The Memory of Darkness (on hold until October)

8 - The Waterfall

He gestured towards the large, flat rocks at the edge of the pool. "Why don't you sit down?"

The ground seemed to be reasonably dry, so Arianna did as she was asked. She looked out over the waterfall, waiting for him to join her. He sat down around five feet away from her, which Arianna felt was quite close enough. "Let's start with names," she said. "You know mine. What's yours?"

"It's Lorcan," he replied.

"Just Lorcan? No family name?"

"Sil Vaddrin," he said. "For what that's worth."

Arianna shrugged. "It doesn't matter a great deal. I just wanted to know." So Felix was right about your name, at least. She folded her arms tightly, shivering a little, wondering if giving Coren the necklace had been such a good idea.

"Are you cold?" he asked, concerned.

"Yes," she said. "If I'd known you were going to drag me out here I wouldn't have removed my cloak."

With a sigh, he stood and removed his own cloak, placing it around her shoulders. "I'd forgotten," he said. "The likes of you tend to feel the cold."

"What do you mean, the likes of me?" She glared at him as he sat back down, trying to ignore the shiver that had run down her spine when he had touched her.

"Pyromancers," he said. "Fire Mages. Call them what you like. You can create sources of extreme heat, but you would probably sit in a Tepeci steam room and complain that somebody had left a window open."

"I've never been to Tepec," she said, pulling the cloak further around herself.

"That's not really the point," he said, with a faint smile.

"I don't suppose it is," she replied. Awkward or not, something about his smile caused her pulse to quicken a little. This realisation did not please her. "Well, it's your turn for a question," she said, abruptly. "I don't think "are you cold?" really counts as one."

He was silent for a moment, staring out at the cascade of water. Arianna risked a sideways glance at him, turning away before he noticed. There was no point in denying it to herself; he was quite breath-taking. His face had a rather severe beauty, the black of his hair in stark contrast to the pale skin of his face. As for his eyes... Gods help me, those eyes. She dug her fingernails into her palms, a futile exercise in stopping the sparks, and waited for him to speak.

"Have you met many other Mages?" he asked, still watching the water.

"Not many," she admitted. "There aren't many to meet, not around here. The ones I have met were rather... strange."

"How so?" he asked.

"There was one woman," Arianna began. "She told me that I was a whore with a wicked soul. It took four Nyrenian Sisters and a town watchman to drag her away from me. I don't know what happened to her," she added, with a shrug. "Then there was the soothsayer at the Spring Fair a few years back. He told me that I'd meet a tall, dark stranger, then he turned pale and gave me back the Florin I'd paid him."

"A nun visited a soothsayer?" he queried.

She nodded. "It's harmless, usually. They're just people who tell you something nice and vague about the future, and get a coin for their trouble. Purely for entertainment. I don't know if this one could really see the future, but he was definitely a Mage, and something about me unnerved him." Why am I telling you this? Why am I telling you anything?

"Perhaps he recognized you," said Lorcan. "He might not have wanted to be caught telling a Princess her fortune."

"Perhaps not." Arianna gave him another sideways glance. Is he moving closer to me? Yes, he is, and I don't mind. I should mind. I'm too calm; he's doing something to my mind again, like he did in the cave. I can't let him. She stood up and took a few steps towards the water, surprised at the effort that this took.