Page 41 of Forging Bonds: Part Two

“Alright, got it,” River says after only a couple of runs through the words. It really isn’t that complicated.

“Great, so these are the movements that go along with it,” I explain, and then begin to show him.

It takes us a couple of run-throughs, but he soon picks it up, and then we’re both marching along and singing the song with fancy arm and head movements thrown in for good measure.

“How the hell did we get to this point?” Reed asks through his laughter.

None of the others can stop laughing long enough to actually answer him, though, and River and I are too busy dancing to reply.

After a while, we finally stop, and the guys calm down.

“That was brilliant,” Doc compliments with a giant smile.

“We should probably get back to the castle, it’s really late, and we most likely have a trial tomorrow,” Ransom suggests.

“Hang on, I want to see Neith’s new tattoo?” Raiden says, looking at me questioningly.

I nod and pull at the leather cuff. I have to admit that I’m pleased that it comes off; it had crossed my mind that it may be a literal permanent feature that I couldn’t remove even if I wanted to.

“Oh, it’s so pretty,” I say when it’s revealed, and then, because the guys are all looking at me confused, I add, “I only got to see it for a moment before it was covered by the bracelet.”

“That really is pretty. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Doc says.

“Raiden, do you have any idea what it means?” Evander asks, moving his eyes away from the mark on my arm.

Raiden shrugs, “Honestly, I am absolutely clueless about what it could mean. I knew that unicorns were once real, but I had no idea that they still existed, and honestly, it’s probably one of the few supernatural creatures that I haven’t looked into at all.”

“Oh,” I say, sounding quite disappointed. “I was really hoping that one of you knew something about it.”

“Sorry, Neith,” Raiden replies. “We can look into it when we get back to the house. Maybe we could ask Sully, he’s been around for a long time, and he might know something about them, and what the mark means.”

I nod, “Yeah, that’s a great idea, actually.”

“Do you feel strange?” Reed asks.

I pause and then shrug, “No more stranger than I normally feel.”

Reed smirks and adds, “I’m only asking because it was done with magic by an unknown supernatural creature and we have no real way of knowing whether it meant you harm or not.”

“He makes a good point,” Griff says with a troubled frown.

I shake my head, “There’s no way that it’s harmful.”

“You sound really sure about that?” Ransom questions.

I nod, “I am. The voices didn’t and haven’t reacted in warning at all, and in fact seemed quite pleased about it.”

“That’s definitely good news,” River says thoughtfully.

“The little bit of magic that I do have access to didn’t seem to react in any way either, and it has reacted to things when I’m under threat, so I think if the unicorn meant me harm, then my magic would have done something to protect me,” I explain.

“Yeah, you're right,” Griff replies. “Your magic will always protect you, if you are in danger, unless it’s been suppressed or something, and even then it’s more likely to try to protect you than not.”

“Could it have been suppressed?” I ask, a thread of worry weaving through my resolve that the unicorn didn’t mean any harm to me.

Evander immediately starts shaking his head, and that thread of unease disappears, “No, you would know immediately if it had been suppressed, it’s not a very pleasant feeling. Even though you haven’t got access to all of your magic, you would still feel it.”

“Well thank fuck for that, I was questioning my instincts then,” I reply. “Wait, how did you guys find me if you weren’t watching the trial?”

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