“Calm, child,” Tor’en said from the driving bench. Dipping his chin, he made a faint nod at Aida’s hands.
Blue fire traced her hands, streamers of it sliding over her skin in broad strokes. Gasping, she shook out her arms before wedging them under her backside. Turning her horrified gaze to her knees once more, she feared what she would see on Tor’en’s face.
“He has as much interest in her as he does that bull ox, Lir.”
The gruff amusement in Tor’en’s words brought a flush to Aida’s cheeks. She had no claim on Er’it, and to become jealous of the other woman’s attention was beyond ridiculous, to be so obvious with her emotions even more so.
“I do not know what happened in those woods, child, but whatever it was… Well, that is conversation for another day.” Tor’en arranged his lanky frame on the bench, his long legs stretching out over the top of the front boards. “Worry not about his attentions, though. His eyes only have one prize in mind, and it is not Endi.”
Her unconscious scoff had Tor’en peering over his shoulder with a shaggy brow rising. Another wave of heat spread over Aida’s face as she crowded closer against the heavy trunks at her side.
“You have issue with that?”
“I have no choice in the matter,” Aida snapped, hating the limpid sympathy in his warm brown eyes.
“I dare say that is the most idiotic thing I have heard recently. Aside from every other word from the boy, mind you.”
Aida’s brows scrunched together, looking to Zaec as he climbed onto the driving bench. Lips parting, she tried to find the words to chastise the old mage for such cruelty. Zaec seemed a decent young man, holding no ill will toward Aida for all the havoc she’d wrought.
“Not him,” Tor’en said, his guffaw ringing through the morning air as he slapped Zaec on the back with good humor. “This one has a good head on his shoulders. Knows to lose touch with the earth is to cut your soul from the Hat’or.”
Zaec grunted at the impact, but his cheery smile gave no hint of anything but geniality. Chuckling as he took up the reins, Zaec spoke from the side of his mouth so as not to be overheard by the warriors lining up around them, “Spoken like any old earth mage.”
“We are constant and never ending, my young friend. What is the flow of water, the breath of air, the burn of fire to that, I ask you?”
“Water wears away the rock,” someone called out from behind them.
“Air does the same,” another shouted.
“Pah, we guide water and take it back in the end. Air merely hones the sturdy rock to the sharpest point.” Tor’en wagged his eyebrows at Aida, his grin bright and wide despite her narrowed gaze.
“And fire?” she asked, not daring to raise her voice above a trembling whisper.
“It destroys everything in its path,” Er’it said as he rode up to the cart on Kal. Words near lifeless, they had an effect on everyone near enough to hear them, a stillness settling over them all as their collective gazes found Er’it and then scattered to any point far from him.
Acting as if he did not notice the reaction, Er’it allowed Kal to tuck his broad nose between the stacks of crates to nudge Aida. Peering up the silvery length of Kal’s face, she caught Er’it watching her as she stroked Kal’s cheeks in greeting. Wondering at the dull gleam in the amber of his eyes, she offered a hesitant smile… and regretted it in the next instant when he tugged Kal’s reins, turning them to the head of the line.
Letting her breath out in a quiet sigh, Aida settled back into her corner. Ignoring the looks and the swell of murmurs following in Er’it’s wake, she tugged a heavy pelt over her upraised legs and watched the trees as they began to move. As afraid and confused as she’d been, Aida wished she were in the dense forest once more. Things were different out there in so many ways. Not the least of which was Aida herself. As if being surrounded by all these people sapped what little will she possessed, she made herself smaller with every slow mile they traveled. Crammed tight against chests, she hid beneath the dark pelt despite the rays of the sun warming the air. It was all she could do not to burrow beneath the stack of furs completely.
Even when hunger gnawed at the empty pit of her stomach, she remained shivering beneath her covering. Cold sweat beading on her brow, damp curls sticking to her cheeks, she peered out at the forest from beneath her heavy cloak of fur. The very air wavered, ripples of energy smearing the bright greens of lush vegetation to the putrid grays and blacks of rot—some trick showing a façade of vigor and health. Lip curling, Aida found herself across the cart, wedged between stacks of crates to view the passing trees that much better. She could feel the decay as slime along her skin, oozing down her back and dripping from her fingers.
“Is it them?” Tor’en asked, words pitched for Aida’s ears alone, though he did not turn his smile from the mountains bordering their other side.
Annoyed at the distraction of his voice, Aida curled tighter against the heavy wooden panels, her white-knuckled grip holding her steady as Lir dragged them over the dips and swells of the packed dirt. The long-abandoned road remained true despite the drifts of weeds and grass sprouting wherever they could take hold. No saplings or bushes grew to overtake the dusty path. That alone caused a shudder to ripple down her spine. There was something so wrong about the picturesque scene that it disturbed her on a level she could not even name.
“Answer me, girl. Is it the raiders again?”
“No! Leave me be.”
“Tell me what you see.”
Her growl petite and throaty, Aida snapped her gaze to Tor’en. Whatever he saw there widened his eyes. Back stiff, he leaned away from Aida’s hunched form. A rough clearing of his throat brought him back, his bony knuckles a pale fawn as he held on tight to the back of the bench.
“Breathe, girl,” Tor’en said, chest rising and falling in a deep breath as an example. Bushy brows coming together over the bridge of an aquiline nose when Aida did not follow him, he leaned forward a scant handspan. “You cannot control your power, and we cannot afford to lose any more on this journey. Tell me what so disturbs you, and I will do my best to help.”
“You do not want to help me,” Aida said, baring her teeth in a snarl. Anger building within her breast, clogging her throat with burning ash, she wanted nothing so much as to be away from them all, to do as she did before and heal the dense trees. She would give it all of herself, every drop of her blood and soul to make it whole and free again.
Aida screamed as arms came around her. Kicking and clawing at her unseen assailant, the anger burst free. Sizzling through the air in wild arcs of scalding cerulean, sparks drifted to hiss against the dirt in shades of sky and sapphire. Brought flush against a wall of heat, the thunderous rumble enveloping her commanded her compliance. Drawing her muscles slack with every rolling resonance, it left her limp as the scent of cedar and musk invaded her every sense.
