Golden Apple, The by Diener Michelle

Author:Diener, Michelle [Diener, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-03-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Kayla stood before the door and looked over her shoulder, met Rane’s gaze for the last time before he stepped back into the trees. She lifted her hand and knocked.

The door swung open, and as it did she felt the light brush of fingers on her nape, felt the warmth of Rane’s invisible body behind hers. A final promise he was just outside. Watching through the windows, through whichever crack he could find.

“Where is De’Villier?” Ylana was suddenly there, half-shadowed in the doorway, and Kayla stiffened.

“Waiting along the path for me. He’s too sensitive to your collection.” Her voice was breathless.

Ylana stepped back and allowed her entrance.

Rane’s hand touched her shoulder and slipped off as she stepped within. Fear rose in her, in tandem with the high-pitched creak of the door shutting.

She was alone.

Rane may be outside, but she was face to face with a woman who could become a man with the lift of her hands, whose power radiated from her in tangible waves, green and brown.

The gloom darkened as the door swung shut, and Kayla smelled the sweet, dusty scent of dried lavender and rosemary, the dark, nutty flavor of burnt butter.

A candle flickered on a rough wooden table, then settled to a steady light as the door clicked shut.

In the half-light, the shelves glowed with their burden of magic trinkets. Some looked ordinary—pedestrian objects she would not have glanced at twice—and others shone with a beautiful light.

Despair draped chains over her shoulders as she took in the sheer number. How would she find Eric’s gem in this without Ylana realizing she was looking for something specific?

“Why are you here?” Ylana was watching her, bright and sharp as a robin.

Kayla turned from her and looked down at her hands. “I am here because you invited me.”

She had no reason for being in the forest. No possible reason other than the truth. And the truth would doom her. Would doom Rane and his brother, too.

“Don’t play games. Why would Kayla of Gaynor come into the Great Forest with a woodsman?”

Kayla lifted her head. There is was. The derisive thread in Ylana’s voice. That disrespect for Rane.

She felt the shimmer of anger again. “He may be a woodsman, but he is also my betrothed.”

“De’Villier? The future king of Gaynor?” Ylana laughed.

“Why do you think so little of him?”

“I cannot stand his kind. They sell wild magic treasure to the highest bidder. Without a thought to what it could do. Or who they sell it to.”

“You want them to only sell to you?” Kayla felt her anger growing.

“Sorcerers shouldn’t benefit from wild magic by being offered its treasure. They should be forced to think twice about creating it.” The words were hissed, furious.

“Rane is honorable. He doesn’t deserve your contempt.”

“Yes, he does.” Her voice was bitter. “He is hatching a plot. He asks too many questions about wild magic. Finds more treasure than anyone else.”

“You saw for yourself, he’s sensitive to the objects wild magic creates, he finds them easily. As for asking questions, he has his reasons, and they are nothing to do with you.

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