Eleven
I rested for a full day, yet every minute felt like punishment.
Anxiety had crawled beneath my skin with the restlessness of an ant mill, perpetually spiraling with no end in sight.
Hundreds of tiny legs scratched at my insides, and the feeling only worsened as time crept on.
The only way out of an ant mill was death.
But that wouldn’t be my fate, not yet. I itched to get back to training, to harness the magic I’d unearthed with Rorik.
Even now, it was coiled painfully tight in my core, just waiting to be summoned, and I wanted to see what it could do.
I wanted to see what I could do.
I wanted to see if I could summon my threads and coat them in Ever magic like I’d done all those months ago.
I wanted to chase away the chill in my bones and wrest control from Death’s grasp.
And maybe I was arrogant—likely Rorik’s fault, with his asinine emotions mingling with mine down our heartbond—but I felt like I could save myself.
Maybe I could find a way to help the Ferngloves stop their blight from spreading, too. I just had to find out where to start.
The next morning, I practically dragged Rorik from his study to the pristine lawns outside.
Soft light bathed the earth in an ethereal glow, and dew glinted like minuscule diamonds across the blades of grass.
The rolling fields appeared to be studded with gems, and only a few birds had risen from their nests to greet the sun with tentative, lilting calls.
Crisp air ruffled the loose braid across my shoulder, and gooseflesh rippled up my neck.
Rorik watched me closely, without an ounce of emotion in his hardened facade.
“I was hoping you’d sleep in,” he drawled.
“I’ve done enough resting.” I shifted my weight and settled into one hip, delivering Rorik what I hoped was a look of disdain.
The anxiety creeping through my veins had fizzled out at the prospect of training, of mastering my power.
And, despite my lack of sleep, there was only the barest murmur of a headache simmering behind my eyes.
“I see.” His gaze flickered over me, and he paused when he met my eyes. His next words were softer. “Long night? Any more aches? Pains?”
“Outside of the one you’re giving me right now with this line of questioning? No.” I scowled at him, knowing full well he’d use any whisper of an ailment to postpone our work. “Training is exactly what I need to be doing to prevent all of that from happening, by the way.”
“So says you and Seville, but neither of you have any proof.” Rorik lifted a shoulder. “Using my magic could just as easily drain you instead of bolster you.”
“Then we go until I’m tired.”
Rorik frowned. “It’s just after dawn. The attendants haven’t even started breakfast yet. Why don’t we wait to eat first?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Edira—”
“Don’t.” I glared at him. “I don’t expect you to understand, but I need to do something. Anything.”
His eyes narrowed as he shook his head. “I understand more than you know about wanting control.”
At that, the indignation brewing within me was effectively doused.
Of course he knew about facing an impossible fate.
Orin’s evervow had been no more escapable than death.
Until I came along, anyway. My chest loosened, and I tipped my head to the sky to let out a long, calming exhale.
When I rounded my gaze back on him, some of the tension in his frame had dissipated.
“Seems like we could both use an outlet of sorts this morning,” I said. It was an apology without actually apologizing, and Rorik merely rolled his eyes.
“The only thing I need is a day free of the stress and anxiety that follow you around like flies,” he said as the hint of a smirk teased his lips.
“Ever think you might be the source of your own problems instead of me?”
“Maybe save the character analysis for after a day’s worth of meals and several glasses of alcohol.” He reached out with one finger and lifted my chin toward his face. “But you might be right. It feels like we could both benefit from something.”
I balked and batted his hand away. “That’s not the kind of activity I had in mind.”
“Isn’t it, though?” He pointedly dropped his gaze to my chest, pinpointing my traitorous, cantering heartbeat.
Heat bloomed across my cheeks, and I shoved him. He didn’t move. “You are so infuriating.”
“You’re one to talk.” He flexed his hands. Then he stretched his arms toward the sky. “Let’s go for a run.”
“Run?” I blinked. “Haven’t I done that enough?”
“Well, you won’t agree to any other blood-pumping activity, so . . .” He trailed off. “I want you to run, Edira. But this time, I’m going to alter the earth to create obstacles for you to either dodge or take control of on your own.”
“So, you’re intentionally going to try and trip me,” I growled.
“Yes.” He smiled. “You don’t have to play along, of course.
But this is the only magic you’ll get out of me today.
” He pulled my hands up in his, and his fingers lazily touched both of my palms. Calm.
Intentional. Both a threat and a tease. “Feel the magic down our bond. You should be able to tell when I summon it. You can either grip it and shift its purpose, or choose to simply avoid it.” He circled me slowly, coming to a stop behind me and pressing the palm of his hand to my lower back. “Now, go.”
His words released me, and the excitement that had been mounting in my muscles suddenly exploded.
I tore off through the courtyard, my booted feet thudding loudly against the pavers until I hit the rolling lawns.
Dew showered the air like glittering fragments of light.
My heartbeat roared in my ears, and that feeling of anxiety completely died.
A wide smile took over my face, and I savored the burn of my breath.
I didn’t know if it was Rorik’s emotion or mine, but I felt alive.
Like I’d been holding my breath for hours and suddenly my airways were clearer than they’d ever been.
Like this was my purpose. This was the way to my future free of death.
A carefree laugh bubbled up from somewhere deep in me, and while a quick glance over my shoulder revealed that Rorik had already disappeared—tore off in his own direction to likely watch and judge with a smirk of his own—I swore I heard his answering chuckle.
His magic crested in my chest first. It was a sudden swell of static, like the tension in the air before lightning strikes, and then I felt the ground rumble.
Reverberations shot up my legs and threatened to send me sideways, but I kept my balance as I launched into the forest. I took the winding path we’d ventured down before, and trees clambered around me as their branches, thick with leaves despite autumn’s wishes, blanketed out the sun.
Mist curled along roots, and moss climbed over every rock and strip of bark, but I wasn’t scared.
Not like before. Something about the woods felt familiar now, like Rorik’s magic made me one with the earth.
I felt every ounce of magic he summoned deep in my bones.
At first, he started small, sending a few stray rocks tumbling down the path or causing branches to snap abnormally toward my face.
I dodged without thinking, anticipating their movements by the flux of his power within me.
Then came the vines shooting through the forest like snakes.
They flung toward my ankles, trying to snare me as I ran.
You won’t be able to dodge those. Rorik’s voice sounded in my mind.
I couldn’t see him in the dense woods, but rapidly growing plants nipped at my heels.
As I rounded a bend on the path, the trail gave out to nothing but unmarked forest floor.
I tripped over a boulder and scraped my hands along the rough stone, barely rolling out of the way as the vines shot into the woods.
If Rorik had wanted, he could’ve commanded them to drag me kicking and screaming to his feet right then and there.
But they simply went limp against beds of pine needles and fallen leaves.
Try controlling it. Even in my mind his words were a whisper.
Pushing myself to my feet, I scoured the woods.
My ears strained in the silence, my heart hammered in my throat, and my hands stung with the sticky warmth of blood.
Still, I smiled. I breathed. I searched for my heartbond with Rorik and relished the comfort of its magic.
I was still reaching for it with my mind when Rorik struck, and time slowed.
Before, I’d merely felt his magic snap through me, but this time, I kept my focus on our bond.
I needed to understand how it manifested so I could do the same.
It was nothing more than a ripple down our current.
A single teardrop in the golden stream that barely echoed through its surface, but I saw it.
So when a monstrous root tore through the earth at my feet, I already knew it was coming.
I thrust my hand forward at the same time I called to Rorik’s magic in my mind, and it rushed through my blood like I’d torn down a dam.
It flooded to my fingertips, and I flicked my wrist to the side, bidding the wayward root to do the same.
And it did.
With a shuddering groan, it gave in to my command and went flying into a tree trunk with a heavy thud. Elation and shock hit me with the same force, and I squealed as his magic—our magic now—filled me to the brim.
And then something smooth wrapped around my right ankle and gave a definitive yank. Before I knew it, I was flat on my ass, and Rorik was standing beside me, laughing as a dark vine rubbed along his calves like a proud cat.
“You celebrated too early,” he said, devilish smirk on display.