No violent lightning etched its way through the glow, no surges of chaotic power. As steady and constant as the tide, it grew in measured rises that were imperceptible until the world seemed to be alight with it.
“Oh, Kal,” Aida murmured against his neck, heedless of the tears staining his silky mane of dove and ash. “It’s beautiful.”
Charging through the field on a creature as pure as the snow they churned, Aida found a peculiar sensation growing in her chest. Similar yet not at all the same to the one she felt under Er’it’s attention, the tightening around her heart contradicted the utter elation pounding through her veins—a need fulfilled despite the fear and constant worry plaguing her days.
It was a freedom of sorts, felt upon the back of a frolicking Phylix as his hooves flashed silver in the bright light of his own making.
Jaw clenched, Aida forced her spine erect, unfurling from her terrified posture. One she’d adapted so early in life, it was ingrained and would forever be her first reaction. As if in praise of her, Kal’s rushing charge became a steady run, balancing Aida’s weight as he continued to dart through the paddock. Body a sinuous line belying his muscled strength, he countered her awkward bouncing until Aida found the rhythm of his steps. High above the ground, the entire world a blur, she sat steady as the wind whipped around them with a glittering wash of light illuminating every inch of the frozen field.
This was what she’d been missing.
On impulse, Aida threw her hands into the air, gripping Kal hard with her thighs. It built within her stomach, a churning sensation that made her wonder if she might not be sick. Rising despite her growing trepidation, it swelled beneath her breast and caused her heart to hammer a wild beat that left her gasping.
The scream was primal, glorious. Head thrown back, her ragged curls snapping, Aida cried out to the drowsing sky, imparting a mere fraction of her joy as Kal’s speed increased once more and he wheeled and banked as a bird on the wing. With another breathless shriek, on the next thundering of hoof and heart, the world exploded into a kaleidoscope of colors.
Red, gold, blue, and all of it made cleaner and more beautiful than imaginable by the steady luminescence from Kal. Er’it’s surprised shout mingled with Aida’s laughter as she caught hold of Kal’s mane, lowering herself to improve his speed without a breath of fear. The trees and meadow were not much more than a smear of rioting iridescence, Er’it a pillar of sunset warmth amid the cold beauty of sapphire and frost.
In those moments, she didn’t fear the power painting her skin and flowing from her very pores, not as the forest’s eerie silence shattered with the squawk of birds and other fauna when the trees exploded in fresh growth. Months’ worth of heavy green leaves collected along the canopy for as far as she could see, tingeing sage and gold, russet brown and crimson as the freezing chill sucked at their budding warmth.
Fruits and nuts grew from insignificance to sustenance within the space of her breath. Falling to the forest floor in a quiet thunder with the hissing whisper of the drifting leaves, they’d feed a thousand mouths or more. Aida laughed, near hysterical in her delight, tears a steady runnel from the corners of her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.
There was no danger here, only life.
Kal bellowed in dismay as a wall of flickering firelight erupted before them. The red-gold streamers circled around them, penning Kal in place as Er’it slogged through the churned snow toward them, his brows drawn low and lips set in a hard line.
He said nothing as Aida stared at him with wide eyes, fear beginning to creep back to snuff out the azure glow. Clenching the reins, she flinched as Er’it set his hand upon the pommel and launched onto Kal’s back behind her with an ease she would forever envy.
“What am I to tell Tor’en when they pass this display,kou’vera?” Er’it demanded, one arm sweeping out toward the much-changed forest as the other tugged Aida snug against his front. “We will never hear the end of this.”
A line appeared between her eyebrows as Aida dared to peek over her shoulder, a single arch sliding upwards when Er’it’s lips twitched in something akin to humor.
“Already he loves the sound of his own voice, and now you’ve given him a wealth to dither on about.” Er’it shook his head, his chastisement lacking any real bite as his amber gaze warmed to a golden hue. “I shall have to punish you.”
Aida sucked a hard breath in through her nose as he said those words, but not in terror as it might once have inspired. She couldn’t be afraid, not as Er’it’s lips spread into a sly smile, his heavy-lidded gaze tracing a path from her reddened lips and down the line of her throat to her heaving breasts. Lungs releasing their chilled air in a shuddering sigh, she found herself leaning into his warmth. With her head tipped back along his shoulder to offer him her lips, Aida’s arm came up to encircle his neck as he claimed her mouth.
The difference in their size and the awkward position meant little as Aida let out a trembling moan. Er’it breathed it in, his responding growl vibrating through her while his hands clutched and grabbed. He tugged at the heavy layers of her clothes, his impatience evident in every twitch of his fingers as he sought naked flesh. In this, at least, she understood him, feeling every nuance of his body’s urgency, the vicious need to touch and be touched. Her hand worked its way beneath his collar, nails scratching at the broad expanse of his shoulder where she could reach. In this, she felt his equal, for her desire was just as desperate. The same maelstrom of emotions churning through her chest echoed within his, their hearts beating as one while their bodies sought to somehow get closer. Aida didn’t have to be cautious or mind her emotions during this, not while Er’it’s heat and skin called to her in a visceral song. Both their powers tangled with one another, flashes of vivid gold and icy blue blinding her behind her closed lids as she grew brave and her tongue swept between his lips in a shy dance.
A high-pitched scream broke the silence of the field, shattering the fragile beauty of the moment with the stark fear given voice.
Kal brayed, the echoing bass of his challenge rolling through the clearing and well into the trees. Between one bewildered heartbeat and the next, Er’it’s sword flashed through the frozen air while Kal turned to face the intruder head on.
“Stop!” Aida screamed, or she tried to. Voice lost in the tumult of sensation still coursing through her, the sizzling charge of it prickling along her skin, she fought to concentrate on the slip of a creature cowering in the snow.
Clothes torn and ragged, the young woman couldn’t be much older than Aida herself. The red-brown russet of her hair coiled around her head in a crown of thick braids, her tawny skin sallow against the stark white of the snow. Burdened by small packs, their contents of nuts and berries tumbling out, the poor girl whined as she dug her heels in to scuttle farther back.
Without thought, Aida clambered down from Kal’s back. More or less falling into a heap at his silvered hooves, she forced her sore legs to straighten and carry her through the thick drifts to reach the cowering woman. Smile soft and disbelieving, Aida offered a hand to help the woman up.
“Aida!”
“Please, they will not hurt you,” Aida said as the woman refused any aid. Looking back over her shoulder, Aida couldn’t find fault in her fear. Er’it had dismounted, his long legs bringing him ever closer. Face mottled red, golden eyes wild, he looked like a man possessed. Turning to the woman, Aida crouched and began scooping the lost bounty back into the bags. “It’s me he’s angry with. I will not let him harm you.”
Whether the woman believed her or not, Aida found truth deep in her words. For once, she didn’t feel so helpless, so at the mercy of everyone else’s whims. Jaw firming, she focused on pushing the freezing berries into the packs before the ice could steal their delicate lives. Already she wondered if she could control it somehow, to replenish any lost stores the woman had gathered. Perhaps Er’it could show her, or even Tor’en once he’d chastised her.
Aida snarled as Er’it grabbed her arm, upending the leather satchel she’d just finished filling. Ignoring his low growl, she twisted free of his bruising grip and dropped back into the icy cold to begin again.
“Who are you?” Er’it demanded of the woman as he stood over Aida’s kneeling form.
Aida could feel his conflict as if it were her own. He didn’t like that the woman had snuck up on them somehow, was angry at himself for having been caught out as well as at Aida for distracting him so. Not only that, but she now defied him in front of another, a possible enemy at that. The realization twisted through her belly, making it roil and churn. If he felt like this, it was no wonder he was so often dour.
