“I could fix two in a day,” Audryn said. She picked up my fork and stabbed it into a potato on my plate before plopping it into her mouth.
“No,” I protested immediately. “You were exhausted yesterday.”
Her head snapped to me, and her hand drew away. “Oh, I didn’t realize I neededyourpermission too. Do they teach you that as a royal, or is it something you all come up with on your own?”
Micah blew out a breath. “Yikes, guess it wasn’t that good of a weinering.”
“Micah,” I warned, “don’t.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Audryn glowered. “A pompous royal always seems to quash their bedroom skills with attitude. Apparently, this applies to both princesandkings.” She stood. “Figure out where you’re taking me, Micah.”
My stomach sank as she strode from the room.
Twenty minutes later we were in the sky, and I couldn’t help but glance over at her every few minutes; she was seething. And even though I tried to explain that I was only worried, she didn’t care. I knew better than to tell her no, as if I held any authority over her actions or decisions.
Hoping to keep the sun from her skin, Audryn caked on a thick layer of cream that Sky had supplied. Working on a seep so close to home, I could get her back before the sun peeked in the sky. I remained at a distance as she knelt on the edge and plunged her hands down into the rocky land.
With a sweat-soaked shirt and her face paler than normal,she’d increased the flow of the slowed seep brilliantly, but it seemed to take more from her than the evening before. I handed her my water, and she hesitated, but snatched it and drained half of its contents swiftly.
“I think one is enough,” I said, my tone soft. Audryn shot a look at me before she walked to Dysis and mounted. Her chest was still heaving from the effort the first seep stole.
“Take me to the next one, Micah.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
He looked to me for permission, but I shrugged and walked to Zalzre. Amalee remained silent, but I felt her staring in my periphery.
“You think this is a good idea?” Fisher asked as he stood beside Dysis and spoke to Audryn. The woman shot him a look that made even me flinch.
The beast shot up to the sky, and we headed to a seep not far away; my brother at least had the good sense not to take her further from the townhouse.
“Anyone else want to offer an opinion?” Audryn eyed each of us as she dismounted. “Maybe make any other decisions for me? Tell me what I should do?”
Despite seeing that she was already near her limit, I remained quiet. Amalee met my side while I leaned into my wyvern. With Fisher close behind, Audryn walked to the onyx pool without giving a moment of consideration to her fading ability.
It didn’t take long for her to stall out and take an unavoidable break. She lay on the rocky land with her flight jacket over her head. With the sun beaming against the black leather, she was creating a kiln under the material.
“Maybe I can help erode the land,” Amalee called out.
“I don’t need help,” Audryn mumbled; her icy demeanor had fully returned.
“Okay,” my sister drawled.
“Does your magic work differently here?” Audryn asked, her voice a bit kinder. “Sky says hers doesn’t act the same as it did in Oras.”
“I don’t know, we’ve never left Crofea.” Amalee let a palmful of gravel roll around in her hand before turning it into dust and letting the breeze carry it away. “Flown all over the damned continent, but our mother wouldn’t let us leave it. She thinks they’ll kill us if given the opportunity.”
Audryn crossed her ankles. “Well, it wouldn’t help anyway. The layers need to be compressed, and decimating the soil would only aerate it.”
“Would you like more water?” I offered.
“I have some too,” Fisher added.
I didn’t want the guard to join us and definitely didn’t want him knowing the extent of how bad the issue was with our crude. Knowing the seeps had slowed was enough to inflict catastrophic damage if he wanted. For all I knew, he’d already sent a messenger hawk to King Sutton to advise on the matter.
Audryn extended her arm in Fisher’s direction. The canteen disappeared under the jacket, and the leather tented up from her drinking its contents. I didn’t care who helped keep her hydrated as long as she was; Ryder could offer her water and I’d be glad of it.
Several minutes later, she sat up, letting the jacket partially cover her head. The cream had evaporated, and her cheeks were flushed, clearly more from exhaustion than sun exposure. Fisher’s eyes grew wide as Audryn sat on her heels and placed shaky hands back on the rocky land.
“Maybe one was enough?” the guard prompted. “If something happens to you, Prince Sutton will show no mercy to me for sitting by while you killed yourself trying to fix someone else’s problem.” His eyes shot to me with anger, but I simply pursed my lips and nodded; I’d seen the prince angry for far less.
