Chapter 5 #2
The immediate aftermath of the flood was chaos, but in spite of the seriousness of the situation, Elowen knew they couldn’t stay to help the recovery effort. She was unsurprised when Patrick gave the order to his guards to prepare to return to Toledda.
“I feel bad to leave them in this state,” Elowen said.
He gave her a look that made her wince internally.
“As do I. And if you weren’t present, Elowen, I would likely be able to stay and assist. But I need to see you safely back to the capital as soon as possible.
I haven’t forgotten that your betrothal celebrations start in the morning, even if you have. ”
“Believe me, I haven’t,” she said, her own voice a little crisp.
“If we’re returning, we should leave promptly.” Bertrand inserted himself into the conversation, as usual.
“You’re coming back with us?” Elowen demanded, momentarily forgetting in her surprise that she’d decided to ignore him.
Her eyes passed from him to his father, who was deep in conversation with a small knot of men from the hamlet.
“But this is part of your father’s lands.
I thought for certain you would be needed here. ”
“You would think so, but my father has insisted that Sophia and I return to the capital,” he said.
His voice was curt, in the way she usually heard him direct toward his sister. Seeming to remember to whom he was speaking, he took a breath. When he spoke again, it was with a return of his usual, unwelcome attempt at charm.
“Not even such dire circumstances as this would keep me from your betrothal celebrations, Princess.” His eyes flicked toward Theo, his expression disdainful. “Some of us are willing to give due priority to you, rather than to every man and beast that crosses our path.”
The prince, who had dismounted and was standing nearby in conversation with his guard, gave no sign of having heard him. But Elowen had already learned to recognize that it was not a reliable indication. Theo was very capable of keeping his reaction to rudeness inside.
Losing patience with the viscount, Elowen walked Ochre away from him.
Maybe she should have more sympathy for him, given how closely he was connected with the crisis, but it was hard to find any.
Her movements were jerky as she ran a hand over Ochre’s neck, but she stilled when Theo appeared at her knee.
“Bertrand is wrong,” she said abruptly, not waiting for him to speak. “I’m grateful to you for saving my horse as well as me.”
Theo gave a tight nod. “Horses don’t deserve to die for humans’ stupidity.”
She flushed. “You’re right. It was stupid of me to end up in the path of danger for the second time in—”
“No.” The word came out so harshly, Elowen instinctively recoiled. Theo seemed to see it, because he tried to soften his tone. “You misunderstand,” he said, still more gruff than gentle. “It’s not your stupidity I was referring to. The incident wasn’t your fault at all.”
She still couldn’t quite meet his eyes, fiddling with the horn of Ochre’s saddle.
“That’s generous of you, after my shameful inability to control my own horse.
I don’t understand what made her bolt like that, but I’m disappointed in myself.
” She dared to sneak a look at him. “A feeling we all have to deal with, I suppose.”
Something sparked in his eyes at her words, and a frown creased his brow.
“Elowen, you said something before about princes and disappointment. I hope you didn’t misunderstand me to be saying I was disappointed with my current situation.”
“Disappointed with your current situation? That’s not very chivalrous, Your Highness.”
Bertrand’s voice carried gratingly across the group as he pulled his horse alongside Elowen’s. She could have screamed at him. Why wouldn’t he just go away?
Theo also seemed to have reached a limit with the impertinent viscount, his voice once again icy.
“I believe this conversation is private.”
“Then let me speak more privately.” Bertrand, looming over the foreign prince from his mounted position, dropped his own voice.
“If anyone has cause to be disappointed, it’s Princess Elowen.
Those of us who know her realize how far you are from what she needs.
” He sent a pitying look at Elowen. “Not quite a mysterious stranger with a broken heart only you can mend, or a romantic adventurer who writes odes to your sparkling eyes, is he? I don’t recall dull and stern being on your list of desirable virtues in a man. ”
Elowen’s breath caught in her throat, heat rushing all the way up her face.
She was horrified not just because of Bertrand’s open hostility, but because she recognized his words.
Foolish as they sounded, those were true examples of girlish daydreams she’d entertained—giggled over and built imaginary lives around, in her younger years.
She’d certainly never mentioned anything of that nature to Bertrand, of course.
But she and Sophia had whispered about such dreams. The sense of betrayal by her friend cut deepest of all.
Perhaps not, actually. Theo’s expression cut even deeper, his lip curling in an expression that was undeniably derisive. He had the good manners not to say his thoughts aloud, however, contenting himself with a curt retort to Bertrand.
“Imagine my distress to learn that I don’t live up to your expectations, Lord Bertrand.”
With the words, he turned away, leaving Elowen more miserable and mortified than she’d ever been in her life.
“Princess,” Bertrand started, no hint of apology in his indulgent tone.
“Do not speak to me,” Elowen said, barely able to look at him. “How dare you? I have nothing to say to you.”
Furiously, she pulled on Ochre’s reins, plunging blindly toward the road after the first few members of the party, who’d already departed.
The ride home was a nightmare. For once, Bertrand took the hint and stayed away, and she rode alone.
She avoided Theo out of mortification, Patrick out of habit, and Sophia out of hurt.
And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from watching Theo, noticing every change in his posture, and imagining each one to be fueled by scornful thoughts about her foolishness.
Her observation of him was the only reason she noted the mill when they passed it again.
She was momentarily distracted from her misery by the intent way Theo studied the structure.
Following his gaze, she realized why it had caught his attention.
The river must not have been connected to the dam, because it continued to flow unchanged, and the wooden wheel still turned.
But the man on duty beside it was no longer in a posture of strained focus as if manipulating magic.
In fact, both of the men they’d previously seen were standing by the river, looking lost and confused as they examined the structure and peered into the water.
Elowen didn’t know the details, but she wasn’t blind. Something wasn’t right with the magic, just as Simeon had said near the watchtower the day before. Just as the head of the Craftsmen’s Guild had said to her father.
Her memory felt its way uncertainly back over the chaos of the flood.
She’d been too distracted by Ochre’s panic to recognize it in the moment, but she realized in retrospect that something had been conspicuously missing.
She’d told the truth when she said to Theo that learning to sense magic had never been part of her approved education.
But she’d had other education that her family knew nothing about.
She was by no means an expert, but she had enough awareness to be able to recognize the presence of Dust when it was released by significant movement.
The dam’s collapse had been the biggest source of movement she’d ever witnessed. And she couldn’t find in her memory any rush of magic, any notable movement of Dust through the environment.
Something was definitely wrong.
She felt a thrill of fear as another layer of discomfort was added to the turmoil of her mind. Whatever it was, she had a feeling it was only going to get worse.