Page 41 of A Kingdom of Magic and Rain

He wrapped his arms around me. “It will get easier.”

“Do you think that one day I will be able to strengthen the wards?” I lifted my head to look at him.

“I don’t see why not.” His eyes softened, and he added gently as if he didn’t want to upset me. “But you have just awakened your magic. Be patient. It will take time. Speaking of time. I had better return to the house for my meeting. Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you?”

“Carry me?!” I stepped away from him. Being carried in his arms would be too personal. “I can walk.”

He smirked. “Suit yourself, Princess. Let’s get you home so you can rest.”

As we began our trek back to the manor, I remembered that I had wanted to ask him something. “You said earlier that Lady May was like a mother to you when you were growing up. What about your birth mother? I know that your family had moved away from Zalie, but do you still keep in touch with them?” When he frowned, I added hastily, “I don’t mean to pry⁠—”

“You’re not, it’s all right. My family is very different from yours. Lady May has shown me more love than my own mother, and my father… He is a cruel and difficult man. We have never seen eye to eye.”

My heart broke for him at his admission. I wished that he could have experienced the same unconditional love and support I’d had growing up. “Do you have only one sibling?”

“Yes, my younger brother. We’ve always had a strained relationship. It’s nearly nonexistent now after what had happened between him and my former fiancée.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that about your family.”

“It is what it is. At least I still have Tom and Thea. They’ve been by my side all my life.”

“I’m glad to hear you’ve had such loyal friends along the way.” We walked in silence for a few seconds until I added softly, “You also have me now.” Self-conscious, I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze as I uttered the words.

“Then I have everything I need.”

December 21st

A smile playing on my lips, I breathed in the royal gardens before me. The sun rays danced across them as a warm breeze whispered through the bushes, rustling the leaves of various shades of green. Infused with a pleasant floral aroma, the gardens were a living, breathing thing as they hummed with activity. Multi-colored birds mingled in the trees, fluttering their wings and hopping from branch to branch. Some chirped happily in a repeating pattern while others trilled, adding their beautiful melody to the cacophony of sounds. Rabbits and other small animals scampered through the grass before disappearing under the shadowy cover of the bushes abloom with big, magenta flowers. The perfect harmony of the scene before me filled my heart with joy as I stood unmoving, taking it all in.

With Clairborne Palace behind me, I closed my eyes and turned my face up to the cerulean sky, basking in the warm sunlight. Taking a deep breath, I let the air empty out of my lungs slowly while I released the ancient magic into the nature around me. It seeped out through my pores, making my skin tingle, and settled into the earth under my feet. Intangible but potent, the magic molded to the trees and the bushes, penetrating the bark and soaking into the leaves. A soft exhale escaped my lips as I felt myself getting lighter, becoming an empty vessel.

Two strong arms wrapped around my waist and brought my back flush with a hard chest. The arms felt familiar, and the body behind me molded perfectly to my own, bringing me a sense of comfort. I let myself relax as the hold around my waist tightened.

“Is it done? Can we leave?” Adrian’s voice sounded next to my ear, his warm breath stirring the fine hairs on my temple.

“Yes.” I smiled as a feeling of peace descended upon me. My skin tingled again, but for a different reason, as I felt the pull of his magic on my limbs. The gardens around me dimmed and faded to black as the dip in my stomach told me that I was being transported to another world, different from my own.

“Where did you go?” My mother’s calm voice penetrated the haze of my mind.

“What?” I blinked and gave a slight shake of my head to clear my thoughts.

“You seemed far away, lost in thought. What were you thinking about?” Her curious gaze searched my face.

“I was thinking about the dream I had last night,” I told her before I turned back to the mirror.

We were in my room at Clairborne Palace, getting ready for the Solstice Ball.

“What was the dream about?” She gently brushed one of my curled locks over my shoulder.

“Adrian was in it,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. My face flushed as I met my mother’s knowing gaze in the mirror.

“I see,” she said with a small smile. “You and the lord have grown close over the past few weeks.”

“We have,” I admitted. “But not as close as we were in my dream.” Adrian had never held me like that. We had yet to achieve that level of closeness in real life, though we were heading in that direction. When I turned away from the mirror and faced my mother again, one of her brows lifted in question. I realized a little too late how what I’d said had sounded. “It wasn’t like that.” I turned several shades of red. “He held me in his arms after I”—my brows pinched as I tried to recall the aspects of my dream—“after I had transferred my magic into nature.”

“Oh? Maybe it’s a sign that you’re growing stronger.”

“I hope so. In my dream, I was in the royal gardens, and they were beautiful. It was a warm and sunny day…” I trailed off as my gaze stretched to the window, to the cold, gray sky outside.