geometric cascades from his back into faceted wings. They beat once as the couple swung around each other midair, and with a clattering flutter the two drifted toward the far wall.
In the light of her earrings, his eyes shone like pale sapphires. This close, the air that slid from between his lips warmed her brow, but she could not help but wonder. A hawk he may be, yet d oes he see me as another bird, or a mouse in his talons?
Their feet touched down at the same time. The trees had grown into a jungle around them, with curtains of fuchsia ivy, a haze of blue mist, and vines that parted for their footsteps. Roots also burrowed out of their way.
Again she wondered at his purpose in the Academy. Merely to see me? He may think my regenerative spellcraft could keep him young. Tethiel intruded on her life rarely, less often than she would wish, and usually when he needed her expertise. She worried he only cared for her magic.
“No, my heart. I respect you, and for that I come. Though sometimes I think if I respected you even more, I should stay away.” Jungle vines sprouted a ring of thorns around the Lord of the Feast to frame him with jagged points. He reached out to her. “Feasting magic is not improving to one’s health. The same is true for those who keep my company.”
She stared at his outstretched hand. “And you said you were confident in my abilities.”
“To defend yourself from Bright Palms, others who might hunt me, yes.” He sounded as if he might say more but did not. His fingers clicked together, and for a moment they seemed to make not a fist but a mouth of snaggleteeth. He let the arm fall.
The jungle and bright plants faded to nothing. Only Hiresha and Tethiel remained in the Ballroom. His pose slipped from kingly to slumped.
“I want you to know,” he said, “I never wanted my magic between us. If I could wish for one thing, it’d be that we neither had power.”
“Speak for your own magic. I have no need to give up enchantment. Or wish to.”
“Ah, my heart, but we must always give up the thing we cannot do without.”
The only light now came from Hiresha’s earrings, which cast the room in icy tones. “It is late. I already will sleep through half my duties tomorrow, and you doubtless will want to be gone with the dawn.”
Hiresha hated to leave Tethiel’s company. As awake as Hiresha felt around him and his magic, her fatigue would return with vigor when he left. The following stupor would last much of the next days.
“Goodnight, Tethiel.”
Before she could leave the Ballroom, he called after her.
“She fell.”
Tension sprang through Hiresha, stiffening her limbs. “What did you say?”
“You were worrying about an enchantress, before. I scented her surprise as she fell. And her terror didn’t taste of someone who’d wanted to end her own life.”
An image of a dress spinning downward flashed through Hiresha’s mind. “Are you suggesting an enchantress stumbled off a cliff?”
“Or the Mindvault dropped her.”
Hiresha’s heart beat once with a shock of coldness. The memory of the falling woman streaked through her mind. Is the Skyway safe? She dismissed the worry as being close to sacrilegious. The Academy’s enchantments had not once dropped a person in recorded history.
“Impossible,” she said.
“Is it?”
The enchantress wondered, Is it indeed?
8
Dream Laboratory
If only I could sleep for three days straight, Hiresha had often thought over the years, then I’ll free myself of this weight of fatigue. I’ll be cured, awake, and wide-eyed as the other girls.
Once, she had tried it. After gaining her first enchantress gown she had received a windfall of independence. She had taken the luxury of keeping her bed company for three days. The sun had dawned and set without her notice. She had abandoned her covers only long enough to tend to the necessities, for Maid Janny to ply her with a few mouthfuls of milk and rice. Returning to her pillows,
In the light of her earrings, his eyes shone like pale sapphires. This close, the air that slid from between his lips warmed her brow, but she could not help but wonder. A hawk he may be, yet d oes he see me as another bird, or a mouse in his talons?
Their feet touched down at the same time. The trees had grown into a jungle around them, with curtains of fuchsia ivy, a haze of blue mist, and vines that parted for their footsteps. Roots also burrowed out of their way.
Again she wondered at his purpose in the Academy. Merely to see me? He may think my regenerative spellcraft could keep him young. Tethiel intruded on her life rarely, less often than she would wish, and usually when he needed her expertise. She worried he only cared for her magic.
“No, my heart. I respect you, and for that I come. Though sometimes I think if I respected you even more, I should stay away.” Jungle vines sprouted a ring of thorns around the Lord of the Feast to frame him with jagged points. He reached out to her. “Feasting magic is not improving to one’s health. The same is true for those who keep my company.”
She stared at his outstretched hand. “And you said you were confident in my abilities.”
“To defend yourself from Bright Palms, others who might hunt me, yes.” He sounded as if he might say more but did not. His fingers clicked together, and for a moment they seemed to make not a fist but a mouth of snaggleteeth. He let the arm fall.
The jungle and bright plants faded to nothing. Only Hiresha and Tethiel remained in the Ballroom. His pose slipped from kingly to slumped.
“I want you to know,” he said, “I never wanted my magic between us. If I could wish for one thing, it’d be that we neither had power.”
“Speak for your own magic. I have no need to give up enchantment. Or wish to.”
“Ah, my heart, but we must always give up the thing we cannot do without.”
The only light now came from Hiresha’s earrings, which cast the room in icy tones. “It is late. I already will sleep through half my duties tomorrow, and you doubtless will want to be gone with the dawn.”
Hiresha hated to leave Tethiel’s company. As awake as Hiresha felt around him and his magic, her fatigue would return with vigor when he left. The following stupor would last much of the next days.
“Goodnight, Tethiel.”
Before she could leave the Ballroom, he called after her.
“She fell.”
Tension sprang through Hiresha, stiffening her limbs. “What did you say?”
“You were worrying about an enchantress, before. I scented her surprise as she fell. And her terror didn’t taste of someone who’d wanted to end her own life.”
An image of a dress spinning downward flashed through Hiresha’s mind. “Are you suggesting an enchantress stumbled off a cliff?”
“Or the Mindvault dropped her.”
Hiresha’s heart beat once with a shock of coldness. The memory of the falling woman streaked through her mind. Is the Skyway safe? She dismissed the worry as being close to sacrilegious. The Academy’s enchantments had not once dropped a person in recorded history.
“Impossible,” she said.
“Is it?”
The enchantress wondered, Is it indeed?
8
Dream Laboratory
If only I could sleep for three days straight, Hiresha had often thought over the years, then I’ll free myself of this weight of fatigue. I’ll be cured, awake, and wide-eyed as the other girls.
Once, she had tried it. After gaining her first enchantress gown she had received a windfall of independence. She had taken the luxury of keeping her bed company for three days. The sun had dawned and set without her notice. She had abandoned her covers only long enough to tend to the necessities, for Maid Janny to ply her with a few mouthfuls of milk and rice. Returning to her pillows,
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