Page 16 of A Balm of Healing
“You are full of surprises, Emeric Dalena,” she whispered.
“Not too many more, I assure you,” he jested, but then his expression turned serious after he set the lute back into its case.
He reached out to her, slowly, as if giving her time to pull away. But she didn’t, because her breath caught, and her heart snagged when his fingers brushed against her cheeks as he slipped the spectacles from her face. Her surroundings blurred but his face remained focused.
“You have beautiful eyes.” His gaze captivated her, tying her stomach in knots. “If you can heal me, how can you not heal you?”
“Not everything can be healed.” She bit her lip self-consciously. Her spectacles had always created a pit of insecurity within her all her life. But never had they inspired fear like they did now. What did he think of them?
But he smiled as he gently slipped them back over her ears. “Then it’s a really good thing they suit you.”
Relief flooded through her. Of course, she didn’t need his approval. But she wanted it.
Her entire body froze when he lowered his hands from her face and rested them on top of hers in her lap. The intent in his eyes burned every recess of her body, of her soul, until she feared she might light up in flames. Her heart beat with hope, nervousness, anticipation.
However, her hope deflated when he released her and bowed his head, a frown on his face. “Goodnight, Gwen. I am looking forward to our little excursion tomorrow.”
Without another word, she watched as he disappeared into his bedroom and closed the door, leaving his lute behind.
The mortification previously running rampant through her now slowed into a somber disappointment. She’d never wanted to share her life with anyone. But the moment she found someone her soul longed for, that person didn’t return her feelings.
Perhaps it was for the better to continue to focus on her career.
But the inward reassurance didn’t erase the ache in her heart.
Chapter Seven
I am still a coward.
Emeric’s lips pressed tightly together as he wheeled his chair down the street with Gweneth at his side. The perfect opportunity to kiss her had arisen last night, to fix his previous blunder. But he’d frozen. Because he was afraid to take a chance.
He was already afraid to lose her. But he was terrified of experiencing another shattered heart when she would inevitably leave him in Ebriel and run toward her High Healer dreams.
He’d suffered enough broken hearts to last a lifetime. He didn’t think he could manage another.
A frosty breath escaped on Gweneth’s exhale as they turned the corner that led up a dirt path to Nyana’s house. “I like this town. It’s rather cozy.”
“Not cozy enough,” he countered. “It’s too…open. Not enough trees.”
Surprisingly, she laughed, filling the well of his soul with another bucket of life’s simple joys. “What will make you happy, Em? Living inside your own tree in the middle of the city?”
Although he recognized the jest, he paused for a moment to give her a serious answer. “Yes,” he replied with a nod as they made their way down the path with bare apple trees stretching endlessly on either side of them. “I would prefer living within a tree. I don’t like having so much empty space.”
When she didn’t answer immediately, he glanced over at her to find her fighting a smile but losing in the end. She laughed again, this time squeezing his shoulder. Between his coat and her glove, heat still seemed to seep from her and into him.
“I can’t possibly imagine what it’s like. But I wouldn’t mind learning.”
A brief wind whispered through the boughs, calling his soul with a deep yearning for familiarity. “May I ask you something?” When she nodded, he still hesitated. He’d been wondering for many years now… “Is it even possible to reacquire my magic?”
She paused in her step before following beside him, this time at a slower pace than before. “How was it taken?”
“Through herbal sterilization.” He grunted when his wheel momentarily lodged itself within a hole in the road, and with a strong heave of his arm, he managed to push himself out. “The council forced liquid down my throat.”
A shudder ran through his body as he remembered the sudden helplessness, the insurmountable loss as if they’d severed several of his limbs rather than stripped him of his magic.
“I will need to take a closer look,” she said slowly. “As in, uh, really close.” He watched as a rosy blush spread across her cheeks, and the sight warmed him when he realized she was blushing forhim. “Considering you lost it from a Forest Fae elixir, my guess would be that your magic has simply detached from your being and is floating aimlessly within your body. Now, if it had been taken with darker Shadow Fae magic, I don’t think you’d ever see it again.”
“So it’s possible…”
