Page 19 of Tides of Shadows

“Your parents?”

“It is a hard tale.” He looked aside. “They died when I was a child. That was when my power first broke through.”

“Who taught you to master it?”

“No one.” He met my eyes, sharp as flint. “I taught myself. Inborn power is not the same as what comes of Elementars. It will not be bridled so easily. What we carry within is… untamed. Dark.”

Dark. The word struck harder than I wished. I had never named my gift so. Strong, yes, but not dark.

Before I could frame an answer, the question that had long pressed at my tongue slipped out.

“You do not touch the flame, do you?” I frowned. “I have never seen you go near so much as a candle.”

He smiled faintly, but no amusement lit his eyes.

“Fire is no plaything, Nerissa. It does not uphold life as your water does, does not feed the earth, does not bear ships upon its back. Fire devours. It takes all you give it, and more besides.” He stepped closer. “And I know that if I give it too much, it will never release me.”

When he stood beside me, I again noted the fine lines at his eyes. He was no heedless youth like the other heirs in the palace, but a man who had seen more than was his due.

I listened, and the hair at my nape stirred. No one had ever spoken of the power like that. No one had ever sounded as though he truly feared his own.

“And how did you manage to control your power?” he asked.

“My mother helped me a little.” I drew a deeper breath. “Her gift is very gentle, like a thin thread that binds her to the world. She taught me to rule myself, to bridle my temper. Yet there were mishaps.”

“Your mother bears power?” He raised a brow. “Interesting.”

“She is… a strange one. She has visions at times. She speaks of a darkness that draws near. Father says I must not heed her. He says she has a flair for the dramatic.”

“Perhaps she is not wrong.” Dricus’s voice hardened. “From what I have heard and seen of late…”

He broke off and studied me. “In any case, I will not hinder you.”

He moved toward the door, then looked back.

“You don’t need to be ashamed of your gift. Wield it as your advantage. The stories of you are already spreading, after last night’s ball it is unlikely they will grow worse.”

He smiled broadly, and the smile sent my gaze to the floor. I would not have him see that he had stirred something in me.

And then he was gone.

Chapter

7

In the days that followed, I managed to arrange a single timber shipment for the Family Mermont. I had the feeling Lord Gavin Mermont agreed because it amused him that I had broken young Magnus Dorthal’s nose.

The lords Mermont and Dorthal had pretended friendship for years, yet I suspected Gavin had enjoyed seeing someone, at last, take that spoiled Dorthal prodigy down a notch. Who would have thought my brutality might finally serve a purpose.

The palace, of course, still seethed with rumors. I was, so they said, a rough island savage. At least none could claim I “spread my legs freely”, as I’d heard a lady in the halls say sarcastically earlier. I gave her only a cool smile. For if I must choose between the name of a savage and the name of a common whore, I would wear the first.

I was in good spirits as I made my way toward the practice room. I had just sealed the last terms of the agreement and felt that a small step had been taken toward rescuing my Family’s trade. The brothers were to join me later, but I hurried ahead, eager to spend the edge of my temper in a bout.

As I neared the hall, I heard the bite of steel and the muffled grunt of effort. Nothing unusual, though I preferred an empty room.

I pushed open the heavy door.

In the center, amid the ring of blades, Aidenar Cavareth was training. He was bare to the waist and shining with sweat, his body lit by sun pouring in through the high windows. The muscles of his arms worked with each cut, his chest rose hard with breath, and drops fell from his hair to the flags of stone.