As Darkfest had predicted, their animals had not gone far. They found the three of them grazing side by side in a small meadow. He lifted her onto the back of her mount, swung agilely onto the back of his own.
When they stopped to rest the horses later that day, she saw a silvery spider web stretched between two bushes. She watched, fascinated, as a spotted spider slowly and carefully cocooned its unwitting prey in white silk.
They stopped again several hours later, this time near a river teeming with dozens of speckled fish. Darkfest dropped down beside her. Stretching out on his stomach, he plunged his hands into the water up to his elbows and, to her delight, caught six fat fish with his bare hands.
Wrapping them in leaves, he put them in his saddlebags. “Dinner,” he explained.
They rode until dusk, then made camp near a small blue pool surrounded by pale lavender ferns, flowering vines, and tall slender trees with silver-blue leaves. It looked like a fairyland. She would not have been surprised to see unicorns peeking through the bushes.
She watched Darkfest unsaddle the horses, then hobble them and the mule nearby. With a wave of his hand and a muttered incantation, a small fire sprang to life.
Needing to feel useful, she spread their bedrolls on either side of the fire, filled their waterskins. She had never cooked fish over an open fire, but when she offered, he told her there was no need. He took care of it quickly and efficiently. He cut off theheads and tails, gutted the fish, removed the bones, then cut the fish up into chunks, which he put on sticks to roast over the fire.
The meat was juicy and tender. “Delicious,” she exclaimed. “Where did ye learn to do that?”
He shrugged. “I dinna recall.”
“That seems passing strange.”
He nodded. There were many things he could do that he had no memory of studying or learning. The knowledge simply came to him as needed. Some of what he knew he had learned from books, but some of his magic seemed inborn. His power over fire and the elements was simply there, a part of him for as far back as he could remember.
A heaviness fell over Channa Leigh’s mood as the sun began to set. She stared at Darkfest, wanting to imprint his image on her mind.
“Thank ye for this day, my lord,” she said, and even as she spoke, her vision began to fade, to darken, until blackness descended on her once again.
“Channa Leigh?”
She turned her face away lest he see the tears forming in her eyes. She was grateful to have been able to see for one whole day and yet it, having seen the beauty of the world around her only made the darkness that engulfed her seem all the worse.
She stiffened as she felt his arm slide around her shoulders.
“Channa Leigh, why do ye weep?”
“I’m not,” she said, sniffing.
“No?” His finger lifted a fat teardrop from her cheek.
“Tis…tis only a…a bit of dew.”
He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by her tears, her nearness. All too clearly he recalled the kiss they had shared and hungered for more. Just one more taste of her honeyed lips.
It was a temptation beyond resisting. Drawing her closer, he lowered his head and covered her mouth with his.
He felt her surprise and then her surrender as she leaned into him, her arms twining around his neck.
He was breathless when he drew back, his body hard with wanting.
“My lord,” she whispered.
“Forgive me.”
“Ye must not kiss me so,” she said, her voice as breathless as his. “Tis not seemly.”
“Aye,” he said, and kissed her again.
T’was only a kiss, she thought. How could it have such power? It moved through her like sunlight and lightning, driving away the darkness. Her blindness no longer mattered. Nothing mattered but the touch of his lips on hers, the feel of his arms strong and sure around her, the heat that flowed through her, the little shivers of pleasure that made her press her body closer to his.
She ached deep inside, ached for something unknown, something she had never felt before. The intensity of it frightened her.
