A Power of Old(47)

“I can handle it. It’s worth it,” he whispered.

His arms abruptly circled me, fiercely pulling us closer together. I felt the hunger consume me, but it was different this time—flickers of something more human and needy erupted from the pit of my stomach. When Tejus lowered his lips down to meet mine, I responded greedily, the kiss deepening and dragging every last breath out of me. I reached up, winding my fingers into his dark hair, not allowing an inch of space between us.

I felt the syphon start, Tejus’s energy becoming mine as not just my mind, but every single cell in my body took what was his. It must have hurt, but he didn’t release me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered raggedly, tearing our lips apart.

“The fault is mine, and mine only.”

Tejus held me tighter, kissing me again.





Ruby





Jenney and I sat in the kitchen, waiting for a broth to boil that she was making for when Benedict awoke. We sat in the easy chair by the fire, both cradling cups of a Nevertide version of herbal tea—it tasted pretty revolting to me, but I didn’t have the heart to tell Jenney that, and at least it was warm.

“How’s Hazel holding up?” she asked, breaking the sleepy silence that had settled over us both.

“She’s kind of pretending everything’s okay, but I’m not entirely convinced. She’s not able to be near any of us comfortably—not even Tejus. I don’t see how she could be fine.”

Jenney nodded, her forehead creasing in concern. Our silence resumed, both locked in our own thoughts and concerns. I guessed that Jenney was equally anxious for Ash to return from the trials. He should have been back by now, surely?

I looked around the kitchen, thinking about the time when Ash and I had first tried to practice our mind melds. It felt like a lifetime ago. So much had changed since then, so much had happened.

“Jenney,” I asked suddenly, “why are you still in here?”

“What do you mean?” she replied.

“The kitchen…aren’t you kind of free from this now? Able to be a lady of leisure now that your theoretical brother is king?”

Jenney smiled shyly, shaking her head.

“I wouldn’t know what else to do. And do you see any other kitchen staff around here?” she asked. “Most of them have gone back to the village or sought refuge in Memenion’s kingdom—no one thinks Hellswan is safe anymore. If I wasn’t in here, we’d all starve.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I exclaimed. “How have you been doing this all on your own?”

“Yelena helps,” she replied. “So do the other kids—don’t worry about it, Ruby, honestly.”

I was about to protest, tell her that she needed to tell Ash. I knew for sure that he didn’t know what was going on, and I didn’t think he’d be pleased when he found out. Before I could open my mouth, Ash walked into the kitchen.

“Ash!” I jumped up from the chair, so happy to see that he was all in one piece.

“Hey,” he answered wearily, discarding an impressive-looking golden scepter on the kitchen table with a bang.

“So the trial went well?” I asked, eyeing the scepter. It didn’t look like a booby prize…but Ash was clearly in a bad mood.

“I’m not knocked out of the running”—he sighed wearily—“but it was not good.”

Jenney and I listened open-mouthed as he told us what had happened in the Dauoa Forest. I wasn’t remotely surprised at the actions of Queen Trina, but when Ash told me that the ministers hadn’t seemed to care remotely about what happened to Hadalix, I felt a cold chill run down my spine. If they were taking such a cavalier attitude toward deaths during the trial, then there would be no reason why Ash couldn’t be targeted next.

“She’s got to be stopped,” I replied. “This has gone on long enough. We keep saying that we’re going to get even, me included, but Queen Trina just seems to get away with everything. I thought Tejus would have done something by now—I mean, surely she’s done enough to warrant getting locked up in a dungeon of her own?”

Ash pulled a face. “Yeah…Memenion mentioned something about that…that Tejus might not be so willing to get revenge on account of their past. This is something that might be left up to us, which is not such a bad thing.”

“Do you think that’s true about Tejus?” I asked worriedly. He couldn’t possibly still have feelings for her, could he? He is in love with Hazel…

“I don’t know.” Ash shrugged. “But it hardly matters now anyway. That woman’s reign is going to come to an end, and very soon. At least Memenion’s on our side.”