by Eden Reign
Only Jackson had known. And the fountain had been Julia’s one concession to her truth, her place. It had broken his heart to see it in pieces after the battle.
Jackson opened his eyes and wiped away the hint of moisture the memories had brought.
The fountain had been rebuilt, but unlike the original, no part of it was made from any stone or material substance.
The woman stood, whole, rising from the center with her arms outstretched over her wide skirts, empty palms facing the skies. She was cast from glimmering, static water that looked like glass. Streams of moving water flowed in a circle, forming her skirts and falling into a wide, clear basin, also cast from the motionless, glassy water. It had to be water. But Jackson didn’t understand how they had accomplished it.
“It’s beautiful. It’s—like nothing I’ve ever seen!” He circled the fountain, pulling Manda and Grey with him. “How did you do it?”
“Manda showed me how to make the water’s energy go still,” Grey said. “You have get quiet inside, and you ask the water to be quiet, too. Look—I made this part here.” He pointed to a protrusion in the moving water captured by the wide basin. Three glassy fish leapt out in perfect, still arcs. “They’re us,” he explained. “Like our special indigo plants up in the north field. See, one big one for you, Papa. One medium one for Mama. And a little one—that’s me. We’re minnows.”
Jackson chuckled as he studied the fish. Manda gripped his hand with one of hers and put the other in front on her waist.
“In some months, you’ll have to add one more, Grey. A little baby one.”
Jackson whirled to face her. Grey grew still at the fountain’s edge, his grey-blue eyes like full moons.
“What do you mean, Manda?” Jackson rasped, taking both her hands in his.
“I mean Grey’s going to have a little brother or sister. We’ll have another minnow to add to our family. A little Coal minnow.”
Jackson pulled Manda into his arms. Grey gave a whoop and splashed the water of the fountain in excitement.
“My happiness is complete,” Jackson murmured to Manda. “I deserve none of it, but your Good Waters have seen fit to bless me, and I can only accept whatever grace they bestow.”
“You deserve all of it, Jack,” Manda murmured, cupping his cheek and pulling him to kiss her. “Every drop of happiness.”
She turned his attention back to the fountain, where Grey was dancing in a circle, throwing sparkling drips of water in every direction. “It isn’t finished,” Manda said, gesturing at the fountain.
“But it’s beautiful,” Jackson said. “More beautiful than the original. And you kept the woman’s likeness.”
“Your mother,” Manda said. “I recognized her from her portrait.”
“This fountain is a truer expression of who she was. A watermage. But fear of my father always forced her to keep that secret. She was a spandrel, you see. She was born into a firemage family, but the element that came to her through the Wells was the Eternal Ocean. She could not access the Eternal Flame.”
Manda nodded. “That explains so much about Coalhaven. Ever since I’ve come here, I’ve wondered about the strength of the water element here. The fire is strong, too, but one expects that, given the masters have always been firemages. But the water—I wondered. She infused this land, this place, with her love and her power. Coalhaven is not only a place of fire. It is both. Fire and water.”
Jackson nodded. “So it is. The water and the fire, together, they make up the heart of Coalhaven.”
“Our haven,” Manda murmured. “But the fountain needs one addition to make it whole.”
“What’s that, my love?”
She pointed to the figure’s outstretched, empty palms. “A touch of fire.”
Jackson released his wife and approached the fountain. Grey stepped back, watching with a big smile as he clutched the edge of the basin. Jackson studied the figure of his mother. Manda was right. The instinct of magic told him what to do as he reached for the Wells, pulling two pure handfuls of the Eternal Flame into his own palms.
Carefully, reverentially, he leaned over the fountain to place the two flames into the figure’s empty hands.
As he released the fire, the fountain transformed. Its substance, that had once been a glassy, watery blue, ignited. The figure lit up from within, and the water cascading from her skirts took on edges of flame that illuminated the growing dusk. Near Grey’s frozen minnows in the basin, ripples of fire gamboled among the fish. Jackson flicked his hand, and a single flame rose from the water, spread out, and formed a floating magnolia bloom.
“For Lige,” he said softly. “In remembrance.”
“Now it is complete,” Manda said behind him. “A union of our magics and our elements.”
“And you, my River Running, are the current flowing through it, making Coalhaven’s return—making my return—to life possible.” Jackson’s heart brimmed. This was all he ever needed. His wife, his boy. A safe haven. A monument dedicated to those he’d loved and lost. Memories to shape the future into something better and brighter. A future that could encompass the past, but also rise above it.
Manda stretched onto her toes as he took her in his arms and kissed her, his lips as hot as flame, hers as cool as water.
A white magnolia bloom drifted down from above, splitting into petals that wafted around them before settling at their feet.
THE END
A Message from the Author
Thank you for reading!
What did you think of River Running?
I would so appreciate it if you would leave a review for this book at the your favorite book review site. Word-of-mouth and reviews are the best ways for indie authors to gain readers.
Thanks so much!
-Eden
Acknowledgments
The purpose of National Novel Writing Month is to motivate writers to step beyond their comfort zones, but RIVER RUNNING pushed those boundaries even more. Jackson and Manda's story was planned and written in three weeks' time! Granted, a year and a half passed from first keystroke to the final nit-picky edit, but the time was nothing, because this book baby was worth waiting for. There are so many people to thank for their part in bringing RIVER RUNNING to beautiful life.
Members of the Shenandoah Valley Writer's Critique Group, especially: Elizabeth Kipps, Miriam Beckwith, Anne Tjaden, Regina Rushing, Christy Gill, and Allison Garcia.
Flashdogs and contributors to the former Flash Friday! weekly contest, namely: Nancy Chenier, Rebekah Postupak, and Deb Foy.
Beta readers: Tabitha Daniels, Christine Kam-Lynch, Taryn Kloeden, Mark King, and Meg Layman.
Friends and Family: Morgan Vega, who has seen Eden at her most frantic, Tim Shoemaker, who has seen Eden at her worst, Brady Wedman, who has seen Eden at her best, the three munchkins who somehow make it into all acknowledgments because they're so cute,
And to God, who holds this imperfect, cracked creation in His hands and makes use of it anyway.
Coming Soon
Look for the next installment of the Indigo Elements Series by Eden Reign, coming in 2019.
OLD HOSTILITIES.
NEW DIVISIONS.
FRACTURED LOVE.
Also by Eden Reign
Coming Soon
Two competing composers make unlikely allies against a deadly intrigue that threatens their world. Love, music, and magic collide in this 18th-century fantasy romance with steampunk touches.
Look for The Eighth Octave in Summer 2018!
About the Author
Eden Reign is the author of the Indigo Elements series, which includes River Running, Wind Winging, Ember Emerging, and Sand Singing. She has also written the Solmari Suite Series, featuring The Eighth Octave and following novels. She writes primarily romantic fantasies set in times that evoke earlier eras, and in which she includes–as often as possible–her favorite color (indigo) and her favorite treat (chocolate eclairs).
www.edenreignwrites.wordpress
.com
[email protected]
RIVER RUNNING
Published by Luminous Creatures Press
Copyright © 2018 by Tamara Shoemaker and Emily June Street
Kindle Edition
ASIN: B0792G84MG
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction.
No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
Cover and design by EJS for Luminous Creatures Press
Map by Emily June Street
Image credits:
Beautiful young sexy girl in a dress and makeup, summer trip on a yacht with white sails on the sea or ocean :© @ Selenittt (Olena Molchanova) via Deposit Photos
Beautiful girl with evening makeup and elegant hairstyle: © @ Slava_14 (Svyatoslava Vladzimirska) via Deposit Photos
Indigo blue hand drawn seamless border vector image: © Yashroom via Vector Stock
Watercolor blue frame with flower pattern vector image: © Homobibens via Vector Stock
Masquerade Mask: © @choreograph (Константин Юганов) via Deposit Photos
Created with Vellum