Page 36 of The Rowan's Stone
Her shoulders drop. Then she raises her head, her eyes shining with excitement. “What if I use my new power to call the water to me? Maybe it needs to be active before you can feel it?”
“It’s worth a try,” I muse, then close my eyes. After finding her, I wait for the water to connect, and when it does, I feel its essence too. “I can feel you and the water connected to you, but that’s it.”
When I open my eyes, I see the water above her hand.
“Okay. Let’s think about this for a second. When we were on the battlefield, I was trying to find Garrett, and you touched me. Suddenly, I could focus better. Then each one of my men touched me, and I could feel them individually and their power too…” I pause and think about it for a second. “What if I need to be using my power first?” I could call my father and ask him, but he’s been angry with me since the battle. “We’ll try one more thing. If it doesn’t work, I’ll wait and call an old tutor. We can always switch and train your power the rest of the day.”
“Sounds good.” Agreeing, she lets go of my hand.
She stretches, and I cough to hide my groan. The leggings and sports bra she’s wearing for training are very formfitting, perfectly showing off her athletic body. Ever since I held her on the battlefield, I constantly feel the imprint of her body against mine. Dreams of the mountain crushing me and my men aren’t the only reason I’m not sleeping these days.
Turning around, I adjust myself and head toward the pond. Raising my hands, I turn them palms out toward the water. “Ready?” I wait until she steps up beside me and lays her hand on my back. The smell of honeysuckle, strawberries, and coffee drifts up, and I take a deep breath in appreciation. I flick a hand, raising the water twenty feet in the air, and close my eyes. Then I feel it—her power channeling into me, supporting my power. Unlike my men, her power is faint, only a small stream.
“I can feel your power,” I tell her excitedly. “I’m going to try and find its source.” This time, I follow the stream of power from me to a small dark mass, entwined like a ball of yarn, inside of her. Instead of a solid core of power, individual ropes of power lie tangled up in each other. I pluck at a string to see if I can unravel it. After a bit of resistance, it finally loosens and unravels from the larger ball. I reach for another, then another, pulling and unwinding over and over again, determined to get to the core. My body starts to feel shaky, but I don’t stop. Finally, I’ve got it completely unraveled. The ropes disappear, and in its place is a small green sphere. Elated, I marvel at it. This is what I felt the other day. It was stronger and larger in my men, but it’s the same. My body sways, and I hear Arden cussing. Reluctantly, I follow her stream of power back to my own body. When I open my eyes, I smile and lower my hands, allowing the water to crash into the pond, just in time too. Darkness sweeps over me, and I’m out.
Water keeps dripping on my face, and when I reach up to wipe it away, several more drops hit me. I frown.Am I sleeping outside?I hear someone muttering and cussing and realize I’m not alone. Peeling open one eye, I blink to find myself lying on the ground beside the pond. Someone taps my cheek several times.
“What the fuck, Fallon? Come on. Don’t make me drag your big carcass all the way through the portal to The Abbey. You probably weigh as much as Valerian, and I don’t want to strain my back.” She continues to spew a litany of words.
“I do not weigh as much as the damn dragon,” I spit out, offended by the idea. I open the other eye. “He’s a beast.” I snap both eyes up and find her leaning over me with a worried expression on her face. Satisfaction thrums through me when I see beautiful, bright green eyes staring back at me, and my body sings with happiness. “We did it.”
She stares at me with confusion. “Did you hit your head when you fell? I didn’t think to check.” She uses her fingers to map the back of my head. “I don’t feel a lump. How many fingers am I holding up?” She waves four fingers in my face.
“Four, and I’m not hurt,” I answer impatiently. I try to conjure a mirror, but shards of pain slice through my head and I groan. Burnout, something I haven’t experienced since I was a child. “Okay, maybe I’m a little hurt. We need a mirror.”
With a snap of her fingers, I feel her witch power surge and a mirror sits in the palm of her hand. Without lifting my head, I carefully pick it up and turn it toward her. “Look in the mirror, Arden.”
She rolls her eyes and gazes into it, then she stills, shock coursing through her at the sight of her bright green eyes. Tears fill her eyes and spill over her cheeks. “I’m Elven? Really?”
“Yes. When I found your power, it was still bound and resembled a big ball of yarn. I picked up a strand and unwound it, then another and another. It took me a while to unravel, but once I did, I could see your Elven power,” I explain. “It’s pretty small right now, especially compared to your witch power, but it will grow as you learn more.” I use my thumb to wipe the tears from her face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m part Elven,” she repeats. “My father is Elven.” Her hand trembles as she continues to hold the mirror up.
“I’m probably going to need you to go get Theron,” I tell her. “I’ve never experienced burnout this bad, and it hurts to even move my head.”
“It’s fine. I was trying to get you to wake up and respond to me,” she explains, waving a hand and returning the mirror to the ether. After scratching her left shoulder, she waves her fingers toward me. “Let me see if I can get rid of your headache, then I’ll use a levitating spell to get you through the portal and back to The Abbey. I’ll even tuck you into bed.”
I huff. “Now I understand why Valerian’s always pulling his hair out.”
She laughs and leans over to place her hands on my head.
When I feel her chest press into mine, I groan.Now I understand why Valerian’s always smiling too.
She raises up and smooths a hand over my hair. “Feel better?” she asks. When I confirm, she smiles. Leaning down, she places a soft kiss on my lips. “Thank you, Fallon. You don’t know what it means to finally know what I am—witch and Elven. And I know I’ll one day find my father, all because of you.” She stands, and I feel myself rising in the air. “Now let’s go home.”
22
FALLON
Slowly waking, I hear someone breathing to my right, but I don’t open my eyes. Using my magic, I scan the room and come to rest on the person beside the bed. It’s Arden, but what is she doing in here? The last thing I remember is her levitating me back through the portal to The Abbey. I open my eyes to find my room dark and glance at the clock, which reads four a.m.I slept twelve hours?
Confused, I slide my gaze over to Arden. She’s slumped down in an upholstered chair next to the bed, a blanket covering her. I stretch and groan softly. My body is still sore from the burnout yesterday. She stirs and opens her eyes.
“Hi,” she says sleepily. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore, but I’ll recover. Did you sleep here all night?” I’m shocked I’m even asking this question. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone stay up with me all night. Not even my nannies when I was little. Certainly, never my father.
She ducks her head and plays with the edge of the blanket. “It’s fine. Callyx used to come home injured, and he didn’t want Solandis to know. So I’d stay up with him. I didn’t know what to do for burnout, though. I asked Theron, and he said to let you sleep. When do you think your magic will come back?”
