On the Edge
Title: On the Edge
Author: FeistyFox
Rating: M
Pairing: DG/Cain
Summary: The kid could only teeter on the edge for so long before she fell off .
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: Please refer to any previous chapter I have written in any of my fics. Seriously. It could be fun. Close your eyes and left click.
The last hour of the trip had been far more comfortable than the previous four. Not only were they no longer fighting the kid was sitting peacefully against him. When they drove up to the maze he felt far more confident that Deeg wasn’t planning on murdering him in his sleep once they were settled. It was a comforting thought. Figuring out how to get through the maze was more unsettling. He didn’t really want to get spit out like an unwanted seed. They would have to do this carefully.
The green hedges swayed cheerily in the breeze and he narrowed his eyes. The maze was a deceiver. Maybe Deeg had passed on her mischievous streak when she used her magic to bring it back to life. Maybe it had always been this way. Either way it didn’t matter. Here they were. He felt ready to tackle this problem head on. Opening the door slowly he eased out being careful not to jolt the princess. He figured that would be plain rude. Holding his hand out he felt her take it as he kept his eyes trained on the bushes while he helped her out. “Cain? What are you doing?”
“Shhh.” Her eyebrows drew together as her eyes moved between his face and the maze she had fixed. “I think it’s listenin’.”
Her forehead furrowed. “Ummm…So?”
“The maze doesn’t like visitors.” Stepping to the bed of the truck he began to remove their things and handed Deeg her bag. He saw a cross between exasperation and interest in her eyes as she took it and slung it over her shoulder. Securing his own bag he slowly walked toward the entrance. “Ok, here’s the plan-”
“We need a plan?”
The kid wasn’t taking this very seriously. “Yes.”
“Ok.” He had the sense she was humoring him. “What’s your plan?”
“I’ll go in first then you come in after me.” It wasn’t the most intricate plan he had ever come up with but it was reasonable. If anything was going to happen he would rather it be to him. And what could really happen? After all, this was just a big bush even if it was magic. Edging forward he took a step into the maze with Deeg a foot behind him when he heard a strange noise. Turning his head he saw the maze rapidly growing closed between them and leapt toward it as the kid let out a shout. “Cain!”
“Deeg!” His heart jumped into his throat at her worried call. The plan had backfired rather dramatically. Muttering curses under his breath he threw his shoulder into the leaves hoping to smash out to the girl. When he couldn’t break past the surprisingly tough barrier he turned in order to find a different way out. All he found were more branches. The maze had grown up around him while he had been tearing at it. His head swiveled as he tried to find another exit and he saw the bush continue to grow over his head. “Damn it!”
“Cain?” Her voice was suddenly off to his left.
“Kid?” He fought harder against the maze.
Then her shout was to the right and there was a flash of light between the leaves. “Let go of him!”
Branches began to circle his waist and then he was being dragged somewhere as his pack was ripped from his shoulder. Struggling like mad he was spun around four or five times before the leaves let him go with a snapping noise. He was hurled forward on his chest like a stone out of a sling. He landed hard on the ground with a loud grunt of pain.
“Wyatt!” Hurried footfall came toward him and he rolled over to try to get his lungs to work again. “Are you ok?”
Drawing in a wheezing breath he tried to answer. “I’m-“ His pack suddenly shot out of the wall of leaves and landed on his chest. “-oof!” The corner of one of the sketchpads he had in it nailed him between two of his ribs. Then the kid grabbed the pack and tossed it to the ground as she slid to her knees next to him. With a winch he sat up as he rubbed his abused skin. “I knew it was listenin’.”
Her worried eyes cleared at his annoyed answer and her lips began to twitch like mad. His eyebrow quirked as she reached over and picked up his hat and handed it to him. When he took it from her and set it back on his head he glared at the maze. Small noises began to erupt from her unexpectedly and his head came around. The kid was now sitting next to him with her hand over her mouth as she began to giggle. He hadn’t heard her laugh in over eight months.
Shocked by her reaction he simply sat there and looked at her. Moments later and her body bent forward as the giggles morphed into full blown belly laughter. Unable to help himself he began to chuckle along with her. Gasping for air she managed to get a sentence out. “I don’t-“ She burst into another fit before she continued. “Wow, it really doesn’t like you.”
“At least it gave me back my pack. That was obligin’ of it.” That set her off all over again. He shook his head and waited patiently for her to regain the ability to move. A smile stayed fixed to his face at the sounds tinkling out of her. Eventually she managed to stop and he tucked some of her hair behind her ear as her eyes twinkled at him. “That didn’t go the way I thought it would. I think we need a new plan.”
“Ok.” Standing up she brushed dust off the back of her pants and stepped up to the hedges.
“Wait a second!” He reached for her but she waved her small hand at him.
“Excuse me?” She was talking to a bush, politely. If he hadn’t seen her taking directions from a dog he would have been surprised. “I know it was terribly rude of him to saunter in without an invitation, or even your consent, but could you let us get to the palace?”
His eyebrows shot up when the leaves puffed themselves up like an angry cat. The kid put her hands on her hips. “You really are being difficult. After all the trouble I went to fixing you I would think you would be nicer.” The maze drooped slightly. She began to tap her foot. “Apology accepted. Could you hide the truck for me as well?”
There was a groan and the ground below him began to tremble. Before he could react branches burst from the ground around the truck and a new wall began to surround them and their transport. The maze had done what she had asked. Even as the walls finished growing in a perfect square an archway formed in front of them. Deeg tilted her head toward it. “You’re the one that was set on getting here. Are you coming?”
Picking himself up he snatched his pack up as he eyed the bushes all around them. After a brief nod on his part she started forward toward the door. The girl shook her head and led him into the maze. As they weaved back and forth toward the palace he tried to keep her unexpected good mood up. “I would love to know how you manage to get everything you come in contact with to do what you ask.”
“What are you talking about? You never do what I ask.”
He rolled his eyes. She had him wrapped around her little finger she simply didn’t know it. He wasn’t about to tell her either. He’d never get his way again. “With the exception of this grumpy old tin man you do.”
“You’re not old, Cain.”
“I don’t hear ya denyin’ I’m grumpy.”
A smirk crossed her face briefly. “Do you want me to lie to you?”
Barking out a laugh he bumped her shoulder amicably. The kid had fallen back to her normal traveling personality. He enjoyed this side of the girl. She was funny and challenged him. After the last few days he was relieved she still remembered how to banter even if she was repressing her emotions. They would get back to the unpleasantness soon enough. “Not one to stroke anyone’s ego are you?”
“I told you you’re not old. What do you want from me?” Her eyes were dancing.
“If I have to ask it takes most of the fun out of it.” Shrugging she turned right and he followed close behind her before a slight frown crossed his face. They may have run through here last time but this wasn’t the way they had come. “Kid, this is the wrong way.”
She never broke stride. “No, its not.”
“We turned left before.”
“The maze moves. It changed the way to Finaqua.”
His eyebrow quirked up in interest. “How do you know that?”
“My magic.” Stopping she shifted on her feet as she thought something over. “Do… do you want me to show you?”
That made him pause. She was offering to share something with him after she had so recently yelled at him over the very subject of her privacy? He was baffled. “I’m pretty sure we had a fight about this already today.”
The kid sighed. “Cain, I know I suck at the friend thing, ok?”
He still didn’t understand her terminology all the time. “Wha-“
“I’m still angry over what you did and if you do anything like that ever again I swear I’ll never speak to you again.” He nodded in understanding. “But I didn’t know you were that worried about me. I tend to… avoid people. I didn’t realize it was upsetting you. I’ll try harder to talk but you have to tell me if you want to know something because I’m not good at reading people like you are and you’re not open to begin with.”
That was a huge concession on her part. Relief swept through him at her willingness to work with him on this. “Ok.”
“So, do you want me to show you?”
“I’d like that.”
Holding out her hand to him her eyes closed in concentration as she began to glow. “Take my hand.” Wrapping his fingers around hers he waited. “You might get dizzy for a second but it won’t last long.”
“What are you going to do?” The kid had peaked his curiosity.
“Let you see what I can with my magic.” With that she shimmered with light and he had to shake his head when the promised disorientation hit him. It vanished as quickly as it came and after blinking a few times he saw the path in front of them sparkling softly. It was subtle and rather pretty. It looked as if someone had ground up gemstones and scattered the dust over the dirt path.
Her eyes fluttered open, and with her other hand she pointed down an offshoot of the path they were standing on. “See how the magic doesn’t go that way?”
“You see this all the time?”
“Not all the time.” Her hand tightened briefly and she pulsed. When he glanced at her sharply she gave him a weak smile. “I haven’t used enough magic today. I need to start siphoning it off soon. It makes it harder to hold onto the spell.”
“Does it hurt?” He reached up to push her hair out of her eyes and noticed his skin was sparkling the same way the path was. Holding his fingers up to the sun made the magic more obvious. “Why am I shinin’?”
“You have a spell on you.” She sounded sheepish and his eyes found hers as his eyebrow quirked up. “It was an accident.”
Good. That made him less nervous. “How did I accidentally get a spell put on me?” He would love to hear her explain her way out of this.
“Cain, I’m really sorry. I’ve tried taking it off but it just sticks harder.”
“Deeg.” His voice had dropped to a low growl and she slumped.
“Remember when we were up on the hill? Before I went after Az?”
He very much doubted he would ever forget that. He had been afraid for the first time since he had been put in the suit. For the first time in over ten years he had people he cared about depending on him. His son was about to lead his resistance cell in a suicide run at the tower and the friends he had made, particularly the kid, were about to run headlong into the most powerful dark mage the realm had ever seen. It had pushed every other emotion and thought from his mind. “I remember.”
“I was terrified.” He had the same urge to hug her now as he had then but he held himself back while she spoke. “Then you tried to make me feel better and I remember thinking as long as you and Jeb were together when it was over it would be ok.” Ozma, the girl had never thought she was going to make it out of the tower alive. She had put on a good front that was for sure. “That was before I knew how to use my magic. I didn’t realize it reacted to strong emotions. I put a protection spell on you without knowing it. I swear as soon as I found out I tried to break it. I knew you’d be angry.” He blinked at her and sadness suddenly overtook her. “You are angry. I’m sorry. I wanted to take it off before I told you.”
“I’m not angry.” It was true. He wasn’t even surprised she had done it. He was intrigued by the fact that he had been shot in the brain room and suffered nothing more than a flesh wound. Raw had healed him in a few seconds. “The spell you used? What does it do exactly?”
“I don’t really know. That’s why I can’t get rid of it. When I cast a spell I have to think about what I’m doing. That’s what Tutor said too but I wasn’t thinking about a spell when I cast it.”
“Could it change the path of a bullet?”
Alarmed she reared her head up to his face and he twined their fingers together. “I’m not goin’ to jump in front of one. I got shot in the brain room. I was wondering if the man had bad aim or if your spell did it.”
“It was probably the spell.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek gently. “Thank you.”
Looking up at him briefly she nodded hesitantly before starting to walk again. He kept hold of her hand as they went and she didn’t try to shake him off. Encouraged by that he slowly began to rub his thumb over her skin in an absent sort of way. He didn’t want to scare her off but he did want her to get used to him touching her. This seemed like a prime opportunity. If the kid thought he was doing it without thinking she would simply accept the contact, if she thought it meant more than that her mind might start to drift in that direction which was what he wanted. Either way he was close to her.
They turned another corner following the path he could now see with her help and he decided steer their conversation in a new direction. Deeg had gone quiet again and he thought she might be thinking he was lying about not being angry about her spell. “Is there anything specific you want to do while we’re here?”
Her eyes darted to him suspiciously but she answered him. “Like what?”
“Hiking, swimming, reading, drawing?” He was up for nearly anything as long as he knew where she was.
“You don’t have an itinerary planned out for me?”
“I want you to rest not continue to run yourself ragged.” Turning one last time they came to the end of the maze and stepped out into the tall grass that surrounded the palace. The wind was blowing across the field and the sunlight was bouncing merrily off the water. A hundred yards ahead of them the small palace the kid had brought back sat peacefully framed by the mountains. This place was beautiful. He had always been amazed by what she had managed to do here. Pleased at the sight he smiled down at her. “Nice and homey.”
“It’s quaint.” Her dry voice rolled over him causing his lip to twitch. “Cain, I don’t do well with free time.”
She didn’t do all that well when she planned her time out either. “You just need to practice.” Nudging her they continued forward despite her unconvinced look. “Let’s see if we can find the kitchen first. Are you as hungry as me?”
“Probably not.”
Reaching over he poked her ribs and she squawked. “I’m goin’ to fatten you up while we’re here.”
The kid hit his hand away indignantly finally breaking their connection and her spell. “What a pleasant mental image.”
“You’re not very excited about me cookin’ for ya.” He gave her a wheedling smile that she shook her head at. He chuckled at her wrinkled nose and let a now easy silence settle over them. It didn’t take them long to make it to the front entrance. He looked around to make sure the place was clear before reaching out to the handle of one of the tall doors. Then he realized how ridiculous that was because the maze kept everyone else out. They were safe here and completely alone.
“I’ve never been inside this palace before.” Walking into the hall he looked around curiously. The Finaqua palace was much smaller than the one in Central City or the one in the mountains but it felt much more open. Large windows and arched doorways made it feel airy and he could see why the royal family used to spend time here. Peace practically radiated out of the sandstone walls. “Which way is the kitchen?”
“I don’t know.” Deeg was peering into one of the hallways that branched off to the left.
The kid didn’t remember this part of her childhood. Noting that he tried to figure out the smartest way to find their way around. He spotted a small door partially hidden by a potted plant and headed toward it. Opening it he saw a stairs leading down and nodded. “This way.”
Her soft footfall came up behind him. “How do you know?”
“It’s a servants staircase. They use these to get around the palace without being as noticeable.” The guard used them too. It was easier to sneak up on intruders if you knew all the secrete areas in the palace you were protecting. He’d have this palace memorized by tomorrow.
“I use these in Central City.” That would explain how she managed to slip away so easily all the time.
He chuckled and started down. “I guarantee the queen would have something to say about that if she found out.”
“Now I’m worried.” Deeg was close behind him as they descended. “Do you think this leads to the kitchen or living quarters?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Looking over his shoulder he grinned at her. “I thought you liked to explore.”
“And I thought you didn’t.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong. I simply don’t enjoy chasin’ ya down in unknown territory.”
“Are you saying you enjoy chasing me in known territory?”
That caught his attention. He wasn’t sure she meant that the way it had come out but he could turn it around easily enough. Keeping his eyes forward he smirked knowing she couldn’t see him from her position. “Of course. I know I’ll catch you that way.”
Author Note: Nothing to report on my end other than a thanks for all the reviews! Gimme some more!
Author: FeistyFox
Rating: M
Pairing: DG/Cain
Summary: The kid could only teeter on the edge for so long before she fell off .
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: Please refer to any previous chapter I have written in any of my fics. Seriously. It could be fun. Close your eyes and left click.
The last hour of the trip had been far more comfortable than the previous four. Not only were they no longer fighting the kid was sitting peacefully against him. When they drove up to the maze he felt far more confident that Deeg wasn’t planning on murdering him in his sleep once they were settled. It was a comforting thought. Figuring out how to get through the maze was more unsettling. He didn’t really want to get spit out like an unwanted seed. They would have to do this carefully.
The green hedges swayed cheerily in the breeze and he narrowed his eyes. The maze was a deceiver. Maybe Deeg had passed on her mischievous streak when she used her magic to bring it back to life. Maybe it had always been this way. Either way it didn’t matter. Here they were. He felt ready to tackle this problem head on. Opening the door slowly he eased out being careful not to jolt the princess. He figured that would be plain rude. Holding his hand out he felt her take it as he kept his eyes trained on the bushes while he helped her out. “Cain? What are you doing?”
“Shhh.” Her eyebrows drew together as her eyes moved between his face and the maze she had fixed. “I think it’s listenin’.”
Her forehead furrowed. “Ummm…So?”
“The maze doesn’t like visitors.” Stepping to the bed of the truck he began to remove their things and handed Deeg her bag. He saw a cross between exasperation and interest in her eyes as she took it and slung it over her shoulder. Securing his own bag he slowly walked toward the entrance. “Ok, here’s the plan-”
“We need a plan?”
The kid wasn’t taking this very seriously. “Yes.”
“Ok.” He had the sense she was humoring him. “What’s your plan?”
“I’ll go in first then you come in after me.” It wasn’t the most intricate plan he had ever come up with but it was reasonable. If anything was going to happen he would rather it be to him. And what could really happen? After all, this was just a big bush even if it was magic. Edging forward he took a step into the maze with Deeg a foot behind him when he heard a strange noise. Turning his head he saw the maze rapidly growing closed between them and leapt toward it as the kid let out a shout. “Cain!”
“Deeg!” His heart jumped into his throat at her worried call. The plan had backfired rather dramatically. Muttering curses under his breath he threw his shoulder into the leaves hoping to smash out to the girl. When he couldn’t break past the surprisingly tough barrier he turned in order to find a different way out. All he found were more branches. The maze had grown up around him while he had been tearing at it. His head swiveled as he tried to find another exit and he saw the bush continue to grow over his head. “Damn it!”
“Cain?” Her voice was suddenly off to his left.
“Kid?” He fought harder against the maze.
Then her shout was to the right and there was a flash of light between the leaves. “Let go of him!”
Branches began to circle his waist and then he was being dragged somewhere as his pack was ripped from his shoulder. Struggling like mad he was spun around four or five times before the leaves let him go with a snapping noise. He was hurled forward on his chest like a stone out of a sling. He landed hard on the ground with a loud grunt of pain.
“Wyatt!” Hurried footfall came toward him and he rolled over to try to get his lungs to work again. “Are you ok?”
Drawing in a wheezing breath he tried to answer. “I’m-“ His pack suddenly shot out of the wall of leaves and landed on his chest. “-oof!” The corner of one of the sketchpads he had in it nailed him between two of his ribs. Then the kid grabbed the pack and tossed it to the ground as she slid to her knees next to him. With a winch he sat up as he rubbed his abused skin. “I knew it was listenin’.”
Her worried eyes cleared at his annoyed answer and her lips began to twitch like mad. His eyebrow quirked as she reached over and picked up his hat and handed it to him. When he took it from her and set it back on his head he glared at the maze. Small noises began to erupt from her unexpectedly and his head came around. The kid was now sitting next to him with her hand over her mouth as she began to giggle. He hadn’t heard her laugh in over eight months.
Shocked by her reaction he simply sat there and looked at her. Moments later and her body bent forward as the giggles morphed into full blown belly laughter. Unable to help himself he began to chuckle along with her. Gasping for air she managed to get a sentence out. “I don’t-“ She burst into another fit before she continued. “Wow, it really doesn’t like you.”
“At least it gave me back my pack. That was obligin’ of it.” That set her off all over again. He shook his head and waited patiently for her to regain the ability to move. A smile stayed fixed to his face at the sounds tinkling out of her. Eventually she managed to stop and he tucked some of her hair behind her ear as her eyes twinkled at him. “That didn’t go the way I thought it would. I think we need a new plan.”
“Ok.” Standing up she brushed dust off the back of her pants and stepped up to the hedges.
“Wait a second!” He reached for her but she waved her small hand at him.
“Excuse me?” She was talking to a bush, politely. If he hadn’t seen her taking directions from a dog he would have been surprised. “I know it was terribly rude of him to saunter in without an invitation, or even your consent, but could you let us get to the palace?”
His eyebrows shot up when the leaves puffed themselves up like an angry cat. The kid put her hands on her hips. “You really are being difficult. After all the trouble I went to fixing you I would think you would be nicer.” The maze drooped slightly. She began to tap her foot. “Apology accepted. Could you hide the truck for me as well?”
There was a groan and the ground below him began to tremble. Before he could react branches burst from the ground around the truck and a new wall began to surround them and their transport. The maze had done what she had asked. Even as the walls finished growing in a perfect square an archway formed in front of them. Deeg tilted her head toward it. “You’re the one that was set on getting here. Are you coming?”
Picking himself up he snatched his pack up as he eyed the bushes all around them. After a brief nod on his part she started forward toward the door. The girl shook her head and led him into the maze. As they weaved back and forth toward the palace he tried to keep her unexpected good mood up. “I would love to know how you manage to get everything you come in contact with to do what you ask.”
“What are you talking about? You never do what I ask.”
He rolled his eyes. She had him wrapped around her little finger she simply didn’t know it. He wasn’t about to tell her either. He’d never get his way again. “With the exception of this grumpy old tin man you do.”
“You’re not old, Cain.”
“I don’t hear ya denyin’ I’m grumpy.”
A smirk crossed her face briefly. “Do you want me to lie to you?”
Barking out a laugh he bumped her shoulder amicably. The kid had fallen back to her normal traveling personality. He enjoyed this side of the girl. She was funny and challenged him. After the last few days he was relieved she still remembered how to banter even if she was repressing her emotions. They would get back to the unpleasantness soon enough. “Not one to stroke anyone’s ego are you?”
“I told you you’re not old. What do you want from me?” Her eyes were dancing.
“If I have to ask it takes most of the fun out of it.” Shrugging she turned right and he followed close behind her before a slight frown crossed his face. They may have run through here last time but this wasn’t the way they had come. “Kid, this is the wrong way.”
She never broke stride. “No, its not.”
“We turned left before.”
“The maze moves. It changed the way to Finaqua.”
His eyebrow quirked up in interest. “How do you know that?”
“My magic.” Stopping she shifted on her feet as she thought something over. “Do… do you want me to show you?”
That made him pause. She was offering to share something with him after she had so recently yelled at him over the very subject of her privacy? He was baffled. “I’m pretty sure we had a fight about this already today.”
The kid sighed. “Cain, I know I suck at the friend thing, ok?”
He still didn’t understand her terminology all the time. “Wha-“
“I’m still angry over what you did and if you do anything like that ever again I swear I’ll never speak to you again.” He nodded in understanding. “But I didn’t know you were that worried about me. I tend to… avoid people. I didn’t realize it was upsetting you. I’ll try harder to talk but you have to tell me if you want to know something because I’m not good at reading people like you are and you’re not open to begin with.”
That was a huge concession on her part. Relief swept through him at her willingness to work with him on this. “Ok.”
“So, do you want me to show you?”
“I’d like that.”
Holding out her hand to him her eyes closed in concentration as she began to glow. “Take my hand.” Wrapping his fingers around hers he waited. “You might get dizzy for a second but it won’t last long.”
“What are you going to do?” The kid had peaked his curiosity.
“Let you see what I can with my magic.” With that she shimmered with light and he had to shake his head when the promised disorientation hit him. It vanished as quickly as it came and after blinking a few times he saw the path in front of them sparkling softly. It was subtle and rather pretty. It looked as if someone had ground up gemstones and scattered the dust over the dirt path.
Her eyes fluttered open, and with her other hand she pointed down an offshoot of the path they were standing on. “See how the magic doesn’t go that way?”
“You see this all the time?”
“Not all the time.” Her hand tightened briefly and she pulsed. When he glanced at her sharply she gave him a weak smile. “I haven’t used enough magic today. I need to start siphoning it off soon. It makes it harder to hold onto the spell.”
“Does it hurt?” He reached up to push her hair out of her eyes and noticed his skin was sparkling the same way the path was. Holding his fingers up to the sun made the magic more obvious. “Why am I shinin’?”
“You have a spell on you.” She sounded sheepish and his eyes found hers as his eyebrow quirked up. “It was an accident.”
Good. That made him less nervous. “How did I accidentally get a spell put on me?” He would love to hear her explain her way out of this.
“Cain, I’m really sorry. I’ve tried taking it off but it just sticks harder.”
“Deeg.” His voice had dropped to a low growl and she slumped.
“Remember when we were up on the hill? Before I went after Az?”
He very much doubted he would ever forget that. He had been afraid for the first time since he had been put in the suit. For the first time in over ten years he had people he cared about depending on him. His son was about to lead his resistance cell in a suicide run at the tower and the friends he had made, particularly the kid, were about to run headlong into the most powerful dark mage the realm had ever seen. It had pushed every other emotion and thought from his mind. “I remember.”
“I was terrified.” He had the same urge to hug her now as he had then but he held himself back while she spoke. “Then you tried to make me feel better and I remember thinking as long as you and Jeb were together when it was over it would be ok.” Ozma, the girl had never thought she was going to make it out of the tower alive. She had put on a good front that was for sure. “That was before I knew how to use my magic. I didn’t realize it reacted to strong emotions. I put a protection spell on you without knowing it. I swear as soon as I found out I tried to break it. I knew you’d be angry.” He blinked at her and sadness suddenly overtook her. “You are angry. I’m sorry. I wanted to take it off before I told you.”
“I’m not angry.” It was true. He wasn’t even surprised she had done it. He was intrigued by the fact that he had been shot in the brain room and suffered nothing more than a flesh wound. Raw had healed him in a few seconds. “The spell you used? What does it do exactly?”
“I don’t really know. That’s why I can’t get rid of it. When I cast a spell I have to think about what I’m doing. That’s what Tutor said too but I wasn’t thinking about a spell when I cast it.”
“Could it change the path of a bullet?”
Alarmed she reared her head up to his face and he twined their fingers together. “I’m not goin’ to jump in front of one. I got shot in the brain room. I was wondering if the man had bad aim or if your spell did it.”
“It was probably the spell.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheek gently. “Thank you.”
Looking up at him briefly she nodded hesitantly before starting to walk again. He kept hold of her hand as they went and she didn’t try to shake him off. Encouraged by that he slowly began to rub his thumb over her skin in an absent sort of way. He didn’t want to scare her off but he did want her to get used to him touching her. This seemed like a prime opportunity. If the kid thought he was doing it without thinking she would simply accept the contact, if she thought it meant more than that her mind might start to drift in that direction which was what he wanted. Either way he was close to her.
They turned another corner following the path he could now see with her help and he decided steer their conversation in a new direction. Deeg had gone quiet again and he thought she might be thinking he was lying about not being angry about her spell. “Is there anything specific you want to do while we’re here?”
Her eyes darted to him suspiciously but she answered him. “Like what?”
“Hiking, swimming, reading, drawing?” He was up for nearly anything as long as he knew where she was.
“You don’t have an itinerary planned out for me?”
“I want you to rest not continue to run yourself ragged.” Turning one last time they came to the end of the maze and stepped out into the tall grass that surrounded the palace. The wind was blowing across the field and the sunlight was bouncing merrily off the water. A hundred yards ahead of them the small palace the kid had brought back sat peacefully framed by the mountains. This place was beautiful. He had always been amazed by what she had managed to do here. Pleased at the sight he smiled down at her. “Nice and homey.”
“It’s quaint.” Her dry voice rolled over him causing his lip to twitch. “Cain, I don’t do well with free time.”
She didn’t do all that well when she planned her time out either. “You just need to practice.” Nudging her they continued forward despite her unconvinced look. “Let’s see if we can find the kitchen first. Are you as hungry as me?”
“Probably not.”
Reaching over he poked her ribs and she squawked. “I’m goin’ to fatten you up while we’re here.”
The kid hit his hand away indignantly finally breaking their connection and her spell. “What a pleasant mental image.”
“You’re not very excited about me cookin’ for ya.” He gave her a wheedling smile that she shook her head at. He chuckled at her wrinkled nose and let a now easy silence settle over them. It didn’t take them long to make it to the front entrance. He looked around to make sure the place was clear before reaching out to the handle of one of the tall doors. Then he realized how ridiculous that was because the maze kept everyone else out. They were safe here and completely alone.
“I’ve never been inside this palace before.” Walking into the hall he looked around curiously. The Finaqua palace was much smaller than the one in Central City or the one in the mountains but it felt much more open. Large windows and arched doorways made it feel airy and he could see why the royal family used to spend time here. Peace practically radiated out of the sandstone walls. “Which way is the kitchen?”
“I don’t know.” Deeg was peering into one of the hallways that branched off to the left.
The kid didn’t remember this part of her childhood. Noting that he tried to figure out the smartest way to find their way around. He spotted a small door partially hidden by a potted plant and headed toward it. Opening it he saw a stairs leading down and nodded. “This way.”
Her soft footfall came up behind him. “How do you know?”
“It’s a servants staircase. They use these to get around the palace without being as noticeable.” The guard used them too. It was easier to sneak up on intruders if you knew all the secrete areas in the palace you were protecting. He’d have this palace memorized by tomorrow.
“I use these in Central City.” That would explain how she managed to slip away so easily all the time.
He chuckled and started down. “I guarantee the queen would have something to say about that if she found out.”
“Now I’m worried.” Deeg was close behind him as they descended. “Do you think this leads to the kitchen or living quarters?”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Looking over his shoulder he grinned at her. “I thought you liked to explore.”
“And I thought you didn’t.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong. I simply don’t enjoy chasin’ ya down in unknown territory.”
“Are you saying you enjoy chasing me in known territory?”
That caught his attention. He wasn’t sure she meant that the way it had come out but he could turn it around easily enough. Keeping his eyes forward he smirked knowing she couldn’t see him from her position. “Of course. I know I’ll catch you that way.”
Author Note: Nothing to report on my end other than a thanks for all the reviews! Gimme some more!