Page 54 of Raven Rebel (Sablewood #1)

Brenna

A slender fae female with skin a dark bluish-brown and hair the color of the night sky falling to her waist in spirals knocked on her door. Her expression was gentle and encouraging, and Brenna couldn’t help but smile back at her. “I am Iyashi. I was asked to train you in healing.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

“Are you ready?” Iyashi asked, her head tilting to the side. Brenna admired her stormy eyes.

“Of course. Let me grab a coat.” Brenna snagged the closest one and wrapped herself against the palace’s chill. She followed Iyashi down the wide passageway, through the arching colonnades. “What is your magic craft, if you don’t mind answering? You can heal?”

Iyashi’s smile was patient. “I am a naiad and I have the water magic of my people, but I tend towards healing. The body is made of water. And energy,” she mused. “I am not the strongest healer, but my power is elemental like yours, so I hope I can show you how to use your craft to heal.”

“I would appreciate that. It would be good to help people,” Brenna said, clasping her hands together against her skirts.

The healer’s ward sat low in the king’s palace of Court Tara. Large windows let in the breeze, and Brenna could taste a hint of salt from the ocean in the distance.

Columns and arches defined stations, and some rooms had faeries stretched out.

She spied a nasty cut on a young soldier, and a male with silver hair and curling rams horns leaned over it, muttering.

He wiped a cloth along the injury, revealing angry red skin where a gaping wound should be. The soldier’s face relaxed.

Iyashi paused outside of his alcove, waiting until he stood up and turned to them. Stubble, a darker color than the silver of his hair, dusted his cheeks, and Brenna realized he was young. Bright blue-green eyes creased as he smiled at her.

Iyashi bent in a shallow bow. “This is Master Sage Galen. Master, this is Brenna.”

Galen wiped his hands on his apron. “Excellent. Lord Emrys said you showed potential as a healer. You possess light craft?” he confirmed.

“And fire,” Brenna clarified.

“Ah, you must be powerful. We will see what you can do. Adept Iyashi, please take her onto the terrace and work through a meditation. Prepare her to access energies. ”

Nodding, Iyashi led her to the end of the hall where doors opened up to an expansive open space. Vines grew up the railing and across the overhead beams, giving them broken shade. They settled onto cushions, and Iyashi sat cross legged with her hands on her knees.

Brenna wished she had worn trousers for once, because Iyashi seemed far more comfortable in her billowing pants and the top that wrapped over her chest, all made of the same pale purple fabric that Galen also wore.

After a quiet moment, she asked, “Can you sense the magic energies of those around you?”

“Um, I don’t think so. I can feel my own magic,” Brenna admitted.

“Good, that is a start. I want you to access that magic, and then look for the same in me.”

Brenna closed her eyes and focused, feeling the sparking magic within her chest. She knew its vibration well.

With effort, she pushed out further, looking for the same outside of herself.

When she reached for Iyashi, it felt different.

It was faint, gentle, like a trickle of water. “I think I feel it!”

“Good. Now under that, can you feel my life force? You shouldn’t be able to touch it, if you know what I mean.

But you need to find it, and then feed some of your magic into it.

We don’t want you to feed into my own magic, but directly into my life force.

Then we will focus on concentrating it to a certain injury.

It takes a lot of magic to heal, so you don’t want to pour it into someone’s entire body. ”

Iyashi was a patient coach. Brenna tried again and again, accidentally feeding a bit of her light magic into the naiad’s power and causing her to jump. By the time she successfully connected with the gentle life energy of the faerie, Brenna was sweating and exhausted.

“It’s time for a break. You need food.” Iyashi helped her stand and steadied her as they walked back inside. “Then we will focus on turning that energy into healing. It’s a bit trickier, but you seem to be a natural at this.”

A simple meal was laid out on a low table where they joined the other healers.

Galen sat at the head, while a pair of young women took their places nearby.

When they looked up and smiled, Brenna was taken aback—their eyes were solid black, devoid of whites.

Their tunics were cut away to accommodate the soft brown wings draping down their backs, and delicate feathered antennae rose from their mousy brown hair.

“How was it?” Galen asked, taking a bite of an apple.

Iyashi reached for a slice of bread. “Good. She has the disposition for it. We could test her with an injury soon.” She sliced a peach and laid it across the bread.

“Healing an actual injury?” Brenna asked, nervously picking at the berries she had spooned onto her plate.

“Yes, generally that is what healing is for,” Galen said with a flash of white teeth.

Brenna blinked, startled at his response, but when she saw the humor creasing around his eyes and mouth, she relaxed and returned the smile. “Of course.”

Iyashi launched into a story of yesterday’s visit to the training yards.

The new recruits were struggling to fight in tandem with their teammates.

She had a plethora of minor injuries to patch up, such as bloody noses, cuts, and bruises.

There was no time to waste on healing naturally when they would march any day.

The warmth of the midday sun filtered through the open windows, casting a golden glow over the simple meal of bread, fruit, and meats. Brenna relaxed as she listened to the healers’ quiet conversation and the soothing rustle of feathers as the winged healers shifted beside her.

Once the food was cleared away, Iyashi and Galen sat beside her. “Are you ready to try injuries?” Galen asked.

“I’m apprehensive,” she said with a nervous laugh, “but I have to try or I’ll never learn.”

“Very well,” Galen said. He produced a short knife from his pocket and rolled up his sleeve, nicking his forearm. Blood welled in the shallow cut. “Try to heal this.”

Biting her lip, Brenna reached an open hand toward the injury and focused her eyes, sorting through the sensations around her to find Galen’s life energy. She was not attuned to it the way she was to Iyashi’s. It danced around her, ungraspable.

“I can’t,” she said, glancing down at the trail of blood down his arm. “I’m sorry!”

Galen’s ocean eyes locked with hers. He gripped her hand and placed it on his forearm, over the injury. “Try again.”

She scrunched her nose, concentrating. Warmth bloomed in her chest, and she was afraid she would burn him instead of healing. Then a soft magic whispered to her. Something gentle curled around her senses, guiding her until she could latch on to Galen’s energy and direct her magic into it.

Her eyes popped open. Galen smiled, wiping away the blood to reveal whole unmarred skin.

“I did that?” she asked, tilting her head.

“It was a team effort,” he said, taking a rag and wiping his blood from her palm.

“I think it’s best if you practice on yourself until you master directing your healing. That is what most people start with, because pushing it outward is draining and harder to guide.”

“Yes, I felt that,” she said. “So, myself first.”

“And then we can combine skills until you can easily heal those around you,” Galen added.

“Can you cut yourself?” Iyashi asked. She nodded.

Galen handed over the blade, and Brenna held it over her palm.

She could prick a finger, but that made her think of Emrys.

It was a distraction she didn’t need. Clenching her teeth, she drew the blade across the meat of her palm.

The sensation of metal through flesh turned her stomach.

Hissing from pain, she dropped the blade onto the table beside them. It bled more than she expected.

“Direct your magic here,” Galen coached. He cradled her hand with his own. As she closed her eyes to focus, she could feel his energy playing at the fringes of her awareness. It felt as if he was eager to heal her palm for her, but was restraining himself.

“Concentrate,” he reminded her. His soothing voice guided her, and she honed in on the sting of her cut. “No, you’re using your light craft. We want raw energy. Try again.” His warm hand took her other hand and laid it over the cut. Blood wet between her fingers.

On the third try, Brenna managed to partially close the wound. Iyashi clapped, and Galen beamed at her. “Well done.”

She was on the right course, she knew it. Gritting her teeth, she drew a line down the base of her forearm, close to the crook of her elbow.

“What are you doing?” Emrys said, his voice deadly cold. Brenna startled, nearly dropping the knife mid-slice. “Why are you cutting yourself?” He stood in the entrance to the ward, his eyes blazing.

“I’m learning to heal,” Brenna said, her smile wavering. “I’ve already done it once.”

“You thought it was best she injure herself to learn to heal?” he said, stalking further into the space.

Galen stood to face him, his hands folded loosely at his waist. “Yes, it is the typical process of teaching a new apprentice.” His tone was calm, devoid of the anger she expected.

“She isn’t typical,” Emrys said. Brenna flinched.

“It’s fine! They can heal anything I couldn’t.

I’m perfectly safe.” She rose, stepping between Emrys and the healers.

His lip curled, revealing fangs in a silent threat.

She had never seen him like this. He wasn’t the charming nobleman she had fallen for.

This was a ruthless warrior sizing up an opponent.

He grabbed her wrist, twisting it to get a clear look at the cut.

Cursing under his breath, he closed his palm over it, and she felt his magic knit the skin back together.

Now that she knew what the feeling of magic mingling felt like, it was unmistakable.

His craft felt like thick velvet brushing against her, luxurious and tempting.

“I think that’s enough for today,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “We will have words before these lessons resume.”

Others would have wilted under his intensity, but after a look at Brenna’s hand, Galen simply nodded and returned to his work. Relieved, Brenna shot Iyashi an apologetic smile before Emrys ushered her out.

Emrys strode down the hallway and Brenna had to rush to keep up with him so he wasn’t dragging her along. As they turned the corner, she spun, locking her legs and halting. Emrys' eyes narrowed dangerously as he faced her.

“I was uncomfortable with that,” she said, waving her hand back toward the healing ward.

Emrys stared at her silently for a moment. “What exactly upset you?” he asked, slow, measured.

“I feel like we were disrespectful of the healers who were teaching me,” she said, softening her words. Her desire to please him warred with her anger over the interaction.

He breathed out audibly, those crimson irises narrowing as his black pupils expanded.

With the grace of a predator, he stepped forward, crowding her until her back pressed into the white stone wall.

Keeping her gaze, he said roughly, “I apologize for upsetting you, but not for being angry when they instructed you to hurt yourself. I cannot help but protect you.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he placed a hand over her mouth, silencing her. “I know it seems like too much, but how can I stand by when everything in me demands that I defend you?” His lips brushed the shell of her ear as he spoke, low and silky.

Brenna melted under his intensity. Anger gone, she was nothing but desire.

When he pulled back and removed his hand, she reached for him, dragging him against her until she was pressed between his hard body and the stone behind her.

Her voice was husky. “You feel that strongly? I am not a mere diversion?”

He hauled her up against him, hands gripping her thighs through her skirts, and she was grateful for the thin layers of faerie fashions and her lack of a petticoat in this moment.

His voice was a growl. “I don’t want anyone else touching you again. My very nature declares you are mine.”