It was the kind of night when the stars seemed to hang a little closer to the earth. Isolde imagined she could simply reach up and grab one, or send a shower of sparks up to join them. Felix’s breathing was slow and deep next to her, his arm a comforting weight draped across her waist. Even the persistent buzzing of the mage’s presence in the distance was muted.
Her eyes traced the familiar constellations. The shapes were the same, though the positions were different. They were so far north now that the Serpent was almost above her rather than on the northern horizon, and the Sword had moved south. She spotted the Arcane Warden, always easy to find with its distinctive triangle shape. Most people thought it was just a shield, but one of her old tutors had been fond of astronomy and taught her it was actually a man holding a shield. Right next to it was its counterpart, if you knew to trace the line of stars from the triangle’s left side. A curve of stars fanned out, supposedly depicting a woman extending an arm.
They were a pair, the Warden and the woman whose name she’d forgotten. Immortalized together in the heavens. It was quite romantic, she mused. She wondered who these figures were based on, what story or myth had inspired them.
But what if it wasn’t a myth… What if it was history?
Isolde drew in a sharp breath, and an icy wave of realisation washed over her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. A magical warden and its counterpart. A pair, two halves of one whole. This answer had been twinkling above her in the night sky all this time.
Felix stirred at the sudden tension in her body, his hand closing over the hilt of his dagger before he was even fully awake.
“What is it?” he mumbled.
She wouldn’t tell him. Not yet. Not until she was sure.
“Nothing,” she whispered. “Just a cramp.”
He propped his head up and gave her a bemused look. “Did you know you’re a terrible liar?”
She smiled up at his face in the darkness, then drew him down on top of her for a kiss. He let out a muffled exclamation of surprise, but readily surrendered to her persistent eagerness. When her hands wandered down, he laughed quietly. “Temptress,” he whispered, “the others areright there.”
“I can be quiet if you can.”
“You will be the end of me,” he groaned, then covered her mouth with his own.
As above, so below. Two halves made one whole.
32
Not a sentimental man
Afaint glow edged the hills in the east when Felix awoke the next morning, Isolde’s warm sleeping form still bundled in their – theoretically – shared blankets. He heard a distant, muffled shuffling of feet on gravel, accompanied by hushed voices drifting through the cold dawn air. The mage and his guards were up and about. He slid his arms under the bedding and pulled Isolde close.
“Rise and shine, terrifying temptress,” he whispered into her ear. “That mage won’t be intimidated much longer if he sees you like this.”
She rolled over and burrowed into him, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like “Let him rot.” Felix grinned, then unceremoniously flung the blankets off them both and got up, making a show of stretching and shaking out the bedding.
“How are you soawakeso quickly? It’s not right,” Isolde grumbled as she moved into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes.
Before Felix could respond, Luella was next to them, her pack already on her back.
“They’re up. We should get ready to leave.”
Felix raised his eyebrows at her. “What about breakfast?”
She turned away from him as she spoke. “There’s nothing that needs cooking. Eat while you walk.”
“Absolutely grim times, I know,” Leif said as he joined them, Biscuit on his heels. “Breakfast on the go. Horrible.”
The mage and his guards appeared at the edge of their camp. Felix and Isolde hung back, keeping their distance. Mia stood off to the side, glowering at Caelian before smoothing her expression into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and heading over to greet him.
“Why does Mia hate mages?” Isolde asked out of the blue, her voice quiet.
Felix shrugged. “No clue. They’re pretty easy to hate, though. The flashy robes, the smug faces.”
Isolde shook her head, smiling.
Then, to Felix’s surprise, the mage started in their direction, trailed by two mercenaries. Felix tensed, narrowing his eyes. Isolde took a hasty step backwards, bumping into him. He placed a hand on her lower back.
