Page 53 of Tides of Shadows

I let out a quiet laugh. He looked at me with satisfaction, pleased he’d managed to bring a smile back to my face.

“When you’re Regent, that’ll be your daily life,” I reminded him.

The smile vanished from his face.

“Maybe I should vote for Salvadore and grant him this misery.”

He took a deep breath and let a gust of wind sweep through the entire park. Leaves danced, water in the fountain rippled.

“You’re getting better at it,” I observed.

“This power. Since we started. It’s always there. Waiting for me.” He clenched his hands into fists. “But I feel that I’m only reaching the surface of it. That there is more of it, hidden.”

I studied him carefully. Maybe he was ready.

“You know what?” I stood. “Let’s do something fun. I’m bored anyway. Come on.”

I strode quickly toward the stables. Aidenar jumped up and caught up to me in a few bounds. We took two horses and rode out to the forest.

We left through a side gate to draw less attention and rode slowly along the forest path. The weather was perfect. Sunlight filtered through the canopy, the air smelled of pine needles and damp earth.

“Should I be worried, since we’re riding so far?” he muttered, one brow raised.

“Better not to take chances,” I said, smiling faintly.

We rode in silence for a while longer. Finally, I spoke.

“You’ll hardly need me soon anyway.” I kept my eyes ahead. “When I return to the islands, you’ll have to learn to control it on your own.”

“Return to the islands?”

“Yes. When the Gathering ends, after the Election. I’ll have no reason to stay.”

The words came out coolly, indifferently. But I remembered my kiss with Dricus and something inside of me twisted painfully.

Aidenar fell silent. He looked at me, then ahead again.

“You’ll just go? Run away?” he asked.

“Yes. Believe it or not, there’s a world beyond White City and your palace,” I said sharply.

“So, you’re still afraid to live for yourself,” he said quietly.

I tried to live a little more and got hit with a brick wall.

He stared at his horse’s mane, avoiding my gaze. The silence thickened between us until it hurt. All the thoughts swirled in my head: anger, shame, regret. Enough of this nonsense. I focused on why we came here.

We left the horses and continued on foot. Aidenar still seemed puzzled by my caution. If I hadn’t known better, I wouldn’t have understood either. In the clearing among the trees, we began with simple exercises. I made him break his control, then gather it again. He was making surprising progress. The hardest part was always calming the element. When I saw he was ready, I stepped closer and faced him.

“Now you must let go of everything you have,” I said. “Until now, we’ve practiced restraint, suppression. Now you must see what you’re truly capable of. You wanted to see what’s beneath the surface.”

He looked at me uncertainly, as if waiting for me to tell him it was only a joke.

“But remember,” I added, catching his silver gaze, “when you feel the limit, let go. Break the bond, or it will break you.”

He nodded. Closed his eyes.

“Feel the air around us,” I said softly. “Move with it. Slowly. Rhythmically.”