Kanisa pulled her horse level with Dawn’s. The young man looked exhausted, but he smiled at Kanisa anyway.“You are a little sneaky,” Kanisa said, “knowing who I was at the castle and saying nothing.”“Sora told me not to. He has always said that the less I know and the less other people know then the less they can be hurt or taken advantage of.”“Which is why he was so cryptic with me.”“Partly. And because he said you were smart enough to figure it out on your own.”“Figure out what?” Kanisa mumbled.Dawn shrugged. “I do not know. I do know that Sora suspected that King Horgwart was not as pure and just as we all thought, but he did not elaborate. All he told me was that if he did not come to the stables for a ride--”“--what kind of a ride?” Falcon asked with a grin.Dawn ignored him. “--every week then something happened to him. I waited two weeks and Sora did not come. He said to go to the Garden Village and meet up with my brother and you, if you were there.”“I hope Sora is oka
“Like you could destroy the world,” Falcon said, lifting a hand to touch Kindle Lou’s cheek. Kindle Lou jerked her head back, but Falcon only smiled and touched down her neck. Kindle Lou’s eyes shut with a sigh, and she tilted her head back.Conrad nodded.“I do not use my powers often,” Falcon continued, trailing his fingers along Kindle Lou’s skin, “but it felt like ... like I had three times as much power coursing through me. Steal the breath from their lungs, and I could rearrange the way the wind blew all over the world. It was ...”“Alluring,” Kindle Lou said.Falcon smirked. “I was going to say erotic, but alluring works, too. Just laying here, it’s ... different. Well, definitely erotic because my head is in your lap, but I meant my power.”Kindle Lou rolled her eyes. “I figured that.” And then smiled and actually ran her finger down Falcon’s jaw. “Thanks for stopping the arrow.”“Sorry about your horse.”“I will miss her. I hope she did not suffer long.”She sighed. “We need t
There was silence and then Kindle Lou asked, “What do we do then? We cannot leave Sora at the capitol. Especially if the king knows of his power.”Kanisa nodded. “There is no choice. We have to continue and deal with the consequences as they come. And hope that Sora has not been captured.”“He probably has,” Conrad said.Kanisa frowned, but nodded. “I do hope he is all right.”“Let’s try something else,” Kindle Lou said in the silence. “Conrad!” She flung her hand up and a ball of water shot into the sky.Conrad smiled and followed it with his eyes before flinging flame at it. The water dried up with a hiss of steam.Kindle Lou smirked. “But now ...” She moved over to Falcon and put her arm around his bare waist, fingers trailing over skin. Falcon smiled and then shivered. “Falcon is on my team.” Kindle Lou turned around and flung the water high again.Again, Conrad waited, but when he threw a flame at it, the blob of water twisted in a burst of air and fell toward the ground.Kindle
They walked deeper into the village. The houses were closer together, some even sharing walls. How could you be so close to your neighbor and yet ignore them on the street?At one house, Dawn walked up rickety steps to a door. The neighbor’s door was only a few inches from this one. He knocked softly, and in a pattern. When no one came to the door, he tried a bit louder. The window on the neighbor’s house shifted.Dawn took a deep breath and knocked again.This time, the door flew open, answered by a woman wearing nothing more than breeches tied low at her hips. Her hair was auburn, almost red, and long, blowing in the breeze and brushing almost to her stomach. Her bright blue eyes widened in shock.“Dawn.” It was a whisper of breath, awed and confused.“Hi Flora,” Dawn said just before he was yanked forward, against the woman’s chest, and hugged tightly. His face pressed almost into her breast since he was standing one stair lower.“God, Dawn, what the hell? Where the hell have you b
Kanisa found the History Book in Dawn’s bags. She sat against a tree and read through the book while they waited for Dawn.Falcon seethed, pacing back and forth and cursing Flora to the ends of the earth. “I cannot believe you left my brother with that whore. I cannot believe--”“I cannot believe that you have the right to call someone else a whore,” Kindle Lou said.“My brother deserves better,” Falcon snapped. “He is too young. He is a virgin.”“Was a virgin,” Kindle Dee said. “Probably isn’t one now.”Falcon growled and flung a burst of air at her, knocking Kindle Dee to the ground.“Hey!” Kindle Lou said, spinning to face him. “Do not use your power in anger. You will hurt someone!”“I used restraint. I could have killed him instead!”“Do you even know what restraint means?”“Are you okay?” Conrad asked and helped Kindle Dee up.Kindle Dee nodded, but she was limping when she moved to lean against a tree.“Your brother is an adult and can do as he wishes,” Kindle Lou said. “Dare I
The farther west they traveled, the more anxious Kanisa became. Even though they were surrounded by nothing but grassy plains, just on the horizon was the blurred image of hills. And on one of those hills, one of the tallest with its back against a small mountain range, sat the castle in the middle of the capital city. The city itself stretched in a heavy circle around the castle, reaching all the way to the ocean and far into the hills and surrounding lands.It was a perfect strategic location, as long as you were not coming at it from the east with the purpose of somehow getting inside to rescue a Knight of Earth.She thought about it and reworked the possibilities in her head. Dawn probably knew secret ways into the castle. Probably. But even if he did, they would be seen way before they even got close to the castle.The King and his army were on high alert, aware of their presence and mostly aware of their direction of travel. If the soldiers warned King Matthios that they were co
The next morning, the faded visage of the mountains disappeared behind a thick layer of fog.“You are amazing,” Kindle Lou said and pressed her lips to the back of Falcon’s neck.“We are amazing,” he replied.They rode on the same horse again, for support, they claimed, but Kanisa saw the soft looks and not-so innocent touches between them as they broke camp. The two had not had sex, but there was a smile as wide as The Plains on Kindle Lou’s face that refused to go away. And as always, Falcon looked way too sure of himself.“It is a great cover,” Kanisa said. “It will hide us as we near the city.”“And once we get there?” Kindle Dee asked.Kanisa shrugged. “Improvise, I guess.”They stared at her.“What?”“Sora better have a plan,” Dawn said, “or we are so fucked.”Kanisa thought of being insulted, but Dawn was right. Sora better have a plan. You hear me, Kanisa thought. You better have a plan, Sora Gulden, and it better be amazing.Kanisa was sure there was audible scoff in her head
Kindle Lou smiled and said, “One moment.” She held out her hand and a tiny sliver of fog slipped into the room from under the door. The others inhaled in surprise, but no one said anything until Kindle Lou had manipulated the fog into words.Clouds are water.“That is so cool,” Key said and reached to touch it. He spun his fingers through the “w” and Kindle Lou laughed and let the fog encircle his wrist like one of the many bangles already there.“I think that will send a proper message,” Newt said. “The king will definitely hear of it, and then ... what?”Kanisa shrugged. “That is why we hope Sora has a plan.”“We will keep your secrets, if only because we trust Sora and want to help him,” Newt said. “Stay and relax. Sleep and bathe. Thud and Mintle will go to the market for more food.”“That will be wonderful,” Kanisa said and dug into her side pouch for money. “Please allow me to pay for it.”“He would not have it any other way,” Dawn said and got a slap to the back of the head fro