His gaze flicked around and locked on something behind me as his brain worked through it. He tugged down his shirt sleeves and tucked a hem that had come loose back into his waistband. “I will talk with Jessandra.”
I kept a straight face. He knew we butted heads, but I was certain that Mergle had a bit of a soft spot for that pain in my ass. I could feel his energy shift as he thought about being in her presence.
“Calista will adapt,” I muttered, more to myself than Mergle. She had no other choice, and I needed to believe that she could.
“She will, Your Highness,” he said as he brushed dirt off his pants and fixed his shirt again. “Things will be set right.”
I rolled my eyes and continued our journey home. “Stop primping.”
“Appearance is expectation.”
“We spent the night fighting and running from creatures, crawling into spider infested holes, and wading through sucker ponds.” I reached over and plucked one of the slimy offenders off his neck. “Our appearance,” I sniffed my shirt and grimaced, “and smell are a telltale sign that we need bathed and rest. Nothing more.”
Up ahead, near the market street, Jessandra rounded the bend with purpose. From this distance, she didn’t look any better than us.
Mergle ran his hands over his head to push down stray hairs. All he accomplished was rubbing a clump of mud through it.
Calista’s image formed in my mind. Magic pooled around me, and I reached out to connect with the wishing stone. This time, instead of feeling a jolt, I felt a measure of resistance that I pushed through. Her emotions cascaded over me. She was lonely, tired, and hungry.
Mergle jumped to the side when a portal ripped opened in the blink of an eye in front of us.
“Expectations will bring you misery,” I said and stepped through the portal to chase my own.
I came out inside the guard tower near the courtyard where she sat. The guards leaned against the wall, splitting their focus between their returning brothers and Calista. After her little escape heist, they didn’t budge from the gate.
I leaned against the window, taking refuge in the shadows so she wouldn’t see me and leave. It brought me little comfort compared to the stone around her neck, and even that was iffy as of late. She should never have been able to use it against me,yet with one wish, she commanded my entire being. It seized me, stripping me of control physically, then emotionally. I had no idea what to do or what she would or could do to me with the aid of the realm. The only thing I could think to do in that moment was put as much distance as possible between us. Although I knew it was a lost cause, I went in search of the pixie. It was a failed distraction attempt.
As the sky changed, I learned how to bypass the stone and tap into the realm to feel Calista. Her volatile emotions ebbed out through the realm, creating discord throughout all life. I spent the better part of the morning watching her from the guard tower and learning how to soothe her through the stone. Eventually, her emotions leveled out and the chaotic energy settled back into the peaceful flow we were accustomed to. All but her hunger. That I could remedy.
