Chapter Eighteen #2
It was the feeling of finding steady ground; of grounding one another.
Adeline knew the word for it; she had for some time now.
She wanted to say it, out loud—daughters damn her, she wanted to scream it, so badly that the impulse dizzied her.
Yet another reason, then, to be relieved for the circle of Kai’s arms around her.
She held him tighter, for a split second longer.
And if he noticed her quiet struggle when he pulled away, he didn’t remark on it; just tugged on her braid where it lay over her shoulder.
“You came prepared, I see.”
Adeline could only smile. After the last afternoon they’d spent in the humidity of the forest, the wet heat had forced itself between the strands of her curls and left her with a fluffy mess that had taken all night to tame.
“I wasn’t a fan of the dandelion mane,” she said wryly.
Kai just laughed and kissed her forehead. “I happen to think you make a very sweet dandelion.”
Adeline cupped his face and fixed him with a deep, serious frown.
“Only because you’re smitten with me,” she told him.
“Am I?”
Kai leaned down until their noses brushed with each grave nod of her head.
“Oh yes, I’m afraid so.”
She felt the curve of his smile as he kissed her, and the sweet, fluttering warmth in her chest was a cherished old friend. The warmth dispersed all too quickly, though, chased off by the sound of a dramatic dry heave as Ceriwyn walked by, barely glancing up from her book as she crossed the dock.
Kai closed his eyes wearily, and Adeline felt her lips roll in with a suppressed smile.
“At least she’s not ignoring you anymore.”
“I am not convinced this is better,” he said—but she caught the glance he threw over his shoulder as they left the docks and made their way uphill toward the forest.
???
They passed the afternoon as they had so many others, stopping in their favourite shaded clearing, settling cross-legged on a blanket of moss to share a lunch from the small pack that Adeline had collected from the kitchens.
She’d brought several of the same sweet figs from that morning, and when Kai bit into a particularly ripe one, and Adeline leaned over to lick the sweet trail of juice that spilt over his chin, they lost long, careless minutes to giddy kisses in the grass.
At the height of the day’s heat, they moved on toward the waterfall that split a small stream as it ran down the mountainside.
Kai pulled off his shirt and waded into the water to cool down, granting Adeline some space to experiment with her Wielding.
She sat on the banks with the pendant around her neck, her fingers pressed into the earth to raise flower after flower from the soil.
It was a rush she could put no words to, although she’d yet to Wield quite as much power as she had that first night; Kai had his theories as to why, and though she’d rolled her eyes at his suggestive grin, she rather thought he was right.
The problem was, this was not just about discovering an untapped power, not for Adeline.
She’d drawn a line in the snow when she sent that letter home to her father.
Soon enough, Mareda and Edward would know that she had not been so easily chased away.
They’d know that she’d learned of Selma’s wishes, and that she had every intention of claiming her mother’s throne.
And a budding, long-dormant magic, unseen since before the Thaw?
That was another weapon in her arsenal, and one that only she could wield.
So as fun as proving Kai’s theories had been, Adeline was determined to learn how to call that power within herself.
It was something different without the emotional kindling of Kai’s touch and his tender words; something smaller and frailer, but cherished all the same.
The burst of each bud echoed in a small tug beneath her heart, as though the seedlings were drawn from the warm depths of her chest. As though life itself moved through her blood, charged and fizzing with joy.
Each flower was prettier than the last; sturdier and more vibrant, too.
She was getting rather good at this. Perhaps not reclaim a kingdom good, but it wasn’t as though she’d ever intended to storm in there and bind her sister in trappings of vines and blooms.
There was an intriguing idea, though. Her gaze roamed and locked on Kai, where he floated on his back, looking up at the swaying leaves and the glimpses of blue sky.
“All things equal,” she called out. “No pendants, just natural, old-fashioned Wielding, as it was back in your day—”
Kai raised his head from the water to cock a brow at her.
“Back in my day? This feels like familiar territory.”
Adeline rolled her eyes, lips pursed against the tug of a grin. “Yes, yes, I know. You’re the very picture of youth, Your Majesty, barely a day over six hundred. What I mean is, if magic existed as it once did—who do you think would win? You know, if it came down to it?”
“If it came down to what?”
“You and I,” Adeline clarified. She tucked a fresh bloom into the end of her plait and flashed him a doe-eyed smile. “In a battle of Wielding.”
Kai did not hesitate. “I would.”
She clucked her tongue. “So cocky.”
“I’m not the one starting hypothetical fights.”
“You’re certainly not the one ending them,” she said sweetly.
With a huff of laughter, Kai rolled onto his front and swam slowly back to the water’s edge, parting the surface with long strokes of his strong arms. He waded close enough to rest his elbows on the bank and peered up at her beneath the damp waves of his hair, droplets beading like little jewels on his face, his throat, his shoulders.
She fixed him with a glare.
“Stop that.”
Kai only blinked up at her, eyes widening to flash the green in their hazel. She was certain he meant to remind her how prettily they matched the leafy canopy above their heads.
“Stop what?” he said innocently.
“Trying to distract me from our hypothetical fight.”
Kai leaned his weight into his hands, dragging himself halfway out of the water until they were face to face, his lips a breath from her own and his eyes wickedly bright.
Adeline tried not to notice the cording in his biceps as he held himself up; she failed miserably.
Stupid, beautiful arms. His grin sharpened at her audible swallow, and when he spoke, his voice was low and smooth.
“It wouldn’t be much of a fight, Princess.”
And whatever retort she might have managed was crushed between them when he leaned in and caught her mouth against his own.
If he hadn’t been distracting before, he certainly was now—distracting and silencing.
He kissed her so thoroughly she forgot how to breathe.
Kai shifted to one arm so he could cup the nape of her neck in his hand, spreading his fingers in her hair; tilting her head, tracing her jaw, tongue parting her lips.
A thrill of sensation cascaded down her spine, warm and heady enough that for a moment she didn’t even register his hand at her throat.
Did not miss the weight of the pendant, either—not until the wave of cold spring water was already crashing over her head.
Adeline broke their kiss with a scream, clutching tight to Kai by instinct, and then immediately breaking their embrace with an almighty shove.
His laughter burbled on the surface as he disappeared beneath the water, but he emerged still chuckling, sweeping his wet hair out of his eyes.
He had the audacity to look absolutely devastating, standing upright in the waist-high shallows with shimmering beads collecting in the hollows of his chest and the lines of his abdomen.
The pendant in his hand caught the light as he held it up, glinting green in time with his wink.
Adeline gave a low, shivering growl as she pushed to her knees and yanked her wet dress over her head.
“Oh, you have no idea what you’ve started, Your Majesty.”
Kai didn’t look particularly worried as she slid into the water in her underthings.
Quite the opposite, in fact. He remained where he was, toying idly with the chain of the pendant and casting a glance at her beneath his brows as she fought to wade closer.
All at once, the pressure of the water shifted, parting like nothing more than air when a forceful wave took her by the hips and dragged her across the short distance.
She landed, squealing, against Kai’s chest, and when she recovered enough to make a swipe for the pendant, he immediately raised it above his head and out of her reach.
He smirked. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
Adeline attempted another scowl, but the effect was quite ruined by the giddy laughter that bubbled out of her.
She rose on her toes, straining for the pendant once more, but succeeding only in bringing herself face to face with her tormentor, where it was all too easy for him to catch her in another kiss.
She didn’t pull away; didn’t even consider it at first, and when her competitive streak did tug at her attention, she ignored it a moment longer.
She could let the kiss unwind.
Let herself sink into him, hands spread across his bare chest. Let loose a needy little mewl against his lips that had him groaning and kissing her deeper, his hand lowering to grasp at the back of her waist and crush her body against his.
She felt the cold bite of the pendant on her skin, and a thrill of triumph rang through her, chasing the spill of heat that Kai’s touch sent down her spine.
Victory was just within her reach, and the eager edge to her kiss only worked in her favour, drawing Kai further and further from his own wits.