and the cold felt like it was soaking into me, but the beauty before me was awe-inspiring. The sky looked like we had a view right into heaven with the way the stars sparkled and the land was immense. I’d yet to see a view of Xest like this, and it was massive and stunning. One view was the town, lit with warm, glowing lights.
But it was the land around it that really struck me.
“It’s amazing up here.” I leaned on the stone railing, looking at a forest the likes of which I’d never seen before. There were blacks and greys, deep violets and silver, rolling hills and lakes glittering in the distance.
Raydam’s jacket landed on my shoulders, and he was suddenly growing on me a bit again. So, he’d brushed my hand when he’d given me wine. That might’ve been accidental. And he’d gotten excited over my magic. That wasn’t a capital offense either. I was letting planted expectations skew my judgment, and that wasn’t fair to him or me.
“Don’t mind the wind. I know you’re used to the four winds, growing up in Rest as you did. The fifth wind of Xest can be especially bitter to people unfamiliar with it.” He leaned on the stone beside me. “It’s quite stunning, is it not?” he asked.
“Most definitely.”
We took in the scenery together in silence, Raydam seeming to be in as much awe as me, even though he must’ve seen this view countless times.
“I’ve heard from several of my associates and friends that Hawk brought you around and made introductions,” he said, finally breaking the silence.
“I’d asked him to show me about the place a little.” The lie slipped from my lips naturally, as if I hadn’t been able to stop myself from protecting him. I’d worry why I did that later.
Raydam nodded. “I hope you know, you don’t need protection from me. Of course, it might’ve been nothing of the sort, but I felt it needed stating. I’m not looking to harm you, and neither are my colleagues. He didn’t need to put out the warning.”
“Of course not. You’ve been nothing but gentlemanly toward me thus far.”
How stupid could I be? I might as well knock my head into the stone wall for as much as it was working. Hawk and my relationship had become so combative that I was oblivious to what he’d been doing. That he was going around and stamping me as one of his people and probably all that went with that. For as cold, arrogant, and all-around troublesome as that man was, he had my back. Only thing I wasn’t sure of was did he do it to stack the deck in his favor or to drive a wedge between Raydam and me before we even met?
Hawk had respected my wishes and let me come here alone, but I might as well have walked in beside him. It was wrong to feel more at ease, but somehow, I did as I leaned a little more on the stone. Raydam smiled, as if he thought it were him. It was his words, though. No matter what happened here tonight, Hawk wouldn’t hang me out to dry in this place, or he wouldn’t have bothered with this afternoon.
Raydam moved an inch closer, not crowding me, but as if we were friendlier than we were.
“There’s a power growing out there, in the Unsettled Lands.” His gaze was on the far-off distance and his tone held reverence. “Some think we should fear it because we don’t understand it. I don’t believe that. I think we should try to get along with it. Be at peace with it. See what it wants.”
“Have you encountered it?” I asked, trying to sound naive, as if the thing hadn’t repulsed me. Hawk was wrong. This guy wasn’t his opposition. He was an idiot.
“Yes, and if you felt it, you’d know immediately it’s something good, warm, and beautiful. You get close to it and it swallows you in joy and warmth.”
We couldn’t possibly be talking about the same thing, but how many mysterious growing magic entities could there be? His eyes were glowing, but I wanted to shiver at the memory of the thing. What was going on here? How could two people feel something so completely different?
“That sounds wonderful,” I said, trying to keep my eyes on the view off in the distance. This lie didn’t fall off my lips as easily. Seemed my new talent was selective.
“I’m guessing Hawk told