Page 44 of Lore of the Wilds

As she ate, Asher lowered himself beside her with much less caution than she had. Apparently, being on a cliff face with a steep drop to the ocean didn’t faze him.

Asher sighed, pulling his topknot free of the ribbon that held it in place and setting his hair free. He worked his fingertips back through his thick curls, flicking his wrist in an effortless movement to gather them back up, then tied it back into his bun, all while staring out to sea. The texture of his curls was tighter than hers, but his hair was still so long, and it looked so soft.

Once he finished with his hair, he dropped his hands into his lap, clasping them loosely, and turned to her.

Lore’s cheeks warmed, and she averted her gaze, suddenly wishing he was still unable to look at her. The mouth of the cave wasn’t very big, and they were actually quite close. She was aware of the warmth radiating from his leg, which sat a mere inch from hers. His shoulder brushed her, but she couldn’t bring herself to lean away. If anything, she was fighting the urge to fold herself against him to see if, when his strong arms wrapped around her, she would feel the most impossible thing of all.

Safe.

“We need to talk. Or, rather, you need to explain. I thought humans didn’t have magic. And yet, last night, you took down two trained guards with... some type of light that burst out of your body.”

He looked confused and a little angry, but mostly he looked like he didn’t trust her. She could read it in the slight arch of his eyebrow and in the way he leaned away from her.

Lore thought for a moment, trying to find the best way to explain something to him that she wasn’t even sure she understood yet. “We don’t. Humans can’t do magic. But, while working in the library, I found this book, or, well—” She bit her lip. “This book found me.”

Asher raised his eyebrow farther, distrust still filling his eyes.

“Hear me out, all right? This book—” She held it up for him to see while keeping a tight grip on it. She feared it would somehow slip from her hands and fall to the ocean below. Then everything she’d done truly would have been for nothing. “This book called to me by name while I was working in the library. It knew my name. And it called me again when I opened it up. Which, now that I think about it, sounds totally deranged.”

She bit her lip, looking away from his distrustful eyes and back out at the ocean. It was easier to face the heaving, destructive force beneath her than that look from him.

“I thought it was blank at first. I started using it as a journal, writing random thoughts throughout, stupid bits of poetry, and my anger every day...”

She stopped herself, not feeling like talking to a fae about how much harder the humans had it. He would never understand.

“And then last night, the book showed me that it wasn’t blank. It soaked up all my words and reflected the moonlight back to me. And it—it spoke again, after weeks of staying silent. It wanted to work together. It said it could give me power, as long as I accepted its deal.”

She glanced back at Asher now. His look of distrust had completely melted away to one of certainty that she was completely mad. She didn’t blame him for thinking that.

“I didn’t trust it at first, thinking it must be a trick, or maybea punishment for sneaking the book out of the library and not giving it to Steward Vinelake like I’d promised. So, I asked it to show me something. To prove to me that it could do what it said it could and make me powerful. And it showed me Duskmere. My people are hurting right now, far worse than when I left them. I hadn’t thought that possible, especially since the steward and his lord promised to send them aid. But what the book showed was that everything they promised me was a lie.”

Lore began tearing the leaves from the meal into pieces as she continued, if only to hide the tremor of her hands.

“There are so many more children at the shelter now. It’s where I’m from, a place kids in Duskmere go when they... when their parents have joined their ancestors in the beyond.”

She avoided his gaze, not wanting to see the pity that surely clouded his face now. She had known that look on many faces throughout her life, but it always elicited the same response from her: heartache and bitterness.

“I don’t understand what happened to their parents. Why have the numbers of orphaned children quadrupled? Perhaps the earthshake? But surely not so many—not so many are dead from that.” Lore looked up from where she was clenching the remaining leaves in her fists, her knuckles white. “I need to be with them, Asher. I can help them if only I can understand this book and its power.”

She held her breath, looking to Asher and searching his gaze. She was relieved that she didn’t see distrust or pity, but the utterly blank expression that had taken over his face was not much better.

“How do you know it’s real? It could be a trick,” he said at last.

She lifted her chin, looking him in the eye. “I can feel that it is true. I knew it from the moment I agreed to the deal. This book cannot lie to me, nor I to it.”

“So, you are connected to the book? Show me. Show me that light.”

“I can’t. I’ve been trying to get the book to talk to me and show me its secrets all morning. I think... I think it only works at night when the moon is high.”

Asher nodded, going along with what she was saying. Whether he truly believed her or not, she could not say. His blank expression was a veil, hiding his true emotions.

“Okay. I will help you get home, but we can’t go straight there. Chief Steward Vinelake will have soldiers looking for you, assuming you are headed home. We’ll need to buy enough time for him to call back his soldiers. We can go south first. I have friends who might be able to help us.”

***

Unsurprisingly, it took Lore far longer to climb the cliff than it took Asher. Although her leg still hurt, it felt better. That wasn’t the problem. Now that it was day, Lore could see the jagged rocks that spelled death below her and forcing her limbs to move was difficult, due to sheer terror.

Asher went first, showing her which indentations in the rock were best and which roots could hold their weight. When they finally reached the top of the cliff, Lore’s arms were screaming from the exertion. Asher, ahead of her, leaned down, grabbed her by the wrist, and hauled her up. She muttered her gratitude, but they didn’t waste any more time or breath before heading south.

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