A Crown of Clouds

Chapter 18

It had been 3 days since I'd seen Cole. Cretan came back the morning after my mother's birthday looking like a perfect picture of exhaustion, complete with black circles around his eyes as though he hadn't slept at all. I'd questioned him about his time away with Tessanda. He'd shuddered, saying he'd rather have gouged his eyes out. "You know for a Komana, that's not a real smart move," I'd replied, thinking he'd surely crack a laugh... nothing, not even a smirk.

The last three days had been torture, torture learning and reading, yet not as torturous as being away from Cole after the other night. Things had gotten so heated, he'd ripped my shirt open, a button flying off, I'd whipped his off over his head, needing to feel his skin on mine, his hands had become too comfortable on my legs, starting to travel higher and right before I gave him all of me, something stopped me, a fear panged my heart. I was glad that at that moment I'd had nothing to drink, it might have been a different story entirely. Cole had seemed as kind as could be given I'd let him get riled up, he'd been a gentleman and kissed me goodnight again after taking me back to my room.

"Are you ever going to try any of those spells or are you just going to keep learning them?" said Cretan who had just woken up from a nap, he'd fallen asleep on his book, waking up with a giant line on his forehead, he'd started to snore and he looked so tired I didn't have it in me to tell him. I thought it would be funny to try and place a bubble around him so I couldn't hear him, then I thought, I'd better not try my first time on a human, that would be terribly bad if it went wrong.

"What makes you think I can even do it if I'm from Earth?" Cretan yawned, he finally looked a little more awake than he had the last few days, his stare was intense as he looked around the room. He threw his hands in the air, throwing an invisible bubble around us as he cleared his throat. He looked more serious than I'd seen him before, "because you're not, are you Hal Lancaster?"

The mention of that name sent my spine rigid. "Wha.. what? I stuttered, trying to subdue my quickened breathing, "listen to me Hal! you coming here sparked fear into Tessanda, it means the axis can be crossed somehow, worse yet, she fears it can be opened completely again."

"Ho.. how did you know my name?" I could hear the fear in my voice. I felt myself becoming frantic, what else could Cretan know, how long had he known? "I suspected who you were the moment I saw you, to be sure, I made a fake truth serum, one that allowed me access to your mind and your speech. It lasts but a few days each time, allowing none of the thoughts that could be a danger to your life able to be picked up." Cretan's speech did not waver as he continued, "you would have been killed the first day you were here had I not helped you and your big mouth." I sat stunned like a dead fish in my chair, of course - there had to have been magic involved for me to not speak my mind when I wanted to. "I searched your mind and found memories of your parents, your favourite books, where and what you studied... the fan." Cretan could turn me in at any second... and yet, he hadn't?

"Why not turn me in? Why not show Tessanda my mind?"

"She doesn't even know I can do that... it's far too dangerous for her to know, and even more dangerous that she might try it... if it isn't done properly it can cause a head to explode, it is considered a dark magic; witch's magic." No wonder my head had ached so... I scowled at Cretan, he could have killed me.

He looked at me knowingly, "look it was either I tried, or you would have been killed the moment you revealed how you got here." So much had made sense now, missing pieces of the enormous puzzle I had to fill in, these tidbits of information like an outside frame piece of the picture. "Why..." I took a deep breath, knowing the answer might be something I didn't want to hear, "why would I have been killed?"

"You know why! I've sensed you questioning it... although you were wrong in assuming it was your mother who was from this realm." He took a breath, "it was your father. Your mother... is from Riccadia, which makes you a mixed blood, and believe it or not, a royal. Tessanda would have killed you on the spot, not to mention she always hated your mother."