Chapter 5
Elsedora
Twelve years into the Sethe curse…
Cassidee poured more plum wine into my chalice as Wyeth ground herbs at the nearby butcher block.
Set into the hills, on the outskirts of Luz’s border, this house had been their dream. The yard sprawled with enough space for a large garden where Wyeth could grow nearly everything she needed for her healing tonics. A spacious stable comfortably housed Cassidee’s Griffith, Paren.
I’d met Cass and Wyeth through their work in Luz. The latter being Sybilla’s head healer and Cass being the Corridor’s Constable.
I laid a map across the worn dining table between me and my Wind-wielding friend.
“Asterie read of ceremony sites where the Sources used to receive mortal requests for power. In The Book of Isolde, the scribe writes about one. It notes sea cliffs and yellow wildflowers—which makes me think of the West Corridor cliffs.” I dragged my finger over the region.
“It’s not much to go on, if I’m honest. But if we could just search the Corridor…”
“Bringham made it clear we’re not to set foot on his land without permission,” Wyeth warned, followed by a tsk-tsk. She perched on a tall stool to give herself more elbow leverage over the mortar.
That was where the trouble lay. Haag Bringham never granted any Source-wielder access to the West Corridor aside from for political discussions. The western King refused to believe what he’d been told about Caym’s rise.
“We should go anyway. Bringham can lick my boots,” Cass grumbled.
I laughed, but Wyeth shot her partner a mind yourself expression.
“Any luck in negotiating with him?” Wyeth asked me.
I scoffed. “The man is impossible to reason with—he’d like to be a tyrant across all of Henosis. Luckily, he doesn’t have the resources to conquer any land.”
Cass rose and circled her arms around her petite partner’s shoulders. “What if we’re really, really careful?” she asked as she rocked her side to side.
Wyeth dropped her pestle to hold Cass’ hands and stifled a laugh. The Soil-wielder sighed. “I know better than to tell you two what not to do.”
“That sounds like permission to me, Red,” Cass lobbed over her shoulder with a grin.
As I watched Wyeth tip her head back to meet Cass’ gaze, a pang struck my chest—unwelcome and unwanted.
I didn’t need the romantic love they shared. Maintaining the expectations of an intimate arrangement sounded exhausting. I’d been shit at it once with Ryn already.
Though, my friends’ silent exchange of adoration stirred up that age old question. What if?
There used to be a loneliness in having an abundance of friends who had all coupled themselves with the other half of their hearts.
When I’d found the enchanted mirror, I hadn’t expected it to remedy that resentment.
Now, there was someone that I longed to speak with each day.
After sneaking through the palace, I loitered at his bedside once again.
“Puppy, are you there?” I whispered into the glass until a twirl of smoke revealed him. I grinned, taking him in. A stray dark curl rested across his forehead, and his eyes crinkled when he spotted me.
“Elsedora.” The way he said my name made it sound like salvation.
I’d do anything to live up to it.
“Miss me?” I settled into the chair beside his bedframe.
He stretched, and I caught a glimpse of brawny forearms. “Always. How are you today?”
“Restless,” I admitted.
A faint frown tugged at his lips.
Before he could press me on it, I said, “Better now, though. Stretch again. I liked the view.”
He shook his head with a chuckle, cheeks darkening, which left me satisfied. “You’re incorrigible,” he answered.
I smirked. He had no idea.
“I’m heading off on another search with Cass,” I said. “We have a promising lead.”
He frowned before correcting his expression into a weak smile. “That’s incredible. Please, be careful.”
I nodded, though we both knew I’d risk almost anything to find those relics. For Lark and the realms, yes… but also for him.