Realm of Light - Deborah Chester [77]
“Caelan—”
He strode away from her, head down, moving blind and fast.
Elandra hurried after him. “Wait. Caelan, I’m sorry. We are both too angry. We’re hurting each other without meaning to. Please stop, and let us try again.”
He halted, but kept his back to her. “What is there to try?” he asked wearily.
She frowned, feeling all sorts of emotions tangled inside her. Why did it have to be so hard? Why was he so hostile, so ready to turn away from her now that she at last wanted to turn to him?
“Perhaps we can try to be friends,” she said cautiously.
He snorted and swung around. “Friends?” he said.
She suddenly felt like a fool.
“I have a long journey,” he said, scowling at the ground. “I had best get started.”
Alarmed, she stared at him. Already she saw farewell in his eyes. Her heart turned to stone.
“And me?” she asked quietly. “Will you leave me behind, as once you left your sister?”
Pain flashed through his face. “That is not fair.”
“You are not fair!” she retorted. “Why are you hurting me like this? What have I done, to make you turn against me?”
“Elandra,” he said bleakly, “I face a task you cannot share. Here.” He drew his sword and held it out to her, hilt first. “Take it. Hold it a moment.”
“No,” she said.
“Take it. Swing it. Show me your technique.”
Her eyes were stinging. “Cruelty doesn’t become you.”
He slid the sword back into its scabbard. “Enough of this foolishness. You cannot ride into war. No matter how much you care about the throne, you—”
“You need me,” she insisted. “I have as much right to go as you.”
“And what will you do? Fight?”
“You’ll get no troops without me,” she said angrily. “You can’t raise an army on your own, and you know it. Besides, I don’t have to ride into battle. I can stay out of harm’s way.”
“You will be safer here with my sister and the Choven.”
“Will I?” she snapped. “What do you know about it? Has my future been revealed to you? Do you know what my destiny is? Do you?”
“I am supposed to break the world!” he shouted. “Is that an ordinary battle? Is that any place for you to be? I don’t expect to come back. At least give me the consolation of knowing you’re safe.”
“Safe?” she echoed. “This isn’t about staying safe. We weren’t intended to fold our hands and hide from events, neither of us. If you are to break the world, I am to reap its tears. What have you to say to that? Does that sound like I am to stay home and spin wool?”
They glared at each other, breathing hard, both furious, and then she realized how ridiculous it was to be standing in a snow-filled ditch, nose to nose and yelling about their destinies like two children trying to outdo each other with boasts.
She snorted, trembling, and pressed her hands to her lips.
A corner of his mouth twitched.
They stepped back from each other, breathing hard in the silence. Then their eyes met, and they smiled at the same time.
Elandra drew a swift breath that became laughter. “How silly we are. What are we arguing about?”
He beat on his chest and struck a foolish pose. “I shall conquer the world.”
She imitated him. “And I shall do it better!”
They laughed harder; then he reached out, and she ran to his arms. She wanted to go on laughing forever like this with him, yet she felt close to tears also, for how near they had come to ruining everything. Relief spread over her, and she clung more tightly to him.
“We are fools,” he said, kissing her hair. “We would fight about the air if it served our purpose.”
She felt suddenly as though she could not breathe. This was the moment. It felt as though time had stopped around them. “Caelan,” she said very softly, refusing to look up into his eyes in case he refused her. “It grows late, too late to travel. Traulanders are afraid of the dark—”
“We are not afraid of the dark,” he corrected her with mock sternness. “We are afraid of wind spirits. That is only sensible.”
“Then the wind is certainly brisk,” she said shyly. “It is cold and late. Soon it will be dark. Let us go to the cave together.