“If you don’t come back to the Keep, then I’ll be right. And every time you see me, I’ll be insufferably smug.”
“And how’s that different from now?”
He laughed. “You’ve only had a small glimpse of how insufferable and annoying I can be. As the older brother, it’s my birthright.”
Leif mounted Rusalka and galloped away.
Valek and Yelena walked with Kiki toward the north. Toward Ixia. He held her hand, not sure if he should encourage her to return home with him or discourage her. In the end, he decided not to say anything. He would answer her questions, but she needed to make her own decision.
“Valek. What did you say to Alea?”
“I told her how her brother died.”
She remained quiet. Was she mad that he’d killed Alea?
“We had no time to take Alea with us, love. I wasn’t going to let her have another chance to hurt you.”
“How do you always know when I need you?”
Valek gazed at her. “I know. It’s a part of me like hunger or thirst. A need that must be met to survive.”
“How do you do it? I can’t connect my mind to yours with my magic. And you don’t have magic. It should be impossible.”
Valek thought of how she crawled into his heart whenever she needed him. He didn’t care how it worked. He was just grateful it did. “Perhaps, when I feel your distress, I relax my guard and allow you to connect with me?”
“Perhaps. Have you ever done that for anyone else?”
“No, love. You’re the only one who has caused me to do the oddest things. You have truly poisoned me.”
She laughed. “Odd, eh?”
Yes, like sweeping her off her feet and ravishing her until the morning. “It’s a good thing you can’t read my mind, love.”
“Oh, I know what you’re thinking.”
She stepped into his arms and dipped her hands into his pants. Then she raised an eyebrow.
“I can’t. Hide. From you,” Valek panted.
Kiki snorted and moved away, giving them some privacy.
* * *
Valek was in no hurry to rejoin Ambassador Signe’s entourage. And Yelena hadn’t decided what she wanted to do. So, instead of riding Kiki, they walked through the plains in a northerly direction.
“Tell me about meeting your family for the first time,” Valek said one afternoon, as they relaxed on the sand eating lunch. The Sandseed clan had been leaving them small caches of food and water. Kiki found them all.
“I was terrified. Mogkan had suppressed my childhood memories. Six years gone. I had so many doubts. What if they’re not my family? What if they hated me?” She gave him a wry smile. “The Zaltana Clan—my clan, lives in this wooden village up in the tree canopy of the Illiais Jungle. It’s amazing. Living areas are connected by rope bridges, and it has multiple levels. My cousin, Nutty, learned how to climb before she could walk.” Yelena laughed. But then she sobered. “When I first arrived, they brought me before the entire clan. I wanted to hide and then, when I thought it couldn’t get any worse…” She winced at the memory. “It did. Leif, my only sibling, pushed to the front and told the entire clan that I had killed, that I reeked of blood.”
“That bastard. Did you knock him out with your bo?” Valek asked.
“No. I was mortified and wanted to hide behind Irys. She defended me and chastised Leif. Said she reeked of blood as well. But I guess as Fourth Magician, she’s allowed.” Yelena huffed. “Leif’s magic is unusual. He can smell a person’s intentions and detect lies. It’s useful for interrogating criminals, so he works with First Magician Roze Featherstone at the Magician’s Keep.”
“What do your parents do?”
“My father, Esau, enjoys experimenting with the jungle’s bounty. He collects vines, leaves, fruits, plants; basically anything that grows in the jungle. He makes furniture with the vines, medicines and salves with the plants; and collects flower petals for my mother, Perl. She invents and distills perfumes from them. Apparently, when I was five, my favorite was her lavender perfume.”
“Shocking.” He deadpanned.
