Seren had seen too much of my soft underbelly already—she would see more still if I did as she asked—but I would not allow myself to take in more of her. I refused to bear her pain alongside mine. This was still a job. This could only ever be a job.
“Are you ready?”
When I turned back to her, Seren was not looking at me. Her hands worked deftly as she laced up her worn leather boots. She hadnot bothered to don her armor. I wondered if there was something to that, some semblance of an olive branch held between us.
“Of course,” I rose from the settee, dusting my hands across my rumpled sleep clothes.
“You’re not even dressed.” Her discerning gaze traveled up and down my body, clearly unconvinced. “I’ll be outside.”
We had trained together for a week. Our conversations were awkward and stilted in the light of day, the honesty that flowed between us in the dark somewhat stanched, but neither of us had made another attempt on the other's life, so I considered that progress.
Seren practiced her mágik as promised, and her skills were growing—if slowly.
Autumn had arrived in full force and the sky threatened a brisk morning. As I reached for the door’s handle, I saw Seren’s borrowed cloak, still hanging by the fireplace. I doubled back to retrieve it for her.
I pulled the door open, cloak in hand and paused at the sight before me. Seren stood in the middle of the wide clearing, frost under her feet and clouds above her head. She was always looking to the sky.
Weak rays of sun trickled through the mist and drenched her face in pale light. Her head dropped, gold limning her dark hair. Her hands were raised before her, a large sphere of water cupped between them. It rolled back and forth as she tilted her palms. Seren splayed her fingers and watched as the liquid trickled through, not crashing to the ground below but defying gravity by racing along the backs of her hands. Rivulets twined around her wrists and danced into the air as they bounced off her fingertips.
I shook myself from my stupor and approached. Her fingernails were tinged purple-blue with cold. Without a word, I wrapped the forgotten cloak around her shoulders, turning her toward me so I could tie the ribbon at her throat.
Water disappeared into mist as she watched me.
My fingers tied the knot slowly, savoringly. Her pulse brushed against the calloused skin, soft on rough. I felt her swallow as if it were my own. “I see you’ve started without me.”
“I thought you were done with the teasing,” Seren deadpanned.
“Someone has to keep things interesting around here.” I shot her a fleeting grin then let my expression turn serious. “That was impressive, though. Show me what else you’ve been practicing.”
Seren frowned at me then rolled her shoulders, stepping a few paces back. She raised her arms once more, and small orbs of water rippled to life in both palms.
Her lips tucked in as she concentrated, eyes narrowed. The spheres raised into the air in front of her and merged into one. The mass grew larger, pulsing and undulating as if it were a creature alive.
“Good,” I praised. “Now, try to hit me with it.”
With alarm, her eyes flickered to mine. The water wavered as her attention skipped. “Are you mad? The last time I used my mágik on you, I almost killed you.”
“You caught me off guard. This time, I will be prepared.” My voice softened. “You won’t hurt me.”
She scoffed. “Right, I couldn’t possibly hurt the indomitable Harkin Aranti.”
I glared at her for a moment then felt the familiar urge to school my expression, to hide my emotions away.
As if she could see the battle I waged within myself, she said, “Feel what you need to feel. We don’t have to like each other, but we do need to work together, and that can only happen if you can be honest.”
Not liking her wasn’t the problem.
My mouth pulled down at the corners, eyebrows furrowed.
“Working on it,” I grunted, finally. “It is not so easy to tear down eight years of carefully constructed walls. Especially knowing I will have to build them back up again once we have finished here. I’m sure my next job will have no need for thereal me.” I said the last two words like they were a joke, but my voice was strained, betraying me. Seren looked like she might say something, but I continued before she could. “Enough of that. Hit me. Feel the mágik as an extension of yourself. Let it become one with you, and then bend it to your will. Focus on pushing the water toward me.”
“I can’t.”
“You can. You’re halfway there.”
Seren squeezed her eyes shut, flinging her hands apart. The mágik released, water splashing to the ground unceremoniously.
I made a noise of protest.
