Page 28 of Where the Shadows Land (Garden of Hope #1)

ASTORIA

A storia hadn’t slept alone since she invited Mairuk into her bed.

She hadn’t done much of anything alone, really.

Her body ached, but in the best way. Mairuk fussed over her injuries in between burying their shafts as deep in her as they could.

Her wounds healed much faster than they should have.

Even a healer in the temple couldn’t have patched Astoria back together so fast. Yet, each morning she woke, the wounds from the harpies healed more and more.

Mairuk supposed that their continuous fucking and their spore in her system helped her heal.

Still, they tended to her wounds twice a day and didn’t allow her to lift much of anything.

Who knew her monster was such a mother hen?

She smiled as she watched them prepare a new set of logs for the wall.

A few more days of work would complete the wall.

Astoria found herself excited for her new home to have that layer of protection.

Mairuk waved their hand and a flicker of light glimmered in front of their palm, then it vanished .

Astoria opened her palm and closed it several times.

She hadn’t tried to access her magic at all since she ran.

The Goddess may have freed her from whatever binding held them together, but using her magic still made her palms sweat.

She only ever used it on purpose to heal Damien, to move a few logs, and to sing to the garden boxes.

Every other time it came out of her and she changed her shape to that of a fox, it happened against her will.

Her magic was the source of so much of her shame, but each time she watched Mairuk use theirs, it shimmered in her chest with something like hope.

She never learned how to wield it. Never practiced.

Out here in the Garden of Bostrai, there was no king who would kill her or her sisters. No priest or priestess would shame her. Astoria was free to practice this magic that always hummed inside her, but gods, she didn’t know where to start.

“Mairuk?” Astoria called.

“Yes, our vixen?” Mairuk’s voice wrapped around her mind like an embrace, despite their distance. They rarely called her by her name. They claimed her as their vixen and, for a reason Astoria didn’t understand, the hint of possession made her stomach flip and thighs clench.

“Are you willing to teach me about the Orsea ?” Astoria asked.

“We cannot promise that we will be a good teacher. There is a reason we did not work with the sprouts.” Mairuk turned to her and closed the distance. They wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her from her perch on the garden bed. “We will try, though. Show us what you know how to do.”

They traded places with her, placing her feet on the ground and taking a seat on the side of the garden bed.

Astoria took a few steps away and called her magic into her hands.

It wanted to reach her. It wanted to sing with her, but the song of it was so quiet from years of neglect.

A small flicker of pale green light appeared in her palm and waited for directions she did not know how to give .

“Each time I have used it in the past, I was desperate.” Dark memories filled Astoria’s mind.

Her father fell down a cliff in the woods near Leilan, and she tried to heal him.

She was fourteen, then. Her magic was not strong enough to save him, and in her grief, she shifted into a fox for the first time.

She tried to remedy the Rending Sickness that took Damien.

If Lord Bethan hadn’t sent healers to watch her work, she might have learned how to save him.

She simply did not have the time. Every shift was forced by her body when she felt the need to run.

“I have only used it in a positive space once.”

“When you fed these garden beds,” Mairuk said.

“Yes, though I wasn’t trying to do anything.”

“Start there. Breathe and let your magic flow however it would like.”

Astoria shook out her nerves and inhaled slowly as Mairuk instructed. Her magic hummed the song of all living things, the beat in perfect cadence with her heart. She held her palms to the sky and let her magic flow from her chest and down her arms and into her fingers.

“Keep going,” Mairuk urged, their voice soft in her mind.

Astoria followed Mairuk’s command and pulled back the layers of control further with each breath.

The Song of Life grew clearer in her spirit and vibrated through the marrow in her bones.

The small flickers of power in her palms grew and the soft ring of magic tickled her ears.

It carried the scent of fresh spring air and fertile soil as it poured from her palms.

Mairuk’s muscular arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her close against their body. Astoria gasped. Her magic flickered, and Mairuk tutted. “Focus, our vixen. Keep your eyes closed, and see if you can sense our magic.”

Astoria took a deep breath and relaxed in their hold.

Her magic fluttered up into her palms and she focused on Mairuk.

Their scent, the way they felt, the sound of their voice.

Her magic buzzed against her palm, then she heard it.

Mairuk’s magic. Their song was similar to their voice, a chorus instead of a soloist, and low.

Their magic was a force of nature, as grand as a mountain and as beautiful as the Bounoss Bay. “I feel it.”

“Good. Follow our magic with yours,” Mairuk said, their voice soft.

Their magic reached high above, and Astoria sent hers after it, shooting high into the sky.

With her eyes closed, Astoria focused on the tug of Mairuk’s power.

Their magic fell, and hers followed suit, chasing theirs as it spun around the two of them.

Sweat pricked along her brows, but the more she let her power flow, the lighter she became.

Mairuk released their magic, and Astoria did the same.

She opened her eyes and looked up. Her pale green magic fell in small particles alongside Mairuk’s turquoise power.

The small motes of light flickered around them and fell to the ground like colorful snowflakes.

Astoria giggled as she took it in, leaning into Mairuk as their magic faded back into the aether.

“Excellent work, vixen.” Mairuk kissed the top of her head and her skin there tingled.

“What is the purpose of that exercise?” Astoria asked.

“It serves two. First, it adds some positive memory to whatever darkness surrounded your previous magic use. Second, it teaches you flow. We will practice like this for a week or two, then we will teach you more complicated magic.” Mairuk tucked a strand of Astoria’s hair behind her ear.

“The forest speaks to you and in time, you will learn how to reply.”

~

Astoria palmed the dagger Damien gave her, the fox on the pommel warm from her continued fidgeting.

Mairuk followed close behind her and Bastian ran off ahead through the underbrush.

Winter slowly let go of the slumbering world, but a chill remained, despite the bright sunlight that poured through the sparse canopy.

Shortly after her lesson in Orsea , Astoria had to go hunting.

Mairuk offered to come with her to help her carry some larger game back, but Astoria wasn’t convinced they weren’t concerned about her running off again.

Though they smoothed things over, there was still a large gulf between them.

Trust was slow, but it built the more she worked at their side.

Perhaps they needed this as much as she needed their help.

They wandered deeper into Ardelok lands, farther away from Bostrai than Astoria usually went on her hunts. Over hunting in one area was a concern, though, so she followed Mairuk’s guidance through the dense wood. They walked for about an hour in companionable silence when Mairuk broke it.

“You made this armor?” Mairuk asked, their voice low in her mind.

“There is no one I could have traded with around here, is there?” she replied.

Mairuk huffed behind her. “We may not tear it off of you, then?”

Astoria stopped in her tracks and turned, gaping at Mairuk. They didn’t speak much in general, and neither did she, really. Both were content with the quiet but, since they started sharing her bed, Astoria realized her monster had a filthy mind. She knocked her hand back into their chest. “No!”

Mairuk chuckled and cupped her rear in their hands. “What a shame that is.”

Astoria rolled her eyes and laughed softly. “If I had better leather working tools, I’d consider it.”

“Noted,” Mairuk purred.

The light, playful energy between them sent Astoria’s stomach into flips and she danced out of their reach before she did something stupid like kiss them.

She needed her mind sharp, no matter how much she wished she could peck them without getting higher than the clouds.

The terrain took a hard decline, not too steep but enough that Astoria needed to watch her feet and didn’t have the time to think about Mairuk’s gentle touches.

Bastian cried from the small valley below her, the sound sharp and terrified. Astoria searched the underbrush and when she found him, she broke out into a full run. “Bastian! ”

Mairuk’s thundering footsteps didn’t lag far behind her as she tore downhill.

She reached Bastian and her heart leaped into her throat.

An iron trap with several sharp spikes caught Bastian, each point digging into his small, fluffy body.

Astoria searched the forest floor for other traps, but struggled to see through the tears in her eyes. “No, no, no!”

She dropped to her knees, but Mairuk caught her before she hit the ground. A stick found the center of the trap and it snapped closed, right where her knee would have hit. Mairuk tossed the trap off to the side and Astoria fell to the ground, searching for the release of the one that held Bastian.