Page 108 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

Chapter 71

Lea

Leadidn’tseeGraymuch over the next couple of days. He and Vincent had spent the mornings working through different strategies for where and when to attack, and Gray had spent quite a bit of time meeting and assessing the skills of the new rebels that arrived every day. Lea had been invited to work alongside Gray as he observed training and did whatever else an Eclipsed King does, of course, but she was too restless.

She tried to focus on her own training, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate. The feeling of her magic pushing at her chest wall and bumping against her ribs, desperate to escape, had become almost unbearable. Her shadows felt like a rabid dog trapped in a cage, fighting with everything it had to be set free, but Lea wouldn’t let it. Not yet. It was too much, so intense that she worried that were she to allow that raw magic slowly leaking into her chest to leave her body, it would consume everything it touched.

So instead she locked it away as best she could, using her shadows to seal off the crack allowing them to slither though. But that took focus, concentration that pulled her away from whatever other task she was performing to keep her magic in control.

Erik shouted every time she dropped a weapon or stumbled while sparring. He corrected her form over and over, finally yanking Lea from the ring when she failed to block a glaringly obvious punch from a tall, red-headed rebel with a crooked nose. After helping her up from the floor and allowing her to heal the bruise growing on her cheekbone, Erik pulled her outside the training room.

"You’re not paying attention to your opponent’s tells. You should have seen that punch coming from a mile away." Erik tilted his chin down. Even when scolding her, he had a slight smile.

Lea rubbed her sternum where her magic itched in her bones, scratching and pawing her insides as it begged to be released. "I think I need to practice less fighting and more magic. It feels like I'm going to explode."

"I should have realized." Erik patted her shoulder. "You’re right. With as much magic as you have, you need to use it regularly so it doesn’t build up inside you."

"Will it hurt me if I don't?" Lea asked, sparking small fires in both her hands.

"It could, if you wait long enough. It’s more likely you’ll hurt whoever’s around you. After enough time, your power will detonate like an explosive, and you’ll have no control over what it does. But first, it will distract you, pull your focus, which it already seems to be doing. You can’t afford that, not around Alaric."

Lea looked down at her hands with new eyes, her worst fears confirmed. Had her fingers always been so menacingly long? "So," she dropped her hands to her sides, sighing. "Are we going to go burn some stuff, then?" Lea nudged her shoulder into Erik’s arm.

Erik winked at her and began to pull her outside. "I’ll do you one better, Sunshine," he said, his long, determined strides making Lea run to catch up with him. Erik didn’t stop until he walked through the crack that made up the entrance to the cavern, and Lea blinked at the bright light. Warmth filled her arms and flooded through her body as the sun's rays kissed her face.

She’d thought her restlessness had been because of her magic, or maybe having nothing to do but train and sleep, but now she knew better. While those things had played a part, it had been the absence of sun and fresh air that had made her shadows feel so much stronger than her light.

After two minutes of walking in silence, Lea soaking up every ounce of sunlight possible, Erik stopped next to a ledge of jagged mountainside.

"We’re here," Erik gestured with a flourished bow toward the wall.

"We’re where?" Lea peeked around Erik, searching for what he could possibly be talking about.

"Come with me." A joyful, boyish grin spread across Erik’s face. He grabbed Lea’s hand and began climbing a series of irregular rocks jutting out of the wall. Lea wondered if he was taking her to see a beautiful view or an important vantage point, but as she took the final step toward the top, she’d never felt better about being wrong.

Her heart exploded into a million glittery bits, and she scrambled higher to get a better view. In front of her, hidden down within a ring of rocks, was a garden, right here in the middle of the Torres Mountains.

Lea’s jaw dropped, her hands tingling. "Thank you," she breathed, turning to Erik with tear-filled eyes.

"None of that sappy stuff, now." Erik sniffled, covering it up with a cough. "You need to expend magic. This is a safe way to do it. And don’t forget that I benefit if you grow some delicious food down here for me. I’ve been craving sweet honeysuckle jam on toasted bread." Erik looked as if he was actually drooling as he climbed down a wooden ladder that began just below the rim of the rocks. Lea scrambled down behind him, needing to touch the dirt more than she needed to breathe.

Her feet sank into the soft earth, and Lea sighed in contentment, kicking off her shoes and turning in a circle to examine every inch of her new paradise. It was a circular space surrounded by stone on all sides, the sun shining unobstructed by trees or rocks to bathe the dirt in the brightest, most beautiful glow. Hanging near the ladder was a pulley system, which Lea guessed was for when they needed to bring up the vegetables they harvested.

The garden was rather large, with moist, black soil. It was odd, seeing it here in the middle of the mountains, but Erik explained that Gray had planned for everything. They hadn’t known how long the rebels would need to hide within the Torres and wanted to ensure they could grow food if their stores ran out.

It was obvious they hadn’t needed to grow their own food yet. The beds were a disaster, full of weeds and grass, but among them grew tall bushes filled with vegetables. A cucumber vine ran along the ground to the mountain wall, where it began climbing up in curling tendrils. There were tomatoes and eggplants, and a patch that looked like the tops of potatoes. Somehow these plants were surviving even without care, and Lea considered how they would thrive if she actually tended to them.

In the very center of the stone circle was a large space occupied only with green and brown weeds.

After asking Erik to grab the vines they’d brought from Calir, Lea braided her hair and rolled up the short sleeves of her lightweight blouse, settling in to spend the next few hours pulling weeds from the soil until an area about eight feet by eight feet was completely spotless.

She was so engrossed in her task she didn’t notice when Erik returned. Lea jumped when his laugh echoed through the mountains as he looked at her dirt streaked cheeks and neck, startling her.

"Prettying yourself up for our king?" Erik dropped the bags to the ground.

"Not brushing your hair again?" Lea retorted, not even looking up from the dirt, which only made Erik laugh harder.

After asking if she needed anything else, Erik left her alone to expend her magic. The temperature dropped as the sun lowered to the horizon. Lea wished she’d grabbed a sweater, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave. She was too eager to grow the moonflowers tonight, now that Eudora had told her what was required.

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