Reeve’s eyes traveled down her neck and chest, where those darkened veins ran wild. “I don’t see anything other than a warrior,” he said softly. “One that has fought for her life, and for those she loves.”
He took her hand in his, examining the bright-white scars across her palm from slitting it open again and again.
“A warrior does what they must in a moment’s notice.” He lowered his lips against the palm of her hand. “You have never been afraid to fight. That is what I see in your scars.”
Maeve’s eyes traveled to the thick white line across his own neck. The one she knew to be from an unsuccessful, but should have been fatal, blow from Shadow. She sipped the water once more.
“I saw something in Shadow’s mind when I was with Mal,” she began.
“Oh,” said Reeve, “you mean when you weren’t answering me?”
Maeve sighed, a sigh that took too much energy, and said, “I’m in pain, I don’t want to be lectured like a child.”
Reeve shook his head, no trace of his playful or flirtatious demeanor. “When I ask if you are alright, I expect an answer.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Reeve’s hand lifted, his fingers brushing up her arm in a caressing motion. “Tell me what you saw.”
“I saw her at Vaukore, like the other memories, but this was. . . different. There was an army of Magicals, Dread Magicals, that were there to kill all the students who possessed Shadow Magic. All except her. The soldier holding her captive said the king wanted her alive.”
They sat in silence, mulling over Maeve’s words. She looked away from him and put her attention back on her leg. She spoke first. “She had to watch the boy she loved die by order of the Dread King.”
“Careful,” said Reeve, “there’s sympathy slipping into your tone.”
“Not sympathy, Reeve,” she argued. “Understanding. From what I’ve gathered, she went to Vaukore at a time when Shadow Magic wasn’t permitted to be used freely. She and Nevian and the others werethere with special permission to learn Shadow Magic. But, even in her memories of Vaukore, they weren’t wholly welcomed. They ate in a different hall. They didn’t sleep in the dorms like I did. I don’t think they were there to study Magic. I think they were there to be studied.” Maeve shifted her leg, groaning. “I’ve been so preoccupied shifting through her memories in classes and lessons, I never thought it would be helpful to. . . look at her life.” She paused, her mind on the day she’d released Shadow onto Mal. “Why was it my blood that released her?”
“She was sealed with blood Magic of my own. Foolish Magic. The spell I placed sealed her away unless an offering of Shadow blood was made. I believed her to be the last of Shadow Magic, just as we all believed. Until I came face to face with it once more.”
“When did you learn that I was of Shadow Magic?”
A sorrowful look overcame him. “When I met your mother,” he said softly. “When she was carrying you.”
Maeve stared down at the space between them.
“I prayed you’d never come to be,” he continued. “And yet here you are,” he smiled. “Defying my will with your mere existence wasn’t enough, it seems. You had to become bonded to me and restart the very war I ended once already.”
Maeve met his eyes. “Well, you did a terrible job ending it.”
Reeve laughed lightly. “That I did.” Then he asked, “Did you get into Malachite’s mind?”
Maeve nodded gently. “A fortress. One it's unlikely I can break.”
A long breath rose through Reeve.
“That doesn’t mean I’ve given up,” she continued.
A soft smile pulled at the corner of Reeve’s lips. “You never do.”
She found it impossible not to find comfort in his praise. Her mind traveled back over the battle.
“How is it the Senshi are still yours? You traded them.”
“No,” said Reeve. “I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did,” she pressed. “I felt the transfer of Magic. I felt the Enslavement Curse move into your Magic’s hold. I felt the Senshi Warriors move into his.”
“What you felt,” said Reeve gently, “was the same Magic that they have been under for over three hundred years. Which is my Magic, in their blades, their arrows. But their allegiance to me was never bound in Magic. It will never be bound in Magic. Not as it was before.”
