16. Ameriden
Ameriden
There was always a chance that their gift would blow up in their faces. Ameriden had tried not to get his hopes up—but he had to admit it. Casi had been right about being direct with Tala, as she was incredibly dense for someone so fucking hot.
It did make Ameriden wonder what her upbringing had been like.
In college, physical appearance was always important—especially for those who lacked natural charisma.
It had been difficult for some students who were hoping their voices and melodies would be enough, but sadly the world didn’t run like that.
Attractive bards were more well renowned, and if a bard happened to be both attractive and charismatic?
Well, that’s how you ended up becoming Cashmere Fantasy.
She’s gorgeous and has no idea? Or is she someone who doesn’t think about that?
It would make sense if it was the latter. Their bodyguard had quickly established that she didn’t give a shit about anyone’s opinion of her. The way she had plopped into her seat, all lazy limbs with that bored stare—it had been hard not to be interested then.
Still, Ameriden could feel the bit of trepidation in his stomach as Casimine guided Tala to the coffee table.
She flopped onto one of the pillows, holding the breakfast basket close to her chest. Her eyes told them that she was suspicious of everything in the room, as if they had set up some kind of trap for her.
Not completely wrong, Ameriden thought as he sat opposite of Casimine. But I have no doubt she could kick our asses if she didn’t like something we did.
“Amer told me you have someone you’re worried about.” Casimine pointed toward Tala’s hip.
“I—that’s not your business,” Tala grumbled.
“Fair, but you are worried about them,” Ameriden pointed out. “You wouldn’t have freaked out so badly yesterday if you weren’t.”
“I didn’t—”
“You did.” Ameriden lifted a brow. “And don’t lie to a bard, Moon Maiden, we can always tell when you do.”
Tala might have been stubborn, but Ameriden could easily match her.
Once he set his mind to something, he wasn’t likely to back off.
It had gotten him into trouble in his youth, but it saved his life when he needed it.
Saved him from a destiny that he had wanted no part of, despite every ounce of expectation that had been crowned upon his head before he had been born.
“To show you our sincerity, I thought I’d offer you a gift,” Casimine gestured toward the bowl before either of them could continue arguing.
“You’re giving me a bowl?” Tala mocked.
She was practically pouting. Had Ameriden been too blunt?
He would have to revisit that observation later—preferably when she was laying between them.
He was starting to suspect that Tala might be a brat in bed, something that could be dangerous as Ameriden was quite addicted to teasing his partner.
“Casi wants to give you assurance that your friend’s alright,” he said instead.
That was enough to knock her out of her sulky mood as she stared at Casimine. He smiled, though a bit teasingly. If she wanted this token of affection, she would have to be a little more agreeable.
“You can do that?”
Ameriden had to give her some credit. Her tone betrayed none of the hope she was trying to hide. He shifted forward, clasping his hands on the coffee table as he waited for Casi to take the lead.
“I can. Scrying is an ability that comes more naturally to my family. I can locate your…friend if you wish.” Before Tala could agree, Casimine held up a hand.
“But, you have to be willing to tell me about them. I can’t scry on someone I’ve never met.
Objects can help, of course, but there has to be a connection built on top of that. ”
Not for the first time, Ameriden was happy he had never crossed Casimine in college.
While his face was perfectly handsome, his presence welcoming, his partner had a subtle devious side to him.
Casi hadn’t lied—Ameriden remembered briefly learning about scrying in college, a practice meant more for tracking lost ones but was rarely used as such.
The connection was what made scrying possible in the first place and what usually prevented nefarious uses of it.
But it’s the way he worded it. Calling this person her friend—he wants to know as badly as I do who this ‘Avie’ is to her.
Whoever this person was gave Tala pause, her hand reaching for the opal at her side.
Ameriden hadn’t thought much of it at first. A pretty gem that for all he knew could have been an adornment for the Dauntless Verity.
But now it represented something vastly different.
An unlucky object that could lead to nursing Casimine’s broken heart while ignoring his own.
“What do you need?” Tala exhaled, loud and frustrated. “What do you need to know?”
It took everything in Ameriden to keep him from pumping his fists into the air.
Getting her to agree was the hard part—at least when it came to her end of the experience.
Knowing how she would respond to the scry, that was what made him irritable.
Not at her, but at what Casi might discover.
It was one thing to know that Tala was entangled with another, but to know what this person looked like?
That feels worse.
“Well, a name to start,” Casimine replied as cradled the bowl in his hands. “Amer mentioned their name is Avie?”
“Avelina—her name is Avelina, but I know her as Avie.”
“Describe her to me.” Casimine tilted his head, looking practically lovesick as he stared at her. “Go ahead, paint a picture.”
“I—” Tala stammered, pushing one of her braids behind her back. “Avie’s human, we’re the same age—ah, twenty-six. That’s adult age in human years. She’s shorter than me—red hair, like strawberry quartz. Eyes like steel blue sapphires—”
“Do you associate everyone’s physical traits with gemstones, or is Avie just special?” Ameriden questioned.
“—that’s none of your business, you condescending piece of—”
“Fuck, you’re attractive when you’re being disgruntled—”
Casimine cleared his throat, “We can get back to your aggressive flirting after I scry, hmm?”
“I am not—”
“Only for you, Casi.” Ameriden pursed his lips in a kiss.
“Give me the opal, Tala.” Casi said.
There was resistance—not that Ameriden expected anything less, given her personality.
Her fingers fiddled with the fastener at her waist, slow and steady, but also purposefully delaying the inevitable.
Knowing about her missing Avie was too great of a temptation for her to ignore.
Even when Tala hesitated, hand still clutching the gem just above Casi’s outstretched palm, she somehow steeled herself and let it go.
“She has freckles—across her nose. She’s…buxom with the personality of a bunny.”
“Not a word, Amer,” Casimine warned as he held the stone in his outstretched hand above the bowl.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Amer grinned.
“Catch me if I pass out.”
“Always.”
Casimine closed his eyes.
“Wait, what?” Tala glanced between the pair.
The air had grown heavy with moisture as tiny beads of water began to form in the air.
As if attached to some invisible spider web, the droplets slid across the air, all gathering toward Casimine’s hand.
Ameriden had only seen him do this a handful of times before.
While a useful tool, Casimine didn’t like scrying.
Said it felt invasive when it wasn’t being used for it’s true purpose.
‘It was always meant to help us find our lost ones, not for spying. Not for control.’
“What’s going on?”
“Patience, sunshine.”
When the water nearly reached Casimine’s skin, it suddenly veered around it.
As if some invisible force was redirecting it into the bowl.
Once all the water had gathered in the bowl, the room went silent.
Tala’s anxiety—because that’s what it was, whether she admitted it or not—was palpable.
If Ameriden wasn’t so focused on Casimine’s face, he would have offered her his hand to ground her.
This part always sucks.
Connecting your mind to a space occupied by another wasn’t easy. It required a good portion of Casimine’s arcane abilities to even make the connection, and there was always a chance that the spell would fail.
Or worse.
Backfiring wasn’t just something that happened with crossbows and canons.
Magic had a funny way of coming back to bite arcane users in the ass.
It was why Ameriden’s parents had forbade him from practicing the arcane through scrolls.
Water hanfen already had natural talent for water based magic, but there was always a chance that it could bounce back.
A risk his rigid parents had refused to take.
The arcane is to be studied by those who have no inherent talents, Nav—
Casimine’s eyes slowly opened, the beautiful gray fading to a brilliant white.
It startled Tala, but for Ameriden it was a good sign.
It meant he had made the connection and his vision was where ever Tala’s possible lover was.
While his vision was no longer connected to his body, his other senses were still there.
“Good job, Casi,” Amer said.
“What is happening right now?” Tala asked, though her eyes were locked on Casimine.
“He’s reached his destination. He’s seeing your Avie.”
Her head whipped toward him so fast, he was surprised she hadn’t broken her neck.
“She’s not my Avie.”
But you want her to be.
The intrusive thought invaded before Ameriden could stop it. He could admit he didn’t know how far Tala’s connection with this woman went, but having easily fallen in love with someone dear to him, it wasn’t off the table either.
“She’s… someone’s Avie, that’s for sure,” Casimine murmured under his breath.
“Do you see her? Is she okay? Is she safe?”
Tala pushed the breakfast basket aside, shifting to her knees.
She looked desperately at Casimine, her hands restless at her sides.
Almost as if she wanted to grab Casimine by the shoulders and shake him until she got her answers.
So desperate in fact that she didn’t catch onto what his partner had said, but Ameriden had.
Wait—
“She doesn’t look injured,” Casimine said after a moment. “She appears to be in a room, but there are no windows—I can only see where she is, not beyond that.”
“That means she’s fine, right?” Tala had encroached so close to Casimine, Ameriden wondered if she would crawl into his lap. “What’s she doing?”
The water was boiling now, on the verge of spilling over. Whatever doubts Ameriden had about Tala’s relationship with Avie completely disappeared when he saw the tremor in Casimine’s free hand. It was subtle, but Ameriden knew what a spell looked like when it was on the verge of ending.
“She’s—”
“Casimine!”
Ameriden was already moving, catching Casimine just in time as he swayed backward.
He had broken the connection, the water in the bowl piping hot but stable.
Surprisingly, Tala had shot out at the same time Ameriden had, her hands supporting the hand that held her precious opal while the other supported Casimine’s upper arm.
“Casi, hey, hey,” Ameriden tapped his cheek. “Hey, baby, wake up.”
“I’m awake, just weak, you mother hen,” Casimine groggily replied.
“Thank the Water Mother,” Ameriden sighed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Do you need anything?”
“Crysine?” Casi joked.
“I am not getting you drugs right now, you beautiful dick,” Ameriden laughed.
His lover laughed in return, before he lazily turned his gray eyes to Tala. She looked—well, unnerved by the experience.
“She was in a room…” Casi paused, then with determination. “In a bed with someone else. Naked.”
Fuck.
“I—” Tala blinked rapidly, her mouth twisting. “What do you mean she was in bed with someone?”
Fuck.
Before Casimine could explain, Tala snatched the opal from his palm. She ran her thumb across the back, brought the stone to her mouth, and exploded.
“Did you really run away to GloomsDale to fuck someone?!” Tala snapped. “I’ve been worried sick about you for weeks and you’ve just been fucking some guy?!”
Ameriden and Casimine shared a look.
This wasn’t the response they had been hoping for.