Page 61 of The Last Slayer
“Is this your answer to my question?” Nathanael’s voice shook slightly, and there was naked pain in those electric blue eyes.
“Don’t,” Leh murmured. Despite her soft tone, her magic gained strength.
Nathanael’s magic began to lose its momentum. Although his sword arm was steady, his gaze wavered. Then he lowered the sword. “I will not repeat the past.” He ceased attacking, but his defenses remained up.
With a sigh, Leh let go of everything—both offense and defense—and stood there staring at him. “Why couldn’t you have rejected the Advisors?” Her words were so soft, it seemed like she hadn’t spoken at all.
Nathanael stood, irresolute. The moonlight cast a pale glow on his sweat-slick skin. Lean muscles rippled as he brushed his hair away from his face. He had a body powerful and beautiful enough to rival Ramiel’s.
“You ask too much,” he said finally. “One does not reject his duty.”
He turned away and walked toward the lake shore. Although his demeanor was proud, weariness seemed to weigh down his broad shoulders. The sight of his bare, pale torso hinted at an unexpected vulnerability, one that for the first time made me see him as something more than just a demigod who was my enemy.
Leh took a step forward, her hand rising toward him, but stopped. A soft sigh escaped her. Then she sang, a lovely but melancholy melody that I knew would haunt my dreams forever.
His body rigid, Nathanael walked across the lake to the other side, backlit by the pyrotechnics still going on in the forest. His steps were sure and unhurried, as if nearly fatal fights in limbo were a normal occurrence. At the other side he turned and bowed to Leh. The gesture was so formal, if I hadn’t seen them kissing, I would never have believed they were lovers.
Without waiting for her acknowledgment, he disappeared into the flaming woods.
Leh wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and turned to me. “Ashera. Are you all right?”
I staggered to my feet. My entire body felt bruised, and my knees protested the abuse they’d been subjected to. The robe Nahemah had given me was now basically dirt-colored, smeared with patches of green where I’d skidded over Leh’s herbs. I pulled the heartstone from my mouth and put it in one of the robe’s pockets.
“Sorry about all this,” I said lamely. Although technically it wasn’t all my fault.
“My daughter.” Her voice broke. “I should’ve protected you better.”
She took one step, then another, and I was enclosed in a tight embrace. Her body was softer than I’d thought it would be. She smelled of lavender and lilies and comfort and everything else I’d longed for. I couldn’t utter a sound as I returned her hug.
How many times had I rehearsed what I’d say if I were ever to meet my mother? Now all the carefully composed speeches evaporated, and I simply clung to her, hoping the moment would never end. A terrible sinking feeling that Leh couldn’t possibly be my real mother hit me, along with a cautious hope that said maybe she was. Where else could I have gotten my voice? And why else would she have protected me against Nathanael at such great peril to herself?
“You’re as beautiful as I imagined,” she said with a smile.
I looked at her radiant flawlessness and wished she hadn’t said that. I knew what I looked like, and so did she. She didn’t have to lie to make me feel…I don’t know…better or something.
“Umm…thanks. I guess.” I was suddenly embarrassed and hating the feeling.
“I mean it.” She put a hand on my cheek and caressed it gently. The residue of powerful magic clung to her, prickling my face. “Welcome to my little place. I wish… Perhaps if I had known you were coming tonight, I would’ve been more prepared.” She glanced at the moon, now halfway down from its peak in the sky. “I didn’t think you would.”
“I had to come.”
She smiled. “Curiosity?”
“Yeah…plus Semangelaf poisoned my sister.”
“Ah.”
Ramiel hadn’t mentioned it, but I had nothing to lose by asking. “Can you make an antidote?”
“Alas, no. I’m not much of a potion mistress.” She took my hand. “Come inside. Let me show you what you really are.”
That sounded slightly ominous. But what choice did I have?
The cottage was larger than I’d imagined, and it too smelled of fresh lavender and lilies, although I didn’t see any sign of flowers. As she walked across the living room, the skirt of her nightgown brushed along a beautiful rectangular rug of gold, red and magenta on the gray stone floor. Tangled ivory sheets covered a large bed in the corner beneath a window—the one that I had been hiding under until Nathanael had detected my presence. A big chunk of the wall was gone. Debris and dust coated the bed.
Leh waved a hand. The wall repaired itself almost instantaneously, and the sheets stood up and shook themselves in a corner. A mop flew out and wiped the dirt away.
Now there was some magic I’d like to learn. Maybe I could use it to rebuild my condo and keep it clean.
