Page 37 of Light and Shadow
“You can come with us to Tús Nua. It’s possible my mother can break the bind on your magic. If not, at least you’ll be out from under the witch queen.” Mist is burning off the hills, and the barren land stretches farther than I can see. “It will take many days.”
Dorian nods and lifts a man who’s little more than skin and bones. Beran does the same with a woman, as do other elves who still have their strength. The soldiers keep their swords drawn and lead the way as Nainsi, Bert, Fancor, and Jax each help with the weak or ill.
We leave the old city with over a hundred elves, two humans, and a dwarf.
Harper hugs my neck. “I should walk so you can carry one of them.”
Gripping her tighter, I say. “No. You’re healing, but not healed.”
“Who are they?” She points to the soldiers flanking us.
Elves have very good hearing, and the ginger elf smiles. “I’m Brekin. I’ve come with Avon, Glen, and Lare to help protect you on your journey west.”
She thanks him and the others. “Are we very far from the new capital?”
Avon is very tall, even for an elf. He is the oldest and keeps his long blond hair braided. “We have a long journey, my lady. You were taken across the Beò Ocean. It will take some time to bring you to safety.”
She laughs. “Is there such a place here?”
Avon frowns but doesn’t confirm her assumption.
There are no safe places in Domhan any longer. That’s why Harper is here. I hold her tighter and shield my mind so she doesn’t hear my worries.
Once the city is in the distance, Harper talks about what was done to her, but not about the pain of it. She speaks of my mother coming to her in a vision and Cara rubbing salve on her wounds and using magic to ease her pain. She gets tears in her eyes when she tells us how Dorian gave up his cloak so she wouldn’t have to lie on the cold stone dungeon floor.
I’m amazed at how while Venora tried to rip her magic free, she kept herself sane by singing a human song. This woman is special far beyond my feelings for her. Most of those, I must keep to myself, but perhaps one day I’ll be able to tell her. Stuffing that away, I ask, “She wanted your magic?”
“She doesn’t know how the magic in my world works.” Harper stares back at the parade of elves in rags following us. “Not that I do. I never knew I had magic before I met you. I could sometimes sense things about people, but never more than that, and most of the time I found it uncomfortable to know what fate or fortune lay in store for someone.”
Fancor adjusts the woman clinging to his back. “Dwarves rarely use magic for more than healing and the portals, but theold texts say we did many cycles ago, before the dragons came to Domhan. Maybe your people are more like us.”
“Maybe.” She smiles. “Maybe we just forgot, and perhaps it’s for the best. Many humans are better off without the ability to shoot lightning from their hands.” She wiggles her fingers.
I think she meant it to be lighthearted, but Fancor winces. He must have some idea of the pain black lightning causes. Harper should not have survived. The fact that she did is a blessing, but when the witch queen recovers, she’ll be even more rabid to find the answers behind the riddle of human magic.
Chapter Ten
Harper
When we are far enough away from the hellish castle, Jax finds us a place he thinks will be safe to rest. I’m so tired I can barely see. It’s embarrassing, but I let Aaran carry me the entire way. My legs feel as if they’ve been turned to jelly. For all I know, they have. Every cell in my body aches and some of me is in agony. Inside, I feel as if part of me was torn away. Perhaps it was my innocence that the witch queen took. Maybe I have PTSD. I feel like a worn-out dish towel, with insufficient threads left to be useful. Yet just like that rag, I linger.
As Aaran eases me to a patch of grass on the side of a hill, Bert rushes over to cushion any chance I might be jostled. “There, you go, Harper,” Bert says. He lets out a long breath and goes to help build a fire at the center of the camp.
I’d like to watch the goings-on, but I’m too tired. All I see is people rushing here and there in a blur. Tears prickle my eyes, and I don’t have the strength to keep them down.
Aaran kneels between me and the bustling elves. His handsome face has a streak of dirt across his cheek. His eyes arebright but narrowed. Cupping my face in his hands, he says, “I’m more sorry than I can ever atone for,mo chroi.”
“You’re sorry?” I can’t fathom what he might be apologizing for.
Running his thumbs under my eyes, he wipes away my tears. “More than I can say. How will you forgive me? Of course, you can’t. I made you a promise and could not keep it.” There’s bitterness in his tone that I can’t account for.
“Are you taking the blame for my capture?” The truth of that starts to sort itself in my abused and mottled brain. “You didn’t tell me to go into the woods alone. You didn’t send for that hag. She is to blame, and I am to blame.”
“I promised to keep you safe.” He brushes my hair off my forehead.
And there it is. He made a promise, and now it haunts him.
I cover one of his hands with mine. “You came for me. That’s all that matters.”
