AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then I pressed the back of my hand to my open mouth, reeling with the knowledge that I wanted him to be alive. No matter what the history books and legends had told me, my heart somersaulted at the sight of him sinking to his knees beside me.
His forearm was bleeding. The magic controlling my mind released and slithered away, but as it left me, the mental image of Ash wrapping his arms around me filled my senses—and it wasn’t from my point of view, but from his. He looked away quickly.
I stared at him, aware that it was his magic that had controlled me and allowed me to climb the rope to safety. The blue mist appeared to sink into him as the chaos of the barking from below subsided.
Ash remained mostly silent the rest of the evening, avoiding my eyes and sitting as far from me as possible on the platform as Edith and Ferrier asked me about my home and told me of theirs. Nan even moved down to the lower platform, with Ash’s help, to join our conversation, adding in bits about my mother and brothers that eventually calmed my knotted nerves. Though I enjoyed the talk of home, I couldn’t help but revisit the image I’d received from Ash. Of his arms holding me. Of the way he’d crushed me to his chest.
He'd said there was no point in me looking at him. But now I couldn’t possibly stop looking at him. Now, more than ever, I wanted to know the truth about him.
Later, as I stretched out to sleep on the broad lower level of the platform—the only place there was enough room for me—I rolled my head to the side and peered over at Ash, who sat against the trunk, merely an arm’s length away.
His wrists rested on his bent knees and his head was tilted back against the bark. He must have felt me staring because he dropped his gaze and met mine.
I tucked my hands under my head and tried not to think of the fact that I was going to have to sleep so close to him.
“Tomorrow, I must go,” he muttered, voice low enough that I assumed he only meant for me to hear him.
It felt like someone had sawn a little hole in the platform, and I was tumbling to the ground.
I sat up. “Why?”
“I shouldn’t have stayed here so long.” His throat bobbed.
After a moment, I said, “Thank you. For saving me earlier.”
“I’m sorry you saw what you did. It was foolish of me to think of such things with our minds still connected. Foolish of me to think it at all.” He looked away.
I didn’t know what he believed, what his past contained, what he enjoyed, what his worst habits were. But I couldn’t stop the way my heart seized at his words. Foolish or not, I didn't care anymore.
I scooted forward so I didn’t have to whisper so loudly. “I want to know the truth about the war, about you, about all of it.”
He shook his head. “I locked most of those memories away. You unlocked some of them a couple of days ago. I’d rather not revisit them.”
“Fine. Then tell me something about yourself.”
He locked eyes with me. The only light came from the faintly glowing mist and the distant moonlight behind the leaves. “It isn’t wise.”
I pursed my lips before responding. “You want me to trust you, but you won’t let me get to know you? You say you’re not the man the king told us all about. Then tell me who you are.”
He held my gaze so long that I had to physically restrain myself from crumbling under the weight of it.
“Vera, I may not be the monster you learned about, but I’m no savior. I’ll leave tomorrow, and you can learn all you need from Edith.”
My heart cracked a little. I’d known him a grand total of a few days—I didn’t count the one I’d slept through—but he’d already saved my life more than once. Certainly that made up for time. “I’m not staying in here. I’m going to escape, and you can too.”
“Stop talking about escape.”
“Why? What’s wrong with hope?”
“It’s madness.”
My gaze narrowed. “I have brothers. I can’t leave them to the king’s whims.”
He rubbed his hand down his face. “You should get some sleep.”
I scoffed and hugged my knees, not ready to end this conversation. “Tell me one thing about yourself.”
He rolled his eyes. “Edith and your Nan can teach you how to control your magic. You’ll be safe here with them.”
