Questions

ANDRA

Andra fell quiet as she looked up into his stormy eyes. The expression in them was soft, kind, caring— but she saw something more behind it.

A desire she knew all too well.

The memories that the rain and the lake had so recently washed away from her came flooding back all too clearly.

His arm seemed to tighten around her waist, and she could hear him draw a slow breath, feeling it caress her cheek as he exhaled.

Her heart raced in her chest.

She couldn’t breathe.

She felt as though she had slipped beneath the water, drowning.

“K-Kael…,” she stuttered breathlessly.

He closed his eyes, his jaw tightening. When he opened them again, the emotion she’d seen was gone. His gaze was as steely and impassive as ever.

“We should go,” he said in a calm, even tone. He helped her out of the lake, following closely behind her.

He pulled on his clothes without a word, turning to walk back to Bellris. Eithne followed behind Kael silently, and Andra saw him shake his head at the dragon.

~“Andra,”~ Tiri prodded, and Andra realized that the dragon had been trying to get her attention for a while now.

~“Yes?”~

~“Your mind is very strange to me right now,”~ the dragon said. ~“I can’t tell what you’re thinking.”~

~“Neither can I, Tiri…”~

Tiri paused, mulling over her words. ~“My mother used to tell me that there would be times when my mind could not tell me what to do. And when that happened, I should let my heart guide me.”~

Andra was silent as she followed Kael back to Bellris. She watched his broad back for a moment before turning her attention to the leather bracelet around her wrist.

Her fingers traced over the intricate braids as she considered the time and care that had gone into creating it.

Andra sighed. ~“And what if my heart is as lost as my thoughts?”~

~“Your heart can never truly be lost, Andra. You must simply choose to see where it is leading you.”~

KAEL

“Kael. Kael!”

He blinked, the sound of his name pulling him from his thoughts.

His captains looked around the room uneasily.

“Sorry,” Kael said. “Could you repeat that?”

Egan scowled at him. “The Judges’ soldiers are retreating. Our scouts report that they’ve found empty posts. Abandoned forts. Their usual patrol routes are left unmanned.”

“And where are they gathering? Vereor?” Kael asked.

“We don’t know,” Egan said with a heavy sigh. “If you’d been ~listening~, you would know that already. Or do you have something more important on your mind than the rebellion, oh fearless leader?”

“Ease up, Egan,” Janis said. “Kael has a lot on his mind.”

Kael sighed. He was undeserving of Janis’s confidence. He’d been caught up in thinking about what had happened between him and Andra at the lake the day before.

How close he’d come to kissing her.

“How do thousands of soldiers disappear?” Kael asked.

“The more disturbing question is ~why~,” Insarius said. The spymaster took a deep drag of his pipe. “Although we have no reason to believe we’ve been discovered, I think we should prepare for the worst.”

Kael nodded. “We should start sending supplies to the fallback point north of the city. If the Kingsmen attack us, we should be prepared to send all civilians away.”

“We have about a week’s warning at least, should a sizable force try to march across the Burning Sands,” Janis added.

The meeting drew to a close, and all the leaders of the rebellion went their separate ways. But Kael meandered about, his mind in a haze.

Kael shook his head, slapping himself in an attempt to snap out of it. He had to get a grip. He had to focus on the rebellion.

But he couldn’t get Andra out of his head.

He couldn’t deny his feelings for her any longer.

~“The Rider has seen the light,”~ Eithne mused.

~“Not in the mood,”~ Kael said.

Eithne landed in the grass beside him, skillfully maneuvering around the broad tree trunks of the forest. He climbed onto Eithne’s back, and the dragon took off.

The next item on the to-do list was to check on the supplies the dwarves were sending to Bellris. They used a series of underground tunnels to transport them undetected.

But Kael’s mind was far from logistics and weapons’ inventory.

He’d sensed that Andra might have feelings for him too. He’d seen it in the way her cheeks flushed, how she smiled when she saw him.

But she was holding back.

~Is it because of the trauma that she’s experienced in the past?~ he wondered.

~Or does it have something to do with the bracelet that she always wears?~

~“Talias,”~ Eithne said.

Kael frowned. ~“What?”~

He saw into Eithne’s mind as she remembered her first meeting with Andra. She had been thinking about Talias back then. Kael could feel the warmth in that name. The affection that Andra had for Talias.

The thought sparked a fire in Kael.

He urged Eithne faster, intending to get through the supply check as quickly as possible. He’d made up his mind.

He had to find out how Andra really felt.

ANDRA

“Are you a full-blooded elf, Colmen?” Andra asked.

Colmen looked over at her, a curious smile on his face. “I am. Why?”

The two of them were making their way to Setora’s hut. It was time for Andra to finally learn how to use her magic, and her nerves revealed themselves in the form of a storm of butterflies in her stomach.

“Just wondering,” Andra said. She wanted to take her mind off of Kael’s mother. Off of the disturbing future that she had promised. “Have you been to Iterum?”

“I was born there,” Colmen said. “Elves don’t like to travel. We’re like the trees that we love so much. We place our roots down and are content.”

“So why did you join the Freemen?”

“They weren’t even called the Freemen back then. It was probably eight years ago, now.” Colmen looked up at the sky, his violet eyes returning to the past. “Some rebels had come to Iterum seeking sanctuary, but the king couldn’t keep them for too long.”

“Why not?”

“He didn’t want to incite another race war. The Judges were searching for these labeled traitors and heretics. These brave humans interested me, so when they left, I went with them.”

Andra watched Colmen as they walked, wondering at how rich a life the elf had lived. It took a special kind of individual to fight for a cause that technically didn’t concern him.

“Have you been back since?” Andra wondered.

“Just once.” The usually happy elf turned somber. “For the funeral of my little sister, Andimea.”

“Oh.” Andra’s throat closed up. “Sorry,” she managed.

Colmen shook his head, a sad smile on his face. “You actually remind me of her,” he said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Especially when you play the flute that I made for her.”

Andra felt a warmth flow through her at the elf’s words. She’d secretly been thinking of Colmen as the older brother that she’d never had, but had been afraid to voice the idea aloud, even to herself.

Hearing him say that meant more to her than he’d ever know.

The pair arrived at Setora’s hut, and Andra waved goodbye to Colmen. She stood before the door and took a deep breath before knocking.

“Come in, dear,” Setora rasped.

Andra walked inside to find Setora sitting behind the table, waiting for her. The interior was as mysterious as ever: hanging baubles and empty cages lit by a myriad of candles.

“Are you ready to learn how to harness your magic?” she asked Andra as she sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Andra nodded.

“First you must understand what you are.” Setora peered into her eyes, and she felt horribly exposed underneath her cloudy gaze. “You are a Siphon.”

A chill went down Andra’s spine at the unfamiliar word. But something about the way the witch uttered the word—with reverence and fear—made her heart quicken.

“Magic is like blood. Everyone has it,” Setora explained. “When we use magic, we tap into our own life force. What allows Riders and sorcerers to use it so frequently is that they have the power to replenish what they use, taking from the world around them.”

Setora looked at her own withered hands. “People like me—witches—cannot replenish our magic. Every spell I use comes at a cost.”

Andra let out a small gasp, looking at Setora with fresh eyes. Every wrinkle, every strand of silver hair, was payment for the use of her magic.

“What makes Siphons special is their ability to harness magic effortlessly. Unknowingly. While Riders and sorcerers have a limit to the amount of magic they can hold, Siphons do not.”

The candles in the room seemed to flicker in tandem with the witch’s words.

“Siphons draw power unconsciously over many years, ever expanding the vast well of their power. And because you never learned to release your magic, it still grows.”

“How do you know I’m a Siphon?” Andra asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s in your eyes, child. The most particular shade of pale green.” Setora smiled. “I assume you got this from one of your parents?”

“My father,” Andra said.

“Then he would have been powerful too.”

Andra’s mind spun. She’d been just a lowly slave girl for her entire life.

~Now I apparently have near limitless power?~

Her thoughts turned to her father. How brave and strong he was.

~If I am supposed to have all this magic…how powerful would HE have been?~

Setora watched her in silence for a moment, then stood up and walked outside, gesturing for Andra to follow.

“Don’t overthink it, child,” the witch said as they stood in the grassy field outside her hut. “If there is one thing you should remember from today, it’s this.”

Andra flinched as Setora stepped forward and pressed a finger to her forehead, and then to her chest.

“Your magic does not come from skill of the mind, but rather the strength of the heart.”

***

Andra dragged her feet back toward the lake, utterly exhausted. Tiri raised her head as she approached.

~“Finally free?”~ the dragon asked.

~“Finally free,”~ Andra agreed. Setora had run her through a gauntlet of tests, trying to unlock the magic that lay dormant inside her.

While there had been sparks of magic, they hadn’t quite yet solved the puzzle.

~“But you seem happy, sister,”~ Tiri said.

~“Learning magic is exciting.”~ Andra smiled. ~“Even if it is tiring.”~

“Andra,” a voice called to her.

She turned to find Kael walking toward her, his raven-black hair tousled from the wind.

Andra’s face immediately went hot, remembering how his bare skin had felt against her own in the lake.

“Y-yes?” she stuttered. Kael looked so serious. He stopped before her, and she realized just how long his eyelashes were underneath the moonlight.

“I have to ask you something.” Kael paused, gathering himself.

Andra waited, strangely nervous.

“I feel like you’re torn over something, Andra. It’s like you’re here, but a part of you is somewhere far away.”

His words immediately made her think of the Hall.

Of Talias.

“The Freemen are here for you, Andra. And you can be one of us, if you want. But tell me truthfully…”

She felt her heart quicken, already sure that she wouldn’t know how to answer his question.

“Where does your heart truly lie?”