A scouting Party II

Silence falls between us; and for a moment I think I’ve overstepped, before the fae leader begins to laugh to himself.

“You think me difficult, my lady?”

I nod, a smile gracing my lips.

“I could imagine you’re downright impossible when you choose to be, your highness”.

“It would seem you have the measure of me-

Renys pauses, his hand wrapping firmly around my forearm. The grip isn’t painful, but it doesn’t feel playful, either. I can sense something desperate within him that he’s leaving unspoken. Our steps halt as his hand remains steadfastly locked around my arm and I’m turned to face him, my back pressing against the jagged edges of the rockface.

It’s only then. With Renys’ breath warming the flush of my cheek do I hear the clacking hiss of a mantis somewhere in the distance. My heart pounds, my ears ringing, but I’m not sure its entirely due to the mantis.

Renys’ eyes blaze with untamed wildness as they bore into my own. He leans closer and the sensation of his hand still pressed into my skin has my arm rippling in waves of-

“Not a sound” He whispers so faintly that for a second I wonder if Renys has communicated it to me telepathically.

Renys’ hand still holds me firmly, his attention focused completely on me as he cages me into the rocks. For a moment it feels as though we’re frozen in time. Both unmoving, both of our hearts pounding. I can practically feel Renys’ pulse rippling through me-

His eyes dart for a moment somewhere beyond us, before confirming the danger has passed. Yet he doesn’t ease his grip upon me.

“By the mother, I can practically *taste* it” He breathes, his eyes roving all over me. “How could *anyone* mistake you for anything other than…”

“Renys” I hiss. “Your hand, what are you doing -”

“You can feel it, can’t you?” He says, ignoring my plea “The contact against your skin, the magic. It’s rippling between us in *waves*. It has been so long since I’ve felt…”

“*Renys*”

I don’t understand what he’s talking about, but I can’t deny the feeling he’s referring to. I *can* feel the undulating sensation as the magic courses through me. It’s like his presence is somehow amplifying it.

“You’re not just Velythian, you’re Velythian nobility” He states, his eyes now focusing again on my own. “The power inside you… There is no other way to explain it”.

“Renys, please” I plead. His tone is frightening me; and I subconsciously cradle my belly.

The action seems to stir something in him, and Renys drops my arm without hesitation. The blaze of power in his eyes now seemingly gone.

“Forgive me” Renys seems sincere once again, the look of mania completely melting away as he takes a knee in front of me.

“The… the *feeling* of your magic, it was… *Intoxicating*. Please, my lady. I beg your forgiveness. My conduct was… it was improper”

“*Improper*?” I reply, my mouth hanging open and my face aghast. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I see now why the locked you in that tower” Renys continues “Your magic. There is no question that if there is a coven at work in the citadel that they would feel the power brewing within you, as I have”.

“What do you mean?”

Renys rises to his feet.

“The power within you, is like nothing I have felt in at least a century. There is no question that if it is a coven we are seeking out, that they would want to keep you locked away-”

Our conversation is cut short as a rustling noise has us both crouching low and checking our surroundings. My belly sinks into my boots, the sound all too familiar as the silhouette of a mantis snapping its claws makes its way toward us once again. It must know we’re here. It’s trying to find us. And it’s now completely blocking our path back to the others.

“Are you able to command it?” Renys whispers, his breath tickling my ear “The same way you compelled Quella?”

I shake my head. “I’ve never tried. I… did make one destroy itself once. But that was an accident a long time ago”.

My thoughts hurtle back to that moment when Ayris and I encountered a mantis from the orbs and his men had said I’d used bloodlust to destroy it. Brunella had said I’d simply been mirroring its own feelings and reflected them back onto it.

“Destroy itself, how?” Renys questions. The mantis still seemingly unaware of our presence continues to roam ever closer.

“It… It tore itself apart”.

Renys cocks a brow.

“Impressive”.

“Perhaps you could try?”

“And if I can’t?”

He pauses for a beat.

“Then we will just have to kill it the old-fashioned way” he grins.