Daughter of the Disgraced King (25 page)

“Just friends?”

Ailsa glanced sidelong at Jathan from under her lashes. “There
was a time when both Sav and I thought there might be more than that between
us. Before he proved what a blind, selfish . . . idiot he can be. There’s no
chance of that now.” She sighed. “Maybe there never really was. I think we were
both . . . mistaken about what we felt. But Sav doesn’t want to accept that.”

Jathan walked in silence for a few steps. “Well, we’ll be
leaving for Far Terra before too long. Maybe—if you think it will help—I’ll ask
Father to keep Prince Savyon here. That’d give you about two weeks completely
free of him. Do you want me to do that?”

Ailsa bit her lip and then nodded firmly. “Yes. It’s about
the only thing that might actually work.”

Jathan smiled. “Good. Then I will.”

They reached the rose garden. Ailsa looked around her in
disappointment. “The roses are out of bloom.”

“I know. That’s why I picked it. There won’t be anyone else
out here.”

Ailsa swallowed. “So . . . what did you want to talk to me
about?”

“First things first. Are you about over being mad at Prince
Savyon? It didn’t look like it earlier.”

Ailsa stared at him then shrugged. “Pretty much. That doesn’t
mean I’ve forgiven him, yet. Mostly, it’s just frustrating to have him
continually saying he’s sorry without any sign of it in his behavior. Why?”

Jathan took both her hands in his. “I wanted to be sure,
before . . .” He cocked his head to one side. “We haven’t done any magic
together for several days, now. Do you think we’ve waited long enough to
satisfy your grandmother’s concerns about us?”

Ailsa nodded almost holding her breath. Jathan leaned in and
kissed her very gently and briefly. A tingling like the feeling she used to get
before the great winds swept across the desert tickled her skin and was gone
again.

Ailsa blinked. She had to hold herself very still to keep
from leaning forward to kiss Jathan again, longer this time. “Why’d you wait? I
mean why’d you wait until I got over being mad at Sav?”

Jathan shrugged. “Didn’t seem like trying to treat you as
the rope in a tug of war or the prize in some contest was going to do anyone any
good. Least of all you. Not that I wasn’t tempted to try to bash Prince Savyon’s
face in once or twice, but I didn’t think that’d help either. Not in the long
run anyway. Might have made me feel better for a minute or two, though. But I
thought you had enough pressure to deal with. I thought you . . . I don’t know
. . . I thought you deserved enough time to decide what you wanted.”

Ailsa grinned. “How’d you get so smart?”

Jathan laughed. “Watching my older stepbrothers make fools
of themselves. Very educational. Sometimes amusing, too.”

Ailsa laughed, trying to imagine Arrigo in a romantic mood. “I
bet.”

“So . . . let’s do this right.” Jathan drew her closer and
wrapped his arms around her. He looked down into her eyes for a moment before
bending his head to kiss her again. Ailsa’s skin tingled from her scalp to her
toes. She was glad of Jathan’s arms around her because her knees suddenly felt
like water. Jathan tasted like . . . like the sweetest berries, like fresh
spring air after a rain, tinged with just a hint of the wine punch he must have
drunk while waiting for her. Intoxicating, but there was no magic in this—or
only the everyday sort that had nothing to do with mages and everything to do
with love. Jathan’s lips parted and Ailsa’s opened under his. When his tongue
brushed against the inside of her upper lip, fire shot through her veins and
settled somewhere lower than her stomach. His tongue probed deeper. The fire
spread outward again.

Just before she felt like she’d burst into flames, Jathan pulled
back. “Well? Do you think that’s only our magic? Or something else?”

Ailsa swallowed. She had no doubts. If she’d thought kissing
Sav was enjoyable, this was ten times better. More than that. “Something else.
Definitely. Something very special.”

His fingers traced gently along her cheekbone, spreading
tingles in their wake. “Well, then, beautiful Ailsa, will you marry me? So that
we can go on making magic—both kinds—for as long as we live.”

Ailsa blinked. Everything was moving so fast again. Or maybe
not. Maybe they’d both known this was coming for some time now. Still . . . “Jathan,
I—”

Jathan pressed his lips to hers again. This time, he allowed
his magic to build along with the kiss. Ailsa’s magic followed his, growing
along with her exhilaration, doubling it. When they paused for breath and she
stepped back, the rose bush beside them had burst into bloom.

Jathan laughed in delight. “Seems once we’re married we may
not actually have to work much magic. We can just pitch a tent and . . .” He
leaned forward again and whispered the rest in her ear.

Ailsa blushed, suppressing an urge to giggle. He was
assuming a lot. Though she liked the idea, too. “Jathan! Your stepfather would have
you whipped for talking to me like that.” Not that she was going to tell.

“Not to my bride he won’t.” He turned her capelet back on
one side and buried his face in her neck. “My bride.”

His kisses, dotting along her neck down to her collar bone
almost robbed Ailsa of speech, even of thought. She placed her hand on his
chest and pushed him back. “Jathan—”

He frowned. “Don’t you want to marry me?”

Ailsa drew in breath as if she’d just been drowning in that
lake up in the mountains again. She wanted this to go on. Oh, she wanted that.
But one thing still worried her. She was Far Terra’s green mage. She was going
back. She’d
keep
going back. Did Jathan really understand what that
meant? Born and raised in this greener world, could he
stand
the desert?
Especially after what had happened to his father? Not to mention the
difficulties and indignities King Ewart and his crony barons were sure to throw
in their way, no matter how carefully the emperor planned. “It’s not that. I
just . . . Not . . . not yet, Jathan. I’m still going to Far Terra.”

His arms tightened around her. “I know. I’m going with you.”

She swallowed again, tasting Jathan still. It almost stopped
her from saying what she knew she needed to say. “I don’t want either of us to
make promises we’ll regret later. I . . . if you positively can’t stand Far
Terra . . . I don’t want you to feel you owe me anything. Wait until after we’ve
been to Far Terra. Ask me then.”

He pulled her closer. “It’s not going to change my mind.
Nothing will.”

“Just . . . I’ll feel better about it. All right?”

Jathan took a step back. “If that’s what you want.”

Ailsa clutched his arms. She knew that she was right about Far
Terra, but she didn’t want to let Jathan go, even for a moment. “Um. That doesn’t
mean we have to stop kissing, does it?”

Jathan smiled. “Well, it does mean we have to set definite
limits.” He kissed her again and then drew back with a sigh. “I think perhaps
we’d better go back inside, now. Before things get out of hand.” He took her
hand. “But this time I’m not going to let anyone else dance with you.”

Ailsa grinned. “Fine by me.”

Ailsa went to observe Perion’s testing whenever she could.
His was the first testing she’d observed that went on for days. He wasn’t a
water mage, as he’d hoped. They’d established that on the first day. He wasn’t
a green mage, either, not that anyone had really expected that. Yet the new
master seemed convinced that he not only had magic, but a significant talent. It
was a puzzle. After several days, Perion’s testing was suspended briefly, both
to give everyone—especially Perion—a rest and to allow the master to research
Perion’s genealogy more carefully.

Ailsa was prevented from trying to distract Perion from his
troubles when both Mama and Grandmama insisted on some additions to Ailsa’s
wardrobe, particularly a new ball gown for the Winter Ball in Far Terra. The
plan was for Ailsa to wear mostly her old clothes—not the green that proclaimed
her magic to the world—until the ball. This gown—and her actions at the ball—would
declare her magic to the king and his barons as dramatically as possible, so it
had to be a gown that would arrest their attention. That meant another visit to
the seamstress, Chara.

The old woman’s eyes glittered as they described what was
wanted. “It will be the Winter Ball, yes?” The old woman grinned and began
searching through her various bolts of green cloth.

Mama pulled out a bolt of emerald green taffeta. “How about
this?”

Chara turned to peer back at Ailsa. “Not emerald. Totally
wrong for her coloring.”

“But it needs to be vivid,” Mama said, still holding the
bolt.

“No,” Chara said, taking the bolt and putting it back. “
She
has to make an impression. They need to see her, not the dress. Emerald is
wrong for her. But this . . .” She pulled out a bolt of jade green velvet and
held it up to Ailsa’s face. “This will suit her very well. Trimmed with white
and silver, I think.”

Ailsa stroked the smooth velvet. “Oh, yes.”

“Now, the style. What is it you want to accomplish with this
gown? Eh?”

Mama huffed. “I thought we’d established that.” She gestured
to Ailsa’s short stature. “Somehow, we have to make her impressive.”

“She is impressive,” Grandmama said. “You haven’t seen her
work.”

Mama shrugged acceptance of that. “Yes, but—”

Chara cleared her throat. “There are many kinds of
impressive. Do you want her to be majestic? To stop men’s breath?”

“Hmm. Majestic, I think,” Grandmama said.

Ailsa thought of Jathan. When he wasn’t with her, she couldn’t
help being nervous about his reaction to his first taste of Far Terra. She
smiled a little secretly. She didn’t have those doubts when she was with him.
Still . . . “I wouldn’t mind taking
one
man’s breath away,” she said
barely above a whisper. “Just one.”

Apparently Chara heard her. The old woman cackled. “Well,
well. With your figure we can do that right enough. And then it’ll be
his
job to worry about all the other men. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Believe
me, the competition helps to put a fire under a man, too.”

Ailsa was sure she didn’t need to light any more of a fire
under Jathan. She might mention the idea to Mayra though. Maybe it’d work with
Sav.

“Haven’t you settled things between the two of you, yet?”
Grandmama asked.

Ailsa ducked her head and shrugged. “Yes. Well, mostly. He
hasn’t seen Far Terra yet. I’d like to . . . keep him interested in spite of
what he’ll see there.”

“Who’s this?” Mama asked. “Someone your father and I should
meet?”

“You’ve met him,” Grandmama said. “It’s Jathan.”

Mama’s eyes lit up. “We should get you some new traveling
clothes, too, while we’re here.”

“Mama, the plan is to keep my magic secret until the ball.
That’s why I’ll be using my old clothes.”

“Tut. You don’t see me wearing red every day. You must wear
green while you’re at the Institute. And for most public occasions. But there’s
no rule that says you have to wear your mage color when you’re not working. And
if this plan succeeds, you’ll be traveling between Terranion and Far Terra
often. You’ll need some extra clothes for that. Besides, traveling across the
mountains in winter, you’ll need something warmer. Something . . . becoming. To
help you keep his interest coming and going as well.” Mama smiled.

Grandmama huffed, but smiled wryly. “From what I’ve seen,
holding his interest is not going to be a problem.”

~

Jathan grabbed Ailsa’s hand as they crossed the garden after
leaving one of the frequent planning sessions for their winter foray into Far
Terra. When they’d gotten far enough to be out of sight, he stopped and drew
Ailsa closer. He lowered his head to kiss her.

“Hey! Ailsa! Jathan!”

Jathan sighed and leaned back to see who had interrupted
them. It wasn’t one of his stepbrothers. He’d have known exactly how to handle
that. No, it was her cousin, Perion.

Ailsa sighed too and took a half step back, squeezing Jathan’s
hand as she did. “Hi, Perion.”

Perion frowned slightly as he took in their linked hands. “I
just wanted to tell you the news.”

Ailsa cocked her head to the side. “What news is that?”

“They finally finished my testing. I’m a wind mage. Who
would have guessed, right? But, you know, our great-great-great grandfather was
a wind mage, back before the barons got so nervous about royal mages. I can’t
start my formal studies until after midwinter, but I’ve picked up a few books about
weather patterns. Fascinating stuff. Maybe I’ll even be able to move rain
storms. That could be useful.”

Ailsa smiled and took his hand with her free one. “Congratulations.
Now you can stop worrying about your magic.”

Jathan smiled, too. “Congratulations. Are you planning to go
back to Far Terra to work as a mage?”

Perion shrugged. “I haven’t had much chance to think about
that, yet. I’ll want to talk to other wind mages. Mostly, it’ll probably depend
on how things go back home between now and then.”

Ailsa squeezed his hand. “Do think about it, Perion. Jathan
and I are going to do our very best to change the way mages are treated in Far
Terra. The emperor’s determined to change things too. Far Terra needs all the
mages it can get.”

Perion shrugged again. “Maybe. We’ll talk after you get
back.”

~

Ailsa wondered what Grandmama had planned for their lesson
when she once again had them meet at the garden bench along the outside wall of
her kitchen. Two small pots, about as big around as one of her fists, with tiny
vines growing in them sat on the bench. Grandmama had said that both of them
were through with the periodic standard testing, so what were these little
vines for?

“What do you think this is all about?” Jathan asked.

Ailsa shook her head. “No idea. I thought we were past the
making-things-grow tests. Our levels are set, aren’t they?” And, anyway, after
some of the things they’d done, how much of a challenge could these little
vines be?

“I thought so,” Jathan said.

She looked closer while they waited for Grandmama to join
them. She needed something to focus on other than her worries about the
upcoming journey. The closer it got, the more nervous she became. Not just
about Jathan’s reaction to Far Terra—although that was worry enough. She also
fretted about the trip itself. She remembered the enervating effects of the
desert on her when she’d come here. Grandmama hadn’t said, but Ailsa had a
strong feeling that it would be worse now that she was more in touch with her
own magic. She really wasn’t looking forward to that.

The vines looked familiar. Each vine had a few buds, just
ready to open. One clearly would bear pink flowers, the other orange. Ailsa
blinked as she realized where she’d seen vines like these before—at her testing
and again at the Student Ball.

Grandmama came out of the house carrying two small leather
pouches attached to harnesses that would hold the pouch against the wearer’s
chest.

“What are those?” Ailsa asked.

Grandmama smiled as she handed one pouch to each of them. “I’m
coming to that. Give me a chance.” She looked at Jathan. “Now, Ailsa already
knows this and I’d be surprised if she isn’t already getting nervous about the
trip. Crossing the desert between the Ring Mountains and Far Terra is difficult
for certain mages—especially green or water mages. You are both powerful green
mages, so it’s going to be especially hard for you. But, there are ways to make
it less difficult.

“You’re already planning to ride and change horses as
necessary to get across the desert more quickly. That may help. But not enough.
The crossing of the desert won’t be just uncomfortable for you, it will also be
the time when your magic is at its lowest ebb. The time when you’re most
vulnerable. These will help with that.” She picked up the small potted vines
and handed one to each of them—the pink-flowered one to Ailsa and the
orange-flowered one to Jathan. “These are very special vines. They store magic
in their roots. That’s why we use them for testing green mages. These are cuttings
from the very vines used at your testings, so they’re already attuned to you.”
Grandmama scowled unconvincingly at Ailsa. “Apparently Ailsa created a new
pink-flowered variety. At least, you’ll be able to tell them apart. Keep them
close. Put a little magic into them every day before you leave—but don’t make
them grow too much. That make travel awkward.” She smiled at them. “The pouches
that I gave you are crafted to hold the pots so you carry them close to you as
you cross the desert. That will enable you to draw a little magic back out to
mitigate the effects of the desert. Take care of them—and each other.”

~

Ailsa stroked Diamond’s nose and gave him a quick rubdown
before saddling Pearl for the day’s ride. Mama and Papa had already left with
the coach and most of the baggage. One more day of classes and then the next
day she’d be on her way back to Far Terra, too. She’d miss her weekly runs with
Diamond while she was away in Far Terra. With a sigh, she admitted to herself
that she’d grown a little too attached to Diamond. He nudged her hand to get
her to pet his nose again. Maybe he’d gotten too attached to her, too.

Mayra came up beside her and timidly reached out to Diamond.
“You should ride him to Far Terra.”

Ailsa turned to face her friend. “I couldn’t do that. He’s
your horse.”

Mayra smiled slyly. “Well, as to that, I thought I’d give
him to you as a wedding gift anyway.”

Ailsa drew in her breath to reply.
Does everyone already
know?

“Oh, don’t worry. Father and Mother don’t suspect yet. Or Prince
Savyon, as far as I can tell. I can’t answer for Artair or Rishiart, though.”

“Did Jathan tell you?”

Mayra’s smile deepened. “He didn’t have to. Think I couldn’t
figure it out from the way you two have been acting around each other?”

Ailsa smiled and shrugged. “Are we that obvious?”

“Only to someone who knows you—and especially Jathan—really
well.”

“Well, nothing’s definite until we get back from Far Terra.”
Ailsa drew in her breath and admitted her greatest fear. “Jathan might not be able
to deal with that.”

Mayra smiled and nudged Ailsa’s shoulder. “He’ll deal with
anything for you. Trust me.” She touched Diamond’s nose delicately. “You should
ride Diamond. I’ve heard Rishiart and Jathan talking. They’re planning to use a
change of horses to make the trip across the desert go faster, so you’ll need
more than one mount anyway. He’s bigger and has more stamina than Pearl, wonderful as she is. And, you know, unicorns are supposed to be very good at
finding water. That might be useful in the desert. He was originally trained as
a war horse, too. That could come in handy if you come across some of those
desert predators you’ve told me about. Plus, you know, if you’re supposed to be
impressive, well, Diamond’s pretty striking himself.” She nodded. “Ride
Diamond.” Mayra blushed. “Besides, he seems to be pretty interested in Pearl.
If she happens to come into season while you’re gone . . .”

Ailsa laughed and patted both Diamond and Pearl. “You two,
too? It must be in the air, huh?”

Mayra winced. “I wish.”

Ailsa squeezed her arm. “Sav’s just very . . .”

“Loyal?”

Ailsa huffed a laugh. “That, too. I was going to say
stubborn. It’s hard for him to change directions in some things. Hopefully,
while we’re gone, he’ll figure out how wonderful
you
are. And maybe you
should give him a little reason to compete for your attention, just to spur him
on. Spend some time with Perion, maybe.”

“Huh!” Mayra half-laughed.

“What?”

“That’s what I told Savyon. He was supposed to be paying
attention to me to make you jealous.” Mayra smiled evilly. “Maybe I should take
my own advice.”

Ailsa looked at Mayra for a moment. “So . . . have you
decided it’s definitely Sav, then?”