by Lisa Daniels
Alex, who had been staring listlessly at the stone floor, replied, “You were worried. And you thought she was close to dying. And then you were offered a solution. They do tactics like that in the streets, lady. Nothing better to prey on than desperation.”
Meridas huddled closer to Alex, feeling squeezed by the moods of the two women, as well as an awful, encroaching helplessness. He should have been more suspicious. He should have refused. But… Natalie had been in tears, scared her mother was close to death’s door. And… how could he refuse that? How could anyone? Regardless of whatever past had been soured between them. At least she didn’t try to bleed him out of every circ like Keraline did. They just… genuinely believed they weren’t suited. Though there had been a lot of anger and tears, a lot of accusations flung his way. He still remembered Natalie throwing a brass clock at him as he ducked through a door, when he’d accused her of being too controlling when she should have been happy to give up the reins once in a while.
She didn’t have a great control over her temper. As was proven yet again when she chose to lash out and kill the people in that room, instead of seizing them to interrogate. Not that they could have gotten far if the mansion was infested with the enemy. With Zamorkan sympathizers. Who wanted their hands on Alex.
“Is the island infected?” he asked then, aware it might sound like an accusation towards her. “If this was the man who told you about it… then could you have been lied to?”
“The infection was happening before my mother,” Natalie said. “That was why it was easy to… to make the leap. I don’t know what to do.”
“Feed us,” Alex said, now rubbing herself in front of the freshly blazing fire. “Rest. No more going out in the storm. Just… calm down. Decide what we’ll do next.”
No argument countered Alex’s words. The woman somehow seemed far more mature than before. Meridas considered options, and all of them focused on one thing.
The Conclave of Zamorka had made it to the Six Isles.
And, for whatever reason, they halted in their plans long enough to try and include Alex in them. They had thought her important enough to risk converting, even without access to Meridas’ home. And they were certain she would convert. Why?
A horrible suspicion edged in him. What if this was all part of an elaborate plan, somehow? What if she was converted? Maybe they didn’t expect to die at Natalie’s jaws. Maybe they wanted to make it look like Alex was actually with them, when in reality, she wasn’t.
He hadn’t researched far into her parents but knew enough that she likely didn’t come from any of the exiled families. Which led to one thing. That she came completely from the enemy.
“I can’t believe that Xaria thought I’d follow her,” Alex said, hugging herself. The flames contrasted with the white light of the orbs, making her shadows dance on the floor. “Like they think they can just scoop me up after leaving me to die on someone’s doorstep. Like I wouldn’t develop friendships or alliances with other people. They mean nothing to me. Nothing...”
It sounded like she was trying to convince herself. As if she was afraid that something inside her would change. In that instant, his worries tumbled aside. No. She wasn’t trying to deceive him. This was genuine.
“I don’t know a lot about their values,” Meridas said, now daring to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Natalie glanced but said nothing. Her eyes were rather red. Meridas knew why. She thought her mother had been killed. So did he. No way would that woman allow her estate to fall into someone else’s hands. She’d die resisting to the end. Sad but true. He continued with what he intended to say to Alex. “But I do know that Zamorkans have a different concept of family. They believe strongly in blood ties. So I imagine they thought the blood tie would be enough for you. But of course, you were never exposed to the culture. So how would you know?”
Alex nodded, leaning into his touch slightly. His heart pulsed a tiny bit faster, enjoying the feeling of someone leaning against him, as if relying on him. It felt good. And as for it being Alex…
Well, he could think of worse people. Of course she wasn’t a traitor…
“There must be more to my powers than I thought,” Alex whispered then. “For them to want to risk speaking to me. I’m able to heal the Creeping Rot. I’m also… there was something else. I took away the woman’s magic, somehow. I felt it as something harming her, and was able to seal it up, so she no longer could access it. That was why she started acting as she did.”
Stealing magic? Meridas resisted the impulse to snatch his arm away from her, although he couldn’t stop the irrational thought. “Is this true? You managed this?”
“Yes.”
Natalie cleared her throat, drawing attention towards her. “Magic always has more to it. An air witch doesn’t only help with the currents. She doesn’t just have a sensitivity to the magic of the stones that keep our islands floating. She also can manipulate the weather if strong enough, as well as the temperature, and fly without the use of a ship.”
Alex appeared lost there. “I wish someone could teach me.”
“It’s okay,” Meridas said, now wrapping both his arms around her, giving Alex the opportunity to bury her face into his shoulder. She did so, and he relished the sensation of having someone close. Maybe not in the best of circumstances, but it made him realize that somewhere, he wanted this.
He wanted Alex.
Now was probably not the best time to mention such a thing, however. Natalie began rummaging through the cupboards under the faucet, eventually pulling out tins. Only a few decades old, since they started manufacturing steel in earnest, but those tins contained a wealth of food.
Not very fitting for people of their status, however, but Natalie had always been pragmatic. As she worked on cooking the tins of tomato soup, Meridas and Alex took the opportunity to use the bathroom separately, washing themselves down and changing into spare, dry sets of clothes, hanging their coats and old ones up to dry, leaving puddles underneath them. With a small start, Meridas realized the clothes he’d been given were ones he’d worn years back. Apparently she’d kept them. This scruffy-looking blouse with a button missing from the top, white and rough against his skin, and the black pants, made of a similar, comfortable material. Alex now wore a yellow nightdress with pants underneath which were slightly too big for her, but she’d insisted on wearing more than a “horrible” dress. Her underwire brassiere clearly underlined the flimsy material, and Meridas tried hard not to stare too much.
What these people needed, he thought, was direction. A purpose. Alex didn’t seem to trust herself. Maybe she didn’t trust Natalie, either, with how Natalie responded to the Zamorkans. As for Natalie… she clearly needed a direction, and fast. Before she did something rash.
Sitting around a small rounded table, slurping at their soups as a new storm wailed outside and the fireplace worked hard to keep them all warm, he pushed with his plan to rally them together.
“Let’s talk about what we’re going to do when the storm abates. When we’ve rested. Should we go and ask for help from any of the other islands? Do you want me to contact my father and throw in aid? Do you need shelter, Natalie?”
The dragon woman barely touched her soup, though Alex devoured it with enthusiasm. “I might need time to move the assets out of my home,” she said, doing a thousand-yard stare at the distant wall. Planning for disaster. “And perhaps I’ll need to become a refugee once more. I’ll need to investigate what happened to my mother...” She took a few deep breaths, fighting back emotion. “And then take it from there.”
One more slurp later, Alex lifted her clean spoon in the air. “Aren’t we still going to look into this island core or whatever to see if it can be cured?” She flushed slightly at the attention of them both. “I mean, I thought that was the original plan. Help your mother, and then go and inspect the core, see if we can do something about whatever’s influencing it.”
“That was before we discovered Zamorkan saboteurs o
n the island,” Natalie snapped. “Likely they’re the ones doing it, spreading their disgusting magic and destroying everything. It’s that Conclave of Zamorka at it again. Just like in Jarithas.”
There was a small pause, before Alex said, “Well, can’t we… stop them?” Her elbow now rested against the wooden table. One eyebrow was raised. Natalie let out a small, derisive laugh.
“No magic user would want to be within a thousand miles of the Creeping Rot if they suspected it. And I don’t see non-users exactly lining up for the job.”
“Yeah, I’m hearing nothing but excuses,” Alex said, voice suddenly flat, expression falling into stone. “Look, I don’t know about you, but I still intend to look at this magic rock and see what’s up. After I’ve had sleep, of course.” She finished off her soup by lifting the bowl up and tipping the liquid into her mouth. “You think this Creeping Rot is Zamorkan or whatever?”
“Yes,” Natalie said, while Meridas said, “No.”
Now both women looked at him.
“The Zamorkans are just as afraid of the Creeping Rot as any other magic user,” Meridas said. “They wouldn’t be above using an opportunity when presented to them, but I don’t think the Rot is them. I mean, I considered it… but really, they could have sabotaged us long before with it if they had control. We’ve had issues with them in the past.”
Silence remained between them for a few moments. The wind created an odd, moaning noise that caused the hair on the back of Meridas’ neck to prickle. Something about the darkness and the wind and lightning made him think of how it might be to witness the end of the world. Maybe it would be like this, all storms and cold and dark. Maybe they’d all be huddled together, eking food out of tins and contemplating nothing but bad choices.
Although he wasn’t completely off-put by the company. Elicia would be a nice addition—she’d find a way to scrape a delicious meal out of nothing, to bring assurance when he himself felt very little. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with his statement, but the women’s silence went on a little too long.
“Yeah,” Alex said, no longer making him feel like he’d somehow done something wrong. “That makes sense. Not that I know much about the history other than what Narl’s said. That woman—she was horrified when I took her magic. I doubt she’d want to be involved in anything that targeted her specifically because of her magic.”
Natalie regarded Alex, drumming her long, sharp nails on the table. Alex stared hopefully at the soup, until Natalie pushed it towards her. “Okay, witch. You can go and check out the core when you can. I’m not coming with you, but I can entrust some of my non-magical servants to you to help take you down there. If you can cure it, then you’ve saved thousands of people from needing to lose their homes or potentially dying from the Rot. I, in the meanwhile, will continue my investigations into these Zamorkans,” she spat, anger flashing in her dark eyes. “I’ll make them pay,” she whispered.
Alex bore an expression upon her face that was the visual equivalent of “calm down, lady,” and Meridas’ lips twitched in a partial smile. The first real one he’d experienced in the last few hours. “You’ll have your vengeance, I’m sure,” Meridas said. “But first, we need to sleep.”
* * *
Waking up, there was something warm and solid tucked beside his body. It fit snugly, with his knees cradling the rear and back thighs, and the figure’s legs running down the rest of the way.
Recognition came back, and he registered the figure as Alex. Her hair tickled his chin, and one of his arms was draped over her stomach. Warmth radiated from every part of them that touched under the sheets. Trickles of sunlight came into the open room, illuminating the start of a new, stormless day. He made to move out of bed, then decided outside the covers was too cold, and resigned himself to staying locked to Alex’s body. It was soft, and warm. Her hair smelled like Natalie’s favorite shampoo, some floral scent he never bothered to find out the name of. Masked by that was her natural scent, something that made him think of wet soil and the aftermath of a storm.
Or maybe that was just the scent coming from outside. Either way, he closed his eyes, enjoying breathing in her fragrance and the sense of her warmth. He wouldn’t mind staying in this position for a while. Just to close his eyes and focus on the bundle of warmth and life spooned by him. And probably not to think too hard on the fact that his hips were in a slightly suggestive position, leaving him quite free to—and there it was. He quietly moved himself so that she wouldn’t have to experience his erection now happily rising to the occasion—but his own movement caused her to stir and awaken, breaking the tranquility.
His hand still managed to remain on her, however, and she took note of it sleepily as she turned over and tilted her head to look into his eyes with her own. It took her several more seconds, it seemed, to register that she was in bed with Meridas next to her, and her eyes widened slightly.
“Oh, right. I remember,” she said. “I said I was cold, right?”
“Yes. And I was going to sleep on the floor, and Natalie on the sofa bed she had—but you provided me a great opportunity to have some more comfort in the night.”
Examining the floor, she shrugged. “Well, I can’t blame you. I’d want to take any excuse possible to sleep in a bed as well.”
Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice his erection, so he got away with that potential embarrassment. But the way her eyes now caught a couple slices of sunlight, making them a brilliant green—they were both beautiful and eerie at the same time. Green eyes just weren’t natural. He preferred hers when they were darker—but still, he could appreciate everything about her in that moment. He wasn’t that discriminating.
“Our first time sleeping together,” he said, raising an eyebrow to complete the image he wanted to give off. To her credit, she only flushed slightly, before smiling back.
“Let’s hope it’s the first of many. I could do with a nice heat generator on those cold nights.”
“You could, could you?”
“Sure. I mean, it’s not like a certain lord would want to target anyone below his station… right?”
Okay, she was steering this from light to heavy in an eyeblink. He processed her words, his own emotions floating. How exactly did he feel about the situation? He knew somewhere he’d been getting more attracted to her than initially expected. He knew he wanted more times like the little games they played together on a quiet afternoon, taking him from the stress and worry of everyday life. He knew his father would pop a vein when finding out about Alex…
But since when did his father’s opinion really matter?
He’d ignored it the first two times with his wives. Sure, those relationships didn’t exactly work out, but they’d all been his choices. He did feel a vague sense of guilt in that maybe he should start respecting his father’s decisions a little more… but his father didn’t particularly care about anything that didn’t benefit him in some way.
To storms with it. “Who says you’re below my station? Who says that you’re inferior? Not me.”
“You remember saying that you didn’t care if I died, right?” Her eyes became glints. “And I was treated as a servant to be used.”
The conversation now suddenly felt like it was running away from him, and he adjusted himself nervously under the bedsheets. “And that was exactly how I felt at the time,” he said, deciding to be brutally honest. “You meant nothing to me. I needed to find someone to save my sister. And you were a tool—a means to that end.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “It was only after I stopped needing to worry about my sister that I could think a little clearer. I could start being nicer to you. Grateful to you. But I didn’t think anything much on it, until...”
“Until Vash planted the idea in your head that we’d be a couple?” Alex’s lips twisted into a smile, but it didn’t seem particularly warm. There was something bitter behind it.
“Well… yes. But it was more like...” How to say this…? “It was more l
ike she made me realize that my, uh… goodwill towards you might actually be a little more than just goodwill. And then when I realized that, it started invading my head. Didn’t want to go away.”
The smile on Alex’s face softened, and her eyes became thoughtful. “Oh. That makes sense.” She seemed rather mollified by his answer, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief. “I mean, I’m still not happy about the start of everything… but I suppose I can hardly expect anything else. I do hate you for one thing, though. Narl.”
“What’s he been doing?” Meridas said with a smirk, feeling wonderfully light for some reason.
“He’s just a terrible teacher. He keeps expecting me to know things that I obviously don’t know. I wanted to tell you about him before, but you seemed busy, and I guess I didn’t want to draw more attention to myself than needed.”
“He’s supposed to be one of the best tutors in the isles!”
“He’s probably okay if you’ve been born and raised in the isles,” Alex said wryly. “He’s just very bad at teaching people who don’t have the knowledge he thinks they should have.”
“Hmm.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully, trying to see if her words made sense. He supposed Narl was a little fixed in his ideas of how the world worked. And the man had never seen a single poor person in his life, as he was usually educating children of the lords. They normally got other servants to train those lucky enough to win the lottery or to be scooped up for whatever reason. “I suppose I can find someone else to continue your education.”