“It should be like this more often and handled with much more dignity, but my brother seems to think otherwise.”
I jumped at Ovailia’s voice. I hadn’t noticed her standing there.
“Well,” she continued after glaring me down, “now that you are here, should we continue?”
“Ummm... sure,” I answered, unsure if I should be adding some form of a title to Ovailia’s name. She acted like she was entitled to one, so I wasn’t sure.
“Good. Now, Ilyan tells me you have mastered plant growth easily enough. Let us hope the same rings true for your command of the wind.” She held out a heavy muslin cloth. I hesitantly removed the necklace and placed it in the folds. Ovailia wrapped it up tightly and placed it near some bushes on the ground. I looked at it, longing to put it back on, but knew it would only hinder me, and I needed to get control of my magic fast.
“Now,” Ovailia continued, “the concept of manipulating wind is much the same as plant life. You must infuse the wind with your magic until you receive the ability to control it. It is through this control that you will be able to manipulate yourself and objects around you.”
I just nodded my head numbly. I knew that should make sense, but I couldn’t seem to wrap my mind around it.
“Think about how you move your magic into the plants and tell them what to do,” Ilyan said. “It’s much the same concept, except with wind, you can do more; move cars or buildings, fly.”
“We were flying that night you saved me!”
“Yes, we were,” Ilyan said happily. Ovailia however, cleared her throat.
“Sorry... My Lord,” I added hastily.
“I want you to learn this skill, so in case anything happens this week, you will be able to get away and save yourself.”
My heart plummeted at the reminder of my need to run away. I wanted to be able to save Ryland, not be a hindrance and only have to run away. I nodded strongly and focused on what was going on.
“All right,” Ilyan said, “bring your magic to the front and release it into the air around you. I want to see if you can summon wind from nothing.”
I focused intently on the air and felt my magic seep out of me like a slow leak, pleased when I felt the air softly move itself into a subtle breeze. I pushed more magic out, excited at the quick success. The more I released into the air, the bigger the breeze became, until it swirled swiftly through the courtyard, pushing into those who remained watching us and eventually knocking me into Ilyan.
“Sorry, My Lord,” I whimpered as he set me straight again.
“Don’t be. That was wonderful!” Ilyan was pleased. Ovailia looked anything but.
Ilyan grabbed my shoulders and steered me to stand right in front of the large tree.
“Okay, now, climb the tree,” Ovailia snapped impatiently, ignoring my quick success. “Show me how you accomplish these tree races that Wynifred has told me so much about.”
I felt excited for a whole moment, until I looked up into the tree branches. The tangled knot of the tree extended high above me; no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t see a way through. It was more than the impossibility of the branches though, it was the fact that I could fall. My hands moved to wrap around my back without my even knowing. My fingers spanned flat against, the fingers touching the places where broken bones and nerves had been only a week before. My painfully broken back had given me a fear of falling.
“You won’t fall,” Ilyan whispered in my ear.
“How do you know I won’t?”
“I won’t let you.” His finger moved up to trace a circle around my kiss.
I tore my eyes away from the tangled branches to look at him, stepping away from his touch and feeling guilty.
“But there is no way up, Ilyan—My Lord.”
Ilyan smiled at me softly before turning to Ovailia. “If you will excuse us, sister, I believe this lesson will not require your assistance today.”
Before Ovailia could open her mouth to rebut, Ilyan had opened his hand, the necklace flying into his open palm from within the bush. Ilyan then took my hand and began to lead me out of the courtyard. Everyone looked surprised that we were leaving so soon, but they stood and paid their respects to him as we walked by, nonetheless.
Once we had made it through the door from the courtyard, Ilyan’s pace increased until we had emerged on the other side through yet another door, this one leading to a wide expanse of untamed forest. I couldn’t see a city or town; we were surrounded by hills of forest, misty mountains just visible in the distance.
“Now, do you trust me?”
The answer to the question was obvious. I did trust him; I just didn’t trust how he acted around me sometimes. I knew that I couldn’t let my fierce loyalty to Ryland get in the way of Ilyan teaching me how to save him, so I nodded my head.