20. Blaze

Something drew me out of the little woods and over to the border. I swear I felt a flicker of fire over there and it worried me.

I'd come to this territory seeking refuge and the borders had been defensive and strong enough that I'd risked crossing them just to experience the safety on the other side. If there was something happening to the borders, I needed to know.

I needed to know whether it was safe.

If they were weakening, I'd need to leave.

My body flushed with heat and then cold. No, I didn't want to leave.

On the other hand, if I stayed and the fire on the other side burned through them… everyone inside the territory would be in danger.

I flared hot again, and realised I'd flickered into my flame form. It took a lot of concentration to shrink myself down to a small little fire and I hopped up onto my oil lamp to burn there so that I wouldn't start burning through the floorboards or anything.

I was unsettled and afraid, which meant I instinctively stayed in my flame form and couldn't convince myself to turn back, not yet.

Which was inconvenient because I needed to be solid flesh in order to open the door.

If I'd been under attack, I could burn high and bright, fill the entire hut with my form and set light to every single thing in it, burst out of the charred remains and flee. But I wasn't under attack. I needed to convince my body of that before I'd be able to shift back and walk out using the door handle.

It took far longer than I wanted to make myself see sense. Every time I felt like I was nearly able to turn to my flesh form again, I thought of fire on the outside of the border, trying to get in, and then I thought of being chased through the streets and across fields and then I thought of the fire spirits getting in and burning, burning… and Alfie was the only person in the whole castle who couldn't protect himself from fire.

Every time I even thought about him getting burned, even for a fraction of a second, my body roared with fire and I could hardly contain myself in the small space.

The way I managed to get control of myself in the end was to concentrate on that fire. I was sure I felt it flickering out there.

The more I concentrated on it, though, the more I realised that it was a small fire. In fact, it felt like… it felt like a dragon.

I was afraid of what that meant, but it wasn't as terrifying as fire spirits come to hunt me down.

It meant I stepped off of the oil lamp and took on my human form, becoming flesh and blood, all wrapped up warmly in Alfie's coat. I tugged at the collar, pulling it closer to my face and inhaling. I could only smell myself on it, which was annoying. I'd never been able to smell Alfie.

Once I was outside, I walked quickly. I just needed to see for myself, that was all.

I moved through the woods and, when I got to the edge, I hesitated as I remembered what had happened to Alfie. That wouldn't happen again. The Somerville Guardian had layered too many protections up. Nobody could see in.

Glancing around me, I noted that I was hidden from view by the woods and I was fairly sure nobody else was around the territory. I hadn't seen the new Guardian anywhere. They hadn't passed by the woods yet.

I didn't change form again as I crept along towards the boundary. I wanted to see it clearer. I was sure there was flame on the other side. It was getting further away, and I walked along it for minutes and minutes until I'd probably walked about a mile.

Then I felt it again.

There was a dragon on the other side.

My first instinct was to rush back to Alfie. Then I shook myself. Alfie couldn't protect me because he was such a sweet little dragon. I needed to protect him.

And so I crept closer to the dragon, trying to see through the boundary.

When I felt I was near, I switched to my flame form, just in case. I made myself small and crept nearer, hating the soft, damp grass under me. I sizzled and fizzed where I touched it, and I wanted to shift back.

I had to walk around for a while before I realised that I'd lost my sense of the flame because the dragon had shifted back to their human form.

It took another ten minutes for me to locate them and, when I did, I stumbled back in surprise. It was the Guardian. Glimmer.

He was working spells on the other side of the boundary and my first instinct was to turn and flee. I ran half way back to the woods before I changed my mind.

Running wasn't going to help Alfie. I needed to stop Glimmer getting through the boundary. If he was angry about his banishment and was dismantling the protective spells he'd put up, I needed to replace them.

I couldn't work magic the same way that dragons could. Fire spirits had fire magic. That was all. But at the very least I could warn him away. Let him know that the territory was protected, even if he was gone.

Just as I was about to send a flame shooting out, one that would burn and purify, I heard a sound. Talking.

Glimmer was talking to someone on the other side of the boundary. I couldn't see him because the spells were too thick, concealing. I had to creep closer to listen to them but I swear I heard them talking.

"We've been working on this section for days, Glimmer. It's strong. Which parts of the boundary are the weakest?"

I held my breath, listening harder, creeping closer as a tiny little flicker of light.

"This is the most important part. It's where Alfie plays."

"It's not important if someone can get in a mile down the road and walk straight through the territory to him."

Glimmer's voice suddenly changed. It was full of fire and teeth as he spat, "Never. Our borders are strong."

"They will be. We need to build them all up."

"I've been plugging the holes for months. Even Dane can't get in any longer, and he was a constant pain in my ass, sneaking through the gaps."

"Let's circle round. I want to check."

Glimmer's voice changed, becoming warm instead of burning. "Finish these and then I'll fly us round. You can lead."

I felt the pressure of spells being created, the strange crackle in the air that told me magic was nearby. I had to strain to identify them but what I saw was curious. The magic they were working wasn't dismantling the spells or eating away at them. It was building them.

I watched as the two magics twined together to build more spells. I had to wait until I'd felt Glimmer shift into his dragon form, felt the fire simmering in his belly, and then I felt them leave. At least, I felt Glimmer leave and assumed whoever-it-was he was with had gone with him. I didn't feel any more magic being put down.

Slowly, I reached out to touch the boundary spells. I wanted to study them, to make sure they were protective and not… anything else. I wanted to just be sure they'd keep Alfie safe and not weaken the territory defences.

I prodded and tested in every way I could think of, but the spells remained strong and they remained defensive. It looked the like Guardian was finishing his work.

While I tried to identify what the other man had been doing, I heard panting breaths behind me and turned to see Alfie running across the field.

"Blaze! Blaze, what are you doing?"

He skidded to a halt in front of me and I shifted back to my human form in case he touched me.

I asked, "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I came to see you, of course! Our bond went all funny. Like you were afraid. What frightened you? I can- I can protect you. You don't need to be frightened."

He had walked right up to me and I looked up at him, this young man with his slender frame and his smooth, pale skin and his large silver eyes that were so sincere. I knew he didn't look like a warrior, but he was beautiful and it was sweet that he wanted to protect me.

"I'm okay," I insisted. "I was just checking the border. I felt a dragon out there."

Alfie looked alarmed, and I hurried to reassure him.

"It was Glimmer, I'm sure of it. It felt like him and the magic that he was using is the same he's been using the whole time I've been here. I'm positive it was him.

Alfie relaxed, his shoulders slumping. "Phew, that's okay then. I'm so glad he's alive! We weren't sure. Conley said he fought a ridire, and we were afraid he'd been killed. I mean, we weren't meant to care, actually, since he'd been, you know, banished, but I was worried. I didn't want him hurt."

"He was working magic," I said.

Alfie nodded and took my hand, clasping it in his own slightly bigger one. He didn't look at all worried about the fact Glimmer was working magic on his territory's borders.

He asked, "Are you hungry? You feel hungry. Have you turned to flame a lot?"

I blinked at him, confused by the change in conversation. I checked with my stomach and realised I was ravenous. I'd just used a lot of energy in my flame form and hadn't burned anything.

Before I answered that, though, I needed to make sure Alfie understood what I'd seen.

"Glimmer is out there, working magic."

"Yes."

He looked at me, obviously not seeing any problem with that.

"But he's banished."

"Yes, but—"

"But what?"

"But he's our Guardian. I know Conley is meant to be our Guardian now but he doesn't have a bond with everyone and his are… not as nice. Maybe he'll grow a bond with everyone over time? The point is, Glimmer still has his bonds. He's still our Guardian. He'll be protecting us. He's been making the boundaries stronger for months. You said so yourself."

"He's not meant to be doing that, though, is he?"

"Not really. Lord Somerville will be angry if he finds out."

I kept my thoughts on Lord Somerville to myself. He hadn't been down to the boundaries in months, as far as I could tell, not since Alfie was shot. He'd left it up to his Guardian.

Instead, I said, "There was somebody with him. There was a man working with Glimmer."

"Really? Who?"

"I don't know. I've never heard him before, and I don't recognise his magic."

Alfie shrugged. "If he's working with Glimmer, that's okay."

"Are you sure?"

He looked at me blankly again. "Of course. Glimmer won't let anything bad happen to us. His bonds are still really strong and they feel… protective. If he's letting this man help him, he must trust him."

"So you trust him?"

"Glimmer trusts him. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you don't know who he is."

Alfie smiled. "You're very sweet, you know. Are you worried about me?"

I felt my face heating up and looked down. "You know I care about you."

"Because I'm your- your favourite person?"

"Yes, you're my favourite."

Alfie smiled at me again and my heart fluttered like flames. He was more than my favourite person, he was my everything. The world began and ended with Alfie. And he didn't realise just how much he meant to me.

He tugged me closer to him and said, "I grabbed some more food from the kitchen last night. I think Mrs. Wilson has worked out it's me but she hasn't told me off yet."

"What makes you think she knows?"

"She's been leaving it in a basket for me. I don't think she liked me taking things randomly because it messed up her inventory. She's very strict, you know."

I laughed and buried my head in Alfie's shoulder. "Yes, my darling. Can we go and eat some now?"

Alfie held my hand all the way across the field and through the woods and only let go of me when we reached the hut and he began unpacking a new basket of food. For the first time, I realised that this was different things from what he'd been taking himself. I should have realised. There was more order to it and there were individual meals packaged up in Tupperware, fruit and snacks.

As soon as he'd got everything out, Alfie sat down in the armchair and looked at me expectantly.

I grinned and grabbed the dish I wanted, which was a cold slice of pie with salad and delicious, crumbly cheese scattered all over it. Then I sat in my place, which was on Alfie's lap. He slid his arms around me and held me tight.

I felt his erection grow under me as I ate, but he didn't move except to thread his fingers gently through my hair and he didn't demand anything of me. He just sat there and watched me eat, and I devoured every morsel until I was satisfied. I hadn't gone hungry in a long time. Not since Alfie had started taking care of me.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked. His breath tickled my ear and I squirmed back against him.

"Yes. I always feel better with you."

"Me too. I miss you when I'm at the castle. I wish you could come with me to live there properly."

"This is nice too," I said. I didn't want him to dwell on what we couldn't have and I didn't want him to risk telling his elder about me. I knew better than anyone what would happen to me if his elder discovered I was living inside his territory.

In the meantime, I could enjoy what time I had with Alfie. I squirmed again, rubbing myself on Alfie's hard cock.

He gasped and clutched me tighter to him. I twisted round to fuse my mouth to his, thrusting my tongue between his lips and letting him taste me. The moans he gave when he tasted me always made me ache somewhere deep inside. I wanted more of them. I wanted to fulfil the promise of them.

I wanted more than Alfie was ready to give. So I had to content myself with his mouth and my hand thrust between us.