Honor Reclaimed by L. C. Williams

Author:L. C. Williams [Williams, L. C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B09Q3JGZZY
Goodreads: 60567281
Publisher: Liminal Corvid Press
Published: 2021-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

11

Ego

As she kept her eyes closed in concentration, Honor felt the weight of the yew tree lift from her neck. The snow crunched as Delphinia took two steps backward, and a wave of cold air rushed in to fill the space. She heard the wind whistling through the tops of the trees, the shaky sound of her own breath, and the thudding of her anxious heartbeat in her ears. She waited for Lady Drauling’s magic to surge up inside her, to assault her mind and push her back down into the docile, obedient young lady it had tried to make of her.

She took ten slow breaths, in and out, and then opened her eyes. “I … don’t feel anything.”

Delphinia did not look impressed. “Did you feel anything when the magic took you the first time?”

Honor lowered her eyes, feeling foolish. “Well … no.”

“Air Magic,” Delphinia said, with a contemptuous toss of her head. She turned and started trudging deeper into the woods. “Come on, puppy. And do try to keep an eye on your thoughts. If you lose control of them again, I shan’t be running after you.”

Honor resented taking orders from Delphinia, but at the moment she didn’t have any better ideas. She followed after her, trying to place her feet in the same impressions Delphinia had made in the snow, though the scion’s longer legs made this difficult. Honor found herself half-lunging through the snow to keep up, and within a minute or two she was breathing hard. Delphinia glanced over her shoulder—perhaps because of the noise Honor was making—and adjusted her gait to take shorter, more manageable steps. Neither woman said anything about it, for which Honor was grateful.

They circled around the north end of the chalet, keeping at least a quarter-mile out from the nearest buildings at all times. They came to a creek flowing with snowmelt, the water running clear and frigid over the icy stones. Delphinia led them downstream a ways, until they found a wide, flat space where the water only came halfway up their boots. The footing on the rocks was treacherous, though, and the two women waded across in slow, careful steps, each with an arm around the other’s waist to help them keep their balance. Honor’s foot touched on an especially slick patch, and she would have gone down into the icy water, but Delphinia caught her and pulled her close with surprising strength.

“Careful,” she chided. But she held Honor steady until she’d gotten her feet under her again.

Once they had made it across the creek, there was a short, steep climb up a hillside, and then they were on the trail that snaked up and out of the valley. Honor started to follow the trail uphill, but Delphinia called after her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Honor frowned over her shoulder at her. “Back to Mallen Station, aren’t we?”

“Not like that,” Delphinia said, and took the path downhill, back toward the chalet.

“What…” Honor stared at her blankly for a moment, then let out a sound of exasperation and began following her.

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