Chapter 24 #2
He handed the reins to one of his warriors and motioned for Adira to walk beside him before following Merek.
Thorskaill looked different from any village Dravic had ever visited.
Not simply because of the strange lights hovering along the paths or the green vines clinging stubbornly to cottages despite the bitter cold.
It was the ease with which the people lived among things that should not have been possible.
A woman stood beside a frozen water trough, her hand resting lightly upon its rim. Dravic watched a thin crack spread across the ice. It widened without the woman striking it until the frozen surface broke apart and disappeared beneath the water.
A short distance farther, an elderly woman stepped from her cottage and one of the floating lights immediately drifted toward her.
It hovered above her shoulder as she made her way slowly along the path, following faithfully until she entered another cottage.
The light remained outside the door… waiting.
Dravic glanced at Merek. “Does everyone here possess magic?”
Merek glanced at him. “Magic does not make us extraordinary, King Dravic. It is simply part of who we are.”
The words stayed with Dravic as they walked. So far, he had seen a woman thaw water and a light help an old woman find her way. Hardly a threat to a kingdom. But he was only witnessing the good. What about the evil side of magic?
Adira suddenly stopped beside him.
Dravic turned. “What is it?”
She was staring at the base of an enormous tree.
At first, he saw nothing. Thick roots rose from the ground before disappearing beneath the snow, leaving dark hollows between them.
Then something moved.
Dravic’s hand went immediately to his sword.
Adira caught his wrist.
He looked down at her hand and then at her.
She shook her head.
He shook his head in return. “You do not know what it is.”
She continued to shake her head as her hand slipped off his wrist, realizing she should not have touched him. And she saw that others had taken note of it.
Dravic paid no heed to those around him as he shook his head more firmly. “Let it be.”
That he shook his head should have been warning enough, but his added scowl should have stopped her. It didn’t.
She ignored him and crouched.
“Adira,” he said, his commanding tone enough to stop her, if she could hear.
She glanced up when he stepped toward her, his leg faintly brushing her shoulder, and smiled.
Dravic frowned. “That smile will not save you if the thing has teeth.”
Something small poked its head out between the roots.
Dravic stared at it, which had Adira turning to see it.
The creature was no larger than his hand, covered in silvery-white fur so thick that it appeared almost round.
Two pointed ears stood high upon its head, twitching as it looked cautiously around.
Its eyes were enormous and dark, and a long tail covered in delicate white feathers curled from behind it.
Adira’s face lit with delight, but her smile vanished when the creature disappeared.
A moment later its head popped out from another opening between the roots.
Adira laughed silently.
A second creature appeared. Then a third.
Dravic noticed people were watching, Merek one of them.
Adira extended her hand slowly, and the first creature crept forward.
A woman nearby said something beneath her breath.
Merek’s head turned sharply toward her.
“What?” Dravic asked.
The woman looked uncomfortable at finding the king’s attention on her. “Nothing, my king.”
“I will know what you said,” Dravic said, his brisk tone expecting an answer.
Her gaze went to Adira. “They do not approach strangers.”
Dravic looked at the tiny creature. It had reached Adira. It sniffed her fingertips before placing two tiny front paws in her palm.
Adira’s eyes widened with pleasure as the creature climbed completely into her hand.
A murmur spread among the villagers.
Adira’s head came up sharply.
Dravic saw the change in her immediately. Her delight disappeared beneath surprise.
“What is wrong?” he demanded, then tilted his head slightly and shrugged.
She understood his gesture and she saw concern in his eyes. He wondered what was wrong.
Another murmur reached her.
She had heard it. Not enough to understand what anyone said, but voices had penetrated the silence all at once, overlapping and disappearing so quickly she could make nothing of them.
Then one word separated itself from the rest.
“Woman.”
Adira went still.
Woman. She repeated it silently, trying to hold the sound in her thoughts.
Dravic crouched beside her. His fingers touched her chin and turned her face toward him.
“Adira.”
She heard something. Not the word… his voice.
Her breath caught.
It was different from the sounds surrounding her. Deeper. Stronger. She knew instantly that it belonged to him even though she could not understand what he had said.
Her eyes widened.
Dravic’s concern deepened. “What is it?”
Nothing reached her this time.
Adira shook her head and smiled, though she knew by his expression that she had failed to convince him.
The little creature suddenly scrambled farther into her hand and curled against her palm.
Adira looked down.
Merek moved closer. “They are called silvren.”
Dravic glanced at him. “And they do not approach strangers?”
“Rarely.”
Dravic looked at Adira. She was stroking one finger gently over the silvren’s tiny head while the other two creatures ventured closer. He was curious at what attracted the creatures to Adira, but, for the moment, he thought it was best he left it alone.
The silvren leapt from Adira’s hand and disappeared beneath the tree root. Its companions followed.
Adira stood reluctantly, wishing the tiny creatures had lingered and noticed several villagers continued to stare at her.
Dravic saw the same and not sure why—her uncanny way with the creature or because she traveled with him—he spoke up.
“Adira is under my protection,” he said with a raised voice and in a way that made it clear they did not need to know any more than that.
Adira looked up at him. She did not know what he had said, but she recognized the warning in his expression as his gaze swept the villagers.
Merek’s brow rose slightly. “Word reached us that the king traveled with a woman who cannot hear or speak.”
Dravic’s attention snapped back to him. “Word travels with remarkable detail in Driochmor.”
Merek shrugged. “People talk.”
“Apparently fairies do as well,” Dravic said.
“I heard that!” Fiora called out.