Water House

by Shelly Jarvis

  “None of that,” she said, stepping towards the wall beside him while Teague inspected Elaina. “Checking on our Healer?”

  “Yes,” he said, forcing a smile.

  “I didn’t know you were friends.”

  Beckett’s face softened at the words, as if Ros had struck on something that made him joyful and wistful at the same time. “We are. Teague and I are very close. I was quite concerned after his display this afternoon.”

  “It was something,” Ros muttered.

  “I don’t get it,” Teague said, cutting off their conversation.

  “What’s wrong?” Cassian asked.

  “She’s not responding to healing.”

  “She’s stopped convulsing,” Ros said.

  Teague waved a hand and said, “Her body stopped on its own.”

  “Maybe you’re not recovered from earlier,” Beckett said.

  “I’m fine,” Teague snapped. He ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh. “Sorry, Beck. It’s just, I can feel the magic. I know it’s working on my side. But Elaina’s body is rejecting it.”

  “Can I try?” Cassian asked.

  “Try what? Healing?” Teague asked, brows rising towards his hairline.

  Cassian shrugged. “Can’t hurt.”

  Teague stepped aside and Cassian moved beside the bed. He put his hands out like Teague had done, hovering inches above Elaina’s chest. Ros stepped forward to see what he was doing. She’d watched people using the Healing gift since she was a child, but they were all from Water house. Seeing someone from another house trying to heal felt strange, almost blasphemous.

  She stepped up beside him and whispered, “What are you doing?”

  Eyes closed, he smiled and said, “I don’t know. I’m going with my gut.”

  “Your gut says you’re a Healer now?”

  “My gut says there’s a connection between all this. Your dad’s disappearance, the strange patient, Elaina’s reaction when she was about to tell us about him.”

  “Can I help?”

  He opened his mouth to answer, but instead tilted his head to the side. “I think I’ve found something.”

  Ros watched as Cassian’s fingers twitched over Elaina’s body. Seconds passed while the room held a collective breath. A tendril of black smoke curled up from Elaina’s chest. Cassian moved his fingers as if to beckon it out of her and the smoke followed as he directed.

  Romenia’s hand covered her mouth and she gasped, “Dear gods, what is that?”

  But the only person who might be able to answer her was focused on pulling it out of Elaina. As the wisp of darkness left her body, it curled around Cassian’s hand and dissolved into his skin.

  Cassian stumbled back away from the girl and out the door. Ros looked to Teague and said, “Try now,” before following Cassian into the hallway. He was doubled over with his hands on his knees, gulping in air like he couldn’t get enough.

  Ros put her hand on his shoulder and said, “What can I do?”

  Cassian jerked up at her touch and lunged at her, pushing her against the wall. He pinned her arms above her head, holding her in place with his body. Ros felt terror rise in her chest as she stared into his eyes. They were that terrifying empty black she had seen before, and she knew the darkness had taken him.

  Chapter 16

  “Look at me,” she said, her voice shaking.

  Cassian’s eyes roamed up and down her body as his mouth twisted in a wicked smile. He licked his lips and said, “Oh, I’m looking. I’m seeing it all.”

  “Cassian, please,” she said. “This isn’t you.”

  At least, she thought it wasn’t. She’d seen a different part of him, a good part of him, and she couldn’t believe that this thing in front of her was the same person.

  He leaned down until his lips brushed her ear. Slowly, so slowly it sent a shiver over her body, he whispered, “You don’t know me, Princess. You’ve imagined another side of me to fit your narrative, to make me redeemable in your eyes, but this is the real me.”

  He ran his tongue up her neck and nipped at her ear. She squirmed against him and he growled out a laugh. He pulled back and looked down at her, his face contorted into someone she didn’t recognize.

  “You have to fight this. You have to come back to me,” she whispered.

  He winced at her words, his expression breaking for just a second. Ros felt his grip around her wrists loosen. She could see flashes of the real Cassian between sneers and growls. Little by little, he was coming out of it.

  “What the hell?”

  Rosalinde’s head snapped towards Larkin’s voice at the same second a blur of motion tackled Cassian away from her. Zandor and Cassian rolled across the floor, grappling as arms swung at one another.

  Larkin ran to her side. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

  “I’m fine,” Ros said. “It’s not what it looked like.”

  “He had you pinned against the wall, Ros. Don’t make excuses for him.”

  “Please, trust me. I’ll explain everything. Just help me get them apart.”

  The men were still scrapping and Ros wasn’t sure which was winning, if either of them. Larkin shrugged, unsure how to help. Ros took a deep breath and focused on her power. She didn’t need a tsunami, just a spray of water, and she couldn’t let it overwhelm her like before.

  Water dripped at her hairline as she stretched out her hand and released a jet of saltwater at the two men. They fell apart, rubbing the sting from their eyes as they struggled against the barrage.

  She felt Larkin’s hand on her shoulder and heard her say, “That’s enough.”

  Ros reined in the power, letting it fall away until there was only a trickle coming from her index finger. Cassian stood, his clothes dripping wet, a glorious smile on his face.

  “Brilliant, Ros, absolutely brilliant.”

  “Um, no, you don’t get to talk to her until you explain why you had her pinned against the wall,” Larkin said, stepping between them.

  Zandor joined Larkin’s side, wiping water from his face. He gave Ros a hurt look and she couldn’t tell if it was from the fact that she’d doused him with water or what he’d seen when he walked in.

  Before anyone could say anything, Beckett stuck his head out into the hallway. Confusion crossed his face as he took in the soaked men and palpable tension. He hooked his thumb over his shoulder and said, “Yeah, I don’t know what I missed out here, but Elaina’s awake.”

  Cassian stepped towards the door, but Zandor put a hand on his chest and said, “Don’t think this is over.”

  Cassian quirked up a smile at him as he slipped past. He grabbed Rosalinde’s hand and pulled her into Elaina’s room. Zandor and Larkin followed them in just as Teague said, “I don’t know what you did, but it saved her life. As soon as you got that stuff out of her, she was able to receive the healing.”

  They stepped to her side and Cassian asked, “Elaina, what can you tell us about the patient King Tancred came to see?”

  Elaina squinted up at them, shaking her head. “King Tancred? He sees a lot of patients. Which one do you want to know about?”

  “The one he came to see before he disappeared,” Ros said.

  “Disappeared?” she asked. “The King is missing?”

  Teague said, “It could be a side effect of the trauma she experienced.”

  “Or whoever did this to her doesn’t want to be remembered,” Cassian said.

  “You think someone did this to her?” Teague asked.

  Cassian nodded. “It wasn’t natural. At least not like anything natural I’ve ever seen.”

  “And you’ve seen everything, have you?” Zandor asked.

  Cassian rounded on him and said, “You weren’t here when it came out of her, so you don’t get to talk. But no, I haven’t ‘seen everything.’ I have seen enough darkness to know what is part of a person and what is magic.”

  “Wait,” Larkin said. “What came out of her?”

  Ros met her
eyes. “Darkness. A swirl of it that came out of her and went into Cassian.”

  Teague asked, “How did you handle it when she couldn’t?”

  “I’ve practiced controlling darkness since I was a child, so it doesn’t affect me as strongly. I was able to absorb what was in her, but even with my gift, it was out of my control.” His gaze turned to Ros and he said, “I am so sorry you had to see that, that you endured it.”

  Ros nodded. “It wasn’t you. I knew that.”

  “What we saw was a reaction from absorbing bad magic?” Larkin asked.

  Cassian nodded, but his eyes stayed on Ros. “I can’t apologize enough.”

  “Say no more,” Ros said. “You’re forgiven.”

  There was silence for a moment while the situation seemed to sink in to everyone. Finally, Zandor said, “Your mother said you were inspecting the room where your father was last seen. How did that turn into all this?”

  “We were on our way there when we bumped into Elaina. She was going to tell us about the patient Father was visiting, but as soon as she tried, she went into convulsions. And now she can’t seem to tell us anything.”

  “After the Night mage did some magic on her. Convenient,” Zandor said.

  Teague spoke up. “I’ll vouch for Cassian, if need be. I couldn’t help Elaina. If he hadn’t been here, she could be dead right now.”

  “Or maybe he was the patient and he used some dark magic to keep her quiet,” Zandor said.

  Cassian rolled his eyes, but it was Teague who spoke. “He wasn’t the patient. I know that without a doubt.”

  “How could you possibly know that? Weren’t you getting ready for the opening ceremony when the King went missing?”

  “I was,” Teague said, “and Cassian was with me.”

  “What do you mean he was with you?” Beckett asked.

  Ros looked between the two men. Beckett was clearly waiting for an explanation while Teague looked terrified to give one. She said, “He helped you set up the healings, right?”

  Teague nodded, seemingly grateful for someone else supplying the words. “I was struggling to come up with a way to show my gift. Healing isn’t glamorous.”

  “It’s important though,” Ros said.

  “Of course. But how do you show a crowd of people a gift that isn’t showy like the others?” He put his hand on Cassian’s shoulder and said, “And that’s where he came in. After breakfast, we visited the village and made plans. We were together until the ceremony started.”

  “He could’ve bewitched someone. Or maybe he has an accomplice,” Zandor countered.

  Cassian threw his hands in the air. “I realize you’re dead-set on making me the villain here, but I’m trying to help. So, you can keep accusing me, or you can throw in with us and help solve this mystery.”

  “I don’t give a damn what role you fill as long as Ros is safe, and I don’t think she will be if you’re around.”

  The two men squared off, clenched jaws and balled fists. Zandor had a few inches on Cassian, but Ros had a feeling if it came to a physical confrontation, Cassian would fight dirty. Still, she didn’t want to see the results of their egotistical engagement.

  She edged her way between them and said, “We don’t have time for this. We came here to survey the room my father was in, and that’s where we’re going now. Either calm down and come with us or return to the main castle.”

  Zandor took a step back from her as if he’d been slapped. It only took her a second to realize it was from her words: we came here, we’re going. Without thinking about it, she’d put herself on Cassian’s side of the argument.

  She glanced at Cassian and saw that he must’ve noticed, too. The corners of his perfect mouth were turned up in a delicious, victorious smile.

  Chapter 17

  Rosalinde let Cassian and Teague, followed closely by Zandor, lead the way to the other room. Larkin stayed in the room with Elaina while Ros walked behind with Beckett so she could put some distance between herself and the Night mage. She didn’t want distance between them, which is exactly how she knew she needed it.

  Ros had fallen for the wrong man more times than she could count. Usually it wasn’t serious: a crush on someone who conveniently forgot to mention he was betrothed, stolen kisses behind the barn with a boy who couldn’t keep a secret, too many nights with Alaric when she knew she couldn’t truly have him. But this was different. If she let herself fall for the wrong man, especially on the first day of the Great Match, she could end up choosing a bad husband and worse, a bad king.

  Out of habit, she took Beckett’s arm while they walked down the hall. He’d been quiet since learning that Cassian and Teague had spent the morning together. Still, she saw the way Beckett kept stealing glances of Teague. She knew that look, and though she didn’t want to force anything out of him, she felt she deserved to know what was going on with two men who could potentially become her husband.

  She decided not to mince words, asking, “How long have you been seeing Teague?”

  “Just a few months,” Beckett said.

  Ros smiled as realization dawned on his face. He clearly hadn’t meant to tell her, but had been too distracted to grasp what he was saying. His expression turned to horror, as if he was afraid of her response.

  She placed the tips of her fingers on his forearm and said, “Your secret is safe with me, if that’s what you’re worried about. Though I’m not sure why you want to keep it secret.”

  “If my father finds out…”

  “He won’t hear it from me, I assure you.”

  Beckett nodded. “He’s so set on using me to climb the social ladder, he can’t see that it’s not what I want. I’ve tried to tell him, but it never ends well.”

  Though Ros couldn’t remember much from his performance, she said, “You’re a talented Elementalist. I’m sure you could find favor with my mother, without trying to marry into my family.”

  Beckett winced and said, “I’m sorry.”

  Ros said, “I’m no fool. I know this isn’t a love match for me. But if you can have a love match, why risk it by entering the games?”

  “I didn’t have a choice. My father entered me, prepared my set for today, planned out the entire week, really.” Beckett smirked and said, “Two days from now, I’m supposed to woo you with my wit and charm.”

  Ros smiled. “I’m sure I would have been putty in your hands. But you know I can’t choose you, right?”

  He swallowed, his voice barely a whisper when he said, “I would be a good husband for you, Princess.”

  “I have no doubt. Still, you’re in love with someone else.”

  His cheeks flushed. “I don’t know if it’s love…”

  “Well,” she said, “you deserve time to figure that out. At the end of the week, I’ll request you to stay as my personal ambassador from Earth house.”

  “But there’s already an ambassador,” he stammered.

  Ros nodded. “For my father, yes, but someday I will choose my own. If I wish to have you stay on as a guest, I’m sure it could be arranged. And dear Teague will be here to help you get acquainted with castle life.”

  “You’re not going to send us away?”

  “Why would I send you away? Especially now that I know what an amazing Healer your boyfriend is. He’ll be the next head of the medical unit, if I have any say.”

  A wide grin broke across Beckett’s face and he beamed down at her. “You really are something, you know that? There’s nothing I can ever do to repay you.”

  “I don’t need payment for this or anything else. Just be happy. Don’t waste time trying to hide something beautiful.” She paused outside the room and said, “Actually, waste a little time. You’ll still need to be part of the Great Match through the end of the week.”

  They stepped into the room where Cassian and Teague were exploring every nook and cranny while Zandor watched them with unease. Ros knew that he wanted to protect her, but his attitude was starting to piss her of
f. During all the years they’d been friends, she’d never seen him behave in such a way. This side of him was at odds with the man she knew and was pushing her farther away, reinforcing Larkin’s advice not to choose him.

  She stepped past him and asked, “Find anything?”

  “No,” Teague said at the same moment Cassian replied, “Maybe.”

  He pointed to the wall where there was a single bloody fingerprint. Teague said, “Might not belong to the king.”

  “Do the rooms get cleaned regularly?” Cassian asked, his finger hovering right above the blood.

  “Of course,” Teague bristled. “After every patient.”

  “And this patient has been gone several hours. Why is it still there?”

  Before Teague could find an answer, Cassian grabbed Ros by the hand and pulled her to the bloody print. He held her hand towards it, keeping her fingers only an inch above it.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Trying to see if there’s a blood connection,” Cassian said. “If I’m doing it right, and if the blood belongs to your father, we should see…”

  He trailed off. He didn’t need to say anything else. The blood on the wall was moving.

  Chapter 18

  Ros watched the blood as it spun in a slow circle in front of her fingertip. She asked, “How are you doing this?”

  “The blood is responding to you, not me,” Cassian said.

  “But I can’t control it. I don’t know blood magic.”

  “Your father does,” Teague said.

  Ros glanced to Cassian and asked, “How do you know how all this works? More secrets?”

  He smirked. “Blood is your father’s specialty, secrets are mine.”

  “I guess you think that makes you sound mysterious?” Zandor asked, rolling his eyes.

  Cassian replied, “I don’t think it does; I know it does.”

  “Uh, guys,” Rosalinde said, interrupting their hostile banter, “what’s happening to the blood?”