Second Chance

chapter 20




It had been five days since Carrick left and Ava still felt like bursting into tears every time she thought about him. Which was, oh, about a hundred times a day. Her only saving grace was the blood magic instruction she was taking from Heph. They had made significant headway and felt they would be able to deflect some of Ralina’s more nefarious spells, and possibly use some for an attack of their own.

What had been interesting was the use of the Conclave. Ava and Heph had interviewed each member of the Clairmont Conclave separately. They swore they played no part in Ralina’s scheme, but did admit to harboring secret information about blood magic. Some of the members refused to divulge any information but others offered up their help. Of course, any help that was offered was treated with suspicion and all information was checked and re-checked for accuracy.

By the end of the fifth day, Ava and Heph had accomplished a lot. They always knew that Ralina’s forces could not stand up to the Royal Armies in hand to hand or weaponry combat. Even her conjured demons like the Erchras, were fairly easy to dispatch by sword.

But Ralina had the edge with her dark magic spells. The most worrisome was the fire spell, which she had found named in Heph’s book as ignis victura. Ralina apparently called it Hell-Fire. When this spell was conjured with the blood of an innocent victim, it would never burn out until the intended target was demolished. Someone could pour an entire ocean on such a flame, but once the water ran out, the flame would still live until its job was complete.

Through Ava and Heph’s hard work, they completed a defensive spell that would diffuse the Hell-Fire and make it susceptible to ordinary means of extinguishment. Out in the midst of battle, that usually meant rolling around on the ground. At least now, with the troops given a blood protection amulet, if they were hit with the flame, they could attempt to extinguish it.

Ava insisted on making the protection amulets with her own blood. One piece of information the Conclave had offered was that Ava’s blood was stronger than any other because she was of the Royal Clairmont line. Matching up Ava’s willingly offered blood in defense of her people, against Ralina’s stolen, sacrificial blood, they should be evenly matched.

Finally, Ava and Heph were able to come up with several offensive spells using blood magic. Again, Ava insisted on creating them herself, only with her blood, so by the end of the fifth day, she was exhausted and had felt damn near drained of her life force. Heph sent her home with strict orders for her to rest the next day. He would handle passing down the knowledge and spells to the troop commanders, and oversee their training of the soldiers.

Apparently, whatever Carrick had been doing was working, because the troops from all of the Royal houses, including Sorin, were arriving by the thousands. There was no need to cloak Clairmont anymore, because Ralina couldn’t get close to it if she tried there were so many soldiers. As far as the eye could see, military tents dotted the fields and meadows around Clairmont.

Ava took Heph’s recommendation and headed home. She stopped by Sam’s house first to collect Bing. As always, she felt a stab of pain in her heart when she looked at Carrick’s house across the street, and remembered the moments they had shared inside.

Bing came running up to Ava as she walked down the street. She knelt down and gave him a big hug, holding on to him a little bit longer than normal. “Looks like you’re the main man in my life now buddy.”

Standing up, Ava saw Sam on his front step and gave him a cheerful wave. She felt anything but cheerful but she had to keep up appearances so as not to destroy morale. She’d had a fake smile plastered to her face all week and it was killing her. Now she could let it go, and wallow in her sadness until the morning came. Ava and Bing walked slowly to their home.

As Ava approached her cottage, her breath caught when she saw Carrick sitting on her front steps. His clothes were rumpled and he had dirt all over. He must have been training. He looked tired as he rested his arms on his knees, head hanging down slightly. He was clearly waiting for her to come home.

As she continued walking toward him, his head raised up to look at her. He ran his gaze up and down her body and then she saw a blaze of anger cross his face as he stood up. “What the hell happened to you?”

He stomped down from her steps and met her at the bottom.

“What do you mean?” Ava was clueless as to why he was so angry. Bing even let out a low growl toward Carrick, clearly not happy with the menace in his voice.

“You look like death warmed over. Have you not even been taking care of yourself?”

That did it. After having sat in self-pity and sadness the last five days, all because of this man standing in front of her, the mere fact he would now come and chastise her was more than she could handle.

“You listen here Carrick Dunne,” Ava spat out while poking him in the chest with her forefinger. “You lost your right to be worried about my welfare when you broke things off with me. I am none of your f*cking business anymore. But just so you can stay up to date on things, we have been working non-stop on the blood magic spells since you left and have made tremendous progress. I imagine I look like hell because I’ve been working my ass off.”

Ava walked around Carrick and started up her steps. She looked back at him. “Oh, and get the hell off my property and don’t come back.”

Ava and Bing went inside the house and she slammed the door behind them.

I guess I told him! Yes, Ava should feel a rush of power right about now for telling Carrick off. Yep. Should be feelin’ it at any moment now.

But instead, she felt the old sadness creep up. Her burst of anger was over and nothing good came out of it. Tired to the bone, Ava fed Bing and then lay on her bed without even taking off her clothes. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

***

Carrick looked at the door that had been slammed in his face and knew he couldn’t blame Ava for her reaction. Fire had blazed in his gut as he had taken in her appearance. She was pale with bruised shadows under her eyes. She looked like she’d lost five pounds in the last week and he was wondering how he was the only one who had noticed how bad she looked.

Carrick took off toward Heph’s house. He would have answers.

Carrick huffed with frustration. He couldn’t be expected to command all of these forces if he was constantly worried about Ava. He needed to be able to trust someone to take care of her. Except…he really had no right to be worried anymore. Ava had clearly pointed that out. Well, f*ck that. Just because I’m no good for her doesn’t mean I can’t worry.

Heph was just walking down the street to his house as Carrick was approaching.

“Carrick,” Heph waved. “I didn’t know you were back!”

Carrick was fuming as he stalked up to Heph. “What the hell is wrong with Ava? She looks terrible.”

“Whoa there, buddy,” Heph said with his hands held out defensively. “You’ve seen Ava?”

“I’ve seen her and someone better tell me why the f*ck she looks like she’s on death’s door.” Carrick was opening and closing his fists, itching to hit something.

“Relax. She’s just tired. We’ve all been working non-stop since you’ve left and we have accomplished a lot. I’m sure you’ll be pleased.”

“If everyone has been working non-stop, why is Ava the only one that looks like shit then?” Carrick asked snidely.

“Because she insisted that only her blood be used in any of the spells. It’s taken a bit of a toll on her but nothing that a good meal and some sleep won’t get her back on track. In fact, I’ve ordered her to take tomorrow off so she can rest.”

“I doubt Ava has eaten since I’ve been gone by the look of her. And given her vast blood donation, her health could be in serious jeopardy.”

Heph blanched. “Is she really that bad? I have been so wrapped up in our work, I guess I didn’t notice.”

“Yes, she looks bad. Terrible in fact.” Carrick paced back and forth along the street. “Do me a favor, Heph. Go over and check on her. She’s made it clear she doesn’t want me around, but I’m seriously worried about the way she looked.”

“Sure thing. I’ll go over there right now.” Heph turned around and started off toward Ava’s house.

Carrick watched him walk away, knowing that at least for tonight someone would take care of Ava. He turned and moved on to Conclave Hall where the commanders of each army had gathered to strategize an attack on Ralina. He knew it would be a long night ahead but was eager to get their plans in place. He wanted this over. Now.

***

The next morning dawned way too early for Ava, but as soon as the pink rays started streaming in the windows, she knew it was time to get up. She vaguely remembered Heph showing up at her house after she had fallen asleep, wanting to know if she had eaten. When she grumbled at him that she had not, he had gone into the kitchen and fixed her a meal. Then he practically forced it down her throat to ensure she ate it. It was only after she threatened him with a blood pox that he finally left her alone and she dropped back on the bed to sleep.

She supposed she should be grateful to Heph for checking in on her. She really hadn’t had a decent meal since… well, since Carrick left. She could say it had to do with her long days of hard work, but truth was, she had lost her appetite.

Ava let Bing out and started making tea. While it was boiling, she spell cleansed herself and changed her clothes. Looking in the mirror, she still looked like shit. She was actually glad Heph ordered her away from work today because she really needed some down time. It wasn’t just the physical toll, but the emotional stress was wearing on her as well.

Ava heard the tea kettle whistle and a knock on the door at the same time. She stopped first and opened the door, pleased to see Quentin standing on the other side. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hand. A genuine smile lit her face and she bade him to come in.

“Come have some tea, Quentin.”

In the kitchen, Quentin handed her the flowers. “I figured you could use some cheer. I know how hard you’ve been working the last few days.”

“You’re so sweet.” Ava took the flowers from him. “I’ll just put them in some water.”

“That’s not the only cheering up I have planned,” Quentin continued.

“Oh, pray tell, dear cousin….what do you have planned?”

“A day of relaxation. You, me, a fishing stream and a lazy day of doing nothing but possibly catching a fish or two.”

Ava took in a deep breath and let it out. “That sounds like heaven to me. Count me in.”

After a shared breakfast of some oatmeal and tea, they headed out the door. Quentin had even packed them a basket lunch and promised her a day where she didn’t need to have a worry in the world. They quickly saddled their horses and headed out of Clairmont. Ava didn’t bother telling anyone where they were going. They were surrounded by thousands of soldiers, plus, she wanted to treasure her day off without guards or anyone else hovering.

Her one concession was that she let Bing come along. She knew he would probably scare off the fish, but she knew she really didn’t care if she caught any today. Relaxation was her goal. Quentin pouted a bit about Bing coming as he apparently wanted to catch some fish, but finally gave in when Ava pointed out the day being about her and not Quentin.

“You’re such a little twerp,” he had commented.

Quentin kept up a steady stream of chatter with Ava as they rode along. Within just a few minutes, he had her laughing over his silly jokes. After half an hour of riding, Ava looked around and realized she had no clue where they were. They were not within sight or sound of any of the troops. That should have caused her some concern, but the quiet was so peaceful that she didn’t want to taint it. Besides, she had Quentin and Bing to protect her, not to mention her new array of blood magic spells.

Finally, they came upon a small stream that sported a deep fishing hole on one side of large boulder that peeked out of the water.

“It’s perfect, Quentin.” Ava could feel her body unwinding as if by magic.

They both spent the rest of the morning fishing. Bing wasn’t as keen to get in the stream as Ava had thought he would be and contented himself to lay on a stretch of sunny bank.

After a few hours, Ava was pooped and wanted to take a break. Quentin suggested they eat lunch and Ava realized she was starved. See what happens when you spend five days donating your blood over and over?

Unpacking the basket, Quentin laid out a wonderful spread. There was crusty bread and cheeses, grapes, figs and some cold chicken. Quentin produced a bottle of honey wine and opened it with flourish. Filling two glasses, he handed one to Ava then held his up in a toast.

“To my beautiful cousin, Ava. The hope of Kestevayne.”

Ava snorted but raised her glass up to take a deep drink. Normally, honey wine was very light and sweet but this had a slightly bitter after-taste. While pondering the taste of the wine, she looked at Quentin and noticed that he was getting fuzzy. Had someone tampered with their wine?

The last thing Ava remembered was holding her hand out to Quentin and saying, “Don’t drink the wine… poisoned.” Ava then pitched sideways onto the blanket, unconscious.

“Yes, Ava…I know.”