AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She took a breath and realized so much of the tightness and pressure that was suffocating her was gone. She breathed in deeper, closing her eyes, feeling as if there was room in her body for her again. She smiled. It had been days since she smiled. She opened her eyes and looked at him. “It’s better, but aren’t we worried about the forest?”
“It was my least favorite forest in all of Valmere,” he replied easily, no smile upon his face.
She bumped her shoulder into his. “You are insufferable.”
“So I have been told.” he smiled back at her and she was reminded of how few people were lucky enough to see that smile.
Maxon cleared his throat clearly uncomfortable. “Have you noticed any other elements available to you?”
She frowned at the reminder of when the fear and frost would come. “Ice,” she said, trying to hide the anxiety in her voice.
Maxon nodded. “Water can be channeled in all forms. Once you have more control, you will be able to manipulate it. Try to think of water that moved you in some way.”
Wren closed her eyes and thought about the waterfall from the path to her rooms that she still visited some days. There was such a serene quality to being there that she had found comforting on the days she missed her family.
At least what she thought had been her family. A chill crept over her. What would they say if she came back to them? Would they tell her that they had come to love her even though they hadn’t wanted her? Would they say they were grateful she had been pulled into that lake?
The thought of the lake overtook any thoughts of the waterfall, and instead she remembered the feeling of drowning. Her feet desperately kicking trying to propel her out of the dark abyss. Familiar panic began to build in her again, but then a voice was pulling her out. Cara’s face flashed in her mind, one second bright with life and the next red pooling at her throat.
“Wren, you aren’t there anymore. You are here, you are safe.” Strong arms encircled her and she opened her eyes, realizing that it was Kai holding her.
She let her head rest on his chest and breathed in deeply, tears falling down her face. He ran his hand over her hair bringing her back to the present, and when she opened her eyes, she saw the snow was coming faster and ice layered the ground underneath her.
“Maybe water wasn’t the best thing to focus on, aye, Maxon?” Kai said accusingly over her head.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. You created the ice through your fear. As long as you cannot control your magic, your emotions will dictate what it does.” She heard him shift uncomfortably. “You can turn this ice into water though, you just need to want it and believe that it can be water.”
She pulled away from Kai, preparing to use a few choice words on Maxon, when Kai took her head in his hands and looked down at her. “You can do this.”
She felt doubt creep into her, but the way he was looking at her as if he knew she was incapable of failure made her suddenly weary to disappoint him. She closed her eyes and imagined the ice as water. Willing it to be liquid once more. When she opened her eyes she looked at the ice under her feet, willing it to thaw.
Nothing happened at first, but then slowly the ice melted, soaking into the ground. Wren’s boots sank into the now muddy ground. Pride, hot and bright, filled her and when she looked up at Kai he was smiling at her with unmistakable pride. He reached down and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, the gesture strangely intimate.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I feel that I should explain how to also undo the magic…er, the forest is still burning.” Maxon’s voice radiated awkwardness and Wren smiled at Kai who smiled back conspiratorially. Breaking the moment, she turned to Maxon expectantly.
“Well, you see, once the magic has done the damage, there is no undoing that damage. So the trees that have been burned are gone, but you can either call a powerful rain to douse the remaining flames or you can call it back into you, but given how much the magic was suffocating you I would not recommend that.” He was rambling nervously and Wren found that she liked the honesty of this man.
She closed her eyes and looked towards the burning forest. She imagined the rain this time. She remembered the feel of the rain pouring down on her the night before she had come to Valmere. How it had felt to work alongside her uncle and know that each day was predictable and safe. It was funny now how much she had detested that normalcy when the uncertainty of the future plagued her dreams.
She drew herself back into her task and imagined the rain putting out the flames, smoke rising from the forest floor as it cooled. Rain began falling heavily from the sky, soaking her hair and weighing down her cloak. She laughed seeing the fire eviscerated. When she turned back towards Maxon and Kai she saw that Kai was studying her, rain pouring down his face.
“Truly incredible,” he yelled over the pounding of the rain. She laughed as he picked her up, swinging her around. She felt lighter than she had since the night of her attack. She laughed and for the first time since her powers had appeared, felt hope that she could control them.
A warm bath and fresh clothes awaited Wren once she was able to call back enough of the downpour that it wouldn’t flood the land. Maxon had explained that it was a delicate balance, and that she needed to be careful how much she called and how much she could handle taking back. The fire was roaring in her room by the time she was washed and dressed and she gratefully sat in front of it, having a new appreciation for the flames.
A knock at her door showed Sophie and Richard with plates full of food and bottles of wine. “We heard we were celebrating tonight,” said Richard, trying not to drop the plates of meat and cheese he carried.
Kai wasn’t far behind, and they spent the night laughing and enjoying each other’s company. It occurred to her that perhaps the family you choose is more important than the family you are brought into. She found that she very much enjoyed her new family.
Chapter 34
Wrenwokewithanew sense of peace and a new sense of purpose. She could learn to use her power, and if Serephina had used it to protect this world, then she could as well. She had left her rooms early in the morning after a long night of celebrating. She had forgotten how nice it was to simply walk about the castle.
When she had only made it a few hallways, a familiar curly blond-haired man nearly ran into her.
Wesley seemed just as surprised to see her, but recovered quickly. Before she could ask him what he was doing, he searched the hallways before he leaned down to whisper in her ear, “You Are stunning today.”
Her cheeks blossomed with heat at the feel of his breath on her as much as at the words.
