Kira tried to pretend it was nothing by
turning her attention to the burn and placing her other hand around
her wrist. The mark disappeared instantly.
She sighed, trying to put her previous fears
aside. “Can we
walk
now?”
Octavion smiled. “Yes, it is not far.”
It only took a few moments to reach the end
of the dark path and step into the bright sunlight. The waterfall
was only a few feet wide, but stretched up over a hundred feet,
where it disappeared into an opening in the rocks. The sun shone at
just the right angle, creating a celestial glow that radiated out
over the small blue pond at its base. Small rock outcroppings and
lush green bushes surrounded the pond and flowers of rich and
varied hues—a virtual rainbow of colors—dotted the landscape.
“Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“That it is,” he said. “This place is very
special to us.”
“I can see why. It’s like stepping into a
fairy tale.”
“That . . . and it reminds us of our home.”
He offered her his hand. “Would you like to get closer? It gets a
little slippery, but if we are slow—”
“I’d love to,” she answered before he
finished. She weaved her fingers between his and let him lead her
through the small maze of rocks and bushes. When they reached the
water’s edge, Octavion sat on a rock a few feet away, while Kira
slipped off her shoes and socks. The water looked too inviting to
resist.
“I think I’ll get my feet wet,” she said.
Octavion folded his arms and lazily leaned
back. “I’m sure the leeches won’t mind.”
“Leeches!” She’d already sat down on the
rocky ledge and dipped her feet into the water. She yanked them out
just in time to hear him laugh. She wasn’t sure which shocked her
more, that he’d loosened up enough to tease her or that he somehow
seemed to enjoy her reaction. She glared at him. “You’re
lying.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders and
smiled.
Determined not to let him win at this little
game, Kira pulled the elastic out of her ponytail and let her hair
flow over her shoulders and back. Without hesitation, she stood,
her toes curling over the ledge and dove in. The water had felt
cold on her feet, but hadn’t prepared her for the sudden shock to
her whole body as she plunged into its depths. She kicked for the
surface, gasping for air. “Ahh!” she yelled as she breached the
water. “It’s c—cold!” She wrapped her arms around her torso and
tried to control her shivering. She looked at the bank to find his
boots and vest, but Octavion was nowhere in sight.
“Octavion?” she called.
An instant later he appeared on the cliff
near the falls and she couldn’t help but admire the way the light
splashed across his bronzed skin. He stretched his arms above his
head, making the thick muscles across his chest bulge and flex. He
stepped to the edge and leapt from the cliff in a perfect arc,
hitting the water with barely a splash.
As the ripples reached the outer edge of the
pond, he slowly surfaced a few feet in front of her. She gasped as
he came out of the water. It took her breath away to see him half
naked and dripping wet. She swore her heart stopped for just an
instant when he brushed his hands through his hair, flexing his
chest muscles. He, on the other hand, flashed his dimples.
She huffed the air out of her lungs and
turned to wade toward the bank, her body shivering to the core. She
got as far as the rocky ledge, but before she could pull herself up
out of the water, she felt the pressure of his strong hand on her
shoulder. He spun her around to face him, then pulled her close.
His eyes seemed as deep as the pool, the sun’s reflection making
them glisten like the rest of his wet body. Fondness . . . and a
hint of hesitation—that’s what she saw in his eyes. She swallowed
hard. “I’m cold,” she said. “I want to get out.”
He ran his hand up the small of her back and
pulled her even closer. Slowly, he brought his other hand up and
brushed a strand of wet hair from her face.
“What are you . . . doing?”
Is he going to
kiss me?
The thought no sooner entered her mind when he brought
his face closer, a lock of wet hair releasing one large drop of
cold pond water that landed just below her collar bone. It tickled
her skin as it made a slow path down her cleavage.
I should pull away, shouldn’t I?
She
leaned her head back and closed her eyes, anticipating the feel of
his lips on hers. When it didn’t come and she felt him remove his
hand from her back, she looked up. Squirming between his thumb and
index finger was a leech.
Kira didn’t know what kind of reaction
Octavion anticipated, but by the look on his face he hadn’t
expected her to scream. When she did, he jumped back, lost his
footing and went down. By the time he came up out of the water
again, Kira stood on the rock ledge, examining the rest of her body
for leeches.
“Don’t just stand there—help me. Get them
off.”
Chuckling, he shook the water from his hair
and leapt up beside her. “I told you there were leeches in
there.”
She pulled her hair on top of her head and
spun around. “Stop laughing and look at my back. Do you see
any?”
“There was only one. You are clean,” he
answered in a nonchalant manner.
“How can you be sure?” She examined her legs,
pulling up the hem of her shorts to see if any had snuck up there.
When he didn’t answer, she stopped and looked at him. “Oh, let me
guess. You can talk to leeches, too.”
He raised one brow, folded his arms and
smirked. “I just know.”
“Well, why don’t you have any on you?” He
didn’t seem the least bit concerned that one of the parasites could
be sucking
his
blood.
Octavion shrugged his shoulders. “They don’t
like the taste.”
Kira glared at him. “What, you’re joking,
right?” But then, after the past few days, she would believe just
about anything.
“We think it is our royal blood. They don’t
bother Altaria, but Lydia is always loaded with them. It is the
only explanation.”
“I thought you were both Royals.”
“Our father, who is king, is a Royal, but we
have different mothers.
My
mother came from Finvarra, a
neighboring kingdom, and was also a Royal. My blood is pure.” He
pulled on his boots.
Kira shook the dirt off her socks and began
to pull them on as well. It wasn’t an easy task with her feet still
wet. “So, who’s Lydia’s mother?”
He sat on his rock, but this time leaned
forward, placed his arms across his thighs and held his vest in his
hands. “Shandira is the oldest—barely one year between us. Our
mother died giving me life. My father couldn’t take care of us
alone and wasn’t satisfied with any of the servants in the castle,
so he sent for a nursemaid from the village to tend to our needs.
It took some time, but just before my second year, he announced to
our kingdom that he had chosen another bride.”
“Your nursemaid?”
How romantic
, she
thought.
“Yes. The kingdom began to celebrate the idea
of having a new queen, but then they found out she was a
commoner.”
“What happened?”
“He was the king. There was nothing anyone
could do to stop him, so he married her. It was this union that
caused Lydia to have a kindred spirit.”
“So, Lydia has common blood, and Altaria has
royal?”
“Yes.”
“But if they share the same body, how can
their blood be different?”
He paused for a moment. “I believe it is
because their spirits can manipulate their body slightly, they can
also change the way blood flows and how it reacts to certain
things. It isn’t something I’ve been able to figure out. I just
know they react differently to things . . . like the leeches.” He
turned his head to one side and took a breath through his nose. “We
should go. There is a storm coming.”
Kira looked up at the sky. The cliffs hid the
distant horizon, but there wasn’t a single cloud above them. “How
can you tell?”
“I can smell it.” He turned to start up the
hill, exposing four deep scratches that ran about six inches up the
left side of his back. They’d started to heal, but were still red
and scabbed over. “Octavion—stop!”
He spun around, looking her over as if she’d
found another bloodsucker crawling up her leg. “What is it?”
“Your back . . . did
I
do that?” She
had no idea she’d dug in that deep. No wonder he’d tossed her on
her butt.
He released the tension in his shoulders.
“Yes, but you needn’t concern yourself with it.”
Kira stepped closer and touched one of the
scabs with the tip of her finger. He winced. “They still hurt?
Please let me try to fix them. Maybe my healing powers will work on
you, too.” She placed her hand over the wounds, but he pulled
away.
“Leave it,” he said.
“But I might be able to heal them. Please,
Octavion. I feel horrible about hurting you.”
He shrugged on his vest, then offered his
hand to help her up the slope. His voice, now softer, he insisted,
“Leave them. They are mine to deal with as I wish.”
She felt she had no choice. How could someone
with such a perfect body want to be left with ugly scars? It didn’t
make sense.
When they got back to the canyon, they found
the black stallion grazing in the soft grass. Octavion grabbed the
horse’s mane and swung up on its back. He offered Kira his
hand.
“I think I’ll walk,” she said, rubbing her
arm. Kira’s pride was one wound she couldn’t heal—besides, wet
shorts on the bare back of a horse didn’t sound like such a good
idea.
In the distance, the sky rumbled—the storm
was on its way.
“We must get back,” he said.
Kira reluctantly took his hand, letting him
pull her up to sit behind him on the horse’s back. It was more
difficult than she thought it would be, because the horse was so
wide. She felt like she was doing the splits while being jostled
about from side to side. She didn’t realize she had a death grip
around Octavion’s waist until they broke out into the meadow and
she was able to relax her arms. They ached from holding him so
tight.
Octavion leaned forward and grabbed a bigger
chunk of the horse’s mane. “Hold on,” he instructed.
“
Hold on?
” Kira had barely tightened
her arms around his muscular torso again when he dug his heels into
the horse’s rib cage.
For the next few minutes, Kira was jostled
about like a bull rider in a rodeo. Octavion’s riding skills were
impeccable—he was one with the horse—but she was bouncing all over
the place. It didn’t take long for the insides of her legs to
ache.
“Octavion, please stop,” she begged.
He slowed the horse to a trot and pulled back
on his mane. “Whoa, boy.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m barely hanging on back
here. Can we walk for a while?” She released her hold and leaned
back, resting her hands on the horse’s rump. “Please. I’d rather
jog than sit on this horse another minute.”
Octavion groaned. “Tell Lydia to be ready to
ride.” Then he swung his leg over the horse’s head and slid to the
ground.
“Why can’t you tell her?”
“Shandira may hear. I’ll explain later, we
need to get back.”
Kira did as he asked. “She’s not too happy,”
she told him.
“Lydia hates riding.”
Kira swung her leg over to slide down the
same way he had, but instead, he slipped his hands under her arms
and guided her to the ground, pausing for a moment when their eyes
met.
“Thanks,” she said.
As he turned to walk in front of her, she
grabbed the seams of her shorts between her legs and pulled them
down. “Ugh.” They were sticky and covered in horsehair.
Disgusting.
Octavion turned to face her. “Shall I carry
you?” he asked, flashing a smile.
“No,” she said. “I’m perfectly capable of
walking.”
By the time they reached the picnic spot,
Lydia had packed and stood waiting by her horse.
“Took you guys long enough,” Lydia said.
Don’t ask.
Kira glared at Lydia.
You owe me
. “I decided to walk.” She used that for her
excuse.
Lydia snickered. When Kira turned to see
Octavion’s expression, he was already on the horse. Once again, he
offered his hand. “I will take it slow,” he promised.
Dark gray clouds covered the sky, and the
small rumbles they’d heard earlier were nothing compared to the
cracking booms that now shook the ground. Lightening streaked
across the western sky. They were in for a big one.
When Kira finally took his hand, she expected
to sit behind him as before, but he scooted back on the horse and
brought her up in front of him—sidesaddle.
“What are you doing?” It was embarrassing.
Who rode this way anymore?
“It will be easier on your . . .
constitution,” he said.
“Well, at least show me how to hold on so I
don’t fall backward.”
He wrapped his right arm around her waist,
pulling her close, and took hold of the horse’s mane with his left.
“
I
will hold onto
you
,” he whispered in her ear. His
warm breath rushed down her neck and she quivered.
“You guys are so cute,” Lydia said. Kira
hadn’t noticed that she’d brought her camera with her, so it
surprised her when Lydia held it up to her face and snapped a
picture.
Octavion tensed. “Lydia!” he scolded. “Must
we speak?”
“I know. Don’t worry, I’ll delete it,” Lydia
said.
“What’s wrong with taking pictures?” Kira
asked.
“He’s right. I can’t take pictures of this
place, or us. If they got in the wrong hands—it could be
dangerous.” Lydia placed the camera in her bag and zipped it
shut.