The Hidden Princess (The Magics of Rei-Een Book 1) by Georgina Makalani

Author:Georgina Makalani [Makalani, Georgina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Lis stood silently at the end of the pier watching Wei-Song and the man in the little boat sail away. She held her breath as her father walked towards her. But she wasn’t sure how to face him yet, and so she remained hidden from the world.

He sighed and looked after the boat. She hadn’t thought of him seeing the boat sail towards the island, and when she looked at him, he looked so sad. The loss of her mother must have been hard on him. He watched until the boat disappeared, and then he walked slowly back to the house. Lis waited before following him, remembering the creaky jetty. She feared the noise would give her away. She wondered if this was a skill her father knew her to have.

As she followed his path back to the house, she breathed in the familiar scent of home and realised just how much she had missed it. In some ways it was no longer her home, and as she watched his slow walk and drooped shoulders, she wondered if he would allow her to stay.

Her father had allowed her to be who she was growing up. She had been able to do anything she wanted with her magic, but it had just been games. She had never thought about what she could really do, and she didn’t know how powerful she might be. He had mentioned so many times the need to hide it that she had assumed there was no one, or not many, with magic left in the world. Until the bath house, and then she had met Wei-Song. She had been kind, Lis thought, but there was something beneath the kindness, something she wanted from Lis. Despite their time together, Lis couldn’t determine what that might be.

‘Who were they?’ Ting asked, rushing forward as Lis followed her father into the main room.

He shook his head and sat heavily. Ting knelt beside him and poured tea. It was sad watching them, as though it was only the two of them left and they knew there would never be another. Lis moved as she heard footsteps behind her, and Ting’s face lit up with a smile.

‘Did they bring word of Lis?’ Peng asked.

Lis bit hard on her lip to prevent the strange cry in her throat from escaping. How could he be alive? She moved carefully towards him, taking in his familiar scent. She wanted to throw her arms around him and pull him tight against her body to be sure he was real, but she hesitated, and he was out of her reach.

‘They didn’t stop. Perhaps they had the wrong island. They pulled up to the jetty and almost immediately left again.’ Her father sighed and turned the cup slowly in his hand without drinking from it.

‘What could they want with her?’ Ting asked, and Peng rushed forward to take her hand.

‘They wouldn’t hurt her,’ he murmured. ‘They would only try to send some message to the emperor.’

Lis’s heart stopped and the breath left her body.

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