Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Brandle saw my raw fingers and insisted I sip the tea as well. I did so without argument. Truly, my fingers were the most minor of our injuries. Edmund had to reset Brandle’s nose before he drank.

I entertained them with a few stories of the trouble Eloise and I found during our early years while we waited for the brew to work its magic. They laughed as I’d hoped. Even Daemon. His color slowly returned to normal, and Brandle eventually agreed he could nap.

Daemon attempted to coax me into joining him. I declined after seeing the coin Eadric had stolen from the tracker the others had left behind.

“He wasn’t happy when I took it,” Eadric said. “Cursed up a storm.”

“How do we know what it’s for?” I asked, looking at Garron.

He shook his head. “That is something I never mastered.”

I held the coin in my hand and opened myself to the power it held. At first, it felt like the tree—energy without any intent. Then I felt a slight echo in its pulse. It wasn’t a variation in vibration but an actual secondary pulse, faint but true and leading away from the coin. I followed it in my mind and found the wounded man on the other side. However, the pulse wasn’t his, even though it was buried deep within him.

I stumbled, and the coin dropped from my hand.

“Snow?” Garron asked, catching me. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I feel dizzy.”

“Check your well.”

The lid was firmly in place. As soon as I nudged it aside, all seven of their amulets flared brightly. I closed the lid firmly again.

“I can’t.”

“What happened?” Garron asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know why I feel dizzy. I don’t know why your amulets flared when I removed the lid from my well. I don’t know!”

Arms wrapped around me from behind.

“Breathe, Love,” Liam said. “Would you like a honey biscuit?”

Since the simple offer of food made my eyes water in gratitude, I nodded. Eadric fed me a biscuit while Liam combed my hair. Edmund took Liam’s place to rebraid it.

“Are you feeling better?” Garron asked when they finished.

I nodded.

“Good. Check the well again.”

When I hesitated, he added, “I find it fascinating that you have a lid on your well. Mine doesn’t.”

“How do you stop energy from flooding it?”

“Flooding? It takes effort for me to pull energy into the well before I cast.”

“Effort?” I asked absently as I focused inward.

With a nudge, I partially opened the well. Energy flooded into it. From the land. From the trees. From the water deep within the earth. I felt it run toward me like spring streams created by winter’s snowmelt. It didn’t only come from the immediate area but farther afield too, which explained why things in my immediate vicinity didn’t wither.

I closed the lid.

“There is no effort,” I said, looking at Garron. “I open the well, and energy floods me. I don’t choose from where. It all comes to me.”

“Which is why our charms flare,” he said with a nod. “Today, let’s try to focus on control and how to draw from a specific source.”

“What about the coin?” I asked. “It’s connected to the man who had it. And he’s connected to…something dangerous.” I spoke the word, knowing it was true but uncertain why. Was the coin leading to Maeve? Was it her magic I’d felt?

“I’ll melt the coin and see if that takes care of the spell,” Liam said.

It didn’t simply take me the remainder of the day to learn how to control the energy that flooded the well. It took five frustrating days before I successfully killed a single tree, during which time the trackers made no move to attack again.

“Well done,” Garron said, beaming.

I set my hand on the decaying tree’s trunk but felt no joy.

“Well done?” I echoed. “I stole the energy from a living thing until it withered and died. That’s nothing to celebrate, Garron.”

“You’re right. That isn’t. It’s your control we’re celebrating. If you can control the energy you draw, you can stop before killing anything. Now, feel what’s around you, and choose your source.”

“Again?”

“Again, until your well is bursting with energy.”

I frowned and focused on my well. Even with the lid in place, I could feel the energy of the tree within it. But it had no depth. No notable volume. Neither the energy of the tree nor the capacity of the well.

“How many trees would your well contain?” I asked.

“Not even a full tree,” he admitted. “But Henry was different. Like you. This glade was filled with trees. He drained dozens but not to the point they withered since he wanted to fell the trees for the cottage. He held it all within him and used the energy to create our drinking well. The next draw, he gathered and used more energy to create the cottage. The glade started to take shape.”

“How old were you?”

“Too young to remember, honestly. But Henry told the story many times.”

“How many trees did it take to cast the spell for the barrier?” I asked.

“More than he could hold, which is why he needed to use some of himself.”

I looked out at the trees. “I think I’m different, Garron,” I said softly. “I think I could create a path of dead trees right to Turre.”

“Can you feel Turre?” he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

“I’m too afraid to try,” I admitted. “I’d prefer to learn how to conceal myself from others first.”

Over the last several days, while learning to control which energy I consumed, I’d also learned how to feel magic in others. I could feel Garron’s ability when he allowed it. However, he knew how to hide it at will. He’d wanted me to master control before attempting to teach me anything more.

“That’s wise of you to wait,” Garron said.

“It’s my turn,” Eadric said, scooping me into his arms.

Glad for the reprieve but not showing it, I arched a brow at him.

“It’s time to eat,” he insisted. “You haven’t had anything for hours.”

“I just ate a pastry.”

“This morning. It’s midday now.”

I glanced at the sky and realized he was right. I’d spent hours with Garron again. When I glanced at the cooking fire, I saw the others gathered there. Though they understood why I spent so much time with Garron and never complained, they were impatient for their share. It required being creative in how I gave it.

Edmund braided my hair every morning and night. Eadric fed me every meal while someone else held me. They took turns sleeping beside me at night. It never seemed like enough, though. It was a miracle they allowed me to walk on my own two feet.

Eadric deposited me on Daemon’s lap. Daemon’s arms wrapped around me, and I trailed my fingers over the scar the knife wound had left.

“I don’t like that the trackers are lingering,” I said.

“It would be nicer if they left so we could work,” Daemon said. “Edmund gets irritable when he’s idle for too long.”

“What work aren’t you doing?” I asked, twisting back to look at him.

He kissed the tip of my nose.

“We mine, Lamb.”

“Mine what?”

“Fewer questions and more eating, Sparrow,” Eadric said. Facing forward, I took the bite of stew and dumplings he offered as Daemon cuddled me in his lap.

Between bites, I answered their questions about what I was learning, even though I knew Garron told them everything each night. Like their brother, they seemed unbothered by the dead tree and glad for the control I now had.

The only one who seemed to share my impatience with the situation was Edmund. Though for different reasons.

He flipped Darian onto his back and stalked over to the table, his bare torso covered in sweat.

“What are they doing now?” he demanded.

“Speak nicely,” Brandle warned.

“They are gathered around their fire. The wounded one is almost recovered enough to move without pain. They’ll be ready to attack again soon. Perhaps the day after tomorrow.”

“We need to strike first, Brandle,” Edmund said.

“It’s safer for them to come to us,” Brandle said.

“For us, but not for Kellen.”

“I’ll be safe, Edmund. At the first sign, I’ll run to the cave again and climb.”

A resounding “no” came from each of them.

“My heart can’t take watching you descend again,” Darian said, joining us.

“You trusted my warning that they would attack with the mist. You’re trusting I’m correct that they will wait another day or two. Why can’t you trust that I will be safe climbing when I say I will?”

“Be reasonable, Princess,” Darian said.

I snorted. “I’m the only one present who is being reasonable.”

“Be reasonable about our fears over losing you when it’s taken so long to find you,” Brandle said.

His request was…understandable, but I chose not to acknowledge it.

“Why do you think it’s safe to wait for them to come to you?” I asked Brandle.

“The beasts,” he said simply. “We’re more protected in the glade.”

“As are they,” Edmund said.

“What benefit is there to fighting them out there?” I asked him, truly curious. “Here, there is open space to fight and no beasts to distract you or ways to separate you from one another. They face more danger in the glade because of all of you.”

“Exactly,” Brandle said. “It makes sense to wait for them to come to us.”

“Fine,” Edmund growled. “You’re next.”

Brandle meaningfully glanced at me.

“Don’t hurt each other,” I warned.

“Not the help I was hoping for,” Brandle mumbled.

“It is not my responsibility to distract your brother from his anger.” I turned away from both of them to accept Eadric's next bite. He grinned at me.

“Daemon, Eadric, and Brandle,” Edmund said. “All three of you at once.”

Eadric sighed and gave me a pleading look.

“Impossible men,” I grumbled.

I extracted myself from Daemon’s lap and strode toward Edmund, ignoring his scowl. I knew it wasn’t directed at me but his general state of frustration.

“Teach me something useful, Edmund,” I said.

He closed the distance between us and grabbed my shoulders. I thought he would instruct me how to stand. Instead, he pulled me against his chest and captured my lips in an angry kiss.

I stomped on his toes.

He jerked back and growled his anger at me. I growled in return.

Eadric laughed.

Edmund narrowed his gaze on me.

“Stop me,” he said before he tried to grab for me again.

I swatted his hand away and spun out of reach. He caught my skirt. I kicked him in the leg then took off running. It was my best defense. When I touched the energy in the well, I could run as fast as any of them.

“Not the trees,” Edmund bellowed.

I veered. He’d anticipated it and caught up to me, wrapping an arm around me from behind and lifting me off my feet. Not forgetting his lessons, I used the back of my head to crack his nose.

He cursed mightily and tossed me in the air to catch me over his shoulder.

His mistake.

I bit his arse cheek hard.

He bellowed his pain but waited until Brandle was there to catch me before tossing me away.

“It stings, doesn’t it?” Brandle asked with a smirk.

“Dammit, Trouble, that hurt.”

“And I won’t apologize for it. You wanted trouble. I gave it to you.”

“That wasn’t the kind of trouble I wanted, and you know it.”

“I do. But you can’t always have what you want, Edmund.”

“Neither can you,” he said angrily.

“Edmund, respect,” Garron snapped.

Edmund snarled and spun away from all of us. I could see my wet bite mark on his pants.

“He won’t last two more days,” Brandle said.

“Let him go to the mines,” Garron said.

“He can’t go alone, and facing the trackers with even odds is dangerous.”

“Then what do you want to do?” I asked.

“Every time he’s been this angry, you’re the only one who has managed to calm him.”

“I believe I had the opposite effect,” I said.

“Because you’re frustrated as well. Please, Kitten. Two more days.”

I wanted to kick Brandle in the shin. Instead, I stomped off in Edmund’s wake. He was at the well, splashing water on his face. I took a spare cloth from the pile one of them had left nearby and wetted it in the bucket Edmund had drawn.

He watched me warily.

“Sit,” I said.

He did, but I could see the petulance in his expression. Taking his chin in hand, I gently wiped his face then checked his nose.

“It’s not broken,” I said.

“I know.”

“Are you angry?”

“Yes.”

“At me?”

He scowled even harder at me and tugged me closer so I stood between his legs.

“Kiss me,” he said.

“Kiss me—kiss me—kiss me,” I said in frustration. “Do none of you have any other thoughts?”

“Do you? All you think of is casting now.”

“Unfair, Edmund.”

He slowly drew me into his arms. I didn’t go willingly, but I didn’t fight it either.

“Kiss me, Kellen. Please. Show me patience.”

I sighed and tossed the cloth aside. “Close your eyes.”

He did. I studied the tension in his expression then placed my first gentle kiss between his brows. The next was along his jaw. Then his eyelids. Kiss by gentle kiss, I soothed his tension and watched his anger bleed away.

When nothing remained on his face, I picked up the cloth and washed his hands.

“I never hated you,” he said softly. “I resented your presence because I feared what it might mean, but I never hated you. I never will. You’ve done the impossible, Kellen, and claimed a piece of a heart I didn’t think I had. And I’m giving it to you gladly. No regrets. It’s yours. I love you, Trouble. Even when you put me in my place and bite my arse.”

I stared at him, my hands frozen on his. He wasn’t the first of them to mention his heart, but he was the first to say it with an absolute seriousness that I couldn’t ignore. He meant it.

Edmund loved me.

“Breathe,” he said softly. “You’re safe with me. Always.”

“It’s not safe to love me.”

“Then love me back, and we can be dangerous together.”

I tugged my hands free and backed away from him. The corners of his mouth lifted in a sardonic smile.

“And where do you think you’ll run to?” he asked.

“Ass,” I breathed.

He laughed and let me walk away.

“Is he better?” Brandle asked when I approached the table.

“Yes.”

I strode into the cottage and, with a flick of my hand, slammed the door behind me.

“Kitten?” Brandle called. “Did he do something that upset you?”

I realized what I’d done—without thought, I’d connected to the air’s energy and manipulated it with my own will to close the door. Nothing I’d read had talked about it. I’d just done it.

My control frayed further.

The chair beside the hearth shook and jittered against the floorboards. The dinnerware rattled on the shelves.

I could feel Brandle on the other side of the door. His worry. His need to comfort me.

“Sing to me,” I said as I sank to my knees. “Anything.”

Brandle immediately began singing a lullaby I recalled my mother singing to Eloise and me when we were young. I wrapped my arms around my legs, closed my eyes, and emptied my mind.

When Brandle’s song ended, Eadric started a jaunty one. Liam sang something he likely heard from traders. Garron sang something about the stars and the moon sharing the sky.

Slowly, the shaking inside the cottage stopped.

So did the singing.

I dropped my head to my knees and thought of my mother. If she were there, I would have told her that Edmund had confessed his feelings to me. I would have shared my fear that they would start fighting and I would lose the help they’d promised me.

Thoughts of my sister filled my head, and the first tear tracked a path down my cheek for the second to follow.

No one knocked on the door or tapped at the window. They left me alone as the sun set.

I fell asleep on the floor in front of the unlit hearth.

When I woke, I was curled against one of them with another one behind me. I didn’t open my eyes, but I knew it was light out. How did I know? It was simply there, like feeling the distant weather.

“How long are you going to sleep, Love?” Liam asked softly. “I’m not sure how much longer the rest of them will be able to keep Edmund out.”

I sat up abruptly and looked at the door as I tried to quell the panic that was threatening to rise.

“Why did hearing that he cares for you upset you, Snow?” Garron asked from behind me.

“He didn’t say he cares,” I said. “He said?—”

My attention shifted from the door to Liam, who was watching me closely.

“That he loves you?” Garron supplied.

I slowly nodded.

“Are you afraid of his love or all love?” Liam asked.

“It isn’t love that I fear,” I said.

“Then explain it to us, please,” Garron said. “We want to understand.”

I turned to look at him.

“Does it upset you that your brother confessed his love for me?”

“Should it?”

“Don’t answer a question with a question, Garron. It’s rude.”

Liam chuckled but quieted when I scowled at him.

“It doesn’t upset us,” Liam said. “We’re well aware of how each of us feels about you.”

“We don’t keep secrets from each other,” Garron reminded me.

I glanced between the pair of them. How each of them feels about me? Were they implying…

“You don’t love me,” I said.

“How do you know that?” Liam asked.

“Because you can’t.”

“Love is affection for another person. Mothers feel it for their children before they even meet them. Why is it impossible for us to love you after spending so long with you?” Garron asked.

Based on his argument, I had no grounds on which to refute his claim. Love was affection. Didn’t I also have affection for them? Wasn’t that why I was so angry when they were hurt by the trackers? Yet, I found the idea that they might all love me terrifying.

“I’m hungry,” I said, standing fluidly.

“Eadric is waiting for you. After you’ve eaten, we can continue our lesson,” Garron said.

I left the cottage and saw Brandle pacing with Edmund near the edge of the clearing.

“Sparrow!” Eadric called loudly, drawing their attention.

Edmund paused his prowl and stared at me across the distance.

I rushed to the table, stole the pastry from the plate in front of Eadric, and took hurried bites as Edmund started across the clearing.

Eadric tried taking the small, misshaped bakery from me.

“Sparrow, not like that,” he said.

I turned away from him and would have left, but Darian caught me around the waist and pulled me into his lap.

“Rest while you eat, Princess,” he said, kissing the side of my neck.

The force with which I shot from his lap drove my shoulder into his jaw, and his teeth clacked together. He grunted in pain and cupped his chin.

“I fink my pung iv beebing,” he said.

I didn’t look at him as Edmund closed the distance between us. His expression betrayed no emotion. Did anger boil behind the surface because his brother had kissed my neck?

Struggling not to let panic consume me, I stopped Edmund from coming closer. He glanced at my raised hand and then my face.

“I cannot accept your feelings, Edmund. Please understand. There is much at risk. Now is not the time for quarrels but to work together to achieve the results we all desire.”

He studied me for several heartbeats.

“You’re afraid,” he said. “Why?”

My gaze darted to Garron, who stood by the fire, then Eadric. Behind me, Darian tugged at my skirt.

“Do you need a snuggle, Princess? I’ll help ease your fears.”

“Stop it.”

I glanced back to tug my skirt free and step away from Darian, only to bump into Edmund. His arms wrapped around me.

“Release me,” I said.

“No. Tell me why you are upset.”

Maddening, provoking oxen, the lot of them.

“Because you cannot love me, Edmund!”

“Why not?”

“Because I have no wish to bear witness to you beating your brothers. Please, Edmund. There must be peace. I am not here to find a match but to find help for my sister. I cannot accept your feelings.”

“She thinks you’ll cuff me for this,” Daemon said, pulling me from Edmund’s arms and spinning me about. I opened my mouth to scold him, and he kissed me. I grabbed his hair and pulled hard.

He laughed as he released me.

“Don’t you see, Princess?” Darian asked. “It’s not Edmund we fear when we steal a kiss.”

Confused, I pivoted and faced Edmund. He frowned at me.

“You gave me a sound thrashing for much less yesterday,” he said. “I demand you treat us equally. If a stolen kiss is a mere hair tug?—“

Eadric grabbed me, spun me around, and kissed me like Daemon had. I pushed at his shoulders. He pulled back and grinned down at me.

“I knew I was your favorite,” he said. “Not a hair tugged.”

“Idiot,” I breathed, hoping he wouldn’t incite the others’ anger.

Someone grabbed me again.

My temper flared, as did the amulets of every man in the clearing.

“I am not a toy to be fought over. Unhand me or suffer.”