It’s still Pierce in there,she thought, as the pegasus began trotting down the slope.And no matter what, I know he’d never do me any harm.
She steeled herself for what she assumed would be lift-off as Pierce approached the fence, but to her surprise, Pierce merely jumped it, sailing over it with complete ease – but then, she supposed, a pegasus was nothing like a normal horse, and something that might have proved a challenge for a horse was nothing at all to him.
He picked up speed as he went, and Celeste gritted her teeth, waiting to be jostled and having to hang on for dear life, but the ride was surprisingly smooth – at least until she felt Pierce’s wings unfurl behind her, and then, with two massive beats, they left the ground and sailed up into the air, the wind buffeting against her.
“Whoa!”
Leaning forward as the icy wind cut into the skin on her cheeks, Celeste made completely sure she had a secure hold on Pierce’s mane, and squeezed her legs around his shoulders. He was surprisingly warm, though, and as she leaned in she felt the heat radiating from him, melting away some of the shocking cold.
Sheknewshe shouldn’t look down – that was what everyone said when you were up somewhere high, right? – but somehow, she couldn’t resist it. But when she did, an amazed gasp left her lips, adrenaline singing through her veins.
She could see –everything.All the houses of Portsmith, surrounded by their little gardens; all the winding, crooked roads of the village; all the dark green of the grassy fields that surrounded it. She could see the ocean, dark gray-blue, foaming up whitely where it crashed against the rocky cliffs.
This is… incredible!
Far from being terrified, Celeste found herself surging with excitement and joy. She’d never felt anything like this before. She wasn’t exactly young anymore, she knew that, but now, flying freely through the sky, she couldn’t help but remember some of the carefree feeling of youth, before she’d had to drop her life to become the guardian of the magical wards at the lighthouse.
Unable to help herself, Celeste let out a sudden burst of laughter.This is really what it’s like to be free!
Behind her, she could feel Pierce’s massive, arched golden wings beating the air, carrying them easily through the ocean winds. He really hadn’t been joking when he’d said this would be faster – as he wheeled around, she could already see the lighthouse where it stood on its rocky crag. They were approaching it fast!
Pierce was clearly an expert flier, and he began his descent well before they reached the lighthouse, banking his wings to slow them down. Still, he did one circuit of the tower, sailing around it, coming low enough that Celeste could taste the seaspray on her tongue, before he finally came in to land.
“Oof!”
He didn’t jostle her, exactly, but still, the winds were strong, and he had to dip his wings and drop quite suddenly at the last moment of their descent. But still, Celeste realized, she’d felt completely safe the entire time she was on his back, even when they’d been flying over the small stretch of ocean between the island and the crag the lighthouse stood on. So safe, in fact, that now she found she was reluctant to climb down from his warm, broad back.
“I guess I better let you shift back into your human form, though,” she murmured. “Especially if we’re going to have to have that talk…”
Swallowing hard, Celeste swung her leg over his now neatly folded wings, then dropped to the ground. She took a few steps back, watching as the body of the pegasus shimmered, and then, it was the Pierce she knew so well standing in front of her again.
“So. This is where you live?” he asked her after a moment, looking up at the tall white spire of the lighthouse. “Somehow… it suits you.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of Celeste’s mouth. “Why do you say that?”
Pierce frowned. “It’s hard to say why,” he said after a moment. “I guess I just never pictured you living any kind of conventional life – you know, a white picket fence in the suburbs, or something like that. I have to admit, a magic lighthouseisa bit of a surprise though.”
Ah, right. That.
Celeste sighed. She supposed they had to get it over with sometime.
“Come on,” she said, starting toward the bright red door leading to the lighthouse’s living quarters. “I feel like we both have some explaining to do.”
Chapter 8
Celeste wasn’t sure why it should matter to her what Pierce thought of the lighthouse, but as she unlocked the door, pushing it open before leading him inside, she found herself watching him a little from beneath her eyelashes as he looked around.
It was…cozy, she supposed, but that was about all she could say for it. She blushed a little as she noticed things that she’d become accustomed to as if she was seeing them for the first time: the loose threads on the knitted throw on the couch, the threadbare state of the couch itself. The stains on the rug. The way the bookshelves sagged a little, weighed down with all the novels she’d read at least three times each.
“I guess it’s not much, but it’s my home,” she stammered after a long moment of silence, during which Pierce simply looked around him, his face unreadable.
“You live here all alone?” he asked after a moment, turning to look at her.
“Well… yes,” Celeste said. “That’s… that’s sort of the deal with this.”
Pierce frowned. “You still haven’t actually explained whatthe dealis yet. Why does it mean you have to live all alone here? And where is the magical aura coming from? I could see it as we flew over – it’s stronger magic than I’ve ever seen before in my life. Areyouthe one who controls it?”
Swallowing, Celeste shook her head. “Wait, wait. You’re not the only one with questions.” She laughed, but it was out of nerves rather than humor. “What are you, the police or something?”
