Pursued - Entire book

Chapter 59

"You look worse," Rosla told a somber Klair that evenng, as she settled next to him on the bed mats. She took his hand and held it, mouth opening in surprise. "You're not tingling anymore."

Several woodsmen Klair knew, silently glanced at him with sympathy before turning to their work on the damaged wall. They'd brought a collection of different boards to see which color and pattern matched with the rest of the shattered wall. Two men measured the parameters of the hole and Klair was embarrassed at the necessity of them having to make the repairs.

Ilock sat in the chair next to the table drumming his fingers against the surface as he silently watched.

"What happened," Rosla prompted in a whisper.

"Ilock temporarily took out my magic."

"Does he know about—"

Klair sat up and kissed her.

One of the workers glancing over snorted.

Rosla sat frozen a moment before returning his kiss.

Ilock harrumphed with annoyance, stood, and exited the room.

When they broke apart, Rosla rested a hand on his chest. "What was that about?" She was grinning. "It's nice to have you acting normal again."

"I didn't know about the tingle until recently... it comes from using magic apparently." He held her hand darting a brief glance to the door. "Wizards... Ilock... has enhanced senses when using magic," Klair whispered. "Even across the room he would have heard what you were about to say."

"Oh." The grip on his hand intensified briefly. "I was surprised you'd want to kiss with others in the room."

Klair blushed. "I always want to kiss you," he admitted.

She grinned but only rewarded him with a peck on the nose. She whispered, "so you magic is what makes you tingle? How to wizards and their partners—" She stopped, blushing.

Rosla shifted uncomfortably against that train of thought. "With your magic gone, how do you plan to escape?" She glanced at the door. "He's always here with you at every waking moment isn't he? That's just—." She shuttered.

"He doesn't trust me."

Sticks' eyes brightened with mischievousness. "That surprises me," She countered innocently.

"We'll still follow the plan. Did you bring it?"

Rosla answered him by placing a small bag of metal shards into his hand, Sheenay metal. He shivered at the weight in his palm, fighting the urge to throw it out of the still existing hole.

Calm down idiot, you'll need this to escape,. He closed his eyes to calm himself and swallowed.

"What are you going to do?"

"Throw them at him, knock him out and I'll fall out through the hole. Have pads ready since I can't use magic to lower myself down. It'll take days to get my powers back. That's not enough time."

"He'll be angry."

Klair grinned for the first time in days, "Yes he will."

*****

By late afternoon the workers selected enough matching boards to make the repairs. They had stacked them against one wall and the jagged edges of the hole were trimmed. The workers reported to Klair they'd be there early the next morning to close the hole.

"Thank you," Klair said.

"We're glad you're still alive," one of the men admitted before leading the others out of the room.