Page 40 of A Curse of Breath and Blood (The Mind Breaker #1)

39 AELIA

Amolie woke me at dawn’s first light. “Time to go.”

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I let out a yawn. She shoved a mug of coffee into my hand. I sipped it, letting the warm liquid fill the hole in my chest. Utterly exposed, I would have to confront my fears without Caiden and without the numbness of dust.

The candle I lit the day before still burned beside Baylis’s bed. Its little light fighting the fleeting darkness.

Amolie pulled a needle from her thick wool skirt.“Send some calming pictures into her mind.”

Holding Baylis’s hand, I tethered our minds together, trying my best not to trigger whatever I had before. I summoned a field of wildflowers, projecting a memory of us making daisy crowns, pretending to rule over a make-believe kingdom. Simpler times when we could be children. Before the darkness seeped into our home and into the kingdom.

I wanted to hug the little girls playing before me—protect them from the harsh future awaiting them.

Amolie touched my hand, signaling she had gotten enough blood .

I tucked Baylis’s golden hair behind her ear.“I will come back for you,” I whispered as we crept out of the room.

Amolie handed me the vial of Baylis’s blood. “Keep it safe.”

“Thank you, Amolie, for everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She squeezed my arm lovingly. “That’s what friends are for.”

I headed to my room to gather my things and change into peasant clothes. The Scepter of the Dead lay silent on the desk.

‘ You will need me before this is all over, ’ the Morrigan’s voice hissed in my ear.

Begrudgingly, I packed it away in my sack.

Tharan waited outside with Arion tethered to a plain cart. He handed me a twine ring enchanted by Elrida with the glamour.

“Are you ready?” he asked, buttoning the simple cotton shirt, his toned arms gleaming beneath.

I sighed. “As I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

Tharan slipped on his twine ring. The glamour did little to hide his beauty.

I would not have such luck. Slipping on the ring, my skin became dull, and the shadows under my eyes returned.

Tharan patted the simple wooden seat next to him on the cart. “Got a seat waiting for you here.”

I smiled and climbed in, trying to kill every butterfly dancing around my stomach.

“Let’s get this over with,” I said under my breath.

Tharan squeezed my gloved hand. “It’ll be alright; we’ll be in and out. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I winced at the words. “You can’t promise that. You do not control the lands of men.”

He hooked a gloved finger under my chin, lifting my face, forcing our eyes to meet. “I swear I will do everything in my power to protect you, Aelia Springborn. ”

I noticed the glamour concealed his scar and turned his eyes a dull green. Still, they caused thoughts to empty from my head.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

He gave me a smile and flicked the reins. Arion sauntered forward.

“Good luck!” Amolie called after us. Frost and Winter whined at her side.

The trip to the Ryft took several weeks, through the Woodland Realm, across a slim bit of elven territory to the Stone Kingdom, where we’d cross the Ryft.

I fiddled with the ring, pulling it off and putting it back on. My skin glowed and dulled with its presence.

“You don’t have to be human yet,” I said, looking at Tharan, sporting lackluster auburn hair and pale, freckled skin.

He shrugged. “It’s nice to be unknown in my kingdom. It’s interesting.”

Humans were weak and sickly compared to the magus. As much as I loathed my transformation at times, being part sylph had its benefits.

The hard wooden seat dug into my back as we traversed the snow-laden path. With little to nothing to preoccupy my time, my thoughts drifted to Ryft’s Edge. Chest tight, I dug my fingers into the shoddy wooden seat, trying to ease the pressure rising in my veins.

We stopped to rest on the border of the Woodland Realm and elven realms.

While Tharan hunted for dinner, I built a fire, trying to quell the unease growing in my stomach. I had tried to forget Ryft’s Edge, but every time I closed my eyes, there it returned .

Tharan entered the firelight holding a brace of rabbits and two large wild carrots he found. “How’s this for dinner?”

“Lovely. Care to use some of your magic and conjure us some herbs?”

Tharan waved his hand over a bit of earth. Shrubs of thyme and rosemary burst from the ground. “How’s that?” he asked, giving me a wry smile.

“Impressive,” I said, picking the herbs and throwing them into the pan.

The forest lay eerily silent as we ate our dinner. Lights of the elven city across the border flickered through the trees.

“They call it Stealle. City of Stars,” Tharan said, scraping his tin plate with his fork. The elves thought they were above all others and named their cities accordingly.

“City of Stars, what a bunch of horseshit.” I took a swig of ale.

Tharan chuckled. “When you’re immortal, you pick names you think will stand the test of time.”

I rolled my eyes. “How boring.”

Tharan nodded. “It is true. Everything is more beautiful, more precious when you know it’s fleeting.”

A question floated into my mind and out of my mouth, “Since you’re half-elf, will you still live forever?”

Tharan shook his head, the fires golden light playing across his face, illuminating his green eyes. “I will live thousands of years, but my life will end. There was one other half-elf, half-sylph born before the ban, and we all know how he died.”

I gave him a puzzled look.

He blinked at me. “Crom Cruach.”

I gave him a startled look.

“Few people know that,” he said, taking my empty plate.

“Is that why the mixing of elves and sylphs is forbidden?”

“Part of it.” He held the plates under a trickle of water spouting from a stone wall. “Both the sylph and elves are proud of their heritage and want to ensure each race survives. Some believe the magic will wane if the blood is not pure. Although it’s the sylph’s dirty secret, they use human females to strengthen the bloodlines. I suspect the elves do the same.”

“I thought those were just stories,” I said, remembering the stories of changelings we were told as children.

Tharan repacked the cart. “The sylph and elves like to look down upon humans when, in reality, they depend on them to ensure the survival of their respective species.”

I strapped a feedbag onto Arion’s mouth. “Is that why I could absorb the powers of a sylph? Is my blood a conduit for magic?”

Tharan rubbed his chin. “But you weren’t human to begin with. Your mother is a Fate, which makes her a goddess. There’s no telling how much of her magic runs through you.”

I petted Arion as he munched happily on his dinner. “I never showed signs of powers before…”

Tharan threw me a blanket. “Perhaps it is hidden inside of you. There are ways of binding or hiding magic. Your mother would know how to do such a spell.”

“Wouldn’t I have sensed it before?” I threw the blanket over Arion.

Tharan rummaged around the wagon. “I could help you find it if you’d like.”

“Mm… Let’s concentrate on surviving the Highlands. We can leave my powers for later.”

“Fair enough,” Tharan said as he stood over the back of the wagon. Waving his hands, the bed filled with a thick layer of pine needles. “These will be softer than the ground for you.” He placed another blanket on top of the needles.

I swallowed hard. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“The ground will be fine for me.” He patted the soft pines.

Wrapping the blanket tighter around myself, I hesitated before laying in the makeshift bed. “Please come and lie next to me so I don’t feel bad for making you sleep in the dirt. You are a king, and I am nothing.”

Tharan smiled as he filled Arion’s water. “I’ve slept in worse places.”He patted the black stallion before removing his feedbag.

“You weren’t a king then.” My teeth chattered from the cold.

He sighed before reluctantly climbing into the wagon with me. “It only seems right for me to keep you warm.”

His body radiated heat as we lay silent, listening to the sounds of the forest. It took everything in my power not to curl my body into his.

I rolled onto my back, staring up at the stars. “One last question.”

“You’re inquisitive tonight.” His hand brushed mine gently, making my heart flutter.

“If you’re a half-elf, can you transfer your immortality through the breath like full elves?”

“Do you want to find out?” Our eyes locked on one another. Electricity crackling between us.

Neither of us dared to make the first move.

A twig cracked in the forest, breaking our trance. He held his finger to his mouth before pointing at the ridge above us.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness as a blinding white light crept through the trees. I blinked, unable to comprehend what I saw. The creature came into focus, quickening my pulse.

A unicorn.

The majestic creature moved with an unnatural grace as it weaved in between the trees. Hunted to near extinction, unicorns were rare. So rare few believed they still existed.

“Would you like to pet her?” he asked.

“Are you serious?” I tried to hide my excitement, keeping my voice to a whisper.

Tharan smiled, whistling a beautiful melody.

The mare raised her head and came trotting down the path into the ravine where we lay. Arion whinnied in excitement.

Tharan sat at the edge of the cart, holding out a carrot.

She hesitated, but Tharan said in a calming voice, “She is a friend.” The mare gently took the carrot from his hand.“You can pet her now if you’d like.”

I slid the glove off my hand and ran it down her long, muscular neck. Soft as a baby bunny, her fur, almost translucent, glowed a radiant shade of white.

Tharan cooed over the mare, petting her gently on the neck. “I call her Aurora, for she is the dawn of a new age for the unicorns.”

Tears welled in my eyes. “She’s pregnant?” I asked.

“She is,” Tharan said, rubbing the mare on the head. “I have been running a breeding program in secret for a decade.” He gave the mare another carrot. “Magic makes the blood thin, so I’ve had to mix them with regular horses. The process is not exact, resulting in a unicorn a quarter of the time. It’s a slow process, but my herd has grown from ten to nearly thirty.”

Arion whinnied at the mare. “It seems like Arion has taken a shine to Aurora,” I said. “Maybe you could breed him into your line.”

“I think that could be arranged.” Aurora trotted over to Arion, the two nuzzled each other.

My heart filled with love. “I can’t wait to tell Amolie about this. She’s not going to believe it.”

We laid back down in the wagon bed watching the clouds sail over the stars. My heart torn in two. I could not deny my feelings for Tharan, but I also felt like I was betraying Caiden.

Tharan clicked his tongue. “Care to share what you’re ruminating on?”

“How do you know I’m thinking about anything?” I scoffed.

“I can feel your thoughts turning over in your mind like you’re trying to put a puzzle together.” His hand brushed mine again.

I hesitated, unsure of how vulnerable I wanted to be with him.

“You can trust me, Aelia.”His hand squeezed mine.

I exhaled slowly. “I’ve fallen in love with every man who’s ever shown me the slightest bit of attention. It’s as if I’m a desert thirsting for a single drop of rain. I felt that way with Caiden and Gideon, and now I’m experiencing those same emotions with you. I feel guilty, as if I’m betraying Caiden, even though he doesn’t know who I am. But I remember. I remember everything. Part of me doesn’t want to let him go, but I know I must. I need to move on. And then there’s you. You’re so perfect and understanding, and you make my knees go weak, but I’m worried I’ll never be enough?—”

Tharan cut my rant short by pressing his lips to mine.

The breath left my lungs as arousal grew within me. We kissed as though we had known each other for years, each one anticipating the other’s movements. I didn’t want to stop, but I knew we had to.

“I’ve thought about our kiss every day since that night in the Court of Sorrows.” He ran his thumb along my cheek.

Words escaped me. I pressed my lips to his once more, letting his heat consume me.

“We shouldn’t,” I whispered.

His eyes searched mine for answers. “Why not? We’re both adults.”

Twirling a piece of his auburn hair around my finger, I tried to find the right words. “I must protect my heart. You are the Alder King. You will marry a highborn magus woman. This will only end in heartache for me.”

Tharan’s gaze softened. “I can marry whomever I choose.”

He leaned in for a kiss, but I stopped him before our lips could touch. “Don’t be foolish. We both know how this ends. ”

He pulled me into his warm embrace. “I know you’ve been through a lot. We can take it slow if you’d like. Be friends for now. It’s clear by the way you kissed me you want this too. Let me show you who I am.”

Emotions knotted themselves in my chest. I could not deny my attraction to Tharan.

I nestled my head into his broad chest. I felt safe with him. In my heart, I knew I should let Caiden go. I had no loyalty to him. Tharan was real. Tharan was security and safety—something I hadn’t had in years. In Tharan’s arms, I didn’t feel like prey waiting to be pounced on. He faced his demons. I wouldn’t have to fix him—wouldn’t have to empty myself to make him whole.

“Alright,” I said after an awkward amount of silence. “We can take it slow. I want to get to know the real Tharan. I want you to woo me. Like a real princess.”

Tharan laughed. “Oh, I know how to woo with the best of them.”

“Judging by the way you kissed me, I’d say you’ve had a lot of practice,” I joked, trying to hide my smile.

He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine, sending electricity through my veins. “Practice makes perfect.”

This taking-it-slow thing would be harder than I thought.“Friends don’t kiss.”

He raised an eyebrow seductively. “Some friends do.”

I shook my head, trying not to blush. “No, they don’t.”

He nibbled my lip.

A moan grew in my throat. My fingers ached to touch him—to rake my nails down his back while he plunged himself deep inside me. A slickness grew between my legs. I wanted him. No—needed him.

Get it together, Aelia.