20. Seventeen

Seventeen

F or several hours, the journey was uneventful. They galloped for a little while, trotted a couple of times to quicken their pace, and made good time on the narrow path. Lily reached out again, touching different trees as long as she could.

"Why do you touch the trees when we pass?" Asher asked.

He saw her ear grow red before she looked over her shoulder. "Because I can feel their energy. They're so warm."

"Energy?" He tilted his head.

She reached out for a branch and caught it when the horse finally got close enough, and Asher pulled the horse to a stop. "Put your hand on the branch," she instructed.

He did so.

"Do you feel how it's warm? Do you see the greenness of the leaves?"

Asher stared at her. Feel it? No. He could see the green leaves. And his silence must have been a clue to her that he didn't understand.

Lily shook her head. "Close your eyes. You have magic in you, so you must be able to connect with living things. Think of the tree."

They were supposed to be escaping, not connecting with trees. But he humored her and closed his eyes. He felt the bumps of the bark, the little stubs of twigs. And just when he was about to give up, he felt a little sensation, almost like a prick.

He peeked open an eye. "When you speak of energy, what do you mean?" he asked, looking at their hands, which were side by side.

"Everyone has an energy inside of them. It's sort of like..." Her thumb rubbed over the edge of the leaf. "Have you ever heard that the eyes are the window to the soul? When you look into someone's eyes, you can sometimes tell if they're happy or angry or if they're good or bad? You can feel something about them."

He nodded. "I've heard that."

"It's sort of like that. I can see the tree. But when I focus on it, really focus on it, I can see a visible color. When I see trees, I can see their vibrant green energy, how they reach out to the sun and soak in the energy of the sun into their leaves."

He nodded slowly. He didn't fully understand, but it made sense. "So you were touching the trees because you wanted to feel their energy?"

She smiled, once again blushing. "Yes. Because it's warm. We have trees in Rencheston, I've touched them before. But these trees feel...well, different. They're stronger."

Asher studied the young woman sitting in front of him. How could she have been trapped inside of the castle walls her entire life? She had to be sixteen or seventeen, his age, and yet she wanted to touch the trees because they were stronger? It was unfathomable to him that she could live in such a rich world and be so poor.

She caught him looking, and he averted his attention to look up at the tree.

He cleared his throat. "When you and I touched, I felt something. You said you did too. What did you see?" He glanced back at her.

"You're purple. Like Wester." She shrugged and let go of the tree's branch. "I thought Wester was a different color because of his magic, but you matched that color. I still don't understand it."

Asher released the branch too and nudged the horse with his heels. "Our people have been taught to respect nature. The goddess, Awelin, is of the earth, and she grants us everything we need as long as we are good to it in return."

"You have a goddess?"

He nodded. "A few. Do you not?"

Lily shook her head. "I was taught only to believe in my magic."

"I'm hot," Sand spoke up.

He and Asher's father were several paces ahead, especially now. Asher's father replied, "We can stop for lunch. In the brightness of day, we can cook a proper lunch and Sand can cool off in the shallows of the river. Percy might like to run around too." He turned to the teens as he finished speaking.

"Definitely," Lily agreed. "And I'd like to stretch my legs. They're rather sore."

His father pulled the horse to a stop. "Everyone off. Let's take a couple of hours to eat and maybe get some rest before we continue on." When he spoke about rest, he looked directly at his son.

Asher steered the horse closer to the river before pulling it to a stop. Again, he dismounted first, and again he stepped aside to let Lily get off the horse on her own. But he stayed close, just in case.

His father approached, and in a low voice said, "Asher, when you were watching, did you see any signs of the humans following?"

Asher shook his head. "No. I didn't see any sign at all. Not even a scout sent ahead or behind."

"Good. Also...try to show a little kindness? She's going to be with us the rest of her life now."

Asher blinked. He hadn't thought of that. The rest of her life. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Right. I'll try."

Lily was halfway off the horse when it suddenly screamed and began to stomp. "Help!" she cried out, clutching to the saddle with all she had.

Asher ran over and held his hands up. "Whoa! Easy there."

The horse bucked, sending Lily crashing to the ground.

"I-I'm sorry!" Sand stammered after he transformed back into a human. "I was in my snake form and I scared him. I'm sorry!" He had his eyes down, shoulders hunched forward, and his arms straight to his sides. He let out a little whimper of fear.

Asher caught the horse by the reins and held on. "Shh," he soothed, holding his hand out to stroke the horse's neck. It whinnied and fidgeted side to side, but Asher held on tightly. "Easy. Shh."

The horse snorted and finally stopped. It twitched its skin and snorted again.

"There you go. Lily, are you okay?" He finally diverted his attention back to the young woman.

Lily had grass in her hair but was sitting up, legs spread, exhaustion on her face. It was actually amusing how much she looked out of place. "I'll be okay. My shoulder hurts." She finally made eye contact with him and looked like she might cry.

From the corner of his eye, Asher saw his father crouch and ruffle Sand's hair. "Are you all right? That must have been frightening for you."

He nodded and lifted his gaze.

"The horse is okay."

"You're . . . not mad at me?" Sand asked.

"Of course not." He straightened and gestured back to the river. "Go on. Rest as much as you'd like."

Sand smiled and ran to the river.

Asher let go of the horse to crouch beside Lily. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I just feel so out of place," she whispered, rubbing her shoulder.

"Falling off the horse wasn't your fault. It's hard for even expert riders to hold on to a horse when they get frightened like that." He reached out to touch her, but stopped. "Do you want to take off your robes so I can see if you're injured?"

She took a deep breath, burying her emotions, and said, "You don't need to. I can do it. Find some sticks for the fire."

Asher frowned but listened. He led the horse upstream, away from Sand, to prevent him from being startled again. He couldn't help but keep looking at Lily. She had gotten back to her feet and retrieved a pan. The annoying, inexperienced girl was going to get them killed if they encountered anything dangerous. But she was at least trying to be of help. He gathered sticks on the way back.

She had already gathered some rocks and made a solid circle out of them. She clearly wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty, which was different than some of the girls Asher had known at home.

"Thank you," Lily said, breaking him from his thoughts. She accepted the sticks and placed them between the rocks, all facing the center.

"Have you created fire a lot?" he asked, kneeling at her side.

She sat cross-legged. "I have to use fire a lot when cooking the potions, so yes. It's easy and requires almost no energy. Watch." She snapped her finger. The tip of the stick she held in her hand ignited.

His eyes widened. "As easy as that?"

"Yes." Her green eyes smiled at him. She leaned forward and lit the other sticks with the one in her hand and started going through one of the packs she'd pulled out of the saddlebag.

Asher licked his lips, recalling his father's admonition to be nicer to her. "I, uh, I was wondering. When you cast your spells, you don't use words. I thought wizards had to."

"Some do," she replied, wiping her hands on her knees. "Those are typically the wizards who have artifacts of magic and aren't actual conduits. They have to use words to activate their artifact in order to cast the spell. At least, that's what Wester explained to me."

"Are you considered a wizard then?"

She shook her head. "I'm a conduit. A natural magic user."

He nodded slowly. "Rose was a conduit. Anything I can do to help?"

"No. The pan has to get hot enough to cook. I only grabbed a couple of handfuls of raw meat, so we aren't going to have a whole lot to eat, unfortunately. I was thinking we could make a stew using the fresh carrots and herbs I packed."

"Quite frankly, it sounds delicious. I've lived mainly off of that bread you brought me for the last...well, however long I was there."

She picked at a long stem of grass. "I really do apologize for how you were treated."

Asher ran his tongue over his teeth, watching the flames of the fire. He slowly lifted his gaze to the young woman, now combing through her hair with her fingers. She hadn't been the one to hit him. She had been the one to heal him. Even if she'd known what they were going to do, could she honestly have stopped it?

He opened his mouth to apologize himself, but Sand slithered over and returned to his human form.

Lily's eyes lit up with a grin as wide as a child's on the celebration of the shooting stars. "I wish I could turn into an animal," she said. "It's amazing to watch you."

"What animal would you want to be?" Sand asked.

"I'd love to fly. I told Asher that a couple of days ago." She glanced at him.

"Ooh! Tara would love to fly for her!" Sand said excitedly, referring to Asher's adopted sister.

"I couldn't agree more," Asher replied. He couldn't bring himself to apologize now. For some reason it felt private. He didn't want to in front of Sand, and definitely not when his father joined them.

He'd washed his face and his hair was damp, making it curl slightly.

"Mother would tell you that it's time to cut your hair," Asher commented. He smiled sadly at the thought of his mother.

His father returned the same sad smile. "At least it matches my mane."

Asher's smile widened a little more at the familiar comeback his father would always respond with. His throat tightened and tears filled his eyes. He cleared his throat and quickly rubbed his palms against them to banish the tears. "She didn't make it, did she?" he whispered through a tight throat.

His father shook his head.

"Sand, why don't you play with Percy?" Lily asked. "I bet he might get the stick if you throw it."

Sand grabbed a meager twig and looked at Percy before tossing it.

Percy jumped to his feet and bounded a couple of steps away, then hopped right back.

Sand giggled. "You silly dog. You're supposed to go get it." He found a new stick, showed it to the puppy, and then threw it.

Asher was grateful she had distracted Sand.

His father reached over and embraced his son. Asher held on. "I held out hope they managed to keep her alive. I saw the arrow, but..." His voice caught as tears streamed down his face.

Lily dropped the meat into the pan, which began to sizzle, and she flinched.

"We will visit her grave when we get home. Undoubtedly, our people have buried her by now." He slowly released Asher but held his shoulders. "When we get home, we will prepare our people for the humans. We will do our best to ready them for what may come. Your mother will not be around to help keep the younger kids safe."

Asher understood without being asked. That responsibility would fall on him. He nodded.

His father chuckled, reached up, and ruffled his hair. "You grow up more each day. You need to rest. You look like you haven't slept in some time."

"Let me help Lily with the meal." He nudged his head in her direction.

"I'm just cutting the vegetables," she answered, using a knife to cut the carrots into bite-sized pieces. "You can rest."

Asher ran his hand over his face, wiping away the tears, and nodded. "Wake me when lunch is ready, then." He lay down on his side, his back facing them, and looked up at the leaves of the trees and wondered if his mother was dancing on the wind. His eyelids grew heavy, and soon, Asher was asleep.