Half Wylde | Book 1

Thirty One: Fire

I decided I very much liked dressing how I wanted. Since coming to the Wyldes, I had been put into the proper outfit for every occasion. Even before that I wore what everyone in the mountains expected me to wear. After yesterday, I decided that clothes had a certain power, and I wanted to dress for myself. I think I was still finding out exactly who Wren was.

Schula happily opened her wardrobe to me. I liked the function of the tight leggings of the Autumn lands, so I borrowed a pair in brown suede. These decidedly did not have a line of exposed skin from hip to ankle like last time though. Not that it wasn't an option in the back of her closet. I also chose a baggy white tunic that laced around my middle a few times to draw it in. It fell almost to my knees, but it flowed around me and was quite comfortable. The only thing I couldn't get used to was the boots that didn't protect my legs, so I pulled my old worn boots up to my knees and left with Puko perched on my shoulder. It was cool enough that a light cloak helped me cover my face and I was hardly stopped on my way.

Navigating Thanantholl was becoming easier, or at least I could get to a few key places. Schula's apartment wasn't far from a fairly main road, and I took it to the front gates with the rising of the sun. Like Schula, Thain didn't want to risk a magical accident in the city.

I spotted him before he saw me. I think. He always seemed to be aware of his surroundings so he could have seen or heard me coming. Or smelled me. As odd a thing as that was to come to terms with, it was a common in the Wyldes.

He was dressed in black, of course, and leaned against a tree near the entrance to Thanantholl waiting for me. The males at the gate were clearly in awe of Thain as they spoke to him with high regard, taking turns keeping a set of eyes on the road. Thain obliged them with what sounded like tales from past battles, but when he spotted me coming up the road he stopped. The guards straightened at their stations, now paying more attention to their job than Thain. I could tell they were still listening intently though.

"Were you waiting long?" I asked as he stood from his place against the gate.

"No, I wasn't. Let's go." We walked out of earshot of the entrance.

Earshot for fae is a pretty good distance, so we walked several minutes before we broke the silence. I was too nervous about my magic to say anything. Thain was going to have to do the talking, which could have been a problem because he hadn't done all that much talking since we reached Thanantholl. Thankfully, he was ready to teach.

He slowed to a stop in a clearing and turned to me. He looked me up and down, head to toe, and nodded.

My palms were suddenly sweaty under his gaze. I was still nervous around him from last night. The dancing, the dinner, and then all the things Schula said. But he seemed in perfect control, and wasn't distracted at all from his job.

"For starters, if you're really ready for this, we have to talk about your powers." He leaned against an oak and watched me hang my cloak from a branch. Puko fluttered up to a higher branch and began preening his feathers.

"I know." My fingers shook. I turned to Thain and clasped my hands behind my back.

"What's making you nervous, Wren?" He asked softly. "Your heart is about to flutter away."

Yeah, I know.

I sighed.

"The witch mark. And the borders. I know the witches didn't do it, they left the mountains when I did. And, and I've known our local witch my whole life. They work every day to keep the lines from blurring, I know it wasn't them." A detail I hadn't given him before. "But you'll have to tell your king about it and I don't want to be suspect to whatever happened on the border, and I'm scared for Mila and the others but I know they didn't have anything to do with the wards."