Or, he could move his fingers and untie the bright white ribbon around her neck. He could give this girl her voice back and listen to what she had to say.
He had a feeling her words might upset his entire world. But at this point, he knew there was only one clear option for him.
Too many things weren’t making sense and the person who had some of the answers was standing right in front of him.
All he had to do was listen.
Gazing into her eyes, he let out a shaky breath and reached for the ribbon.
Her neck was soft and warm under his fingers, but he ignored the tingling sensation that crept up his arm at the contact.
He easily found the knot in the ribbon and his fingers worked to loosen it. Unable to see it, he leaned over her shoulder, bringing his face close to hers.
Her eyes fluttered closed. She was standing motionless, encased in the circle of his arms. She kept so still, Erich couldn’t even hear her breathe.
Finally, his clumsy fingers found the right loop and he tugged the ribbon free.
The white strands fluttered open, slipping over her shoulders, pulled as they were by the weight of the jewel. Instinctively, he reached up, grabbing the green gem before it fell. He pulled the spelled necklace away from her throat.
For the longest second he had ever experienced, she remained motionless in front of him. Then she exhaled the breath she had been holding with a long, deep sigh.
Tilting her head back up to look into his eyes, she opened her mouth. “It’s Aizel,” she said. “Eye-zell.”
Chapter 31
“EYE-zell,” Erich smiled as he repeated her name with the proper pronunciation. “Aizel.”
The sound of her own name was surprisingly grounding. During the last few weeks, she had been called many things. None of them had been her name.
She inhaled a deep breath, the muscles in her chest loosening and expanding. “You are wrong, Erich, Prince of whatever Quotidian kingdom you come from. And unless you figure that out quickly, you are going to find yourself dead. You are on the brink of a war you don’t even know is happening and you are blaming all the wrong people for what’s going on.”
Erich nodded in response to her rapid outburst of words. He didn’t seem surprised or hurt. In fact, he was quite serious. “Was I wrong about you?”
Aizel paused for a second. Of all the things she expected him to ask about, she was the last one. She had just said that he was going to find himself dead and he didn’t even dig into that. She started to nod, since that had been her primary source of communication. Remembering she could talk, she practically shouted. “Yes! I have never been here before nor I was sighted at a nearby village. I was at the white marble palace a few weeks ago, but other than that I have never been anywhere on this continent. I didn’t kill your men during that shipwreck. That was the Quotidian, but I don’t expect you to believe me. I was there, though, which may make it difficult to prove my innocence. But I was the one who dragged you from the depths when you were caught in the rigging of the mast that was pulling you down into the sea. So, if anything, you should be thanking me for saving your life. You’re welcome.” She stopped to take a breath. It felt so good to speak again. She felt as though she had so many layers and layers of words piled up inside of her that she would need the next several days to let them all out. Only then would she again be comfortable.
It was Erich’s turn to do some listening anyway. She had heard enough of his ramblings to last a lifetime.
“The quotidian?” Erich asked. “What do you mean it was the quotidian? Everyone on the continent is quotidian. We can’t do magic.”
“Ha!” Aizel let out a short laugh. “You’re jesting again?”
Erich leaned ever so slightly away from her. “No. No, I’m not. Magic has been outlawed for one thousand seasons. You—or your people—have been exiled for two hundred and fifty years. No one here can even figure out magic. The Council examiners have been attempting to unravel Majis secrets for decades, but they’ve found next to nothing—”
“Stop!”
Erich closed his mouth. Taking in her expression, he relaxed his posture. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll stop talking. Those are the things that I know, but I have a feeling you are about to tell me they aren’t all correct.”
She raised her eyebrows at him. “You’re still talking,” she said in her mind. Then, realizing she could say it out loud, she repeated her sarcastic comment. “You’re still talking.”
“Right. Right.” He held up his hands in defeat. “I’m listening.”
“The Quotidian can definitely use magic now,” Aizel continued. “I don’t know when they figured it out, but they did at some point. Maybe they knew it all along.” She pointed to the necklace that was still in his hand. “That is Quotidian magic.”
Erich held the ribbon up, squinting at the jewel. “Is quotidian magic different?”
Aizel nodded. “Yes. The Quotidian uses pain and discord to power their spells. The Majis rely only on harmony.”
“I have so many questions.”
