I looked, saw the water was coming for me again, and got the hell away from there. “Can’t you redirect it, split it, freeze it, or…something?”
“Why?”
I pointed at the people on the other side of the barrier. “That could be one of my friends. He was trying to cross over and nearly drowned.” Which was weird because Milo was a great swimmer.
“No, sir,” that woman said to me, “the wateritselftried to drown that human and threw Humphrey onto the land. Thewaterattacked them.”
Well, that had me gulping and taking a few more steps away. I’d thought it was Hydris messing around when the water touched me, but now it was, what? Sentient water?
“Hydris, why the fuck is water trying to kill people?”
His big eyes got even wider as he shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Shouldn’t you? You can control it.”
While we were looking at the water, the snowy guy and others lifted the human off the ground and headed toward a tent. I could only see him in profile, but that human was definitely Milo.
“Oh my god, that’s Milo.” My heart started racing to know he was here, too. I wanted to brave the water. I wanted to— “Milo!”
But none of them could seem to hear me as they disappeared inside the tent with smoke billowing out from the top of it. They were clearly going to warm him up, take care of him, so I shouldn’t worry, but he was my friend and I needed to know he was alright.
Someone slipped their hand into mine, and I looked down to find Hydris. He smiled sympathetically and gave my hand a squeeze. I gripped him back, but then gestured to the water again.
He gave me a huffy look before walking closer to the lake.
I couldn’t fathom why he didn’t want to try. “Just make a path through it. Part the waters, baby Moses.”
He looked over his shoulder at me, his face scrunched up in annoyed confusion. I shrugged. He might not have a clue who Moses was, but he had to know that being all sweet and cute and pocket sized was going to get him called baby.
I watched Hydris focus on the water. He had his hands out like when he’d taken the water off of me in the pool, but the lake water wasn’t moving. Well, no, it was retreating from his every step toward it. The weird thing about that was how it revealed level ground and spring grass. So how was it deep enough to drown men and horses? Magic probably. The water might not be sentient—please not that—but it was resisting another magic user’s efforts to control it.
At one point Hydris’s wings fluttered him up and over the water to drop him in the center of it. He landed on flat dry ground. His arms were curved up from his waist, like he wasdeadlifting weights, muscles straining. He looked powerful and determined.
Until he relaxed with a holler, took a moment to stand there panting, and then flew back to me. “That isn’t regular water,” he said as he wiped perspiration from his reddened brow. “It’s definitely enchanted.”
“Shit. Who can enchant water like this?”
“Maybe the same person who made a fairy ring that can divert to multiple places at once.”
He had a point. It was all tied up with the curse.
Movement on the other side of the barrier had me looking over to see several guards in armor taking stances as they aimed spears of ice at us.
I glanced at Hydris, and he shrugged. “My brother doesn’t like me much.”
“One of them is your brother?”
“No, the one who went into the tent with your friend is.”
“That walking snowflake is your brother?”
“Walking snowflake?” He snickered. “Yes, that’s Flurris.”
Given the fact that Flurris had looked like winter personified, I had to wonder if there was more to Hydris being the Spring Prince. He was still wearing his crown of flowers, his wings big and showy, his skin dewy. But was there more to him he was keeping under wraps?
“Are you still holding back your floweriness?”
“Well, yes. I could create clothing of leaves and flowers and such—I’ve done that before—but it could be considered rather risqué.”
