Hopefully.
Wait! Wycke scowled, seeking out the guard who’d insulted Saris. “Chynne, if you must eat before our travels, how about starting with that man.” He pointed. The guard’s eyes went wide.
Wycke grinned.
“He doesn’t look tasty.” Chynne turned, flapping his wings. Dust swirled around them, choking Wycke. They lifted off the ground. “Oops!” Chynne snickered. “Sorry!” He didn’t sound sorry in the least. The guards coughed at the dust.
“Wicked!” shrieked Jess as Chynne made a near-vertical ascent, pushing Wycke back into Aberfrer’s arms.
“Ah, Wycke,” Aberfrer said, “now you really can say you’ve been in the arms of every man in the realm.”
Wycke righted himself with a huff, only to slide back into Aberfrer. A particularly sharp ridge on Chynne’s back pressed areas Wycke didn’t want touched while in the sorcerer’s arms. “This is going to be a long ride.”
Saris and Jess shrieked as Chynne swooped sideways, riding the winds coming in over the sea.
Wycke palmed his face. “Maybe a portal would've been better.”
No fewer than twenty-seven “Wicked!” exclamations from Jess later, to which Wycke answered twenty times, the air grew decidedly cooler. Chynne's dragon-shaped shadow soared upward toward snowcapped mountains.
“Wicked!” they all shouted in unison, anticipating Jess’s reaction.
Home. They were going home. Wycke swallowed hard, summoning vague recollections of snow. Small patches appeared intermittently on the ground below, gradually building until no ground showed beneath a layer of white. A long-forgotten crisp scent hit his nose, as well as a hint of woodsmoke rising from a small village beneath them. The scent brought a memory of being in a kitchen, a kindly old cook serving him apple pie.
Down below, young and old hurried out of their cottages, faces turned toward the sky.
Wycke scrubbed his hands over his ears. Damn, the cold bit at exposed skin, and his breath might have fogged before his face if it hadn't gotten beaten away by the steady pulse of Chynne's wings.
Aberfrer leaned closer, warm breath puffing against Wycke’s ear. “I always knew there was more to you than you let on. Magic! I suppose the pretty you wear on your wrist kept me from noticing. That, and your determination to make everyone underestimate you.”
Wycke’s hard swallow didn’t dislodge the boulder in his throat. Staying silent beat opening his mouth with nothing intelligent to say.
After a few moments, Aberfrer said, “You can still work minor spells with the wristband. It’ll make it harder for others to detect your magic, but soon, even the runes won’t be able to hide what you are. With practice, when that time comes, you’ll be ready. Now, what might make your ears warm, hmmm?”
“A hat?”
“What kind of hat? You must visualize specific details.”
Wycke imagined a model from one of the fashion magazines he'd read; a knit cap pulled down to his brow. “Now what?”
“Do you have a clear vision?”
“Yes.”
“Want it. Badly.”
Magic. Aberfrer wanted to teach him magic! Wycke’s fondest desire coming true. He imagined the warm hat covering his ears, how cozy, nice, soft…
“I'm so cold,” Saris said in front of him, a shiver running through her body. “Eeeek!” She yanked the knitted wool off her head, slinging Wycke’s conjured hat to the winds.
Wycke sighed.
“What was that?” Saris barked.
Aberfrer raised his voice to be heard by Saris. “Wycke is practicing magic. You distracted him. Let this be a lesson for you, Prince Wycke. When using magic, you must never be distracted. By the way, you just threw away a perfectly good spell.”
“Spell? I didn't chant or anything.” Spells meant words, like Saris’s bonding ceremony. Or were some spells similar to wish magic?
Aberfrer jostled Wycke with his laugh. “Words are normally used by novices, mages, and for show, though some ancient, darker magic relies on incantations. As for myself, the good citizens of Tirra Neu are less inclined to part with gold if I merely wish something into existence. How boring. No, they want the experience, to be entertained, to dramatically tell their nearest and dearest later, exaggerating more with every telling. I can't disappoint paying customers now, can I? We’ll discuss potions when you’re older, and more intricate conjuring that actually does rely on specific rituals.”
