The Woods

Chapter Forty-Two

In the days following, I settled back into my usual routine. I hardly saw Casper and Merilyn, and the few times I did, they seemed distant towards me – but not as cold, thankfully. Even so, I still caught them glancing at each other every now and then, sharing an odd look. But Cain never seemed to notice it, so I decided to ignore it, deeming it unimportant.

Lord Cawther was irritated that I hadn't been able to study the days I was sick, and made me go through twice as many books so I could catch up. But by doing so, he decided that I was ready to learn to use my magic properly. I had to admit, I was excited – at least, until he told me my task.

We sat in his study, sitting on opposite couches. I watched, confused, as he pulled out a jacket and dunked it in a bucket of water.

"Put this on," he said, holding it out to me. I stared at him blankly, silently wondering if he was kidding. "Just do it."

Still confused, I reluctantly slipped on the sodden jacket, shivering at the cold. In an instant, the water within the jacket froze and I let out a surprised yelp. My teeth were chattering in seconds.

"What is the purpose of this?" I asked, glaring at him and making a move to take it off.

He raised a hand as a signal to stop me. "Remove the ice. You saw me remove the ice covering the room the other day. You should be able to do the same."

"How?" The ice was beginning to feel like cold fire against my skin. Why had I worn a sleeveless dress?

"Just . . . imagine it is gone. It will be difficult to do, considering you can feel it, but you should be able to."

With that, he leaned back and a cup of tea appeared in his hands from thin air. He sipped it as he waited – taunting me, I realised. I gritted my teeth and tried to focus.

I knew the ice would not melt because the lord was controlling it, so I would only get colder and colder. It was like a blanket of cold . . . so why not wrap my own magic around it? I imagined my magic as something warm that, upon touching the ice, would make it melt.

After a few moments, I let out the breath I didn't realise I had been holding. I slowly got warmer, and a glance at the jacket told me I had removed the ice. It hadn't melted, even though I imagined my magic to be warm – it was simply gone, leaving the jacket warm and soft against my skin.

"Not bad," the lord admitted. "Now try reverse what you just did."

I frowned, unsure of how to do that. He had used a bucket of water to soak the jacket before freezing it, and yet a few days prior, he had frozen the room with no water available. It suggested no water was needed, and yet it made me wonder why he bothered to use it in the first place.

"If it's possible to freeze it without water, why did you soak it?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Freeze the jacket and I will tell you," he replied. I narrowed my eyes. Showing what I could do for answers. It reminded me of when Drake and I did a question for a question – even if Drake didn't want to admit it, he was so much like his father. Except, perhaps, for being cold towards people.

Realising he was still waiting; I placed all my focus on the jacket I wore. This time, I imagined my magic to be something cold – so cold that no fire could melt it. My breath came out shuddering, as if I could feel the cold, and within a few minutes, the jacket was stiff with ice.

Lord Cawther nodded approvingly. "To answer your question, it is easier to freeze liquids than to make ice appear. After the festival, I have been trying to . . . conserve my power. The attacks are becoming more frequent, and I prefer being prepared."

His words made me think . . . what if the attacks were becoming more frequent so the attacker could drain the Fae of their power; making them use it on the smaller attacks so they would not be prepared.

I removed the ice on the jacket, something that came to me easier than before, and asked, "If you used all your magic, how long would it take to replenish?"

He frowned at the question, perhaps in thought. "Because I am so old, I have a lot of magic stored. Using it all could keep me down for a month. But for the average Fae, perhaps a week or two. We could use our magic before it fully replenishes, but doing so too frequently could lead to a burn-out."

"What's a burn-out?" He pointed to the bucket of water and I sighed, but obediently froze the water. It felt different than making ice simply appear – the water was more difficult to grab a hold of to freeze. But after a moment, it slowly was replaced with crystals of ice.

"A burn-out occurs when you are at the brink of exhaustion when using magic. To the point where . . . you basically collapse and don't wake up. At least, not until your magic is fully replenished. From there, it takes a lot of time to heal. If you have too many burnouts, you can be pushed to the brink of insanity – a state I have seen a few Fae enter. There's no going back after that." He frowned. "Why such questions?"

I wondered how he couldn't pick up what I was thinking. It seemed so obvious, now that I thought about it.

"What if the attacks were to drain the Fae's magic slowly?" I asked. He froze, his chest not even rising to breathe. "Breaking the massive rocks would've used a lot of power, right?"

"Keep practising."

He rose and quickly strode out of the room, leaving me staring after him. I sighed quietly – it seemed like everyone was doing that as of late. What was he thinking? Did he agree with my suggestion and was going to investigate?

Nibbling my lip, I returned to practicing using the magic. I found it became easier and easier the more I practiced, and after just an hour, I could make ice disappear and reappear with half a thought. I decided that would be good enough for the day, after also discovering how much energy magic used up. It had only been a few hours, and yet I felt ready to sleep.

Until dinner, I decided to read in the library, knowing that sleeping would only ruin my schedule for tomorrow. The book was about adventures, and it was fascinating how it differed from human novels of the same genre. The scenes were more tense and dangerous, reminding me of the power I often forgot the Fae possessed. How I had forgotten when I lived with them, I had no idea.

My growling stomach pulled me from the thrall of the book, and I was glad that the clock told me it was time for dinner. It was only when I walked into the dining room that I realised I still clutched the book, having forgotten to put it back. I shrugged and set it down beside me as I took a seat with the others.

As we served ourselves, Merilyn commented, "I didn't take you for a romance reader, Fida." Her lips were tugged up in amusement.

I frowned, confused. "There's no romance whatsoever. At least, not as far as I've seen." I was more than halfway through the book.

"Perhaps you aren't picking it up then," Merilyn murmured. I glared at Casper as he muffled his laugh with a cough. What on earth did that mean?

"The Fae display affection differently," Cain explained. I nodded, nibbling my lip. Why did Casper and Merilyn seem so amused? And why was Cain glaring at them?

Merilyn jabbed Casper in the side. "Honestly, what I put up with when this one tried to court me. Took him years before I even figured out what he was doing."

I chuckled as Casper protested, watching them bicker back and forth. I was grateful that Merilyn had changed the topic slightly; enough that I didn't feel in the centre of things. What they said still confused me . . .

And it didn't help that I could feel Cain's gaze on me as I watched the couple. I tried not to notice, but ended up glancing at him and giving him a quizzical look. He just smiled, and despite my confusion, I smiled back.

Casper and Merilyn were oddly silent after that.