Page 21 of The Fire Apprentice (Sylvania #5)

R owan took Jane’s hand and she winced.

He stopped rubbing her fingers. “Did the flames burn you?”

“My fingers smart a little when you rub them.”

He enclosed the sore fingers gently between his palms and concentrated on them. A few beats passed. His hands were cool, cold really, and the heat and burn of her fingers eased.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Drawing out the heat. It should ease the pain.”

A memory flickered through her head. “That’s how you cooled the poultice on my ankle. It warmed as soon as you stopped holding it.”

“Yes.”

His room was silent except for her own breathing. In the stillness, her knees quivered. “Can we sit?”

Keeping hold of her hand, he led her to the cot against the wall and sat. Before she could sit beside him, he let go of her hand and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. “Do you mind?” he said. “Please say you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.” She snuggled against his chest as he held her.

Her fingers began to sting again, the pain growing. She flexed them and he released her and reached for her hand. With one arm around her, he clasped her fingers gently and the pain faded again. She leaned into him. Her legs rested on the blankets on the cot. It was a narrow bed for a large man but at least he had soft blankets.

Had her ruse worked? Would he try apprenticing with Axe again? She opened her mouth but was too afraid to ask. “Will you tell me how you met Axe?”

He shifted to lean back against the cavern wall and she fell against him. Once she was settled, he spoke, his voice rumbling against her side.

“When I was ten winters, I sneaked out of the caverns and called Axe. I didn’t know what I was doing. I felt such a pull to be above ground. Guards were stationed at all the entrances to the caves, so I started a fire to distract them. It was a terrible thing to do, but I couldn’t think of another way. And I didn’t realize how dangerous it could have been because fire had never frightened me.”

He truly had been trapped down here. Jane shuddered and his arm tightened.

“I got out into the forest and went to the clearing where I could see the stars. I’d seen the sky before—the queen couldn’t stop us from celebrating the rise of the full moon. But I’d never been out alone in the dark or heard the night animals clearly. It was early spring and cold and clear out. I felt more alive than I ever had. I knew someone was coming and I was waiting for him. But Larch found me.”

“Larch?”

“Do you mind hearing about him?”

“No.”

“He saw me sneaking out of the caverns and followed me. We weren’t friends then. No one wanted to be friends with the queen’s children because we feared her. He happened to see me leaving and came after me to discover what I was doing.”

She had a moment of pity for Larch. It probably wouldn’t last as Rowan’s story continued.

“Larch tried to convince me to return before anyone saw me, and I couldn’t explain why I needed to stay in the clearing. He tried to drag me back but I was bigger. And suddenly Axe was there. The treetops swirled and both of us fell over and stared at the sky and he circled around and landed right in the clearing. I knew exactly who he was—I mean, I knew he was there for me and he wouldn’t hurt me and that I was supposed to go with him. But Larch was petrified and held me back.”

She could imagine the trees swirling as they had when Axe arrived at the mine camp.

“Axe waited. I wanted to leave with him so badly. But Larch was begging me not to go and saying the queen would be mad and we’d get in trouble. I remember staring into Axe’s eyes and understanding that he would wait for me. And I had a vague sense of where he’d be, nearby in the mountains.”

“Do you think Larch knew why a dragon had come for you?”

“I don’t know.”

But regardless, Larch must have known the dragon had something wonderful to offer Rowan and he’d blocked him from accepting it. “He should have let you go.”

“He was scared. Anyway, we went back to the caverns. After that, Larch and I were friends. He never told anyone what I’d tried to do and I felt grateful to him. We seemed alike. Neither one of us was much good at magic. We couldn’t communicate with birds or become invisible or do any of the basic things most fairies can do by the time they’re a few winters old.”

“Do those with fire magic usually struggle with other forms of fairy magic?” Jane asked.

“I think so. Sage did. She’s a fairy elder who can use fire magic.”

Rowan shouldn’t compare his own lack of ability with Larch’s. Larch had no excuse, unless being a twit hurt one’s ability to use magic. Which might be true, given what she’d seen of how magic worked. Jane quietly huffed out her annoyance. “When did you see Axe again?”

“Two full turns of the seasons later. I never stopped thinking about him. And somehow I found my way to Sage. When I told her what had happened she explained everything to me. She demonstrated her fire magic using a candle flame and offered to help me get to Axe. It meant defying the queen, but she knew how important it was. We gathered supplies and she taught me to climb on the rock walls underground, and she explained how to use the ropes and iron pieces for safety. She had gone to the mountains many, many winters ago. She drew me a basic map, although she didn’t know where Axe’s den was. But he’d said he would be close. Sometimes I even thought I could feel him waiting.”

“What went wrong?”

He sighed. “I should have sneaked away and not told anyone. Sage would have known where I was. But I knew Larch would miss me and I didn’t want him to worry. I knew better than to tell him before I left, though, since he’d try to stop me again. So I left a note here.”

“Here?”

“In my chamber. This is the same one I’ve always had.”

Jane suppressed a shudder. Not only was Rowan alone here but he was also in the same room he’d had as a child? How many memories must haunt it? It pained her to think of him living here by himself when the other fairies were up in the forest, in the sun and breezes, especially given how alive he’d been in the open air of the mountains.

“Sage helped me escape the second time, so I didn’t have to start a fire. Well, technically we started a fire but she was there to put it out. I think the fire tipped off Larch, though, because he came after me right away. I’d hoped to have a few days’ head start to make it harder for him to track me. And I hoped he’d let me go, that his fear of his mother might compel him to give me up. I should’ve known better.” Traces of bitterness laced his words.

“I reached Axe quickly. I hid in the back of a wagon part of the way and I was so nervous and excited I couldn’t sleep. And once I was climbing the mountain, I knew where to go. I barely used Sage’s map. Axe must have known I was coming. He could have swooped down to get me but he let me reach him on my own. And seeing him again...”

Jane peeked up at the small smile on Rowan’s face.

“It felt like home. More than anywhere I’d ever been or anyone I’d been with. I threw myself on his neck and hugged him and cried. I could tell how glad he was that I’d come. I started to hear him in my head. His communication became clearer and clearer. I’d never had that with animals, so it made me even closer to him. He wanted me to rest and said we’d start my lessons the next morning. But when I awoke, Larch was there.”

Outrage burned in Jane’s chest. Larch was going to ruin everything.

“He must have started right after me. And he’d climbed up the peak in the dark—I’d left my ropes hanging because I didn’t know better. I remember thinking he must really care about me to have risked climbing in the dark. He said the queen learned I was gone and threatened to hurt Sage for helping me escape unless I returned. And he said the queen was angry at me, but if I went back, he’d intervene. I was always grateful to him for protecting me from her.”

“Did the queen actually know you’d gone?”

“She did. When we got back, she had Sage locked in her awful human dungeon. We had to convince her to let Sage go but Larch helped. He understood how her mind worked—he could manipulate her. I was terrified simply being in a room with her.”

“But how would the queen notice one missing boy? Did she take a roll call of the children?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“It doesn’t make sense, Rowan. It seems like no one would notice you missing except the children. It seems like Larch probably tattled on you and then acted like a hero coming to retrieve you and clean up the mess he’d caused, when he could have kept his mouth shut and let you learn fire magic.”

“Why would Larch do that, though?”

“You were his friend and he didn’t want to be without you.”

“But I’d return in a season.”

“You’d return with a skill he didn’t possess. Maybe he was jealous. Maybe he thought you’d tire of him once you could do magic.”

Rowan fell silent. Maybe she was wrong about Larch, but she would malign his character all day if it helped Rowan be free of him.

Rowan stayed quiet for a long time. Jane slipped her fingers out of his and flexed them, waiting for the burning to return but it didn’t. She rested them in her lap and waited.

“I was foolish,” Rowan said at last.

“No. You—”

“I never should have trusted Larch. I was a fool.”

“You trusted someone who took advantage of you,” Jane said, quoting back to him the words he’d said to her as they’d walked through the forest on the way to Sunshine’s den. “He is to blame, not you.”

Rowan paused, blinking. “Axe was so sad when I left. He tried to hide it, but I could tell.”

“And you never went back?”

“No.”

Tears pricked her eyes and her throat tightened. “We should go back to him. Axe was happy to see you when we visited his den.”

“I know.”

“Has he been waiting for you this whole time?”

“I think so.”

Jane put her arms around him and hugged tightly. “Give him one more chance,” she whispered. She studied his face. “Please. I can’t stand it if you won’t.”

Rowan stroked her back and kissed the top of her head. “I will.”

Relief settled over her, a calm surety that things would go right now. Jane closed her eyes and let him rub her back. His bare chest was warm against her cheek.

“What are you going to do about Elle?” he murmured. When he spoke, his words vibrated against her ear.

“I wanted your opinion. Larch said there’s a place here where she could learn, but I wasn’t sure about bringing her back here or letting him be involved. Rose said she could send him away.”

“Is that what you want?”

“I don’t think I trust him with her yet.”

He didn’t reply but his touch soothed her and she knew he would support her decision.

“This place she can learn in—the forge. Is it... it’s not underground?”

Rowan’s arms snaked around her and squeezed. “No. I know it. It’s on the north side of the enclave and open to the sky. She’d never have to enter the caverns.”

“Would we live there?”

“You could stay in the treehouse village. But I think Elle would want to sleep out there with Sunshine. You know Sunshine would keep her warm and dry.”

“I know.”

“And you could stay out there too, if you wanted to be near her. Sunshine wouldn’t mind.”

“Would you come too?” Jane asked tentatively.

“I’ll go wherever you want me to go.”

She pushed back against his hold to consider him. “I want you to be wherever I am. But only if that’s what you want. Just so we’re clear.”

His eyes reflected the candlelight, shining with life and muting the dull bruises around them. “That’s what I want.”

“You don’t think you have to do this? That you owe me something for the past?”

He smiled. “I’m ready to let go of the past if you are.”

Jane smiled back.

The flame reflected in his eyes flickered and then sparkled. He glanced up. Overhead, tiny twinkling lights appeared, one after another.

“What are those?” Jane whispered, and her words ended with a yawn.

“Those are the cavern lights. They come on in the winter when the fairies are living in their rooms down here. Rose must’ve asked Snowdrop to light them since we’re here.”

“Snowdrop?”

“She was sweeping in the passageway.” Rowan slid Jane off his lap and onto the cot. She missed his warmth immediately. He stood to blow out the candle.

The room dimmed and the tiny lights dimmed too. They took turns pulsing like stars.

Jane yawned again, covering her mouth as Rowan turned. He reached a finger toward the splint on her wrist. "You’re injured,” he said.

“It’s not bad.”

He stared a moment longer but didn’t comment. The winking lights deepened the silence but made the room comfortable and friendly.

“You should sleep.” Rowan gazed down at her.

“But I left Sunshine in the backyard.” Jane yawned again. The blankets were so soft.

“Was she pacing on the grass and incinerating the laundry?”

“No, she was sleep— Oh. You’re teasing me.”

He smiled. “She’ll still be sleeping tomorrow.”

“What about you? You’ve been awake longer than I have.”

“I plan to sleep too.”

“Here?” She tilted her chin up and lifted her brow hopefully.

“Yes, Jane.” He brushed her bangs off her face. “Lie down.”

He helped her pull back the top blanket and climbed onto the cot beside her. The lights were dimming again, and as she sank into the bedding and Rowan’s heat warmed her side, her eyelids were already slipping closed.

“Not too lo-o-ong,” she murmured over a yawn as the blanket covered her. Rowan kissed her cheek and pulled her body into his. She blinked her eyes open but the lights had gone out, and in the close and quiet darkness she drifted to sleep.