Her hands rested on his, palms to palms. It was funny how small her hands were compared to his. If they held them wrist to wrist, his fingers could curl over the top of hers and bend flat against their backs. Instead, he sat across from her, legs curled inward, and kept a steady hand against hers. Addrick resisted the urge to stroke the soft underside of her wrist with his fingers. The flawless skin was begging to be caressed, but she needed to focus. She was already annoyed enough with his intentional teasing. Addrick didn't know why he couldn't resist calling her stupid; it came out of his mouth before he stopped himself.
His lips twitched as his eyes drifted to the Guardian necklace resting against her chest. It lifted with each breath. Kira had her eyes closed, trying to concentrate as the elder seer had instructed. Addrick glanced to the older woman. She was nearing the end of her life cycle and her hair, which once matched that of the Wilders red, had gone to gray. He'd known her most of his young life. She'd been the one to care for him after his parent's death. To Addrick, Myra was family. When Kira continued to struggle with the other Wilder seer's, Addrick sent a magic bird message to call Myra from her tribe. Though her magic had weakened, she was still the wisest seer he'd ever met.
If anyone could help Kira tap into her power, she could.
"Yer not concentrating enough," Addrick said.
"I'm concentrating just fine when you're not blabbering in my ear." Her eyes didn't open as she spoke. Addrick took a deep breath. They'd been sitting downstairs in his house for hours already and she hadn't sensed a single vision. She should've seen something, anything, in that time. What Addrick would have for dinner, where he'd be in two days—something as small as that should've been at her beck and call.
"Are ye focusing on the energy like Myra told you?" A hand slapped him over the head.
"Yer not helping, lad," Myra said.
Kira sighed and opened her eyes. They narrowed as she stared at Addrick. One corner of his mouth ticked upward. He slid his hands away from her, taking the time to caress her wrist. She grunted and crossed her arms.
"He does have a point," she said. "Shouldn't I be seeing something? I haven't had a vision since the day I saw Addrick's tribe under attack. It doesn't make sense; I used to see them all the time. I didn't know what they were, but now that I do . . ." Myra stopped walking the circles she'd been tracing and knelt beside Kira.
"What did ye say, lassie?"
"I haven't had a vision since Addrick's tribe."
"But ye had them often as a wee lass, aye?"
Kira nodded.
"Like what. Tell me what kind of visions ye saw."
"The first day I met Rylanne, I was walking through the Glades and I saw this boy up in a tree. At first there was nothing abnormal, he was spying on the women's bathing hole. Next thing I know my stomach starts to churn. Like I wanted to vomit, but nothing came. I closed my eyes, instead of seeing darkness I became a bird. My body floated on the winds above the Glades. Then I saw Ry fall. He hit his head against a rock and broke his neck, he was dead instantly. When I opened my eyes, he was still in the tree."
"Then he fell, aye?"
"Yes. It was the first time I used my magic in front of someone other than my aunt. A few weeks later Wilder traders came to town, they're the ones whose visions I saw the most. Whenever a Wilder was near I saw everything, from the meal they were going to have to how good or bad their trade would be. When I got older those smaller visions faded and I saw only the bad visions. Guards arresting a Wilder, someone being harassed by a villager, I even saw how a Wilder would die in their sleep from old age."
Myra pressed three fingers to Kiras temples. She closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. Sparks flickered from the touch. Her fingers glided in small circles, steady in size and motion. Addrick raised a brow and opened his mouth to speak but Myra held up her other hand to silence him.
"Tell me, have ye had any strange instances with magic?"
Kira closed her eyes. Addrick watched her hands dance against her knees. He assumed she was trying to recall a memory, but for all he knew she was planning a way to murder him in his sleep. Her slender lips puckered and wiggled with the movement of her eyes. Addrick grabbed one of her hands. Heat rolled through her fingers, a sensation he was all too familiar with. When a Wilder cast magic their hands felt like fire from the energy boiling through their veins. He didn't know why she was calling on her magic and none of it showed outside the burning of her hands. She opened her eyes, mouth dropping. Kira looked to Myra.
"When Ry and I were going back to my house, after we saw the smoke from the fire, neither of us remembered how to get there. We were trapped in a labyrinth created by the flames. I felt like something tried to keep me from finding Emma. They never ended; no matter what turn we made I thought we'd die in those flames."
"How did ye get through?"
"Magic," she said.
"Did ye use Guardian magic?"
Kira shrugged. "No, I don't think so. I didn't know I was a Guardian at that time."
"Ye could've used the magic. It's always available to ye even if ye didn't know it," Addrick said.
"Aye, it had to be strong magic, too. I think the reason ye saw Addrick's tribe is because of his Guardian heritage, otherwise ye've been blocked. I'll need ye to strip now."
Myra stood up and straightened her skirts. She turned her back to Kira and Addrick, moving to a bag she'd left by the door.
Kira's cheeks colored. "What is with everyone wanting to see me naked?"
"I've seen ye naked—"
"I swear to the Gods, Addrick, if you tell me I don't have much again, I will hurt you."
Addrick grinned. "I was going to say, ye have nothing to be bashful of. We have shared a kiss, many kisses."
"That makes it different now."
"How?"
"It just does! We haven't shared . . .I'm not talking about this in front of Myra."
"It's enjoyable to see ye blush." Addrick swept a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"Are ye two quite finished yet?" Myra asked. "Perhaps ye should bed each other if it will get ye to stop acting like children."
Kira's color deepened as she closed her eyes. Addrick leaned over and brushed his lips against her pink cheeks. Her hand reached for his, locking their fingers together. Addrick continued to linger, wanting to steal another kiss, before pulling away and looking to Myra.
"Aye, we're done. Yer searching for a mark on her, aye?"
"Aye."
"A mark?"
"I think someone has locked yer seer powers, someone powerful. To do that, they have to leave their mark on yer body, one that is hidden to the naked eye yet easily found with the right magic. Do ye have any moments ye can't remember in recent days? Most likely around the time of yer aunt's death, I'd suspect before the flames."
"The Coming of Age dance. Last thing I remember was leaving Ry and going to get air. Next thing I remember, I'm waking up being dragged behind the ass of a horse. Apparently I fell down the stairs and had to use my magic to heal myself."
"Ye don't remember getting hurt?" Myra asked.
Kira shook her head.
"Then I suspect that's the moment. Something happened to ye. First, we need to be certain this is the case. Please strip, Kira. Ye can keep yer wrap on."
Kira glanced to Addrick, her cheeks darkening. He laughed. She was odd to him. Once he'd seen her naked and once in nothing but her wrap, yet she stared at him with such embarrassment at the sheer thought of him seeing her naked again. His head tilted to one side, watching her stare at him. Her brow furrowed.
"Are you going to sit here and watch?"
"Aye, if yer marked she'll need my magic to find out when, why, and how it was done."
Kira squeaked.
"Tis true, however I don't need ye until I find the mark. Ye can turn around Addrick and give the lass her privacy."
"Yer being ridiculous, I've seen ye naked, all of yer parts on display for me eyes. I've seen ye in a wrap, what is the problem?"
"We weren't kissing then."
"And we're not kissing now. We kissed before and we'll kiss later, but this exact moment there is no kissing."
"Addrick!" Kira shouted. "I don't want you to see me naked if we're not bedding each other."
Addrick sighed. He shook his head and turned his back to her. "Fine. Yer being ridiculous."
He stared at the wall listening to Kira's clothes drop into a pile.
"You're hands are cold . . . Myra! Do you have to touch me there? That tickles . . . I feel so violated . . . I'm going to need ale after this . . ."
Addrick's lips curled into a smile as he listened to Kira's protests. Though he couldn't see what Myra was doing, his imagination filled in the blanks nicely.
"I'm sorry, lassie, but he will need to turn around now," Myra said.
Addrick looked over his shoulder. Myra was on her knees in front of Kira, her hands stroking the skin on Kira's flat stomach. Addrick's eyes pointed as the powder blue glow of three marks swirled on Kira's flesh. Each appeared as though they floated above her, yet also seemed carved into her skin. The color moved with the flow of a river. He said nothing as he covered the short distance between him and the ladies, dropping to his knees next to Myra. One hand traced the lines of one symbol. An eye, trapped within a triangle, had an arrow piercing through one side the triangle and out of the pupil.
"This is awkward. I have the hands of two people caressing my stomach and both of their heads are far too close to my lower regions for my liking," Kira said.
Addrick was still feeling one of the symbols when Myra's hand grabbed one of his ears. He shrieked when she pulled on his ear and forced him to a stand.
"That is my ear yer pulling on," Addrick said, rubbing his ear.
"Ye can get dressed now, Kira. But please tie yer tunic up so yer belly remains exposed and lay on the ground." Myra knelt in front of her bag and rummaged through it.
Addrick pretended to look somewhere else while Kira dressed, but his eyes drifted to watch her. Freckles lined her back, running the length of her spine, broken up by the flesh colored wrap binding her chest. Her spine pushed beneath her skin when she bent over to collect her pants. His eyes followed the ridge of bones and coloring of freckles. She pulled her hair off her shoulders, exposing the back of her neck to Addrick as she tied it into a braid. His eyes drifted to a mole on her neck just above her shoulders. From his distance the mole looked like a heart. Her tunic slid over her body, breaking the trance staring at the tiny blemish had put him in. Kira looked over her shoulder, lips turned upward as her green eyes locked on his.
"Like what you see? I can have someone draw you a picture of me."
Addrick smiled. "Touché."
Kira laid on the hard wooden surface of Addrick's floor, rolling the tunic up to expose the three marks. Addrick sat beside her. He grabbed both her arms and crossed them over her chest. She breathed slowly, swallowing hard at his touch. One hand lingered over hers as he looked into her eyes. He didn't have time to assure her it would be all right before Myra knelt opposite of him. She handed a cup of clear liquid to Addrick. Nerves rattled his hands, sloshing the liquid within. Silently he cursed himself. Kira had broken through the walls he'd carved around his heart and now he'd do anything to keep her safe. A woman who needed no protection, yet he wanted to give it to her always.
He watched as Myra mashed herbs and dried berries inside a stone mortar. Her tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth, breaking up the heavy silence filling the room. Seers were as adept at using herbs for magic aids as they were at seeing into people's souls. Sometimes, for their own good, a person who came to a seer for guidance must be drugged to open their soul to the seer. Often people rejected the seer's magic, but the herb and berry mixture lessened their natural defense. Addrick had no seeing ability himself, but Myra had taught him her tricks with a mortar. He could be an aid to a seer if needed.
Wrinkled hands worked with haste as she sprinkled the powder into the cup. Foam sizzled on the surface, threatening to bubble over the edges of the cup. She nodded to him. He moved his hand in a small circle, mixing the powder further until the clear liquid turned to a deep purple. One hand moved to help Kira lift her head so she could drink.
"This'll taste awful, but ye need to drink it all. It'll relax yer body and open ye up," Addrick said, touching the cup to her lips.
"For what?"
"Me. Myra is no longer strong enough to use her powers herself for something such as this, so we'll use a combination of my Guardian magic and hers. It won't hurt ye, however, I'll see every memory ye have. Good, bad, about me—everything."
"Great. As if you're not cocky enough as is, now you get to see . . ." She sighed and stopped talking. Addrick smiled as he tipped the cup to her lips. She cringed when the liquid filled her mouth. When the last drop was gone, Addrick removed his hand from the mid of her back and allowed her to lie back on the floor. Kira smacked her lips lazily; eyes drooped until they closed.
"Are ye ready, Addrick?"
He nodded and sat instead of kneeling. His knees graced Kira's side as he crossed his legs and slid in closer. Both hands touched her stomach. Addrick's thumb brushed over the symbol closest to her belly button. It was a set of three stars interlocking at their tips. Her muscles tensed under his touch.
"I recognize the Seeing Eye and the broken heart of a magic bind, but what is this one?"
"That is the mark of blood magic," Myra said.
"Rodyn?"
"I don't know. At least whoever it is clearly wasn't able to bind her magic. They didn't finish the three marks needed for that. Place yer hand around the Seeing Eye symbol. Connect yer thumb and pointer fingers to form a triangle around it. Remember, no matter what ye see, keep connected to her."
Addrick closed his eyes. Power surged through him when he situated his hands around the eye; his fingers became the triangle to surround it. A vibration pushed from Kira's stomach, trying to force his hands free of their connection to her skin. His arms shook under the power. Through his closed eyes the symbol formed. Dull at first, it brightened until the powder blue consumed the darkness. Myra's hands slid over his. At first he didn't register them as her hands. They were two clouds kissing the backs of his hands, drifting over knuckles with a grace only woman could have.
The color lessened until Addrick walked among drifts of pale blue fog. Rectangles floated without aide of wires. Within them, scenes of Kira's life flickered on repeat, broken up by thin horizontal lines stretching from edge to edge. He walked to the closest rectangle.
"Please, Emma," a slender woman said. She stood outside the doorway of cottage, hood pulled over her head to block her face. Addrick recognized Emma leaning in the doorway, arms crossed, watching the woman. The woman shifted a bundle in her hands. "You have to take her."
"Not until you tell me what happened to my brother and what's going on. You both vanish for years and I don't get so much as a message from you. Then all of a sudden you show up with a baby and expect me to take her? I don't understand Liz."
"I'm sorry Emma, believe me I'm sorry. There are things going on which I can't explain. The less you know, the better for both you and my daughter." The bundle stirred, the blanket falling off the babies face. Her eyes opened as the baby cried. Liz leaned her arms to show Emma the babies face. "Her name is Kira. She's your brother's daughter and one of the last of a very special kind of Wilder. Dougary is safe, I've seen to that. If all goes well, we'll be back in the Glades with you and Kira within months. If not. . ."
Liz looked to Kira. Emma reached her arms out and took the baby from her. Kira cried, tiny arms stretched out from the blanket. Liz pulled down her hood, red hair releasing from the tied bundle and feathering around her shoulders. She pulled a chain over her head and slipped it on the baby. It was too big for the young Kira and practically circled her like a belt. Addrick recognized the Guardian symbol. All three jewels were shining within their place on the interlocking spirals.
"This necklace is her heritage. She has magic, Emma. I know you probably don't believe that, but magic is real and alive and it flows through our blood. It'll be hard to keep her from using it, but you must. For her safety."
"I'll protect her," Emma said.
Addrick stepped away from the scene and continued moving through the rectangles holding the memories of Kira's life. He saw everything. Her happiest moments, her saddest moments, and anything in between, they became engraved in Addrick's mind as he searched for the memory he sought. He stopped occasionally to watch scenes unfold, curious about the life which created the woman he knew. Blue mist coiled round his feet as he stepped from one rectangle to another. Addrick didn't know if he was still in his house or another room. There were no signs of an exit, no windows, and no walls. If it weren't for the floating movies of Kira's life Addrick would've found himself in an empty void.
He watched a scene with her aunt. In some ways he felt guilty about invading her privacy, seeing her thoughts and feelings, but the more scenes he passed the more he felt compelled to stop. They were grouped together by age, following Kira through a year of her life.
"You can't do that, Kira!" Emma said. She knelt before a Kira that appeared to be thirteen, tears stained her eyes and blood speckled her clothes.
"But they called me stupid and ugly, threw stones at me. If they knew what I could do, they'd never hurt me again. They'd fear me!"
"I know they hurt you and what they did is very wrong, but you cannot take revenge like that. It solves nothing. These wounds, they'll heal. You can heal yourself with a single touch of your magic. But what you did to that boy, he'll be scared for life, emotionally and physically. You're lucky he didn't see that it was you doing it."
Emma pulled her niece close to her chest, stroking a hand through her hair. Addrick reached out for the rectangle holding the scene. His hand went through it as if it were made of clouds. The scene disrupted for a moment before returning to form. Emma kissed Kira's cheek.
"I know you understand what you did is wrong. You wouldn't be crying if you didn't feel remorse. These cuts on your skin will go away as will the pain. But if the guards were to see you using magic, death isn't something you can come back from. Think about what it would do to me if I lost you. Maybe you don't care about what happens to you, but you care about me, right? And I've never been more disappointed in you than I am now."
"I'm sorry, Aunt Emma. They made me so mad . . ."
Addrick walked through the rectangle and moved on. He stopped when he found the ones from the Coming of Age dance. Ry twirled Kira in his arms. A twinge of jealousy shot through Addrick's heart as she watched her smile in Ry's arms. He'd seen their entire history together. They had a friendship Addrick had never experienced himself. They'd do anything for one another. Ry was her first kiss, though it was nothing but a peck, enough to silence a girl with golden hair who'd been teasing Kira about never having been kissed. Addrick's hand punched through the scene, directed at Ry's head as he bent Kira backward in their dance. A growl rumbled in his throat when the scene solidified once more.
"No man will be able tame you so long as you don't wish it, as no woman will tame me. We can have a marriage of convenience. You can continue your ways, and I can continue mine," Ry said.
She looked shocked by his marriage proposal, her hands gripped the black jerkin around Ry's chest. Her mouth fell open as she stood stunned before recovering her stance. Addrick closed his eyes and moved to later in the evening. He didn't want to see Kira's response or to know if they were betrothed and never told him. A kiss didn't give him the right to be jealous of her past with another man. Ry would hold a special place in her heart always, but Ry never got her heart pumping in any of the floating scenes the way Addrick could get it to hammer away in her chest. Her blush never coated her cheeks at Ry's touch the way it did at Addrick's. Those gestures were something he'd always have over Ry.
He stopped at another scene involving the dance. Kira stood outside a door, her ear pressed to the wood, a hand stroking the grain. His jaw dropped as the symbol of a seer's eye shined from within the wood, the lines followed Kira's touch. She stumbled backward, eyes black as a starless night. Kira turned from the door and ran. A man burst from within the room and chased after her, a man Addrick could recognize in his sleep.
Rodyn.
They wound through the castle corridors, pushing past servants that seemed to pay them no mind. Rodyn stopped chasing her when she burst out of the castle doors and into the night air. He glanced around, making sure there were no witnesses. One hand stretched from within his dark silk robes. Fingers flicked in Kira's direction and she tumbled down the stairs. Addrick reached out for her, instincts wanting to stop her fall, but his hands went through the floating rectangle of her memory.
Her body rolled down step after step, arms slamming against stone. Addrick's heightened hearing heard her bones break with her tumble. She landed on the cobblestone at the base of the steps. Blood caked her hair, staining the dress she wore. One bone pierced through her leg, keeping her from standing up and continuing her run. Rodyn descended the steps as a guard ran to Kira.
"Are you all right?" the guard asked. He knelt beside her. Rodyn turned his head; no other eyes were on them. Men and woman were too busy talking among themselves or kissing to notice. He pressed two hands together and Addrick watched as a dome circled around the three people. Color behind them turned black and white, sealing them inside. Addrick recognized a Guardian dome of silence when he saw one.
"What is your name?" Rodyn asked the guard.
"Zeekale, your Lordship."
"Well, Zeekale, this was not your night." Rodyn smiled. He snapped his fingers and the guards head turned until it faced behind him. The guard fell dead to his side. Kira pushed back on her hands, trying to crawl away. She screamed but Rodyn clapped his hands together and turned her scream to silence. "You're a nosey Wilder, aren't you?"
Addrick fisted his hands, growling at Rodyn. The man slid a dagger from the loop of his belt and stepped closer to Kira. His feet stood on either side her, keeping her trapped between his legs. Rodyn knelt on one knee, angling the dagger's blade to press against her neck. Addrick wanted to stop it, but he could do nothing, this was a memory and he had to remind himself she was still alive. Rodyn didn't kill her, but that was little comfort to him.
"Wait," a voice came from within Rodyn's robes. His free hand grabbed a leather tie around his neck and pulled it from within his robe. A crystal hung at the end, held to the leather chain by a gold clasp. White light illuminated Rodyn in a ghostly glow. "Her neck, look at the necklace bound to her neck."
Rodyn released the crystal and leaned closer to Kira. She squirmed, trying to free herself. He moved the dagger and jammed it into one of her hands. It went straight through and wedged into the stone below. Her soundless scream broke Addrick's heart. Rodyn's slimy fingers stroked the lines of her neck until it fished out the metal chain bound to her. His eyes widened as the Guardian symbol slipped from beneath the dress' corset.
"She's a Guardian? But I've killed them all."
"Clearly you didn't. That explains why you cannot open Calandria." As the voice spoke, the crystal around Rodyn's neck brightened with each word, dimming between the next.
"I'll kill her now and be done with the lot of them," Rodyn said.
"Wait. If she lives, perhaps others do as well. Press me to her; let me see into her heart."
Rodyn leaned closer until he was nearly lying on top of her. Kira screamed again as the crystal touched her clavicle. Addrick smelt the burnt flesh rising from beneath the crystal. Stones stained red with Kira's blood as she tried to rip her hand free from the blade. Her other hand rose, magic igniting in a flare around her. Rodyn laughed. She sent the energy toward him, but her magic did nothing. It bounced off him and harmlessly vanished.
"She is a seer," the crystal voice said.
"Then we must kill her!" Rodyn jerked the dagger free to another silent scream and returned the blade to her throat, pressing it harder into the skin, drawing blood. A spark exploded from the crystal. The dagger flew from Rodyn's hand and slid against the cobblestone. Rodyn growled and lifted the crystal to his face. Addrick leaned closer to the floating scene, hoping to see what was within the crystal, but all he saw was a blinding light.
"We can use her. Waiting for your marriage to the Princess is no longer required. We don't need to rule Morag to get what we require. This girl is our key to New Calandria. I have seen it. We shall bind her abilities to see and set her free."
"But I need the power of all Guardians in order to free you, my love. New Calandria isn't enough to open Calandria of old."
"You've failed in that method, Rodyn. This girl was hidden from us, there could be others. It is time to fish them out from within New Calandria and this girl will do that for us."
"If she is a seer, she'll see us coming," Rodyn said.
"Drag me against her skin. I will bind her power and none shall be able to break my hold. Soon, my dear. Soon the final Guardians will fall and I will be free. Calandria will be ours and the humans will bow before us."