Page 54 of A Wayward Movement

Not that this boy was a peer. He was so young that his man-of-the-house manner made him ridiculous. Fortunately Xavier was very ready to be amused rather than affronted. He almost laughed aloud as he remembered his jealousy when he’d first heard about Benji. He’d assumed Benji must be Lilah’s older brother, but he looked just as young as his sister. Not even a man yet. Certainly not someone with the power to make Xavier feel threatened.

“I suppose I can speak freely in my own home, Alina.” Benji’s face, still round with youth, was set hard as he faced Xavier. “I don’t understand how you come to be alone up here with an unmarried young woman, Your Highness.”

“I’m very careless, it seems,” Xavier said lightly, still wrestling his amusement. “It’s a good thing you’re here to protect Alina’s honor.”

“You’re both being ridiculous,” Alina scolded them. “Benji, I appreciate the sentiment, but I really do need to leave, or I’ll hold up the team.”

“Alina.” Benji moved closer, lowering his voice. “I know you’re used to thinking of yourself as not worth anyone’s attention, but you’re beautiful and intelligent, and just as much a target as Lilah.”

“He’s right,” Xavier said solemnly. “You’re squarely in the sights of any discerning hunter, don’t underrate your charms.”

“Don’t play games with her,” Benji said fiercely. “She’s not your plaything, she’s a person.” He looked back at Alina. “I’m determined to look out for you, Alina, because no one else is doing it. And,” he added, a touch defiantly, “you do have plenty of charms, and I’m not saying that to manipulate you.”

“I know you’re not, Benji.” Alina bestowed a smile of genuine warmth on him. “I really am grateful that you care about me. But you don’t need to worry. I’m in no danger of anything bad happening to me.”

Benji didn’t look satisfied, but Alina was already moving toward the door. As she passed her defender, the boy muttered, barely loudly enough for Xavier to catch it.

“Just don’t let him turn your head. Remember I told you that you were pretty first, before he ever set eyes on you.”

Xavier’s amusement leaked away, replaced by something ugly and painful. He knew he shouldn’t care, but the thought of this whelp claiming prior rights over Alina, the girl who’d consumed then shattered Xavier’s heart before he was even grown, was enraging. And worse than that was Alina’s response to Benji’s compliment. As she smilingly soothed the younger man, it was blatantly clear to Xavier that although she was placating and cheerful, she didn’t for a moment take Benji seriously.

This realization was troubling for the very simple reason that it was just the same manner she used with him. He’d been rejoicing in his success because she enjoyed his attempts to charm her instead of taking offense at them, and all the time she was responding to him exactly as she responded to this well-meaning but absurd teenage admirer.

Xavier didn’t like that. He didn’t like that at all.

Unable to summon even politeness, he swept out of the room in Alina’s wake, ignoring Benji completely. The walk to the inn was mostly completed in silence, Alina shooting looks at him but not trying to break through his cool manner until their destination was in sight.

“Please don’t be angry with Benji, or offended by what he said to you. Of course he was out of line, but he means well. He’s lost a lot in his short life, and he doesn’t want to see anything happen to me or his sister.”

“I’m not offended by his behavior,” Xavier said dismissively.

I’m offended by yours. The silent addition rankled inside him. Because it proves you still think I’m as much of a joke as you thought me at fourteen.

Chapter

Thirteen

The rest of the group was waiting for them on the road outside the inn, and it was a relief to get in the saddle and on the move. Xavier positioned himself far from Alina, knowing his current mood wasn’t one he wanted to display to her. He was trying to make her regret turning him down, not congratulate herself for escaping a surly bear.

The weather was clear, and the ride to the refinement site went quickly. Now that she’d crossed the barrier of her first flight, Zuzu was proving highly motivated to gain her independence. She took every opportunity when the horses dropped to a walk or trot to stretch her wings. She could keep up with them pretty well, and only once did Xavier have to rescue her from a fall. When they were traveling faster than a trot, she perched on the saddle horn in front of him, swaying precariously with the horse’s motion, but quite firmly anchored with her claws dug into the leather. She was definitely too big for a pocket now.

The motion did a lot to clear Xavier’s mind, and his moment of distress was left behind as they passed from the sparsely vegetated area outside Alina’s town into the true desert to its north. The morning had been mild, but it grew steadily hotter as they rode along the path worn into the sand. Xavier was glad someone had packed waterskins into his saddlebags, because he was soon parched, even though they hadn’t reached the full heat of the day when the refinement site drew into view.

“Incredible.”

The murmur came from Alina, her horse appearing alongside Xavier’s as the group started to slow. He followed her gaze to the line of huge poles that could be seen not far away. At the end of each one was an expanse of some kind of silky fabric, shaped like an open tube. There was only a gentle breeze on their faces, but the poles were tall, and clearly there were more active air currents higher up, because each fabric tube flapped steadily with the wind. The stillness of the desert was punctuated by their periodic slapping sounds, as the material snapped taut.

“They’re quite pretty, aren’t they?” he said.

“Yes,” said Alina. “But that’s not what I was admiring. Can you feel the Dust coming out from them? It’s being actively harnessed, so it’s stronger in my awareness. The combined quantity from all of those is incredible.”

Xavier focused his senses, trying hard to exercise that indefinable awareness of magic which he’d never developed beyond the basics. To his chagrin, he’d shown little aptitude for it, so even if it had been an approved part of his studies, he likely would have nothing like Alina’s skill.

“I can faintly sense it if I strain,” he said ruefully.

Alina smiled. “Well, you can’t be good at everything, I suppose.” Her eyes followed an invisible trail he couldn’t discern. “I think the magic is being used on those.”

They’d come to the top of a slight rise, and now had a better view of the refinement site below. Alina was pointing down at a seemingly endless series of glass panes, reflecting the light of the sun such that Xavier could barely look at them.