Page 15

Chapter 15

Karus

We managed the storm fairly well considering how it turned into an outright blizzard. Figuerah took over the reigns for Rev after he’d taken them from me when I’d varied between staying awake and pitching forward in a doze.

Clairannia had said that my constant exhaustion would wear off in a few more weeks and Ilyenna confirmed this. She only took naps occasionally, having more energy and a beautiful blush that brushed a rosy pink across her freckled cheeks.

Little more than a trade route, the Carrow Road was devoid of towns, though small cattle farms dotted the hillsides around us every once in a while. We debated whether we should stop at one and try to pay the farmer for a warm room to sleep. Talon eventually won that argument, insisting we couldn’t go any further with the horses in such cold.

We came across a small sheep farm not far off from the road and steered our horses down its frozen path, just managing to get both carriages to the barn that rose above a small stone cottage. Revich knocked on the door, explaining who we were and our destination to the old companions inside. But it wasn’t until we showed off our conduit rings that they believed us and agreed to let us stay for the night and ride out the storm.

Figuerah and Talon unhitched the horses and brought them into the barn while the rest of us piled into the small common room of the stone house, which we learned had only one bedroom and washing room.

“ We’ve plenty of blankets for the lot of you, so don’t you worry about that,” the old woman, Shey , said as she handed us mugs of hot tea. We’d all gathered around the fireplace after hanging our wet cloaks nearby to dry. We cut our bread, cheese, and apples for a small dinner while Shey’s companion, Wellyn , spoke of the longest winter ever recorded.

“ Wasn’t just the snow that killed off most of our ewes that year, but the ice.” He drew a long breath and nodded toward Shey . “ How many did we loose that winter some years past?”

“ T’was fourteen, dear,” she answered, settling into the rocking chair we’d made sure to leave for her while the lot of us sat on the stone floor. “ Yes , that was something. And so many ewes dead with no explanation. Just off and frozen one morning. No rhyme or reason ‘bout it.”

I narrowed my eyes at the fire. “ How many years ago did you say?”

Wellyn leaned back in his own chair, rubbing a dark wrinkled hand over his stubbly chin. “ Let’s see. Must have been seven winters past. Since our favorite ewe was bought that spring and she’s got to be seven now, isn’t that ‘bout right, Shey ?”

“ Yes , yes. Seven years ago was that horrible, horrible winter. Ice coated every tree and the mountains didn’t thaw for some time.” She caught Figuerah’s eye and nodded directly to her. “ A chill that stuck with you, even as you warmed by the fire! Took some time for it to thaw away and many farms couldn’t make it through. Why , just a bit of a ways down the road, the young couple and their family had to pack up and leave for Hyrithia to make a living. You’ll pass their farm when you leave in the morn’, empty as it tis.”

Rev’s piercing gaze fell on me while Figuerah stole short glances.

They knew what I knew about the origins of that winter.

I didn’t look their way as I turned to the old couple asking, “ How long do these storms typically last for you out here?”

Shey sipped her tea. “ Oh , this one’ll last through the night, my dear. But clear up by morn’. Typical this time of year. You’ll be nice and warm in here through the night. Though I’m sure you’re used to better accommodations in that forest of yours.”

“ What about your barn?” Rev asked, sliding his arm around me. “ Karus and I wouldn’t mind sleeping there and freeing up more space in this room.”

I eyed him, wondering what plans he was concocting.

Wellyn cleared his throat. “ Well , suppose the loft could make do, but some of the slats in the roof are broken. Been meanin’ to get those fixed so it might be a bit cold up?—”

“ We have magic to keep it warm, thank you,” Rev replied quickly, pinching my backside and pulling me closer when I squeaked in response. “ I’ll take a look at those slats while we’re there.”

“ That’s very kind, Baron Revich . Thank you, lad.”

As the hour grew later and the stories of farming grew longer, Rev and I gathered our blankets and murmured our goodnights, trekking out into the winter storm that still raged, blowing jagged flakes into our faces as we raced to enter the side door of the barn.

“ Illuminare ,” Rev called, lighting the inside of the stone room, disturbing the animals. Our horses neighed in stalls at the back corner while a few dozen sheep called out at the disturbance, inciting a riot from our sudden appearance.

“ Compaynen , ” I soothed, calming them instantly to settle down huddled into their beds of hay. I stepped forward, blankets in hand and looked around. The pale stone bricks stacked around the open room appeared to be taken straight from a quarry and were covered in decades of grime. “ Is this what you had in mind for trying something new?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at Rev who surveyed the room himself.

“ No . But up here?” He nodded toward a narrow wooden staircase that led to the loft of the barn.

I followed him up the rickety stairs to bales of hay stacked five high, enclosing the space with a fine layer of dust and straw strewn about the floor. A thin layer of snow had settled in the middle of the loft, and glancing up, I saw the sky through broken slats of the roof.

Without a word, Rev used his blue tendrils of power to sweep away the snow, laying a few blankets down over the creaking floorboards. He laid himself on them to face the opening above, folding his hands behind his head.

I barked an incredulous laugh. “ You want to sleep there? Under a blizzard?”

“ Where else can we stay warm and see the stars?” he asked softly.

I laid down beside him, curling up to his solid body, looking up into the open sky. “ How can we see the stars through this storm?”

Silver flakes fell in the silence, drifting down from the dark grey clouds. I followed them with my eyes as they settled softly onto his black waves, his dark lashes, melting across his warm cheeks. I raked my fingers through his hair, pulling myself up to smile over his full lips, brushing the straight line of his dark brows, the sharp edge of his jaw. In the still quiet, I admired the man I loved. I soaked in every detail, solidifying to memory the face of the man I’d share any space with. Barn , forest, fortress, inn—wherever this man slept, I only wanted the space to sleep beside him.

“ Well , Karus ,”—he closed his eyes, his lips pulling into a mischievous grin—“that’s entirely up to you. If you can cause a winter to rage over months and months outside of Felgren , what makes you think you can’t blow away this little storm?”

I cursed. We knew it was true. Of course we did. The winter that came to Arcaynen Isle seven years ago was the same winter I had caused in Felgren the night my memories disappeared from holding the Simulair Solum spell so long. And where that long winter lost its grip on the isle after only a few months, inside Felgren , it had lasted years.

I hovered over his face, touching his lips. “ How is it that I can control the weather, Revich ?”

His jaw ticked, and he pinned me with a sharp look. “ You are not her. Just because she gave you some of herself does not mean you will have her history.”

I closed my eyes, forcing the storm from the sky. I moved the clouds with my wind. I cleared the snow from the ground with my warmth. I drained the puddles with the inhalation of my breath, pulling the cold water into the earth, letting it flow down to the roots in the soil.

When I opened my eyes again, he was no longer watching my face. He stared at the place in my chest where my heart beat in a steady pulse. I caught his hand in mine as he reached out to touch me.

“ This is yours.” I patted our hands against the space of my ribs where my heart was caged behind bone and sinew.

“ I’ll never let you fall like that.” He nodded to my chest. “ Your heart stays right here where I can always feel it.”

I kissed him and fell beside him again, draping a leg over his waist. We watched the night sky, now clear of its storm with a hundred stars twinkling across the black.

“ I wonder what stories they’ll tell now,” he said, murmuring a spell of warmth to wrap around us. “ What stories will come of the night they hosted a handful of magic wielders who blew away the storm and thawed the frozen earth?”

I chuckled. “ Perhaps I’ll have my own rhymes and songs one day.”

“ Oh , I’ll encourage it,” he teased.

We held each other for a long moment, enjoying the stillness and the silence in the warmth of our embrace.

Rev broke the quiet. “ Adaynth said he granted your request. When you asked him to help keep me safe and happy before taking the power of Baron , he said he’d done it. He also said he didn’t think I’d ever know what that meant.”

I frowned, tracing the leaf pattern on his black vest. “ Do you think it has to do with Saelyn ?”

“ That was my thought, too, but I don’t know how. It was that night, you know. When we made her.”

I nodded. “ I know.”

With a wave of his hands, a blue fiery wall rose around us in a magical cage, ending at the open roof, enhancing the brilliance of the stars.

I laughed into his chest. “ I remember this.”

“ It’s a favorite memory of mine,” he remarked casually. “ Loving you within the cage of my power is something I think of often, and I’ll admit, Karus ,” he whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my neck, “ I’ve been meaning to get back to that moment.”

“ This time with a skylight?” I asked, working my fingers over the buttons of his vest as he unclasped my cloak.

He chuckled softly, his warm breath pebbling my skin. “ This time with more time and just the stars to guess at how I love you.”