Page 56 of The Shadow Wand

I’ll find my way back to you, I vow, as both determination and dread mount inside me and my carriage transports me relentlessly deeper into the newly annexed Keltish Province of Gardneria toward Lukas’s military encampment.

I turn my hands over, palms up, and survey the black lines that circle every one of my fingers.

Lines that forever separate me from Yvan.

My dread ignites and sparks red-hot with frustration and anger, Wyvernfire blooming to life around my affinity lines in a sizzling rush. It’s difficult to quell the fury that rises like a wildfire whenever I look at the dark, looping fastmarks now permanently and irrevocably present on my skin. They always prompt a remembrance of the last time I saw Lukas.

When he fasted to me against my will.

I wince, my outrage notching higher as I remember how Lukas, the priests, and the soldiers held me against the fasting altar and forced my hands onto it. How furious Lukas was the whole time, storming into the room and back out again afterward, barely looking at me the whole time.

Now I’m bound to him, this man who refuses to fully break with Vogel.

I clench my fists and mentally stomp back my anger, clear on what’s at stake for me if I don’t secure Lukas’s protection. I pull in a deep, bracing breath and glance back out the carriage window, the day as storm-dark as the scenes spread out before me.

Every Keltish village we ride through has been shockingly altered by Gardneria’s annexation of Keltania. The remaining Kelts appear even poorer, sicklier, and more beaten down than they did during my previous journey here with Yvan. Mage soldiers are everywhere in their black silken uniforms, standing in contrast to the bedraggled Kelts, the Mages all seeming in good spirits, laughing together outside of battered shops and taverns.

There are Gardnerians overseeing Keltish farm laborers, and more than a few well-appointed Gardnerian families living here now. The Mages seem to reside in the nicer homes that we pass. But perhaps the most chilling sights of all are the black Gardnerian flags that aggressively mark practically every dwelling and town square like the symptom of a contagious disease. And all of the flags bear the new design, the Ancient One’s white bird on black.

Vogel’s flag.

A worse dread sweeps over me as I take in the black pennants and long to touch the Wand of Myth, hidden inside the lining of my travel sack, which is stowed in the carriage’s trunk.

Far away from my wand hand and my power.

When we reach the Gardnerian military encampment, I disembark from the carriage and am met by two new high-level Mage soldiers who beckon me forward. The day has grown even more overcast, and there’s an uncomfortable chill in the air, the sea of dark, sturdy tents mirroring the somber mood of the sky.

I look around, my stomach tightening as my booted feet make contact with the damp ground, apprehension spiking at the thought of facing Lukas again. Pulling my dark cloak tight around myself, I incline my hood-covered head to keep the beginnings of rain off my face, cold drizzle speckling my hands as we set off at a brisk pace.

Every soldier who spots me stops to stare, appearing mystified by my sudden presence. Trying my best to ignore them, I press forward against the worsening rain as I scan the scene.

There’s a sizable central tent up ahead, heavily guarded, and it seems to be the focus of the most regimented activity. A large Gardnerian flag flaps above it, and I notice with a start that it’s the old flag, the Erthia orb marking its center like emphatic punctuation.

I know, without asking, that this is where I’ll find Lukas.

Steeling myself, I follow the straight-backed soldiers toward the tent, paying little heed to the stupefied looks all around as I straighten to my full height, readying myself to face Lukas Grey.

I close my fists against my fastlines as I consider the viciously bad terms Lukas and I parted on.

No matter, I pledge as my resolve solidifies.I’ll win him over.

I may not be able to lie to Lukas Grey, because of our strong Dryad natures, but I can hold back the truth and find a way to secure his protection, so that I can survive and eventually fight with the Resistance for everyone and everything that I love.

We approach the large tent’s entrance, a sheltering black canvas awning now above us.

One of my escorts announces who I am to the grim-faced, bearded guard posted by the entry. The man gives me a rather resentful once-over before he curtly nods then disappears inside. His rancor unsettles me, and I try to come to terms with the number of people who might be aware of how I fought Lukas on our fasting day. How I disappeared soon after. How I have no lines of consummation on my wrists.

And how my brothers betrayed Gardneria and escaped East with the Lupines.

The bearded soldier reappears, draws the tent flap back, and ushers me in with an ill-tempered swipe of his hand.

I pull back my cloak’s hood and step inside.

I’m not prepared for what a cold-water shock it is to see Lukas again, my nerves kicking up to jagged heights.

Overwhelmingly handsome as ever, Lukas is seated at a weighty table at the head of the tent’s interior, surrounded by a retinue of soldiers. A few of these soldiers have the markings of the magically powerful, like Lukas, but I notice that Lukas is one of the small smattering of Mages on this base still wearing the old uniform, the silver Erthia orb marking his chest instead of the white bird.

Lukas takes his time signing papers placed before him and talking to military underlings one by one as they approach, bow, then leave to carry out his directives. As usual, he exudes power, the deferential body language of every other soldier in the room attesting to it.

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