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“What are you saying?” asked Heath, mystified.
His grandmother got to her feet. “I’m saying that Rekavidur isn’t invulnerable. He has a weakness.” She smiled. “You.”
And she ambled back into the castle, leaving Heath alone with his thoughts.
* * *
Despite his grandmother’s confidence, Heath found it difficult to nerve himself to try again with Reka. He felt foolish, speaking to the air so many times in a row, and he was a little disgruntled with his friend for continuing to ignore him.
In the end, his extra sight was what gave him the necessary motivation. He had been continuing in his attempt to “see” Merletta from afar, with mixed results. Sometimes he caught glimpses of what seemed to be her underwater life, but more often he saw nothing at all.
She was never far from his thoughts, however, and he was always aware of when her rest days fell. One such morning, he happened to rise much earlier than normal. Winter had truly set in now—the Winter Solstice Festival was only a week away—and it had been a particularly cold and stormy night. Heath could rarely remember being so eager for the sun to rise. As he made his way down the freezing corridor, hoping to weasel some hot tea from the kitchens, even though breakfast wasn’t to be served for another couple hours, he was arrested by the sound of hushed conversation.
Frowning, he followed the sound. He knew those voices. Sure enough, he rounded a corner to see Bianca disappearing out of sight in the opposite direction, accompanied by Jasmine, another of his cousins. Heath hesitated for a moment, then followed them. To his surprise, they didn’t go toward the warmth of their chambers, but headed out into the snow by way of one of the castle’s back entrances.
He slipped out after them, wishing he’d bundled himself up more warmly. He felt half-ashamed of spying on his own cousins, but his curiosity was well and truly roused. Hurrying through the sleepy streets, the two girls soon reached the city’s southern wall, which was closest to the castle. Heath watched in growing suspicion as the guard on duty nodded to them, holding the gate courteously open.
After waiting a couple of minutes, Heath followed, trying to look confident. The guard started in surprise at sight of him, then broke into a smile.
“If it’s not too bold, I’m glad to see you joining in, Lord Heath,” he said gruffly. “Do you good.”
Up close, Heath recognized the man as a friend of Percival’s. His heart sank, but he said nothing, just giving the guard a tight smile.
Once he was outside the gate, he had no difficulty following his cousins’ footsteps. The snow hadn’t been cleared out here, like it had in the city, and they’d cut themselves a fresh path through the drifts. He picked up his pace, and could soon see them up ahead. Jasmine seemed to be using her power—an ability to move things without touching them, albeit not a very strong one, as she could only move small things a short distance—to clear the snow from in front of their feet.
They were climbing a hill now, and in a few minutes, they descended the other side, into what Heath knew to be a pleasant meadow in warmer weather. He paused at the top of the slope, letting out a low growl of irritation.
Gathered in the snow were five of his cousins, plus his brother. Although he couldn’t hear their conversation from his vantage point, he could see them perfectly, and the purpose of the little family reunion was clear. On her arrival, Bianca had sent a wind rushing around the edges of the group, buffeting the others inward and making them laugh. Brody greeted his sister by causing wildflowers to grow up impossibly through the snow, then scooping them into a bouquet and presenting it to her with an exaggerated flourish.
Jasmine seemed to be giggling, which was evidently all the encouragement Brody needed. An intense look of concentration came over his face, then he waggled his eyebrows ridiculously, and wildflowers sprung up from the snow all over the meadow. Jasmine lifted a foot, and one wriggled up through the turf right where her shoe had been. She didn’t bend down, but with a twirl of her fingers, she lifted the flower into the air and inserted it into her hair, before giving it a satisfied pat.
Percival, of course, wasn’t to be outdone. On the pretext of digging up a flower, he had unearthed an enormous boulder, which he lifted above his head, his muscles straining. He sent it skidding across the snow, creating a path of destruction through Brody’s newly grown garden.
It was as the girls squealed in protest that Max, another cousin, suddenly spotted Heath on top of the hill. He sprinted to Percival’s side, moving more quickly than any human should be able to. As he muttered something, all activity ceased. Six familiar pairs of eyes looked up at Heath, with expressions ranging from guilty to defiant.
Drawing a breath, Heath strode down into the clearing. A powerful rush of frustration was rising in him, but he did his best to master it. Losing his temper would achieve nothing.
“Seems I missed my invite to the cousin gathering,” he said lightly.
Bianca winced slightly at the words, and an apologetic look flashed across Brody’s face. Heath locked eyes with his brother, and was unsurprised to see that Percival, on the other hand, showed no sign of discomfort.
“What are you doing here?” he grunted.
“I followed Bianca and Jasmine,” said Heath evenly.
Percival shot a scowl at the girls. “I thought we agreed that those in the castle were going to be careful when leaving.”
“So you were conspiring to keep me out of it, were you?” Heath let his anger color his voice, hoping it concealed the terrible hurt clawing at him. This was his family. These were supposed to be his people.
“Of course we were,” snapped Percival. “We couldn’t have you running to your master to tell tales on us, could we?”
“That’s out of line, Percival,” said Brody sharply.
“We never agreed to anything like that,” Bianca added, frowning at Percival before turning back to Heath. “I’m sorry you were left out, Heath. But we thought it might put you in a position of…intolerable conflict, if you knew what we were up to.”
Heath glared at her, although inside he had to admit she was right. He half wished he’d never followed them, and had remained in blissful ignorance.
“And what are you up to?” he snapped.
