The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

Swaying Contours

It hurt. It burned. Cursed blood, it burned.

I lifted my head, pushing myself to my elbows to assess the damage. It wasn't too bad. My hands were trembling, and golden scratches covered the major regions of my palms, but I had no deep cuts. Blood didn't spill to the ground from my face, so I assumed the pulsing pain was from the dirt embedded in the superficial wounds.

"Will!"

My heart skipped to my throat, heat spanning across my face. Had Caiden seen me fall?

I pushed myself to my feet, turning on my heel to face the half-naked man sprinting toward me with streaks of blue brushed across his cheeks. I hid my hands behind my back, hoping he hadn't noticed why I lost balance in the first place.

"Are you okay?" he said, panting as he stopped in front of me, hesitant to reach out. "What happened?"

Thank the spirits; he hadn't seen it happen.

I cleared my throat, trying to appear unfazed by Caiden's lack of attire. "I-I fell... Tripped."

Caiden looked at me with skepticism etched into the wrinkles across his arched brow. "Is that so?"

I nodded, keeping my gaze locked on his, careful not to wander further down. "Yup," I said, shifting my weight backward. "I was rushing to meet your mother like I promised yesterday. I had a moment of inattentiveness and lost my balance."

It was almost frightening how easily those words spilled from my tongue. They weren't lies, but my time as an enacting suitor in the Crown Trials had taught me the disturbing art of twisting truths. It wasn't a good look on me, but I couldn't let him know the embarrassing reality.

"So," I said before my betraying face revealed too much, "I should get going. I'm late already, and I can't possibly leave a queen waiting, can I?"

I chuckled nervously as I turned to continue down the path toward the meeting place. However, before I could escape, Caiden grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Hold on a minute," he said, chuckling. "I'm glad to see you weren't hurt too bad, but we still have to do something about those bruises. Your palms and face are covered by them. My mother can wait a few minutes more."

I looked down and realized just how bad my palm looked outside the obscured view of my shadow. I didn't know what Queen Pangea's schedule included—Apollo hadn't exactly been forthright about that—but I could imagine these bruises would put me at a great disadvantage regardless of today's practices.

Caiden stared at me as if awaiting my acceptance. I nodded and offered my other hand without looking directly at him, my cheeks burning bright.

I swallowed a sigh of pure relief when Caiden's powers poured over my wounded palms. The burning disappeared; the hurt went away.

Goosebumps rose from the tips of my fingers, racing up my arms and across my chest as he let go to trail his fingers across my jaw. Slowly, he turned my head to face him. A second passed where we stood, gazing into each other's eyes as if nothing else existed before I felt his powers trickle across my cheek and nose.

"Willow," he whispered, brushing his thumb over the newly healed skin. I didn't answer him, too immersed in the endless depths of his eyes. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have meddled."

I blinked, the spell broken. "What?"

"Yesterday," he said, as if that clarified anything, "when Apollo introduced himself to you. I shouldn't have stepped in the way I did and questioned him with such hostility. He had warranted no such treatment."