Page 33 of A Wayward Movement

All around them, people were packing down their stalls. The narrow rows forced them into double file, and Alina found herself walking alongside the prince. Xavier glanced over, catching her smile of amusement.

“I’d tell you your smile is sweet enough to turn heads if I didn’t suspect that I’m the subject of your private joke,” the prince said in an aggrieved tone that made Alina chuckle.

“My apologies, Your Highness. I didn’t mean to wound your pride. There’s just something very humorous about seeing you conduct official business with your little assistant.”

Xavier followed her gaze, his own expression turning rueful as he took in the anzu he was cradling against his side with one arm. During the afternoon, an unfortunate incident with the bird had forced him to hand his cloak to a servant who’d bundled it away somewhere for washing.

“One of these days, she’ll develop her power, and then her fearsome abilities will make you swallow your words,” Xavier told Alina sternly. He scratched behind Zuzu’s ears, eliciting a purr. “I hope it will be very soon,” he added. “Apparently the first droplet or spark will be a sign that she’s ready for solid food, which will be a relief. I wonder which it will be.”

“Droplet, I’d say,” Alina answered vaguely, her thoughts having turned from the anzu to the depressing lack of information turned up by the day’s inquiries.

“Why do you say that?” Xavier’s attention was caught, his piercing eyes on her face.

Alina squirmed a little. It took her aback every time, the keenness of the prince’s scrutiny. It was at such odds with his indolent manner.

“Oh, I’m just guessing that Zuzu will spout water rather than breathe fire,” she said.

“But why?”

“It’s just how she feels.” Alina searched for the words. “She’s a creature of magic, so her movements stir up Dust more strongly and more…distinctly than movements created by regular creatures, right?”

“Sure,” Xavier agreed amicably.

“Well, the Dust stirred by her movements has a certain feel to it. And it feels a lot like the Dust from a rainfall, or a brook. The magic emitted by fire—or more accurately, smoke—has an altogether different…flavor. It would be easy to use her Dust to control water, for example. Or to quickly dry something off.”

“To dry something?” Xavier frowned. “Don’t you mean to get it wet?”

Alina shook her head. “It’s a common misconception. People think that it’s easiest to use magic for the same purpose as the original movement you drew it from. But actually, if you’re taking the Dust from another source, not your own movements, it’s often easier to invert it for the opposite purpose. I don’t know the academics behind it, but the way it feels, it’s like tugging it away from its original source is already a reversal, so pulling it into doing the opposite of how it started is just a continuation of that movement, and requires very little tweaking.”

“It’s remarkable that you can discern all that just from trying it,” Xavier said. “You clearly haven’t lost your aptitude. I was always so impressed by how naturally you took to magic craft.”

Unlike every other compliment he’d given her, this one was said simply, without any flourish. It warmed Alina more than she cared to admit. There was a reason she preferred his flirtatious manner.

Not trusting herself to speak for fear of betraying how much his sincerity got through her armor, she instead cast around for a good source of Dust. The light was fading, and she’d noticed the prince showing signs of being cold, since he was without his cloak.

A horse was tossing its head nearby, stamping its hooves as it waited for its owner to finish loading up the cart it was pulling. Harnessing movement from animals was harder than from objects, but mainly because it required more energy. Thankfully energy was something Alina had never lacked.

Taking hold of the Dust that swirled out from the creature’s movements, Alina twisted it in her mind, drawing on the warmth in the horse’s flanks, in the breaths that it huffed out as it stamped. She sent a swirl of heat up the prince’s body, enveloping him in a cushion of warmth that was all too fleeting, given the small amount of magic she’d harnessed.

“What was that for?” Xavier was laughing, and the sound brought a smile to Alina’s own face.

“It’s a way of saying thank you,” she told him.

“For what?” The roguish twinkle was back in his eyes. “I haven’t even told you yet how much I’ve been admiring your very shapely wrists, so what could you possibly be thanking me for?”

It was Alina’s turn to laugh, her moment of danger dispelled by how entertaining his foolishness was.

“It’s not compliments girls want, Your Highness, but freedom. I’ve been hampered from using magic craft for weeks because of these disappearances. But with the investigative team on hand, this town must be the safest in the region. I feel like my arm was tied behind my back, and now it’s free to be useful again.”

Alina accompanied the final words with a swirl of magic, harnessing the minuscule amount of Dust from a leaf that blew past her feet, and using it to sweep the prince’s hair back from his forehead ever so slightly. Its rakish style was a little too studied.

She thought Xavier would acknowledge his heroic role in making her town safer, so she was surprised when she instead found herself being scrutinized by the shrewd gaze she found so unsettling.

“If our presence here means you’re not living in fear, it’s effort well spent,” he said. The forehead she’d just cleared of hair was furrowed. “I’m sorry you were afraid.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said lightly.

“Isn’t it? It’s my kingdom.” The words weren’t said boastfully this time. The prince’s tone was cool, and Alina couldn’t tell what was in his thoughts.