of the waterfall to soothe her frazzled nerves. Alcander must be exhausted, she thought. Might as well see if she could relieve him. She was up anyway.
Setting her feet on the stone, Kiora shivered. It was freezing. She slipped on her boots and tiptoed out of the room as softly as she could, making her way to the waterfall. Reaching out, she opened a small hole in the middle of the falls and stepped through.
Alcander leaned against a tree near the edge of the water, the moon highlighting the strong planes of his face. “Don’t hold back on my account.”
Kiora shyly smiled, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “I wasn’t trying to make a scene.”
“It wasn’t a scene,” Alcander clarified. “It was a surprise.”
Picking her way across the rocks, Kiora sat on the ground a fair distance from Alcander. “What were you expecting?”
“Closer to what you just did,” he said, nodding at the falls.
“Oh.” Kiora fiddled with the grass. “I’ll try to rein it in next time.”
“Don’t,” Alcander said, crossing his arms. “I would like to see what you can do. You have more power than I realized,” he admitted.
Kiora shrugged, jerking a blade of grass out before tossing it aside. “I think I have more than I realize. It’s all so new, I can’t keep up with myself.”
“New?” Alcander’s eyebrows rose.
“I didn’t know magic existed until six or seven weeks ago.” Kiora kept her head down, until Alcander’s silence finally forced her to look up. He was staring at her with those crystal blue eyes, and not pleasantly.
He scoffed. “How is that possible?”
Kiora stared back, swallowing her rising irritation. “I told you I would explain what I was when you were ready to know.”
Alcander skimmed over her statement. “What else can you do?”
Kiora blushed a bright red. “I haven’t found much that I can’t do.”
Alcander’s head tilted quizzically to the side. “You are embarrassed?”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“I don’t like talking about myself,” she said, tucking the same piece of hair behind her ear and furiously attacking the grass, her fingers picking and pulling at the strands. Something about his piercing gaze sent nervous butterflies rolling through her stomach.
“Is it less embarrassing for you to admit flaws rather than strengths?” Alcander asked peevishly. “What can’t you do?”
“I can’t heal.”
“What else?”
“That’s it so far.”
Alcander’s voice turned steely. “You expect me to believe you can control all four elements?”
She looked up, caught off guard by his tone. “Why does that make you angry?”
Something flared behind his eyes. Leaning forward he said, “I do not like being lied to.”
Kiora stood, trying to breath past the lump in her throat. “I believe you are the one who told me you’re not narrow-minded,” she snapped.
Coming out here was a mistake; she should have stayed inside and stared at the ceiling. Shaking her head she turned to leave.
“Prove it,” came the challenge from behind her.
Kiora clenched her fists. “Why? You can feel my thread.” She spun to meet Alcander’s stare.
His flaring eyes softened slightly. “You are angry because I asked you to prove it. That leads me to believe you cannot.”
“I do not need to prove myself. You have not shown me anything of your abilities either. I know nothing about you.” Alcander raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms in a challenge. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in through her nose. “I am tired of being tested, that is all.”
“How old are you?”
Kiora’s eyes fluttered open. “What?”
“You said you have known of magic for less than a year. How old are you?”
“Almost seventeen.”
He sneered, falling back against the tree. “You are but a child.”
Kiora rolled her eyes. “That’s what they tell me.”
Alcander took a few steps closer, and Kiora forced herself to hold her ground under his advance. Stopping in front of her, Alcander crossed his arms again. He wore a smirk that looked out of place on his distinguished face. Something about the way his mouth turned to one side didn’t match the hard angles of his nose and cheekbones.
“You show me that you can control all four elements, and I will believe whatever you tell me.”
“Fine,” Kiora said, placing her hands on her hips. “How big of a show would you like, Alcander?”
“Interesting attitude change for one claiming such embarrassment,” he observed, the smirk firmly in place.
Kiora’s hands formed fists at her side. Huffing, she turned away from him, taking two steps before whirling back. She kept her eyes locked on his while she lifted two hands to the sky.