Page 7 of The Jester

I keep going until the water reaches the folded-up part of my pants, then stop and turn to face Alana. I tilt my head from side to side and stare at her.

What she doesn’t know is that thinking of her is how I finally learned to master the most difficult aspect of my water magic; changing its form. Manipulating it into something else instead of simply moving it.

She meets my eyes, and the sensation that skids down my spine brings with it a surge of power. It settles in my legs, then spreads all the way back up to my fingertips. My wings flutter, and their powerful blue glow paints the surface of the water in glimmering shadows that stretch out like tendrils of light.

Tilting her head, Alana calls, “Tell me what you’re doing. Talk me through it.”

I inhale slowly, and try to vocalise what I’m feeling. “I’m focusing on happy thoughts,” I tell her. “Happy feelings.”

She nods in response.

“Latching on to the spark that lights in my belly, and willing it to intensify.” I inhale sharply as my fingers twitch with the need to cast.

Alana looks down at her own fingers. Did she feel the same thing? If she is searching my emotions, then maybe...

“And now, I use it.” I hold out my palm. A small, swirling bundle of blue light appears. I cast it into the air in front of me, then blow. Immediately, it turns from light to dust. A sparkling, brilliant blue dust that settles on the surface of the water.

As it meets the surface, there is a crackling sound. And another. And another.

I search deep down into the water below my feet, and use a cushion of it to bring me to the surface. As the rest of the lake turns to ice around me, I fly up into the air, hover, then land gently on the ice.

It meets the soles of my feet with a fierceness that takes my breath away.

I reach out to Alana and gesture for her to come to me.

The ice stops just in front of her feet. She hesitates, but then steps forward. When it holds her, and does not crack, she grins. Then she runs towards me, grabs my arms, and twirls around – the way we used to when we were kids and ice skating here in winter.

“Kayan, that’s incredible.” She is holding on to my elbows. “Incredible,” she breathes, looking up at me.

I smile softly, and brush her cheek with my thumb. I am staring into her eyes, and she looks as though she’s about to pull away. This is the moment. It has to be. “Alana... there’s something I need to tell you. I think you know already, but I have to –”

She closes her eyes, and laces her fingers with mine. I have no idea if she’s about to tell me she feels the same or that she’s repulsed by the idea.

“I know,” she whispers. “Of course, I know. I just always thought...” She trails off.

“Thought?”

Alana shakes her head and sighs. “I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

This time, I slip my arm around her waist and, with a graceful wave of my hand, snatch a piece of ice from the surface, return it to liquid in front of us, then catch the swirling droplets in mid-air and craft them into a delicate ice rose.

Alana looks at me and I nod for her to take it.

“It’s yours.”

Gently, with her thumb and forefinger, she takes hold of the stem and plucks the rose from the air. Studying it, she grins, and laughs joyfully. “Kayan...”

I step forward, trying to stride confidently, but skid on the ice and end up grabbing hold of her to steady myself.

Still holding her rose, she does not let go even when I have found my feet again.

I look into her eyes, and hers widen as if they are absorbing the rush of emotion that is surging through my body. “I love you, Alana. Always have. Always will.”

Alana sighs a little. A content sigh, I think. Then brushes her thumb over the icy rose petals. She smiles up at me, then touches her thumb to my lips. It is cold, but that’s not why my entire body is shivering. “Then kiss me,” she breathes.

Chapter Four

ALANA

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