Her thoughts drifted to Caspian—he was a walking contradiction. She still wasn’t sure if she liked him or outright despised him.
She thought of last night, remembering him staring at her while demanding earth-shattering pleasure from the far reaches of her body and soul. Remembering him tucking her into bed like she was something precious and kissing her forehead.
She shook her head.
Her other lover had been … different. Though unwise to compare, her only other lover had never cared if she came. She often hadn’t. She had never even known her body was capable of finishing multiple times in the same evening.
The gods had a cruel sense of humour, it seemed, to make a male that good in bed, but make him so wicked and rotten on the inside.
She recalled the way he had murmured words—she recognized that he had been speaking in the ancient language—and the candles had burst to life, and the orb had started whirring. She wondered if she had the skill to do the same, utter a word, and have candles burst to life like that.
After glancing to make sure the door was bolted shut and Fiza wasn’t present, she took out a small stone from her pocket.
She held the stone aloft and whispered, “Váless.”
Nothing happened.
She sighed.
She had been sure that magic was the answer to the angel’s riddle.
She repeated the word three more times. But the stone didn’t so much as quiver in her hand.
A stupid rock, and a stupid spell.
She rolled her eyes in exasperation. Perfect. She was in her bedchamber spouting nonsense at the advice of a madwoman.
Shaking her head at her own stupidity, she donned her cloak and went to the stables.
Experimenting with her new abilities, she reached out with her mind towards the horses. At first, she was nervous, but it turned out to be relatively easy to extend her consciousness beyond herself. Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing and on the things she could sense near her. The sound of a tail swishing, the sound of one of the horses chomping on hay.
After a few minutes of focusing on her breathing and extending her awareness beyond herself, she was surprised to discover she could see the horses with her eyes closed. She could sense three auras around her.
Opening her eyes, she looked around. Icefire and Buttercup both had soft yellow auras, while Draugr, who snorted in the corner, had a churning black aura.
Extending her consciousness outwards, she brushed up against Buttercup’s aura. And she was—Elizabeth didn’t know how else to describe it—aware. A swirling vortex of thoughts and images. She tried to project feelings of friendship and care towards Buttercup, reassuring the mare she meant no harm. Almost immediately, the horse calmed in her presence, her ears perking forward.
Buttercup blinked at her as she stroked the horse’s velvety nose. The horse’s mind was a tumble of images: an apple, a bale of hay, a wide-open field.
She did the same with Icefire, reaching out to sense the gelding’s thoughts.
An image of a carrot came to her mind, and she grinned. “Yes, for bearing with my pitiful attempts to communicate this way, I’ll make sure you all get carrots soon.”
Finally, she approached the dark aura in the corner. She brushed down Draugr and extended her awareness. The stallion’s mind was a swirling vortex of darkness and rage, yet it felt highly organized—not unlike the minds of the demons in the castle.
But—that didn’t make sense.
He couldn’t be a demon, he was a horse.
She brushed Draugr and mulled it over. Perhaps his mind did not feel the same as the other horses because hewasn’tone of them. A demon. It sounded crazy, but once she thought of it, she was convinced she was right.
She led Draugr out of the stables and thought about what she knew of him. He rebelled every time she told him to do something. Any time she tried to assert dominance of any kind over him, he looked inclined to buck her off.
Abruptly changing directions, Elizabeth walked Draugr away from the paddock and down her favourite trail, hoping a new strategy would work. Leading him by the reins, Draugr plodded along beside her, his dark mane bouncing with the vigor of his stride.
She led him to the wide-open fields beneath the mountains—the place where her heart felt the freest when she rode. A crisp breeze rolled in, and the view was spectacular with only a few clouds in the sky.
Elizabeth dismounted and moved to stand in front of Draugr, looking him in the eyes.
