Part Three

“BREAKFAST IS IN twenty minutes. Will either of you be joining us?” Elda said crossly from the stairs. Corey looked up from the book he was reading on light magic applications for healing—one she had given him three days ago after she first discovered him in Ward’s room—and his stomach immediately growled. Elda’s scowl lessened slightly at the noise. She wasn’t mad at him, not really, but the fact that he had decided to spend almost all his free time away from her and John apparently rankled.

“I will join you as well,” Ward said. Somehow his smile was lighter, as if sobbing into Corey’s shoulder had excised enough of the pain inside.

“Good,” Elda replied sharply. “We will be holding our Sun Season solstice meeting after breakfast, and you will be joining us since you’ll be downstairs.” She turned on one heel before Ward could reply and marched back down the steps.

Corey pushed the heavy blanket off his lap and stood from the bed. He used a feather, which had escaped one of the pillows, for a bookmark and then turned to Ward, who was digging himself out from the bed.

“What’s the solstice?” Corey asked curiously. Ward stretched his arms upward until his back cracked, revealing a strip of skin on his stomach as his shirt rode up. Corey hoped he wasn’t blushing as he hastily looked away.

“It happens twice a year when the amount of daylight is equal to the amount of starlight,” Ward explained. He draped one arm over Corey’s shoulders, the weight far too warm and welcoming for Corey’s comfort, and guided Corey toward the stairs. “This time of year, it marks the complete ascension of the light mages to power since we’re heading to eternal daytime in Sun Season. The other solstice marks the beginning of Star Season when we begin the crawl to eternal night.”

“It’s not something I’ve ever heard of before. I don’t think we mark it in the towns.” Corey preceded Ward down the staircase since it was too narrow to walk side by side. “We were too busy trying to take advantage of every bit of daylight for our farms.”

“It’s a mage holiday,” Ward mused. “The timing has a lot to do with their power fluctuations, so they mark it closely. The Tower holds a grand feast that night, but a few days beforehand a party goes out to check the grove and to reinforce the magical protections on Sin. It is one of the few times I leave the Tower.”

A bleak tone slipped into Ward’s voice as he finished speaking. Corey stopped with one foot on the step below and turned so he could look up at Ward.

“Can I go with you?” he asked softly. He hoped he wasn’t overstepping himself, but he couldn’t leave Ward to face Sin alone.

“I don’t see why not. Every mage in the Tower has to make the journey at least once. They need to understand why they have the powers they do and what they are fighting against. I’ll talk to Elda and John and see if we can get you a place on a sled.”

Corey nodded and turned back around. They finished the rest of the long journey down the stairs in comfortable silence, and Ward fell into step next to Corey when they reached the wider hallways.

It was clear that everyone knew who Ward was. Many bowed when they saw him, and others scrambled out of the way to clear a path through the halls. He was their god, their leader, and Corey definitely felt odd that he didn’t have the same urge to bow. Maybe it was because he hadn’t grown up in the Tower, constantly in awe of Ward, or maybe the memory of Ward’s intense eyes and the heat of his tears as he cried made it impossible to see Ward the same way. Ward was too human to Corey. Maybe it was because of those feelings that his affection toward Ward was changing, growing into something more.

As a dark mage approached them, shyly showing Ward her newborn, Ward’s smile made Corey’s heart rate jump. A gentle warmth spread through his chest when Ward softly placed his hand on the infant’s head.

Ward was a man of deep emotions and even deeper pain, but he was also so very kind and wonderful to everyone around him. He had taken Corey in and given Corey the support he needed to start to find himself again. Corey didn’t know if he would ever be 100 percent whole again or if the urge to bury himself underneath every single blanket and pillow Ward owned so he could shut out the world forever would reemerge. Yet the hours he spent with Ward, often in comfortable silence, and the way Ward made him feel inside gave Corey a sense of hope he hadn’t felt in far too long.

Was it too clichéd to believe that as the daylight grew longer, more light entered Corey’s soul? Yet, that was how he felt. All he had to do was figure out how to keep that light there when the seasons changed and the stars were the only slim light in the darkness.

Ward led the way into the massive dining hall that Corey had learned was only one of three in the Tower. There was a dais, but it was empty. Ward chose a random table that had two open seats, and Corey watched the eyes of the people already sitting there widen in shock.

No one spoke as food was served, although there was plenty of noise from the tables around them. Shifty-eyed glances took in Ward and, to some extent, Corey. He watched as their companions pushed food around their plates instead of eating as if they couldn’t stomach eating in front of Ward. It was the most awkward meal Corey had eaten since coming to the Tower. Ward was hunched over his plate with his shoulders curved up to his ears, eating quickly as if he couldn’t wait to escape. Corey suddenly understood why Ward avoided leaving his Tower if this was how everyone treated him.

“So,” Corey said hesitantly, desperately trying to think of something to say to break the silence. “It’s about the right time for the apple trees to bloom, isn’t it? Or do the greenhouses make the seasons not matter?”

Ward didn’t answer, but one of the women sitting on the other side of the table shifted uncomfortably in her seat for a moment and then spoke.

“They still need the sun to grow the flowers. We keep it warm enough in the courtyards during Star Season that the plants don’t freeze to death, but when Sun Season begins, we warm it up and the flowers do bloom.”

“Should be ready to bloom about this weekend,” another man chimed in. “If it’s really nice, we’ll hold picnics out there on the solstice.”

“I’ve seen you holding those,” Ward said softly. “They do look like a lot of fun.”

There was silence for a brief moment, but the woman gathered her courage again. “You should join us,” she replied with a firm nod.

“If the journey to the grove returns in time, I shall,” Ward said. Corey watched with satisfaction as Ward’s shoulders dropped and his head came up. Ward just wasn’t used to people. With the ice broken, everyone could relax and enjoy themselves. Corey tucked into his own meal.

They cleared their dishes a few minutes later. Elda walked over to where Ward and Corey were stacking their dirty plates.

“Ready?” she asked Ward.

“I suppose. You’ll be okay?” he asked, turning to Corey who couldn’t help smiling at the slightly panicked expression on Ward’s face, as if he were desperate for Corey to find a way to free him from the meeting.

“I have studying to do,” Corey replied, hefting the book Elda had given him as proof. As much as he wanted to spend time with Ward, Corey knew Ward needed to be down here interacting with his people. The silence of Ward’s Tower was nice—it was necessary even—but there had to be a balance between the two. A lesson Corey was learning as he thought of it. He had been planning to go back to Ward’s Tower, but maybe he would instead find one of the public practice rooms for a few hours.

Elda and Ward left, and Corey turned in the other direction toward the nearest public room. There were about a dozen people already in the room, but Corey was able to find an armchair where he could curl up with his book. He opened the cover. The title page read, A Brief History of the Tower Mages. Corey was finding it interesting so far. He turned to where the feather marked his page and happily returned to reading.

 

SOMETHING MADE COREY look up from his book. He didn’t know how long he had been reading, but a large chunk of the book was now done. The room was completely quiet, he realized. Soft conversations had been going on around him the entire time he had been reading, but now they had stopped.

He finally looked up and wasn’t surprised to see Ward standing next to his chair.

“How long have you been there?” Corey couldn’t help asking indignantly. Why couldn’t Ward have said something?

Ward laughed lightly. “You looked like you were having fun,” he explained with a smile. “I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Oh. Well, I’m done now.” Corey dug his feather bookmark out from where it had fallen down the side of the chair and shut the book. “How was your meeting?”

Ward shrugged. “Not bad for a meeting. Looks like we’re heading out tomorrow morning. We should arrive just in time for the solstice ceremony.” Corey stood, and they started walking together out of the room. “Elda will pack for us both; she said she needed to requisition the proper clothing since neither of us have any on hand.”

Which meant all Corey had to do was show up at the right time tomorrow morning. He didn’t know what to expect from this trip. It was going to be difficult. Despite the increasing amount of sun, it was still very cold and their destination wasn’t exactly a picnic under the apple blossoms. Still, it was Corey’s first time outside the Tower since his arrival, and he was going with Ward. He couldn’t help feeling at least a little excited, but he was worried at the same time. He had lost his aunt and uncle to the unforgiving cold and nearly died himself the last time he had gone out. Even knowing he was going with Ward this time didn’t keep his stomach from churning nervously.

“Come, we’ll have dinner together and then go to sleep early. We leave at seven, just before the sun begins to rise, but you will need time to get dressed first.”

“All right,” Corey replied easily. He followed Ward back to the dining hall and hoped that tomorrow would be as good a day as today had so far been.