girl of the moon
A girl of the sun
Together they play and they grow Deep in the forests
And in golden fields
A brave young hunter is met A maiden of love
A maiden of hate
Three can never sing a duet Excerpt from a Romantica ballad
Chapter
Eighteen
The Romantica’s Tale