Page 45 of The Spark that Ignites
She nodded and didn’t press him further, seemingly picking at another wound. Worn and aged, the wolf skull peeked out from the sword hilt on his back. “Did your father give you that?”
“He did. It’s ... important to me.” His shoulders tensed and he turned to her. “I’ll make you a deal, Sparky. When you talk about your sister, I’ll tell you about my family. Sounds fair?”
Emmery gripped Juno harder, her teeth grinding. This man and all hisdeals. “I suppose.”
“Good.” He sat back on Balthasar, running an absent hand through his shadowy mane. “The Whispering Spring isn’t far from here. We should be there within the hour.” His eyes flared, a wicked smile painting his face. “Let’s go get your magic.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lush foliage narrowed the uneven dirt path as they rode toward the sun. The dwindling daylight highlighted Vesper’s grey hair, no doubt illuminating Emmery’s too. Humming to Balthasar, Vesper sprinkled in some off-tune whistling, almost pretending he hadn’t dropped that shocking piece of information that he was a prince.
Dying to know more, Emmery juggled questions in her mind, some about him and others about what she was about to go through. Her already aching legs and back jostled from Juno’s gait and her insides churned. Not from the ride, but the looming trial.
“So, you were fifteen when you visited the spring?” she asked. Aera snored in Emmery’s ear, her breath tickling the silver hairs on her neck.
Vesper nodded. “I thought I imagined the ache at first, but Izora’s started soon after mine.” He smiled wistfully. “We went together.”
“I take it you both passed?”
Vesper ruffled his hair. “Shocking, isn’t it? I was a terrible child.”
Emmery squinted down the path, as if she could manifest the spring ahead, and what awaited. Anxiety rose, knotting and twisting within her, a writhing, squirming beast with no master. “Did you feel different after?”
“Yes, and no. More powerful.” He seemed to taste his answer, holding it on his tongue, before adding, “But still me.”
She ran her hand absently through Juno’s mane. What did that mean? “Do you think I’ll feel different?”
He looked Emmery over, assessing her. “I think it’s hard not to.”
Her heart lurched. If magic was powerful enough to corrupt people indefinitely, like it had for the former Queen Melantha, what if it ate away at her already scabrous soul? She already knew she was a monster deep down—what if this only awoke it?
“In what way?” she prodded, searching for more, needing it in a way she wouldn’t voice. Vesper would surely judge her if she revealed too much.
“In important ways.” He didn’t meet her gaze. “Like I was finally what I was supposed to be. I think magicdoeschange us. When we’re beckoned, our chests throb because magic is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s our core. To be without must be torture.”
He turned to her, realising what he’d said. Emmery gave a curt nod.
“Has it been torture?” he asked. “Without your powers?”
“I don’t know the difference so I can’t say.” Emmery chose her words carefully. “But I’ve been empty for as long as I can remember. Like there’s ... a vacancy in me.” Maybe it was from the shit she’d been through or simply the way she was. She might always feel this way. But what if magic could fill that gaping endless void? She would do anything not to feel that anymore. Not to suffer from that nothingness. “It’s hard to explain.”
Vesper ran a hand through his hair. “You’re allowed to feel lost.”
Unsure what to say, Emmery’s insides tightened, a knot yanked from the incorrect end, only cinching it further until it surely would never come undone. So, she focused on the path, her fingers skimming the shooting star in her neck.
“I still do, you know.” Vesper caught her eye, and she raised a brow. He added, “Feel lost.” Offering a sad, understanding smile, the heaviness in Emmery’s chest lifted ever so slightly.
As she sat with Vesper’s sentiment, the forest shifted. Hushed voices caressed their ears and Emmery shuddered as the ancient thrum of magic rattled her bones. Brilliant shades of mint and gold flecked every tree, leaf, air particle, and slathered the ground. It was like stepping into a dream she could never conjure herself.
“We’re here.” Vesper dismounted and tapped his cuff three times, dismissing Balthasar. His black wisps faded into the wind as Emmery slid off Juno and did the same.
Emmery stared at the empty space her steed had occupied. “I miss her already.” It was almost a shock when the admission left her.
A disgruntled chirp sounded in her ear from her greedy fox.
“It doesn’t mean I loveyouany less,” Emmery assured her, turning her face into Aera’s luscious gloss of white fur.
Aera exhaled a haughty sigh and shimmied down Emmery’s shoulder. The fox bounded along, randomly crashing through brush at every opportunity.
