Page 144 of A Touch of Stars and Stones
“I don’t need a detailed report every time you speak to someone. But if there’s anything about my parents or who we might need to ask for more intel, then that’s what I want to hear about.”
He nods, turning the apple over in his hand before setting it on the table next to the teacup and lying back on the mattress.
I stand and go and sit next to him on the bed. “Can I try something?”
“Sure.” He sits back up and turns his body so he’s looking towards me.
Closing my eyes, I seek the calmness I need and concentrate on the energy I can feel coming from Ten. Touch isn’t an option right now, but as we can still speak into each other’s minds, I want to try this. And it’s practice, right?
“Just stay still.” My lips twitch as I wrangle my calm into submission and blank my mind.
Concentrating on the sound of Ten’s breathing, I pour all my energy towards him, commanding it to rise from the well, pulling a strand of water slowly and easing it towards him. I feel it flowing forward before it brushes up against a cool sort of cloud around him. The water seems to wait as if needing more from me to push further, so I do, focusing my energy, and a thread seems to spear through the cloud, as if testing it.
“You’re worried or frightened. I can’t quite tell, but something in that area.” The tiny ripple seems to pulsate, like the strings of vibration I felt earlier in the classroom.
I open my eyes and look at Ten, waiting for him to tell me if I’m right or not.
“After today’s class and what Kamari wanted from me, I’m worried they want to use you as a weapon, to use you to look into possible futures. That might be what all the secrets are about. Ever, your eyes?—”
I blink a few times. “What do you mean, a weapon? Micah said Kirrasia is peaceful. Why would it need me as a weapon?”
“My father is worried about something big. He’s in charge of our armies. Kirrasia is peaceful, but we intervene and ensure that peace is maintained on the continent and between Nehandun and Sunatora. Aslendrix only ever granted Kirrians gifts of her power, and we ensure that everyone lives in peace, a duty, or thanks of sorts. We ensure food is never in short supply and crops thrive. There’s been no trouble between them or us for years.”
“And you think it’s related?”
“I think putting the information from both my father and Kamari together suggests something like that. We need to research the last time we had dealings with either the King of Sunatora or Nehandun and what happened.”
Why doesn’t Kirrasia have a King or Queen? Is the Maker a Queen?
It’s my turn to lie back on the bed. The weight of all the information is growing heavy.
“There’s so much to take in. I’ve barely grasped what’s happened to me and what being a Fifth means, that I might have parents out there somewhere, who may or may not have abandoned me or been kept from me, and I can’t touch you without causing you pain…”
“Hey, that’s not something you need to worry about.” He pulls my chin so I’m looking at him, proving his point.
“Ten, I don’t?—”
The energy ripples between us, adjusting to the contact, and heat flares along my skin.
“I choose. And I choose to touch you as, and when, I please.” His jaw tenses, and his eyes burn as hot as the contact between us. He lets go a second later before any images or visions take root, but I know it hurts him to make the gesture.
My stupid heart heard his gesture, too.
A knock at the door has me lifting from my position, and Ten stands, nearly jumping from the bed, just as Kyra opens the door and glides into the room. “Ever, I thought—” She stops as she looks at me and then at Ten.
“I was just leaving,” Ten informs Kyra and stalks to the door. “She’s tired. Not too late.” He turns just before he slips out to give me a nod.
“Okaayy,” she elongates the word. “Want to fill me in?”
thirty-six
. . .
Ever
Kyra grins at me, and she flits further into the room before finding a seat on the chair rather than joining me on the bed.
“There’s nothing, not really,” I deny what she might have seen or read between our body language.
