Tobias #2
Aviel had robbed me of that comfort. And I had lost the ability to set apart the light that had once given me peace, the light that was solely mine, after so many years of it being used to hurt me.
One last, lasting cruelty to add to a long list of mistreatments.
My magic didn’t understand my self-flagellation. Magic needed to be used. And I had spent far too long with it blocked not to know that it needed to be released. Add that to the fear that open space brought, and it was no wonder I was on edge.
Shaking my head, I forced everything away and focused on the present.
I had missed this. I used to dream about this freedom even as I wondered if I would ever experience it again.
The fresh air in my lungs. The smell of the earth, the breeze.
The soft give of the ground beneath my feet instead of moist stone.
I missed it all so damn much, even with the ever-present twist to my stomach that accompanied each step.
My body moved by route from one position to another, but my mind refused to still. I was panting far too hard for the casual warmup as I reached the final stance.
Light footsteps broke the silence. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes—though I already knew who would be there.
Quinn Sagray smiled up at me. For one precious moment, the sky seemed to melt away.
The tight curls of her light-brown hair waved wildly in the wind, backlit and glowing in the sunlight.
Her white linen pants and tight, sleeveless top only made her look that much more angelic, a stark contrast to the black I wore head to toe.
Her arms were darker than usual from time spent in the sun, as was the teasing peek of tawny skin beneath her keyhole neckline.
The sunflower amulet I had never seen her without sparkled in the light, the yellow diamonds glimmering like sunlight captured in stone.
Quinn was undeniably beautiful. She had been for as long as I had known her—since my first breath, as she liked to say since she was born seven days before Eva and me.
And now? This realm suited her. She carried herself with a quiet confidence—grounded not in ego, but in a clear, unwavering understanding of who she was.
But what made her truly beautiful was her mind. It was the way she made me question the world around me, the way she turned the ordinary into something meaningful. There was something uniquely breathtaking about the way I could always see the gears turning behind those startling amber eyes.
My sister’s best friend mirrored between Morehaven and Soleara so often I rarely knew which kingdom she spent the night…
not that I was keeping track of where she slept.
When she was here, she stayed in the room down the hall from me.
Despite the number of visitors at my parents’ mountain home, I could pick out the sound of her footsteps from any other.
That unremarkable cadence imprinted further upon my brain every time she walked past my closed door.
I could usually hear her tinkering with her experiments late into the night, long after we both should’ve gone to sleep.
Her room was more a mad scientist’s lair than sleeping space, experiments bubbling in beakers I had been surprised she had been able to find in this realm.
When I asked her about them, she had simply arched an eyebrow and said, “We live in a world full of actual magic, and you’re impressed I was able to procure a few beakers? ”
Her ensuing smile had left me too tongue-tied to press her further.
I spent most nights locked in my room to avoid running into her and passed my time at the castle during the day. Yet Quinn always seemed to find me when it came time to train, just as she had during our journey to Adronix.
“I thought I’d get a workout in before it’s time to go.” Her sunny smile grew wider, pulling me from my wandering thoughts. “I should’ve known you would beat me out here. Can I join you?”
“Sure,” I grunted, inwardly wincing at my lack of eloquence.
Even months later, I wasn’t used to speaking at length.
The pain that once accompanied every word had ensured that.
I had been conditioned into silence, into compliance, that iron mask choking off my voice until even my screams were silent…
I refused to go where that thought led. Clearing my throat, I added, “What have you been working on?”
She tilted her head like she was surprised I made the effort of that simple pleasantry. “Just trying to understand more about the intersection of magic and medicine.”
From anyone else that sentence might have sounded grandiose. From her, it was simply a statement of fact. I raised an eyebrow, my tone droll as I asked, “Is that all?”
Quinn shrugged. “There are so many diseases in the human realm that could benefit from this sort of research, if it turns out to be successful. Not that disease has been eradicated here either, but the treatments…” Her eyes lit up, and I couldn’t help but be utterly charmed by her excitement.
“The way the healers here can fix things with magic is one thing, but the way they use magic to imbue treatments with those cures…if there’s a way to mass produce those, it could be huge.
And I didn’t spend all those years working on my doctorate to stop researching now. ”
Many would have if they found themselves in another realm and were best friends with its High Queen. But that wasn’t who Quinn was. It was easy to remember the girl I knew before all of this: effortlessly kind and always the first person to offer to help. My sister’s best friend, and mine, too.
After all, our trio had been inseparable until my death.
It was no surprise that she had found a career that was aimed at helping people, or that she had healing magic. Nor was it a surprise she had kept at it, even here.
She tapped her foot impatiently. I repressed a smile. Even when we were kids, Quinn had never been able to stay still.
When she walked past me, her arm brushed mine. The fleeting touch seemed to emanate down my entire body, leaving me frozen in place. Her amber eyes sparkled as they met mine. I almost missed the training sword she tossed at me as I found myself momentarily lost in them.
She raised her sword. “Ready?”
I nodded mutely.
If freedom meant having nothing left to lose, then I had been so, so foolish to believe I had ever been freed.