Page 3 of A Fate so Cruel

Rion leaned closer and lowered his voice as well. “Really?”

She smiled again and it reminded Rion of the sun's rays now streaming through the window behind her. “Really. Like today, for instance.”

Rion waited, then bounced on her lap. “What happens today?”

She gave him a mischievous grin. “Would you like to find out?” Rion nodded vigorously, his heart racing with excitement. “Then go get dressed and I’ll show you.”

Tea and the cold forgotten, Rion leaped from his mother’s lap and ran for his room. He threw on the first pair of clothes he could find and was back out in the living area before his mother had even emerged from her room.

Rion pulled on two pairs of socks, threw his coat around his shoulders, and pulled on the hat he hated to wear. But he’d do it without argument today. When she finally emerged, he was standing by the door, thoroughly bundled. He’d even grabbed his gloves.

She shook her head. “I should tell you secrets more often.”

Rion bounced on his toes. “Come on, come on, come on.”

She pulled on her own coat, hat, and gloves, but bent down to his level before she opened the door. “We have to be very quiet for it to work. Once we enter the trees, you can’t talk or they’ll hear you. Do you think you can do that?”

Rion nodded again. He was more excited now than he’d been to get his presents on the winter solstice.

“Take a breath,” she commanded. “Slow your heart and remember to listen. You can tap and point and I’ll do the same.”

He did as commanded and willed his body to relax. Then his mother turned and Rion climbed up onto her back. She exited the warm cabin and though she left prints in the snow, Rion could hardly hear her footfalls.

He clung to her, listening as she’d instructed him. The wind bit into his cheeks and he shivered suddenly, glad he’d opted to wear his hat.

His mother often claimed the wind could be a valuable weapon on the battlefield. If one were mindful enough, they could use it to hide their scent while trying to sneak up on their enemies. She hadn’t exactly told him what they were doing out here, but Rion suspected they were sneaking up on Saoirse and the others. He wondered if their father would hear them, though. Nothing ever surprised him.

His mother stopped, scanned the trees with a careful eye, then moved farther north before entering the forest. Her hands kept his legs in place. Strong hands that would never let him fall.

They crept through the trees in silence, Rion watching every move his mother made. He scented her magic as it sprang from the ground at her feet. Leaves unfurled from the cold snow and flowers trailed behind her wherever she stepped. He could smell them, but realized the wind was blowing back toward the house. Which meant if Saoirse, Alec, and their father were ahead, then the sweet aroma wouldn’t give them away. He wondered if his mother did it on purpose or if her magic was so great that she couldn’t contain it.

Rion also wondered if his magic would be like that. He wasn’t sure he wanted flowers trailing him wherever he went.

The birds stopped calling overhead, a sign of a predator in their midst. A survival instinct that told Rion to be on guard. Then again, maybe his mother was the predator they feared.

His mother backed up a step and pressed her body against the bark of the wide oak tree at their left. Alarm flared through him, but his mother’s smirking face set his fears at ease. They waited like that for several minutes. She drew his attention, then set him on the ground. Rion was careful of his footing. He didn’t want to step on anything that might alert the others.

His mother peered around the tree, pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed.

There was Saoirse, moving through the trees hunched over as she searched around the trunks and through the barren branches above. Rion was certain she was looking for Alec or their father. They were training, after all.

Another moment passed, then faster than his young eyes could see, a blur of color. The sharp ringing of metal filled the air. Rion clutched his mother’s sleeve as he watched Alec and Saoirse exchange blows. Their magic flew up around them, ripping the ground and snow up in a flurry of quick movements he couldn’t follow.

His mother didn’t move and her smile didn’t wane despite the violence between her two eldest children. If anything, she looked . . . proud.

Rion’s chest swelled at that. He wanted his mother to look at him with those eyes, too. Maybe he would join his siblings after all. Once they let him, of course. They were all strong. He wanted to be strong, too.

Another shift of rapid movement and their father appeared, vines and trees all seamlessly following in his wake.

His mother ducked behind the tree, then urged Rion to climb onto her back. He did. Then she was off, sprinting at breakneck speeds.

The High Lady of Brónach was as fast and swift as a deer. Faster. Rion swore her feet barely met the forest floor as she darted between the trees. His weight didn’t hinder her movements or magic in the slightest.

His father’s head whipped toward them, but his mother’s magic was already moving, rising in a tide of living plants that blocked the others from view. Then his mother was on the other side of that wave, giving Rion a clear view of his father’s shocked face. Roots and trees rose to defend the High Lord and collided with the surge of his mother’s magic.

Bark exploded and the crushing sound of the impact had Rion wanting to cover his ears, but he didn’t dare let go of his mother’s coat for fear of falling.

Another cascading wave of roots and branches, then his father’s surprised face turned to one of smirking challenge. Alec was next to strike out against the magic surging for him and his sister. Then Saoirse joined in, moving around the branches that reached out like clawed fingers.

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