They grumbled and agreed to his terms. Their hands were already close to maintain the projection, but they moved so their arms crossed each other to prepare for the binding spell. Both creatures spoke the words and a purple smoke the color of their combined magics rose around them. The repeated the terms of Aeron’s bargain and agreed to follow them. As soon as they were done speaking all the purple was gone from the air.
“Now, where did you find her,” the prince probed.
They both jumped in shock. “How did you know we already found her,” the blue looked around for some other spies while the red creature looked at the talons on his feet guiltily. He just snorted and assured them both he understood how their minds worked after working with them for a few hundred years.
“We found her on the street,” the blue said. “Shopping,” the red added.
“Stay where you are,” the prince commanded. “I’ll follow your coordinates to engineer a meeting with her.”
Finally she ran into the village’s strip mall for the last few things she’d need when she hit the linoleum and slid several feet from the entrance, smack dab into another guy walking there slammed her face into his. She groaned and collapsed on her side in a jumble of limbs, and he didn’t do much better.
“I’m so, so, super sorry about that,” she said. She clutched her head and moaned. “Both for hurting you and for hurting me to be honest.”
He laughed and offered her a hand up. “Well, I can’t say I blame you,” he said. “These floors are real slick and people do slip on them sometimes.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been running.” She looked him up and down. His face was plain, his eyes were plain, and he just didn’t really stand out at all. She still smiled at him and offered a hand shake. “Name is Alyss. I just moved in and I might just see you around if you go to Tybolt.”
He blushed and shook his head. “Not likely,” he mumbled. “Nice to meet you but I have to go.” He waved at her and walked away and she focused on continuing to her destination.
He moved off to stand behind a pillar and glanced around. Seeing the place empty he shivered and a new form rippled with a flash of magic to replace the false appearance he’d worn. His new eyes were piercing and vibrant, his new hair was dark and rich, and his form would catch attention in any room.
“Tybolt, she said. I think that must be a school. I’ll have to look it up. Maybe engineer things so that we can meet and be together again.” He stopped to think. “Now that I think about the place I seem to recall I’ve invested in something like that around this part of the country. Yes, I think I do.” He grinned, but his feelings made his glamour slip enough so that it looked more like a snarl with his fangs on display.
“I’m going to have to look into my dear friend the headmistress and make sure she’s been arranging the staff and students the way I always like best.” He paused and tapped his chin. “Obviously I’ll make her enroll me as a student in the girl’s grade, but maybe while I’m at it I could replace a few memories and make it so that it feels like I’ve been in the area and at the school for a good long while. It’s always best to hide my tracks when a big magic will be going on and it’s so important to have some insider support in a school even if the students don’t remember they’ve never met me before today.”
Thoughts churned through his head but he paused again when he walked past the spot he had run into her earlier. He smiled and touched his lips, as light as a butterfly’s landing, and grinned a small secret grin to himself that looked innocent and boyish with his human form firmly in place. “Our lips touched,” he whispered.
He cast a spell and was gone from the mall.
CHAPTER THREE
It Speaks on The Wind
Slowly twisting, pulling, turning, the wind languidly crossed the square. The leaves rattled in protest, bucking the dew off their silvered expanse. The light flowing through the gnarled hands of the trees rested on the expansive bench beneath. The girl crossed her legs, tucking a sliver of her chestnut tresses behind one ear.
Quietly humming, she ripped a page out of the book. A slow grin quickly widening, she started on the rest of the pages, her hands an indiscernible flurry of destruction. Her small huff of exhaustion did nothing to dim the joy on her features.
“Free,” she murmured, resting her head on her knees. The scraps of paper fluttered around her feet in the faint breeze.
A shadow moved to block her view. “Not yet,” a clear baritone said. “I’m hurt that you ripped up your orders, you know. It had my pretty seal and handwriting, you should have treasured it.”
She jumped in shock, and it was as if a blurring lens was removed from the air around her. Her hair lost it’s plain color and suddenly was streaked with amethyst crystals that glowed. Her joints stretched, her frame became impossibly thin and overstretched beyond what was possible for a human. Neither of them seemed particularly shocked by the change. “I didn’t think you’d still need me,” she protested. “You’ve found the girl, the job is done. I was under the impression that meant I was free as a bird.”
“Not really,” he said. “Now that I’ve found her, I need to convince her to be with me again. I want it to be like before. Of course she doesn’t remember anything now so I’ll just have to woo her the way normal humans do and hope that works.” He grinned at her. “I’m sure
