She glances up at me and says, “I was short with you today, and I’m sorry.”
Oh. I wasn’t expecting that. “Well, I was frustrating,” I say. “But thank you.”
“You weren’t. You’re new to this, and I should have been more patient. I’m used to training people who are coming into the Royal Guard and have a better…foundation.”
“Ah, so they’re already better than me, and you’re not used to stooping to my level.”
She cringes. “Mae, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m joking, Elle. It’s okay.” I look at her, a smile on my face. I lean toward her, about to nudge her with my elbow to communicate I was joking, but she doesn’t return the smile, and she seems…off. Sad. Her usual fire isn’t there, and it hasn’t been all afternoon. “Is everything okay?”
She doesn’t respond at first. After several seconds of silence, she says, “No. I’m having a rough day. It’s been weird not having Etta around.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize. I got the sense that you weren’t her biggest fan,” I confess.
Her mouth twists as she considers her words. “Etta, Holly, and I were close friends, though, but that was several years ago. Over the last year or so, we started to drift apart. I just miss her today.”
“Want a hug?” I offer.
She shakes her head. “Sorry, I’m not an affectionate person.”
“I picked up on that,” I say, glancing at her with a smile.
Elle smiles as she stares at the ground, but it’s gone in an instant. The silence blooms again between us. As we approach the castle’s front entrance, the sound of the guards shifting at their posts is audible, their forest-green uniforms vivid against the white limestone.
“Hey,” Elle says cheerfully. “How about wine night tonight? Holly could even join us this time.”
“Did we not have wine night last night?” I ask, arching an eyebrow.
“I mean, I guess we did, but let’s do it again.”
I smile and say, “Definitely. When?”
“What about now?”
We stop at the kitchen to grab a bottle of red, then ask Ivan to send Holly up whenever he sees her. Back in my wing, I chill the wine from the kitchen using my magic before I pour it, earning a smile from Elle.
“I’m going to go wash up before Holly gets here,” I say.
“I forgot all about showering. I’m sorry, Mae. I didn’t mean to impose.”
“Hush. You’re welcome anytime,” I say while heading back to the bathroom. She follows me, wine in hand. I wasn’t expecting her to come with me while I showered, but she had made it clear that she didn’t want to be alone, so I lead us both into the grand bathroom.
I turn on the shower, angling the handle to the far left so the water is scalding. I reach my hand to feel the temperature of the water when Elle stops me.
“Use your magic to sense if it’s ready,” she says as she nurses her glass of wine.
I remove my hand from the shower and close my eyes again. I wonder how long it’s going to take me to get used to using my magic without feeling like I need to close my eyes to concentrate. I unspool a tiny furl of magic and let it drift toward the stream of water. Breathing through my nose, I concentrate on feeling the water without physically touching it. My magic floats through the water, and when it does, I can feel the warm water as it falls.
“It’s warm,” I say, eyes still closed, enjoying the feeling of it against my skin without being in the water.
“Make it hotter. Turn the handle with your Fae magic.”
I want to look at her and ask how the hell I’m supposed to do that, but I don’t want to break my concentration. I’ve never moved anything with my mind before, and I’m not sure how to do it, but I didn’t know how to light all those candles or heat the pool, which fills me with confidence. My magic is me. It courses through and is mine to direct.
Slowly opening my eyes, I concentrate on the shower and unspool another thread of magic, sending it toward the handle. I lift my hand out and up, imagining reaching around the handle and closing my hand around it. It crashes to the right, and even though I’m six feet away, I feel the water turn frigid. I wrench my magic back to me, and the feeling disappears.
Elle is looking at me, her eyes wrinkled, and I can tell she’s holding back a smile. Instead of trying again, I step toward the shower and turn the handle back to hot.
