“This is the part where you’ll be requiring my assistance,” he says, and with his other hand, twirls a thin spiral of magical wind around his fingers.
“Oh.”
I realize he can fly us up to the top in seconds, or I can try to climb.
It’s an easy decision to make. I’ve come this far, and despite Bastion’s voice yelling in the back of my mind, I amgettingthe Feiyan. I am taking it home and delivering it; there’s no other outcome I can accept. It’s more than a flower. It’s my path to a good reputation, to reliability. And, above all, to being trusted. If that means letting Willoh Vane use magic around me, on me,forme, then so be it.
I stare at him, determined.
“Go for it,” I say, and swallow away the nerves. “Get us up there.”
Willoh surveys me for a second. He runs his eyes over my face, over the cinquefoil flower behind my ear and the rose-pink ends of my black hair, then he smiles. I tighten my jaw. He must have found something about me amusing.
Without warning, he sweeps up my free hand in his, gently, so my fingers are barely resting in his palm, and brushes his other against my lower back. A summoned flurry of wind sails us through the air like the yank of a fishing pole. I squeeze my eyes shut as the world blurs, a bellow in my ears and a rush in my stomach.
A moment later, my feet hit something solid and the warmth of Willoh’s hands disappears. I open my eyes and gasp. Ahead is a clearing, wider and more open to the sun than I could ever imagine. It’s a vast stretch of grass on top of the trees, supported by the tangled thicket below. Blue sky spills endlessly in all directions. I twist around to the south and my throat catches. The stone walls of the citadel are a distant gray shadow past the sea of forest. To the west lies asparkling ocean, and to the northeast, the snowcapped peak of the Spinal Steppe Mountain stands at the forefront of the mountain range that curves north to Senred and farther east to Dreah where Bash’s younger brother, Prince Merit, lives.
I turn to Willoh.
“H-How…?” I stammer. How could something like this exist? How could I not know this was here? How can I be standing above the trees and walking on fresh grass?
He shrugs.
“Magic,” is all he says, then sets off.
I hurry to keep up, captivated by the squish under my feet, and it isn’t until I tear my eyes from the ground that I realize where he’s heading—whathe’s walking toward.
In the center of the magical meadow, a singular flower grows. Its tall saffron-yellow stem supports leaves that bleed into a magnificent fiery red and, gods, the petals…Long thin triangles burst out like the sun itself in rich gradients of pink and coral. It’s the sunset, the sunrise, and all the light between. The fully bloomed afternoon sun. A golden, shimmering daylight, aflame with light and life and an intense brilliance that has me falling to my knees beside it. I lift a trembling finger to the petals. The raw magic greets me with a burning smile, but there’s no discernible emotion or meaning contained within. It soaks into my skin like basking on a summer’s day, and I would absolutely be telling the truth if I said I’d never felt a flower containingthismuch power before.
It’s impressive.
And dangerous.
I pull my finger away and stare up at Willoh, speechless.
“Satisfied, Princess?”
“I’m…I…” I truly do not know what to say, what the truth is. This is the greatest flower I’ve ever seen and I’m going to hand it over to a complete stranger.
“I think I’m jealous,” I say, and Willoh snorts a laugh.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t get to keep this. I have to give it away. Actually, I’d rather let it be. I’d rather let it grow and thrive here, but…” I trail off.
“Then do that,” Willoh says, with a shrug. “Just say you couldn’t find it.”
I shake my head. “I can’t.”
I realize what I’ve just said. I can’t do as he suggested because I can’t lie. But he doesn’t know that. As I scramble for an excuse, for something of the truth to cover my tracks, Willoh simply crouches down beside me. A wave of hair falls over his eyes as he studies the Feiyan. From the pinch between his eyebrows, I’m sure he can feel the magic pouring from it.
“Well,” he muses, “at least make sure they pay you generously, then.”
I don’t mention that the request hadn’t provided a price range for my services, or that I was so curious about this flower that I would have come regardless of payment or not. I simply watch him examine the Feiyan a little longer until he drags his eyes to mine and grins.
“Don’t worry, I won’t charge you for my help.”
Even in the brightest of meadows, Willoh Vane manages to infuriate.
