Page 29

“Come on, it was fun last time, right?” he asked.

I took his hand and smiled, remembering that Litha evening, dancing and laughing together, before it all went wrong.

“It was fun last time,” I said, and he led me to the dance floor.

The inside of my chest glowed, and my head swam from the alcohol.

My waist was crackling lightning where Byrgir’s hand occasionally rested.

We spun and stepped, twirling about the dance floor.

As the tempo increased and the feet of dancers pounded, I reveled in Byrgir’s closeness, the warm spice scent of him.

It helped keep the sadness at bay. We stepped in time with the tune, moving with increasing vigor.

I couldn’t help but laugh as Byrgir spun me in close, twirling me into him with an expression of mock importance and seriousness, as if he were part of a royal court dancing at a ball.

Then he wrapped an arm behind me and dipped me low over his leg.

I was swept up, weightless in his grip, as we grinned at one another.

I followed his lead, and for a moment we waltzed around the dance floor with an air of stately confidence.

We locked eyes and both laughed, falling back into the fast-swinging step of the music.

I was elated to be in Byrgir’s arms, to move like this with him again.

I forgot it all. Forgot Eilith, forgot the attack on our home, the sight of Garmr crushing that man’s throat, the taste of blood hot in my mouth. I was safe here. Safe with him.

“You’ve gotten better since last time,” I teased.

“I’m not as drunk this time!” he joked. “Or wait, maybe I’m more drunk?”

I laughed. “Does drinking improve one’s dancing skills?”

“Usually. You haven’t noticed?”

“I only ever dance drunk, so I don’t know if I’m better sober.”

He laughed. “Fight better sober, dance better drunk. That’s my rule.”

“That’s not a rule, it’s just a thing that you do.”

“Alright I was lying, you caught me –– I fight better drunk too,” he joked. “Which reminds me, we need to get you in the training ring tomorrow.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Even after this?”

“Oh yes, Little Lamb. Especially after this!” He spun me fast and pulled me back in close.

The hour grew late and the dance floor became less and less crowded as dancers either left or became too intoxicated to continue.

We spun and whirled until I could hardly keep up anymore.

Finally, we flopped down at our table at the end of an upbeat song and clapped for the band.

El and Crow were already there. El’s face was even more red than usual after all the dancing.

“Do you still want to visit the river?” Byrgir asked me, leaning closer.

“Now?” I asked. “It’s really late.”

“It’s beautiful at any time,” he said. “And I promised you last night we’d go see it today.”

“Alright, lead the way then, tour guide. Do you two want to come?” I asked El and Crow.

El waved a hand drunkenly. She had one elbow propped on the table and was leaning hard on her hand. Even in this state, she was more poised and elegant than any human I knew. “I’m exhausted. I’ll see you back at the house.”

“And I’m going to make sure she gets home and doesn’t spend the night in the bushes,” Crow said, helping her up.

We made our way out into the night. The spring air was comfortingly cold on my skin after working up a sweat dancing.

The warm orange light of the tavern patio and larger square perfectly complimented the ethereal blue glow of huge mushrooms that towered in alleyways and leaned out from tree trunks. Fire and ice.

Our feet thumped on the wood of the bridge over the river, planks worn smooth with the footsteps of thousands of years.

We walked to the crest of the arch and leaned on the railing just downstream from the spiraling fountain.

Blue and orange light danced on the water’s surface as the spring-swollen current whooshed and rumbled on the labradorite stones that rose from the river around it.

I could feel the power of it all, the magic concentrated in that spire of water, those imposing dark stones.

It thrummed through me, begging me to answer the call, to impose my will on its potential.

“It’s stunning,” I said.

“It is,” Byrgir said. “Can you feel it?”

“It’s all I can feel this close to it. You can feel it too?”

He nodded. “I’m sure it doesn’t feel the same to me as it does to you. But I can feel it. I know my way around Source too, you know.” He smiled that disarming smile. My heart pounded.

“You mentioned you use it when you fight?” My inflection turned the statement into a question.

“Yes, just in a different way. Nothing as flashy as all those spells the real Sourcerers use.”

“And is that usually drunk or sober? I’m confused about this rule of yours.”

He chuckled, and the low rumbled of it was delightful. “Alright, settle down. I don’t fight drunk that often. At least not anymore.”

“More than one good tavern brawl in your past though, I bet,” I teased.

He smiled and shrugged. “You know, sometimes when you really master a skill, you’re always looking for a chance to show it off.”

“Is that why you always make me dance with you? Just showing off the skill you’ve mastered?”

“Mastered? Wow, you think I’m that good?”

“Alright, now you settle down, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“But that’s how you said it. And no, I make you dance with me because I enjoy dancing with you.”

His blatant compliment caught me off-guard and I fumbled for a witty response, but the truth came out instead. “I enjoy dancing with you too.”

Our arms touched where we leaned on the railing.

“How did you learn to dance?” I asked.

“When I was learning to fight. It’s a great way to improve your footwork, and more fun than just running drills. Did you dance much, growing up?”

“Not a lot. I always enjoyed it, but I didn’t get out to many bonfires or parties. We lived far from town, and my father was always too worried to let us go out much.”

Byrgir nodded, eyes on the fountain in front of us. “It’s getting a lot more dangerous outside the villages than it once was.”

“How long did you live here? Before you moved to Skeioholm?” I asked.

“Until I was nine,” he said, eyes on the spiraling water. “We left when my father died. My mother couldn’t stand to be here without him. But I’ve always had friends here, El and Crow, and others. And when I was old enough, I came back to join the Ironguard, like my parents.”

“Your parents were Ironguard? I thought your father died in a shadowfiend attack?”

“He died defending a village from shadowfiends as a Keeper. He and my mother were both in the Ironguard, but she was a Ranger. When he died, she was devastated, and terrified. She retired from the ’Guard that day.

Said she couldn’t risk leaving my brothers and me all alone.

So we left, moved to Skeioholm, bought a small steading that my older brothers ran, and she learned silversmithing.

My brothers used the profits from the steading to buy her a small workshop.

I helped work the steading until I was old enough to join the Ironguard. ”

“How does she feel about you being a Keeper now?” I asked.

He shrugged. “She hated it at first. We had a bit of a rough time for a while. I know she was just scared to lose me, and I think I made it worse with my shitty teenage attitude, you know how it is. But she has accepted it now. I took the post in Skeioholm to be closer to her and my brothers, and it was a pretty safe place to be. After I moved back there she didn’t mind it so much anymore.

I think she sees how well-suited I am for it.

And I like that it keeps me connected to my father, in a way. ”

“I’m sorry about your father,” I said.

“Thanks, I am too.” He was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Do you ever think about going back home?”

“Sometimes,” I said. “I miss my sister and my mother. I’m sure I’ll go back eventually, but I need some time to figure things out first.”

“Why did you leave?” he asked.

“I had a fight with my father. Feels stupid now, honestly. But we fought, and he told me I’m not his daughter and he didn’t want me in his house anymore. So I left.”

“I’m sorry, Hal.” He placed his hand gently over mine on the railing of the bridge. My heart contorted in my chest with painful intensity.

“Do you think I could stay here after we get Eilith back?” I asked. “I’d like to keep training in Sourcery. And fighting, if you’ll teach me.”

“Of course.” He smiled down at me. “There’s a place for you in Rhyanaes as long as you want. And I heard El gave you the best room. I wouldn’t be in a hurry to leave that either.”

“She told me she never lets you stay in it,” I said.

“That’s true, but I can’t think of any reason why, other than to get under my skin.”

“Maybe she just likes me more than you,” I said, shrugging in mock innocence.

“Alright, Little Lamb,” Byrgir said, “you’re clearly drunk and it’s late. Let’s get you back to that fancy room of yours.”

He slipped an arm around my shoulders and placed his hand on the back of my neck to steer me towards home.

My core erupted with desire, and my heart pounded.

I leaned back into his touch ever so slightly.

But I did not look up at him, didn’t allow myself to think of inviting him up to that peaceful, private room.

Not while I wasn’t sure of his history with El, and of my place with all of them.

Instead, I fought to quell the longing raging within me as we walked home together through the glowing streets of Rhyanaes.