Book four, p.9
Book Four, page 9
“Is there something more interesting on their side?” Rulin whispered in my ear as I still watched Avieles. When I felt Rulin follow my gaze, Avieles shifted, but not fast enough for Rulin to be deceived.
I wanted to hide. But why? If he saw me looking at Tienne, I would be justified to hide, but why did I feel that way with Avieles? The man I hadn’t spoken to in months.
I turned to Rulin and saw him focused on Avieles. Was there a hint of jealousy in his eyes? Before hope had time to form, it was gone.
“Watch what you’re doing,” he warned, and I scoffed.
I rolled my eyes away from him and looked to Avieles again, but this time, I tried to find Tienne. It didn’t take me long. As if all the men felt a call to look at me, so did Tienne’s honey eyes.
With understanding, I gave him a barely noticeable nod. I will find a way.
“To everyone gathered here today,” Nicholai’s voice brought me out of my planning daze, “I hope this shows everyone that peace is possible. Even if it is for a day.” He raised a goblet, and I reached for mine, but Rulin’s hand clamped down on it. “I hope everyone here provides the same courtesy and we can spend the afternoon in good company.”
His people raised their goblets, but mine sat inches away from my fingers in Rulin’s grasp. After a moment, Rulin handed me my goblet and said, “The war is over. We can be friends. At least for a day.” He let go of my hand to raise it in time with him, a smirk playing on his lip.
Did he mean the war was over for one day?
Our people cheered in time with theirs, and so the celebrations began. The soft music of drums started, and even through the heat, people danced.
Valeri stood. “I hope this small token of my power can make the hot day better,” she said, waving her hand behind her. “I will use my spell to control the Dargon. Leaving the water empty for us to enjoy. I’ve swam my whole life, and after learning to control the demons, I am happy to announce I’ll be swimming in these magical waters, too.”
The gasps and echoes were enough to let the excitement of people be known without looking at them. But Rulin raised a hand again and looked past me to my sister. A fast glimpse to her belly and back to her face. I didn’t know if anyone else noticed, but I paid close attention to catch his eyes following what he craved.
“First you,” he waved a hand at the lake, “then my people.”
Valeri gave a lopsided smile and raised her dress. She walked beside her husband, who watched her with such loving eyes. A smile that couldn’t be described in all my novels. She stepped off the wooden pier now and entered the lake. I could see the relief on her face. Her flaming strands of hair stuck to her damp forehead. The heat affected her too. Even though she was magical. But her grace couldn’t even be compared to my humanity. Her eyes, her skin, everything glowed, and I was a lump of dirt. I hated the water even in Noor; this leech-infected lake would be no different.
Both kings delivered their speeches, and only one queen offered a gift. I had nothing to give; I only had something to take. I tried making an excuse while she got in and up to her waist, but I felt Rulin’s eyes on her and her belly as it disappeared beneath the water. He wouldn’t even care that I wasn’t here. That I didn’t like the water. I took a step back, and both kings followed a queen. Only when she swam did Rulin raise his hand and signaled for our people it was safe. I took slow steps backward. It gave me a chance to disappear. A devastating chance, but it was an opportunity I had to take.
A muscular wall stopped my getaway. I turned and the colorful eyes watched me as the kings watched the queen.
“Care to tell where you were going?” Avieles asked. “It’s a perfect day for a swim.”
“I hate the waters.”
“I know, but you never tried ours. I’ll keep you warm.”
A chuckle, a laugh, and a moan almost escaped at the same time.
“I’m warm enough.”
“Then try to cool off, or are you busy scheming with our sorcerer?”
How did he…
“Next time, lock the dungeon door.”
He saw us, he surely did. What did he know? What did Tienne tell him? I’m in so much trouble.
“Nothing to say now?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He couldn’t have seen me. He’d walked in when I was sure even Tienne couldn’t see me.
“Tienne told me everything. Are you sure you want to meddle with someone like him?”
He couldn’t have. We had a deal. No one must know. But if Avieles confronted him—if he overheard us.
“He isn’t like the rest of us,” Avieles said, but there was no fear in his eyes.
I shouldn’t question it.
I shouldn’t care. Tienne was here to help me, nothing else. I didn’t have to trust him. I didn’t have to know him. I’d stayed silent for too long. “I have to go.” Ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is bliss. Please don’t follow me.
“And where are you going?”
“I’m going to pee. Care to hold my hand.”
“If the queen requests, who am I to refuse?”
I gave him a look of utter disgust at which he only laughed. Thankfully, he stayed put while I found my way out of the crowd and off the wooden structure.
Back on the solid ground, I inhaled deeply and turned back. Hoping to find Tienne. Instead, I found Avieles still looking at me as all the others focused on the lake.
Everyone wished to get in. To freshen up from the horrid sun. Even my servant and the guards got lost in the wonder of water. I wondered. Did they know how to swim? Did they manage to protect some lakes or rivers for summer respite? The few that got in were walking around. Only my sister swam between them.
“Stay still.”
I startled, but Avieles’s eyes held me in place.
“Don’t turn around.”
“Tienne.” I didn’t move my lips, but on impulse, I mumbled his name. He found me.
“Meet me in the woods. Wipe your brow if you heard me.”
I did as I was told, but held onto Avieles’s gaze. He probably couldn’t see Tienne, and I was sure he wouldn’t follow me to the woods for privacy. So I waited a beat or two and turned with my chin held high. Something in his gaze made me succumb to his wishes, but I had grander plans.
The heat was unbearable; the air was almost nonexistent as I treaded through roots thicker than I ever saw in Noor. I swatted at every fly, mosquito, and bee that dared to use my flesh for refuge.
Woods surrounded the lake, and we didn’t settle on which part of it we were meeting at. I walked farther and farther, waiting for someone to stop me, but as I dodged the trees, I arrived at a clearing. Reminding me of our sparse forest in Noor. A few tree stumps and almost no fully grown trees. Except here the sounds were hard to pick out. From the rustle of the breeze over the leaves to the chirping of birds.
The heat increased at my back as if the sun’s rays broke through the branches to touch me.
“You managed to escape,” Tienne said, and when I turned in his direction, I saw him for the first time without his brown cloak. Bathed in the specks of sunlight that shone through. I didn’t expect him in a white shirt tucked into brown pants. I didn’t expect him to be taller somehow. For a moment, I wondered if he was the man from the dungeon. The teacher. The sorcerer. He stood farther away from me than in our dungeon meetings, and I wanted to get closer.
Go closer.
The questionable part of my mind flared up, but I needed to be closer to test the difference. Could I feel his breath or his warmth? So many encounters and I didn’t realize the difference between magic and reality. Now I wanted to try it. To try and reach out, even though I never did before. I never saw him in reality and as if I just realized it.
Dressed as a normal person raised doubts or questions even I couldn’t decipher.
“Are you alright?” he asked, and only then did I raise my eyes to meet his. Amber locks shielded the scarred part of his face, and the amber eyes that shimmered stole my attention. He mimicked what I did and looked at me from top to bottom. I shouldn’t have done it and now I saw why. I wanted to adjust every single detail on the dress I chose for the celebration. White as the daffodils and flowing as the tall grass in the wind. I wanted to stand straighter, taller, and more elegant. But there was no time; he’d already locked me in a stare.
“Y-yes,” I stammered. Being alone with him in person changed everything. In my spells, he was never real. It all seemed like a dream, and maybe I thought myself braver than I truly was. Why was I panicking when I’d been preparing for this moment? I wasn’t prepared for him.
He drew out a knife, no, a dagger from the back of his pants, and I took a step backward. I’m alone in the woods with a man I didn’t truly know. My breath increased, and I eyed his weapon. What would happen now?
“I thought I would have to create distractions to get you alone,” Tienne said.
“You weren’t worried we wouldn’t be able to do this?”
“Why would I be? Trust me, I would get you alone.”
These words, said with such certainty, made me excited and fearful for the first time in a while. Adrenalin coursed through me. But for what? To run? To fight? To—
“I need your blood.” He took a step toward me.
I felt the pull. Not to run, but to take a step toward him. And I did. I now remembered fully why I was here. To find a way to gain my magic or to help my humanity deal with magic.
“Did you stop taking the mixture?” That small movement revealed his heat. Almost like a flame. It wasn’t just the sun beaming through the trees, but an open flame like I burned my papers in. Would it burn me if he got closer?
“Yes, and ever since, I feel better.” The draft was gone now, only a remnant of the voice remained.
“It won’t last long. Trust me. Those potions maybe made you feel sick and you have a burst of energy, but with time you’ll feel true deterioration of the magical air.”
“Could the mixtures induce hallucinations?”
He took the dagger out of its leather sheath as he walked closer to me. “Did you see anything out of the ordinary?” The sharp edges met at the top, awaiting my blood.
“I was cold.” He looked at me like I was joking. I know that being cold meant I was sick, but it was different. “Always. And in summer.” I didn’t want to mention hearing voices. I didn’t want to risk him backing out of our deal.
“It could be an effect of the potion.” He opened his palm to me. “Soon, we’ll know what to do, and you won’t feel sick ever again.”
I raised my palm to his and rested it in his hand. His flesh. The flame I expected dispersed. I could feel him for the first time, and it was as if I could feel his blood rushing and warming me. A flame licking at the back of my hand. For a strange reason, I was glad he was alive and not a part of my imagination. I didn’t even realize when I doubted myself that he wasn’t real, but now feeling him confirmed all the hidden doubts.
Instead of squeezing his hand like I wanted to, I opted to turn my palm facing up. I knew what he wanted to do without even discussing it. He pressed the tip to my palm, and I watched him. His face. How focused he stayed on such an effortless task. To cut me and take my blood. And yet he focused with such ferocity it felt like a spell in itself—a sacred practice. He took a breath, and with an exhale, he pressed harder to draw blood. I inhaled the moment he did too and prepared myself for the pain, but the pain never came.
I stumbled at the spot as Tienne’s heat left me. A rush of motion and my hand hovered midair while I regained my focus.
Avieles had Tienne pinned to the ground.
I found my balance with a gasp. What?
“I knew you were planning something?” Avieles had grabbed Tienne by his shirt and pushed him to the earth.
Tienne still clung to the dagger, and with his free hand, he pushed Avieles off of himself. They both laid on their backs, preparing themselves for another attack. I saw a thousand possible outcomes, and I watched all the details to determine the damage that could be done in the short while it took them to catch a breath.
He didn’t use the dagger to defend himself, and the way he angled it downward made my heart steady for a moment. Tienne wouldn’t harm Avieles. Why did I even care? I couldn’t tell, but it wouldn’t be good to involve more bloodshed today.
“What are you doing?” I raged at Avieles. “Who do you think you are?”
He left me without an answer. Instead, Tienne kept one hand on Avieles’s chest as they both sat up. “Don’t meddle in something you could never comprehend. This is above your skill.”
“All I know is you were about to harm the enemy’s queen. There is nothing more I need to know. There is nothing my current skills couldn’t understand,” Avieles said. “You don’t mind the risk, do you? Nothing ties you to the future bloodshed this could cause.”
I stood rooted to my spot. “Will you stop behaving like an animal? I don’t need you to save me.”
Those words evoked a reaction finally. Avieles turned toward me and looked at me from the bottom up. Only when he settled on my face did he say, “I’m not saving you. I’m stopping this reckless nobody from starting a war. Whatever you two are doing is the least of my worries. I don’t care about him or you,” he spat the last words with more vigor than necessary. “I only care that you don’t go back to Rulin with an unexplainable scar.”
Damn him… He was partly right.
“He’s right,” Tienne said, looking at me from the ground, and Avieles smirked victoriously. He gave him one more shove on the ground and stood with the dagger in his hands. He seemed protective of it. Not like he was going to attack him or me, but as if he tried to hide it from a child. Hiding the blade with his forearm and turning it away from me.
“Now, care to tell me what you were planning to do?” Avieles said as he stood too.
“No,” I said and crossed my arms.
He looked at me and then at Tienne, who wiped his shirt from the dirt.
“He won’t tell you either,” I added. “You don’t care.”
Avieles rolled his eyes as Tienne stood. “I don’t. But now I’m as much a part of this as you two. And I don’t believe if I leave you alone that you wouldn’t do anything reckless again.”
I squeezed my arms in fury, even though he couldn’t tell. Tienne looked at me as if only my decision mattered. It made it harder. Would I swallow my pride? Would I try to convince him to let me do this? Or would I arrange another impossible meeting with Tienne? I exhaled fury out and calm in.
“He needs my blood. For a spell.”
Avieles raised one brow and crossed his hands to mimic mine. “There is no other part of your body he can draw blood from?”
What?
“What?” Tienne asked him.
“Why did you have to cut her palm? So that everyone could see. Even if you disguise it as a cut from a fall or a branch, it would be too suspicious to happen here of all days.”
I hated that he was right, but I felt even more confused about him giving us solutions—joining our plan—without questioning why we were even doing this.
“Rulin would know,” Tienne said, looking at the ground. “Anywhere I cut, he would know.”
“He wouldn’t,” I said without thinking.
Tienne looked at me confused and Avieles had that smartass smirk on his face again. Now I had to explain myself. Or did I?
“He wouldn’t know.” I released my arms from my furious hold and lifted my skirt. “Not here.” I couldn’t look at them anymore. My arms could be seen because of the heat, my stomach was too covered to reach now. This was above all I have ever shown a man in daylight.
I lifted my skirt all the way above my thigh. Silence. No one moved to cut me, and I had no courage to look at them. After a moment of silence, I said, “Well,” and lifted my gaze to find both of them slack-jawed. For people who were used to nudity, they surely felt the same as I did.
No smirk or remarks at my strange marriage materialized from the men. No question about Rulin not seeing the wound there. I couldn’t tell if it was the respect they had for a queen or pity. Maybe it was both, and maybe they recognized it wasn’t a time to make light of it.
Avieles swallowed and took a step forward. But Tienne cut his path with the knife in his hand. “We’ll be quicker this way,” he said as Avieles didn’t object. Instead, he took a vial from Tienne’s hands and opened it. I didn’t even notice where the vial came from.
Before I had a moment’s thought, Tienne kneeled at my feet. His amber eyes looked at me from the ground and warmth spread through me. The look in his eyes wasn’t the one of a man helping me. It resembled the respect only a queen would receive from a man kneeling before her. For the first time since I took my vows, I felt like a queen. I caught my breath when his eyes lowered to my leg as he grasped it with one hand, and, with the other, he sliced my inner thigh.
Pain shot through my leg to my toes and back upwards. I jerked in his hand, and Avieles grabbed my other leg and pressed the cold glass vial under the cut. I felt their warm hands, the open wound, and the glass all at the same time. But I saw none of it. Instead, I focused on my breathing. I watched the trees and the birds flying from branch to branch. I tried to distract my mind from thoughts that crept in. I committed the moment, all of it, to memory.
A warm cloth swiped over the wound, and I hissed. I pressed my hand over Aviles’s and took over the cloth, pressing it harder, chasing the familiar energy the pain brought. They both stepped away. Tienne now closed the vial, and Avieles wiped the dagger on the ground with another piece of cloth. They exchanged places. After all, Tienne needed my blood.
It was as if a lifetime had passed. From birth to death, without a single word uttered. Avieles looked at me knowingly, sharing the same thought, and after shaking his head, he turned and left. I inhaled deeply, focusing on the summer forest berries to ground me. Breaking the drunken haze I immersed myself in moments before.
