“We’ve met,” Herrick said sharply, his eyes searching her face before he stepped out of the doorway and from effectively blocking their exit. “I won’t keep you.”
****
Herrick paced the magic room in agitation. She was just below him with Eli. He’d always gotten along with the protector before. But seeing him pay so much attention to Madelen was intolerable. He simply couldn’t watch without exposing the draw. So he locked himself within the magic room to torment himself where no one could see.
Coming across the two in the training room had caught him by surprise. Seeing Eli leaning over the prone form of Madelen had sent the draw skyrocketing. He kicked a stool against the wall. Girls within the Keep were drawn to Eli and his pretty features. But Eli was devoted to being a unicorn keeper and protector.
Even his mother had commented on how dedicated he was when he’d first been chosen as a protector. They had a high turnover rate when they were that devoted. No sense of self preservation in him. But Eli was as good a fighter as he was devoted.
And he’d picked Madelen out of this class to train. Why?
Herrick turned to look at the scrying mirror. He could peek and see what they were doing in the library. His mother often used a mirror to watch the charges within the Keep. He took a step toward it before stopping. Nothing was going on in the library. It was his own dirty mind tormenting him. Eli’s dedication wouldn’t allow improper relations between himself and Madelen. It would be the same as standing idly by and watching a dark creature slaughter a unicorn.
“Get ahold of yourself,” he whispered between clenched teeth and dropped down in the chair behind the work table. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing calmly.
****
The mage lights burned brightly within the library. Eli had spread scrolls across the largest table in the center of the great room. Which they had to themselves. She didn’t know where the others had gone, but was glad to not have them watching her. She also wondered, if being a protector was so important why was Eli training only her?
“Eli?”
He brought over another scroll and spread it out in front of her. “This is a magdorn. Nasty little guy.”
He looked like a contorted frog and she bit her lip to hold her question in.
“What?”
“Why am I the only one training as a protector?”
“I told you. The unicorn chose you as one. I should have realized it the first day when so many of them walked by you without reacting. I assumed it was the other direction.” He shrugged. “Protector isn’t the only duty of the unicorn keepers. There are also observers. You have to have incredible eyesight to be a watcher. They patrol the perimeter and keep an eye on the wall. Any weakness has to be reported right away. They’re often the first to see a creature coming in. There are usually two watchers in the valley at a time.”
“How many protectors?”
“One.”
“Only one?” She bit her lip. That meant he fought by himself.
He grinned and patted her on the back. “Not as many of us.”
“What about the other two keepers within the valley?”
“Caretakers. They make sure the valley’s functioning as it should and watch for the first sign of illness within the unicorns.”
“They can get sick,” She turned to him in surprise. “But they’re magical beings. Can’t they heal themselves?”
He shrugged. “Occasionally, a unicorn becomes ill. The caretakers try to heal it as best they can.” He frowned and ran his hand through his shaggy hair. “But it’s always been a lost cause. They make the unicorn as comfortable as possible before death comes.”
She stared at him unable to grasp the idea that a unicorn could die. The magic coming off them was so palpable as to be a physical force. If they could heal others with a touch of their horn, why couldn’t they heal each other?
Eli began to roll up the scrolls. “It’s getting late.”
She glanced to the high window and sure enough no more gray clouds just blackness. They had worked through the evening meal. She helped him roll up the remaining scrolls and followed him out of the library.
“Come with me,” Eli said and led her down into the kitchen. A few cloth bundles were set out on the counter. He picked up two and handed one to her. “Meals to go.”
She fidgeted with the bundle uncertain of whether she was being excused or would also be eating with him.
“We’ll meet directly after breakfast. Can you find the training room on your own?”
She nodded, fairly certain she remembered what hallway he had taken.
“Then I bid you goodnight.”
Eli left her as quickly as he tended to do everything. She exited the kitchen at a more leisurely pace walking in the non-flickering mage light until she reached her room. The door was open. Had she missed curfew? No one waited for her as they had the previous nights to lock her in. Perhaps Eli’s selection of her to train would prove even more useful than learning to protect the unicorns. Maybe Marta trusted her again.
11. KISS
Eli trained with her all day for the next two days. She didn’t question why he wasn’t down in the valley. She needed to absorb as much as she could in the short amount of time she had. The clouds continued to threaten that time was short, but the promise of snow had not materialized into actual snow. According to Marta, it was unusually warm and all it did was rain and rain.
Each weapon served a purpose. Some creatures could only be killed by a single weapon within the cabinet. For others any weapon would do. She made a cheat sheet. Copying the creatures’ pictures from the scrolls to her own and writing down the name of the weapon used. Time compressed around her. There wasn’t enough.
Evening was drawing closer and she was being tortured with the swords again. How she hated the swords.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Eli weighed the sword in his hand and gave her an evil grin. “Always ask the questions, Madelen, it’s how we learn.”
“Why are all the keepers young? The ones who go into the valley that is.”
He lowered the sword. “Noticed that, did you?”
She shrugged.
“That’s good. Most trainees don’t notice until their best friend leaves. Being a keeper takes a lot out of a person, even those who only stay within the Keep. Some keepers aren’t as watchful as they should be and a dark creature takes them out. Others have run away in fear. I don’t know what happens to them. The mages recruit every couple of years, but try not to go to the same villages so they don’t appear to be taking as many as they do.”
She considered what he said. “Why do we have to be between ten and fifteen years?”
He glanced away from her before looking back. “It’s the pureness test. Less likely to get as many of us if they wait much longer, but any younger than ten and you can’t handle the physical aspect of it all.”
“How old were you when you were brought here?”
“Eleven.”
Her jaw dropped. “You trained to be a protector when you were eleven?”
He shrugged. “As I told you, the unicorns choose who’ll be a protector.”
“But.” She thought of Cris who she hadn’t seen very much, trying to avoid her so she wouldn’t realize she wasn’t Madelen and blow her cover. She couldn’t imagine Cris in here, hefting swords and throwing poison darts.
He suddenly moved, swinging his sword. She raised hers to block his blow and gritted her teeth against the impact as it moved down her back.
****
The rain had turned into a depressing drizzle. She ate her dinner alone again, but didn’t return to her room this time. Instead, she sat just within the Keep walls on the mages’ patio. She could barely see the valley below, but she watched for any flash of white. The snow hadn’t come and she hadn’t heard a call from the unicorn colt.
A scuff of a boot warned her she was no longer alone. Somehow she knew who it was before
she turned. Herrick stood a few feet away.
Manners dictated she should stand and bow to him, but at the moment she was too tired to care. She nodded her head to acknowledge him before turning back to the night instead. He was always watching her anyway. She’d caught flashes of him the last two days and had wondered when he planned on accusing her of not being Madelen. Something was bothering him about her. But she had no idea how to squash his suspicions. Eli had even noted this afternoon that Herrick seemed to be about a lot.
Herrick cleared his throat and stepped forward so he was in line with her. “Late dinner?”
She nodded, but again held her tongue, uncertain of what to say.
“He’s training you too hard.”
She glanced up, urged to defend Eli. “Protecting the unicorns is serious business.”
His lips curved. “He hasn’t been at his post for the last three days. How is he supposed to protect the unicorns if he isn’t down there?”
She frowned at the soft accusation. “He’s going down to the valley tomorrow.” She didn’t add that she would miss him and dreaded being put back into the regular unicorn keeper training class.
He looked back out at the night. “He spent his days off with you.”
She glanced at him, but didn’t ask the question forming.
It appeared she didn’t need to as he volunteered the information. “Keepers aren’t slaves, Madelen. You do get a few days off every month to rest or do as you wish. Interesting that Eli would choose to spend his time training you. He’ll still have to train you while working a full load. You’ll probably have to train with him at night. But you always were a night bird flitting around the dark corridors.”
She narrowed her eyes and considered what she should say to him. Because of his constant presence she had to be tested again. Even after the retesting, he was still always around. But this was the first time he had spoken at length with her since discovering her in the hallway with Sabrine.
“Are you trying to get me thrown out as a keeper?”
He looked at the ground. “Why do you think that?”
“You don’t like me.” She stared out at the black night. “I passed your crystal test twice. I passed the unicorn test twice. Yet, you still watch me as if I don’t belong here.”
She could see him staring at her out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her gaze firmly on the other side of the valley. Not that she could actually see it.
“I’m not,” he paused. “Do you know what a magical draw is?”
She shook her head and tried to remember if it had been talked about in one of the many classes she had sat through so far.
“Don’t worry. You aren’t supposed to. It’s exclusively within the mage traditions and lore.”
She stopped watching him from the corner of her eye and turned in confusion. Then why would he have asked her?
“There are those who believe that when two mages who are meant to be together a magical connection forms between the two.” He hesitated again. “We call it the draw. When it first appears it can be difficult for the mages to think of anything but each other. In time, they learn to control it, but have difficulty being apart for long.”
“You’re talking about love,” she said, thinking about Wilm and Madelen and what she had done so they could remain together.
“Similar, but not quite. It’s a magical connection. It feels physical.”
“What if one mage feels it and another doesn’t?”
He opened his mouth and then closed it. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. All the writings describe it as a mutual connection.”
She bit her lip trying to understand where he was going with his description.
His eyes were steady on her. “I feel a draw toward you.”
She froze in body and thoughts. “W-what?”
“Impossible you see, because you’re non-magical. A draw is only supposed to be felt between two mages.” As he spoke, his voice became stronger and more sure. “Yet it won’t go away. No matter how much I tell myself you aren’t a mage it won’t dissipate. And you don’t feel it toward me.” He shrugged and his lips curved without humor. “You’re not a mage and can’t feel a draw. So, I suppose you’re right and I have to wonder what other mages have done who felt a draw toward someone who didn’t reciprocate.”
She stared into his eyes and realized he was completely sincere in what he was saying to her. His testing of the crystal suddenly made sense. He was trying to prove to himself that she was a mage like him, but the unicorns had hidden her magic.
Criminy, she had magic within her. Did that mean she could have this draw he spoke of? She didn’t have feelings like that toward him. The type of feelings she had seen with Madelen and Wilm. But having magic didn’t make her a mage. What had the unicorns said, that most people had some sort of magic within them. That was why the mages had to travel so much to find their keepers. Finding people without magic was more difficult than finding those with magic.
“I’ve made you speechless.” He shook his head and dropped their gaze. “I apologize. I didn’t intend to make you uncomfortable, but I could no longer....No, I could have continued to pretend. I didn’t want to. Seeing you with Eli was...upsetting. Scrambled my thoughts for a little bit. Made me think it might be possible for a mage and a non-magic to have a draw.”
“I...” She stopped uncertain of what to say. She had been so focused on her task at hand, the task that would come before she was ready. She had shoved Herrick out of her mind as much as possible. He had occupied her thoughts too much when she had first arrived at the Keep.
“Don’t worry,” he breathed deeply, “I won’t speak of this with you again. This conversation didn’t help as I had thought it would. I’d thought....It doesn’t matter.”
She found her words then. “Of course it matters.” Except for the crystal incident, Herrick hadn’t done anything overtly unkind to her and had escorted her up the mountain. It had been others’ reaction to his continued presence, not him, which had caused her problems. “What did you think?”
He looked at her again. “That telling you would somehow release me.” He rolled onto his feet and crouched next to her. “But alas it hasn’t worked. I shall have to think on another solution. Perhaps a spell.”
“I’m sorry, Herrick,” she whispered, glancing down at her hands.
If she hadn’t been staring at her hands, she might have had a chance to react. But as it was he took her completely by surprise when his lips settled on hers. It was a quick kiss. He pulled back almost instantly and walked back into the Keep.
But it might as well have been an eternity for how much it affected her. She couldn’t react. Her fingers trembled as they touched her tingling lips.
The snow is coming.
She pressed her lips together and dropped her hand. He had kissed her.
Jiline!
She jumped and realized the unicorn colt was calling her. Biting her lip, she tried to force her thoughts away from Herrick’s kiss to the valley floor. Standing up, she walked to the railing.
The snow is coming. We will leave in the first light. You must come before then, but not now. The keepers are nervous.
She nodded. Though she was pretty sure he couldn’t actually see her.
Get some sleep now. You’ll need it.
She hurried to gather up the remains of her dinner and rushed back to her room.
****
Sleeping had been difficult, but she had tried as commanded before slipping out in the pre-dawn darkness to the protector training room. She wore her warmest clothes and cloak. The Keep was silent. Fear of being caught made her senses stretch painfully, but she quietly opened the weapon cabinet and selected the weapons she had already decided on.
Two poison darts, a short sword strapped to her waist, and a sharp flying disk. Her own knife was already in her small bag along with two food bundles she had grabbed and her cheat scroll with the hand drawings of the dark creatures. She tip-t
oed away from the training room to the entryway down to the valley.
The keepers below worried her. She shivered as she stepped out. The snow had arrived. Giant flakes fell on the top of the trail and the mage’s patio. Pulling the hood of her cloak up, she began the careful climb down. Amazingly, as she went the temperature rose and no snow fell on the valley floor.
She panicked, wondering if it wasn’t as close to dawn as she thought. Had she mis-timed it?
You are right on time.
She looked at the first row of trees. The unicorn colt waited for her. She ran to him feeling awkward with her bag and sword.
Come with me.
She fell into step beside him as he strode out. She had no idea where they were going in the dark, but somehow she didn’t trip over any branches or rocks despite not being able to see. The clouds effectively blocked out any moon or star light that might have guided her path. She glanced up at the sky. How could the valley not have any snow? She tested the ground. It had been raining for days. Yet the ground on the valley floor wasn’t muddy.
Our valley never gets more than a light drizzle.
She wondered why, but didn’t voice her question since the unicorn hadn’t told her it was safe to speak. They walked on in silence and she realized that the almost complete darkness was slowly lightening. They reached the place the other unicorns had gathered. They were still as statues and her breath caught in her throat at their beauty and numbers. She started to count them, but the unicorn colt distracted her by touching his horn to her head.
You are now ready.
She panicked. “No, I’m not.”
The unicorns all raised their heads.
Don’t speak. I can hear your thoughts. Yes, you are. He moved closer and sniffed. Come with me.
She followed him up a steep path. Thankfully it was no longer pitch black, but she watched the ground carefully as they climbed. It really wasn’t a path, but a spot the unicorn had picked to scale the hill. He stopped suddenly.
The barrier is there. It is weak. We’ve kept it so, but can not break it.
She had no idea what she was supposed to do.
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