Page 73 of A Fractured Song

And then what?Marieke wanted to ask. But she didn’t. One step at a time.

They stood in silence, the mist lifting as the sun crept up past the horizon. She could hear a rooster faintly from the farmyard, and knew that their stolen moment, suspended between night and day, would soon have passed.

But for another minute, they remained wrapped in the stillness of the orchard and the nearness of each other. Zev let one hand drop, and she thought he’d pull away. But he twined it loosely around her waist instead. Her breath caught in her throat as he slid the thumb of his other hand across her cheek, brushing it over her lips with a featherlight touch. The desire tokiss her again was clear in his eyes, and she almost believed he would give in to it. But he didn’t, and she didn’t push him.

She understood, at least as much as she could with her limited information. He wasn’t willing to jump off the cliff with her, to tie himself to her in open defiance of his family. She couldn’t help but be disappointed by that. She was only human. But he also wasn’t willing to let her go. Not anymore. That was what she would hang on to. It was a step in the direction her heart was yearning for. Surely he would find a path all the way to her before long, if she was patient.

But song preserve her, it was hard to be patient! Especially when he stood so close, her lips still tingling from the touch of his thumb. Not quite ready to let go of the moment, she leaned into him, silently claiming him as hers, willing it to be true even though he wasn’t yet ready to fully admit it to himself.

Marieke let out a small gasp as she felt the magic move beneath her feet.

“Mari?” Zev’s whisper was low and hoarse.

She gave her head a little shake. “I’m all right. It’s just the magic.”

She didn’t explain, too lost in the wonder of the sensation. The steady river of magic still flowed, but now it was interacting with them, even though she’d made no attempt to call it. She and Zev were like a protruding rock in the center of the stream, that the current of power flowed around. Except it was no longer bypassing them completely. Tendrils of magic were wrapping up and around their legs, interweaving and layering and absorbing them smoothly into the flow. It connected them not only to the land but to each other, as if they were tied together by invisible ribbons of power. Marieke’s heart sang with therightnessof it—it was a certainty she could never have put into words. But it stilled her disappointment and calmed the last vestiges of fear over what Zev would do or leaveundone. They belonged together, and she didn’t believe for a moment that they were going to drift away from one another, like debris carried in different directions on the surface of the river.

They weren’t debris. They were fused to the bedrock, and no turbulence of the water above could detach them.

“It’s going to be all right,” she whispered, as much to herself as to Zev. “It will work out somehow.”

Zev didn’t respond, but she felt some of the tension leave his body. For one more moment he held her near, then the rooster crowed again, and the enchantment was broken. He dropped his arms with the tiniest of sighs, and stepped back.

“You should rest while you can,” he told her. “I have duties to attend to. It’s the least I can do if I’m leaving again soon. We can delay our departure for a few days, can’t we?”

“Of course,” Marieke said. “If your family will tolerate my presence.” She gave a firm nod. “But I don’t need to sit around and rest all day. Physically I’m back to full strength. I know my way around a farm enough to be useful.”

Zev grinned. “Far be it from me to stop you. If you’re determined, my mother will most definitely put you to work. Come on.”

He laced his fingers lightly through hers, tugging her back toward the copse of trees that stood between the orchard and the farmhouse. Marieke’s lips curled in a private smile at the ease of the gesture, like it was nothing for him to take her hand.

She couldn’t help noticing that he dropped it before they emerged into the farmyard, however. One step at a time, she reminded herself.

The next few days were busy enough to keep Marieke from dwelling on her emotions. As Zev had predicted, Narelle had her working hard to help keep things running. It was clear that they’d missed Zev during his brief absence, for which Mariekecouldn’t help feeling guilty. He would be gone much longer if he came with her all the way to the jungle in Aeltas’s south.

At least Narelle seemed inclined to be more friendly than Azai, who generally avoided Marieke. Zev’s mother plied Marieke with questions as they worked side-by-side, and Marieke was only too glad to answer openly. If Narelle wanted to know more about the girl her son had brought home, Marieke was very ready to further that goal. Outside the reach of the Oleandan Council of Singers, she had nothing to hide.

As for how the family took the news that Zev planned to leave again with her, Marieke didn’t know. Zev told them after she’d retired to bed the second evening—she suspected he wanted to protect her from witnessing the conversation. Azai was particularly surly the next morning, but no one mentioned it to her face.

That didn’t stop her from feeling guilty, of course. The more time she spent with Zev’s family, the more they felt like real people who cared about him, rather than distant obstacles to their relationship. And she found herself catching a hint of Zev’s inner conflict within herself. She hated knowing she was causing tension. She even considered slipping away without Zev late one night. But that would be foolish as well as cowardly. She would be much more likely to succeed in finding the elves and getting to the bottom of Oleand’s troubles with his help—as he’d said, they were stronger together.

When the morning of their departure dawned, Marieke was up and ready. She’d slept poorly, which was a shame, since it could be her last night in a real bed for a while.

Whatever their feelings about their son’s decision, Zev’s parents made no barrier to their departure. When she met Zev in the kitchen, Narelle had not only laid out breakfast, but packed provisions into both her rucksack and Zev’s pack.

“I’m off to milk the cow,” Narelle said, her voice a little gruffas she embraced her son. “You be safe now, Zev. We’ll see you when your errand is done.”

Marieke averted her eyes as Zev hugged his mother.

“Where’s Father?”

“In the small yard,” Narelle said as she moved toward the door. “He’s expecting you to say goodbye before you go.”

Neither of them made any mention of Azai, who’d clearly decided to skip the farewell scene.

“Take your time,” Zev told Marieke, gesturing to the food. “Meet me in the yard when you’re ready.”

Marieke nodded, but once she was alone in the kitchen, she found she had no appetite. The mood of the house was too somber, like it was losing its son and heir forever, and it unnerved her. After only a couple of minutes, she grabbed her rucksack and made her way out into the yard.

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