Chapter 8 Seranni
The wind howled against the tower’s walls, a relentless shriek that seemed determined to drive every ounce of warmth from my bones. The winter chill was getting stronger.
I pulled my shawl tighter around my shoulders and shifted in my seat, casting an uneasy glance at the windows. Frost etched delicate, crystalline patterns across the glass, stark against the gloom of the winter night.
Kael hadn’t returned yet.
I’d waited as long as I could, watching the fire crackle and pop in the hearth while shadows danced across the stone walls. Eventually, my nerves had driven me upstairs, retreating to my room with a book in hand, though reading had proven impossible. My thoughts were too restless, flitting between Kael and the strange undercurrents of our days together.
The longer he avoided me, the more my curiosity grew.
What was he hiding? Why did he avoid me as though being near me was unbearable? Was it something I’d done? What had happened to the friendship we had only just formed? Why couldn’t he tell me what was wrong so I could fix it?
When I entered my room, the fire in the hearth was already lit, the flames casting a cozy glow over the space. My heart clenched at the sight. Kael must have come in while I wasn’t looking, ensuring I wouldn’t return to a cold, dark bedroom.
For all his distance, his kindness never waned. The thoughtful gesture made my heart squeeze.
Now, I sat with a book on my knee, reading in the light of the fire and trying to ignore the wind that whistled through the eaves and rattled the windows in their panes.
Wrapped in my thickest skirts and woolen blouse, I sat on the plush chair by the fire, my book open on my lap. The warm shawl around my shoulders was comforting, but not enough to banish the chill that had settled deep within me. I extended my hands to the flames, rubbing them briskly in hopes of driving some heat back into my fingers.
The tower’s stone walls were sturdy but unforgiving, and the winter cold seeped through every crack and crevice.
I’d always hated the winter here in Vilusia, how the cold got into my bones and chilled my fingers, no matter how much I wrapped up warm.
I imagined myself far from Vilusia, in a warmer place—a place like Strayhaven, in the Kingdom of Drakazov. I’d read about it in a pamphlet years ago, smuggled in from the Four Kingdoms. The village was a haven for the unwanted and the lost. If I could find my father, we could go there together, free of the village’s prying eyes and judgmental whispers.
A place where I could use my magic openly. Where I could heal others and earn an honest living without fear of being conscripted into the King’s army.
I could earn a living for myself and Father with my magic—sell my potions and my medicines to the other villagers for coin. And then Father wouldn’t have to travel for work. He could stay home. With me.
The thought filled me with longing, and I clutched the book tighter. Someday, I promised myself. Someday soon.
Hopefully Strayhaven would be warmer than Vilusia. I was glad I had been able to transport my winter clothes to the tower, now I was wearing my thickest skirts, and my woolen blouse under a shawl.
And Kael had left the tower, saying he was going for a walk .
How could he bear to go outside on such a night? It made no sense. Whenever our fingers had brushed or I had bumped his shoulder with mine, I had felt like his body ran much warmer than mine did, but did he truly not feel the cold like I did?
I shook my head. I had seen his eyes, and his claws…did that mean he was impervious to the cold, too?
What was he?
A gust of wind rattled the windows, making me jump. The book slid off my lap, and I picked it up with a sigh, blowing on my fingers before holding them out to the fire, hoping to drive some warmth back into them.
The firelight flickered, the shadows stretching across the room like grasping fingers. I exhaled sharply and shook my head. I was letting my imagination run away with me.
The flames danced cheerfully in the hearth, but the chill lingered. On impulse, I wondered if one of my newly learned spells—a potency spell—could help. Could magic make the fire burn hotter? It was worth a shot.
I bit my lip and leaned forward, extending a hand toward the flames. Whispering the incantation under my breath, I focused on the fire’s warmth, willing it to grow. At first, nothing happened. But then, almost imperceptibly, the flames flickered and leapt higher, the hearth glowing with newfound heat.
A delighted laugh bubbled out of me, and I clapped my hands together, forgetting for a moment the oppressive cold and the weight of unanswered questions. Magic wasn’t just useful—it was thrilling.
I hugged myself and did a little dance in my chair, giddy with success.
The sound of a throat clearing had my eyes flying open. I whirled around in my chair, looking for Kael, but the door remained closed. A low chuckle at my back had me spinning around.
I turned back to the fire—and gasped.
I gasped, my chair toppling as I scrambled away. Another low chuckle came from the face in the fire.
“Don’t be afraid,” the man said, his voice smooth as silk. “I won’t hurt you. I only wanted to check on my tower.”
I peeked over the top of the chair I’d hid behind. My tower. If he claimed ownership of this tower… “You’re the mage who used to live here?”
“Yes. You can call me Rindais.” The man smiled, in an easy, charming way that had no doubt endeared himself to whoever he spoke with. “I had to leave when the war came to an end, and I didn’t realize I had left my notes behind.” Rindais raised an eyebrow. “Do you think you could help me?”
I said nothing for a long while, just looking back at the man in the fire. Rindais looked young to be a mage, with a smooth, unlined face, but I could see fine crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. His white blonde hair fell about his face in long waves, but the most arresting feature of his face were his eyes, which were different colors, one brown and one green.
He must have been in his late thirties. And he seemed the type to be vain enough to place a glamor on himself to make himself look younger than he was. He was handsome, yes, but his eyes shone with power.
“Why can’t you just come back and get it yourself?”
It would be an immense help to me if he did, after all. I’d have someone around who could teach me more about my magic, who could help me hone my powers…
And of course, the mage could help Kael with whatever he was looking for, too…
Immediately, he frowned, shaking his head. “I can’t,” he said regretfully. “It’s not safe for me.”
“But aren’t you in Vilusia? Where are living you right now?” I asked, unable to stifle my curiosity.
His eyes went flat as soon as I asked, his smile dropping momentarily. I stepped back, chilled by his expression.
In the next moment, Rindais smiled again. “Oh, I’m busy on the King’s business. Too busy to come traipsing back to the tower just for a few notes.”
I noticed that he didn’t answer the question, but I nodded anyway.
Rindais looked at me shrewdly. “But why are you living in my tower? Aren’t you from the town nearby?”
I nodded, wondering how much I could tell him. If the King had trusted him, that meant he was part of the army. If I told him I was a mage, too, would he hand me over to the army? Would I end up shackled to them until the King had no more use for me?
I shuddered. No. I had to break free of Vilusia.
“I had nowhere else to go,” I said, making my voice wobble a little and turning my face down, rubbing at the corner of my eye as if wiping away tears. “I lost my home, and I was forced out of town. Because I have no money.” I buried my face in my hands, willing my eyes to squeeze out a fake tear or two. The sudden memory of my father walking away from the house we shared, even as I had begged him to stay, made the tears swim in my eyes, and I looked up, blinking rapidly.
The face in the fire clicked his tongue in sympathy, and shook his head. “Oh, you poor thing. Well, you can stay in the tower as long as you want. As the owner, I give you full permission.” Rindais leaned forward. “As long as you can send me my notes.”
Ah, now this was easier for me to understand. I realized that, like me, the mage was just pretending emotion, he didn’t care two bits about me or the tower. He had another goal in mind.
Looking up, I sniffled and quickly wiped my eyes. “Where are your notes? And how do I send them to you?”
Rindais smiled. “I’ll answer your second question first. Do you see this stone in the back of the fireplace?” He pointed over his shoulder, and I moved closer to look at the back of his fireplace. Through the flames, I could see a crimson red gem winking back at me, shining in the light.
“Yes,” I said dubiously.
“It connects me to the tower, no matter where I am. Whenever you want to talk to me, start a fire and send some of your magic at the gem. I’ll know you have my notes, and I’ll send someone to get them.”
“Send someone?” I frowned. “Who will you send?”
The mage smiled, in the same patronizing way that the guild master had looked at me when he had denied me a place on the healers’ guild. It made my blood boil, but I choked down my anger and kept my face bland.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” he said condescendingly. “As soon as you find the notes, send word.” He smiled. “And in return, the tower is yours.”
I smiled, as if his offer was truly generous. He smiled back.
“Are you living there all alone, child?” His curious eyes roamed around the room, stopping on the sliver of firelight he could see from under my bedroom door. I turned to look, just in time to see a shadow moved across the light, and my heart leaped in my throat. It seemed Kael had returned, and he had yet to douse the fire in the kitchen.
“Is there a dark haired man with you, perhaps?” I whirled to look at Rindais, who stared at me with his eyes narrowed. “I’m surprised he made it out of the dungeon.”
“Dungeon?” I gasped.
“Oh, I see Kael hasn’t been very forthcoming with you,” Rindais tutted, and my heart sank. I had hoped the mage was talking about someone else, because it couldn’t be Kael— it couldn’t —but now my hopes had been dashed.
“Of course Kael spent a long time in my dungeon,” Rindais said, his keen eyes observing my reactions, “Where else would I keep an enemy soldier?”
“Enemy—?”
I was unable to do more than parrot the mage’s words back to him, so great was my shock.
“He’s from Drakazov, child. Surely you didn’t think I would let such a dangerous man roam around freely, so close to your town?” Rindais sighed. “I never imagined he was still alive. I would never have left him there, so close to you and your town, if I had known.”
I nodded weakly, my mind whirling. Kael, an enemy soldier? Had I spent nearly a month in the company of a soldier from the Drakazov army?
“Hmm, this complicates things. Ordinarily, I would send my man to capture Kael…”—my heart seized at the thought, even as I told myself that he was an enemy—“but he cannot travel right now.” Rindais looked at me. “And you haven’t found my notes yet, have you?”
I shook my head numbly.
“Well then, I’ll be waiting to hear back from you. And remember, if you don’t find those notes, I’ll need to come back to the tower to look for them myself. And if I am back in residence at the tower, then the army will station some soldiers there—for my safety, you see.” He looked at me earnestly. “Then there’s no way you can keep living there, I’m afraid.” He sighed in mock sympathy. “But I don’t want that, of course. I’d like nothing more than for you to keep living in the tower. So, if you can help me, I can help you.”
I nodded, eager to finish the conversation. “I’ll send word as soon I find the notes.”
He smiled. “What I’m looking for is a big leather-bound notebook, as thick as four fingers.” He held up his hand, showing me the thickness of his book. “It is bound in brown leather, and held closed with a black strap. I expect it to be somewhere in my room.” He waved his hand around carelessly. “I can give you until the next full moon.” And then he was gone.
I slumped in my chair, my mind whirling. Kael, an enemy soldier?
But he had protected me, helped me…
And he had also hidden so much from me…
I had seen the claws, the glowing eyes—I knew there was something different about Kael. I knew he had been touched by magic.
And if a mage had been living here, and Kael had been his prisoner…
My mind whirled. Despite everything the mage had told me, my heart wanted to trust Kael. But my mind stubbornly refused to soften. He had lied to me. Kael had hidden who he truly was.
How could I trust him now?
But the mage—did I really trust him? Something about the man had seemed…off. My instincts warned me of something my intellect did not fully comprehend. The mage was dangerous, my intuition warned me.
The next full moon. That was five days’ time. Would it be enough for me to learn all the secrets of the tower? It would have to be.
Because I knew one thing for sure. I only had five days to decide decide whether I would betray Kael or protect him.