Myriad
Chapter 7

Edward sat in his room, his anxiety filling him with an intense pain. Myriad had been gone since early that morning, and Edward was petrified over what his master might do. It was Princess Carmel’s first birthday, and a year and three months since losing Machayla. A year and three months since Edward had done the very bad thing.

He felt the mark on his chest burn and knew Myriad was calling him. He shut his eyes, imagined the front room of the house, and appeared there in an instant. Myriad was standing near the door, his hand over the matching mark on his left forearm. There was blood on his shirt, his hands.

“Prepare a bath,” he said, no emotion in his voice.

Edward nodded in obedience, then hurried outside. His hands shook as he drew water from the well in the back garden. What had Myriad done? Edward could barely contain his fear, his dread, and he knelt on the ground in despair. He couldn’t believe what this had come to. Myriad’s life. His life.

He learned the next day of the deaths of ten people in the castle, servants and guards. He felt so much pain inside that he considered trying to escape. He knew that would lead to punishment. But oh, what Myriad had done….

He considered telling the truth, but it was too late.

***

Kalin finished getting ready the next morning, then walked down the stairs. He heard the others laughing and talking and wondered what put them in such a good mood. He walked into the room and saw Mark and Sasha sitting at the round table, mugs of tea in their hands. Alfred and Theodore stood by the windows. He couldn’t see Regina. Everyone became silent when he arrived, big smiles on their faces.

“Kalin! Did you sleep well?” Mark asked, grinning into his mug.

Kalin felt like they were playing some kind of joke on him. He sat at the table. “Fine,” he said slowly. “What’s going on?”

Everyone laughed again.

Sasha reached over and squeezed his arm. “Is there something you’d like to tell us?” she said, beaming at him.

He frowned. “What do you mean?” he asked, and there was more laughter.

Theodore opened the back door, gesturing for Kalin to look outside.

He slowly got to his feet and walked to the door. He gaped at what he saw.

Roses. Thousands of them. Every inch of the garden, from the hedges to the trees, right up to the door, was covered in thousands of different-colored roses. Their petals glistened in the dew, the softness of every flower pressed against one another mocking him.

He stood there in astonishment, not believing what he was seeing. He shut the door, then banged his head against it. “I can’t believe…,” he muttered.

Theodore squeezed his shoulder. “Regina was quite… surprised, shall we say?” he joked, and Kalin groaned, burying his face in his hands.

He was horrified. He’d never been so embarrassed in all his life. Did he really do that? In his sleep? Without knowing it? And Regina! She must think he was the biggest idiot in the world! He walked back to the table, slumped in a chair, and thumped his head in his arms.

“The good news is, you’ve finally completely connected to your powers,” Theodore said, standing beside him.

“The bad news is, he may as well have put a blazing sign on the door, telling Myriad he’s here,” Alfred retorted gruffly.

Kalin looked over, noting how angry he sounded.

Alfred’s wrinkled face softened. “I’m not angry with you, son, but such a display of power—it can’t have gone unnoticed. We have to be prepared quicker than we thought. There’s no room for error now.”

Kalin frowned in dismay, now feeling profoundly guilty as well as humiliated. He stood, wanting to be alone, and walked back up the stairs.

When he reached the hallway, Regina was standing in the doorway to her room. He bit his lip, not knowing what to say. She must think he was a huge fool. Giving a girl a bouquet of flowers meant something—thousands of flowers must make her want to stay as far away from him as possible. Why did he make such a grand gesture? And in his sleep! Heaven knows what he’d do if he was actually trying to show he cared for her.

Regina looked down at her hands, and Kalin hesitantly walked up to her. He stood before her, so nervous he felt he was going to shake.

She remained silent for a moment, then looked up at him, smiling, her eyes glistening, and he almost couldn’t breathe. “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” she said, still smiling. She stepped forward and gently put her hands on his chest.

Kalin stood there, looking at her, his heart racing. He tried to speak but couldn’t. He cleared his throat. “I-I promise I didn’t mean to do that. I mean, I—it’s obvious I like you, but I wasn’t trying to overwhelm you. I just… oh, I wish universals could turn back time.” He felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest.

Regina giggled. She kept smiling at him, and butterflies swirled in Kalin’s stomach. She reached up and kissed him on his jaw. She laughed softly and kissed his jaw again. “Kalin,” she whispered.

He put his hands on her waist, feeling an overwhelming urge to kiss her, but felt it was all happening too quickly. “Wait—we don’t even know each other,” he stammered, feeling confused. “I don’t… I don’t know why I feel so much for you already. Don’t get me wrong, you’re lovely, but I don’t know anything about you.”

She looked up at him, then moved back slightly. She took a deep breath. “What would you like to know?” she asked simply.

Kalin raised his eyebrows, then smiled. She was adorable. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

“Have you ever… have you ever kissed someone?”

“Not yet.”

Kalin couldn’t help but grin. He rubbed his forehead. “You’re not making this easy for me,” he said, wishing he was holding her again. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could tell me what you saw?”

She looked at him knowingly, gazing at him with a look that took his breath away.

He reached out and touched her face. “Well, maybe we could get to know each other. Assuming I’m not murdered in the next few days.”

Regina looked at him in horror, then flew into his arms, wrapping hers around him, clutching him.

He felt terrible. He wasn’t trying to upset her. Kalin put his arms around her shoulders. “I didn’t mean it—it was a stupid joke.”

She looked up at him, then clutched his shirt, pulling his head down towards her. He barely registered what was happening when her lips were pressed against his, soft, warm, delicious. He held her tightly, and she moved her mouth against his, making gorgeous little sounds as she did so.

He kept kissing her, feeling a whirl of emotions and sensations go through him. Then he felt her tongue seeking entrance into his mouth and he nearly groaned as their tongues touched, dancing with each other, soft and wet and amazing. He moved her so she was leaning against the wall and kept kissing her, pressing her up against him. His entire body was coming alive as he held her. Oh, it felt so good.

The sound of someone loudly clearing their throat shocked them both, making them pull apart, looking at each other, breathless. Kalin turned and saw Mark standing near the stairs.

“I hate to break this up, but lover boy here needs to train,” Mark said, arms across his chest, clearly amused. “You have a few moments, but then you need to meet us in the back garden. Oh, and thanks a lot, Kalin. Sasha says I need to give her ten-dozen roses for our anniversary or she’s leaving me. Try not to create diamonds next time.” Mark grinned and walked down the stairs, leaving Kalin standing there awkwardly with Regina.

They were still in each other’s arms, but he released her and she let go of him. He stepped back a little, then smiled crookedly. “I guess I’d better go,” he said, surprised over what had just happened. “I’ll talk to you later?”

She grinned. “I’ll be thinking of you,” she whispered, and his heart nearly stopped. She stepped away from him, walked into her room, and shut the door behind her.

Kalin just stood there for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. How was he going to train when all he could think about was her?

***

For the rest of the day, Kalin worked on everything he’d already learned, as well as learning to call things to him, like Theodore. That was actually the gift he found easiest to learn. He just had to imagine the object clearly and will it to appear before him. It came in handy when they had to put the roses in a pile in the garden. Kalin called armfuls of them to him and blushed when he thought of what he’d created.

He worked more on shape-shifting, blocking mind control, and being able to control fire and water. He was tired, but everyone said he was learning at a rapid pace. It was almost as if all the magic he’d kept bottled up for years was just dying to come out—some of the biggest problems he was having was trying to rein in it, as opposed to trying to release it. With hard work he’d gradually learned to cast spells with some control, trying to fine tune the gifts he was discovering. He wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t suppressed his magic, how strong and powerful he’d be by now. The memories stung him and he cast them out.

In the evening he sat by the fire in the main room with Alfred, Mark, and Sasha, holding a mug of tea in his hands. He was so exhausted, not just from the learning, but from his worrying about facing Myriad. He’d fallen into this life, this plan, but he truly didn’t know what he was doing.

Regina added a brightness in his life, a joy that lessened the pain. He waited for her to come down from her room, where she was trying to get a vision. After a while, he heard footsteps on the stairs.

“Just keep trying,” Theodore said, walking in behind Regina. “You always come through for us.”

She nodded and sat on a chair across from Kalin, smiling. His heart warmed just looking at her.

Theodore brought a chair up to them and sat, and Kalin found himself wishing he could be alone with Regina, but he tried not to think that way.

“We’ll keep working on the same things, Kalin,” Theodore said, “but we also have to teach you invisibility and transporting. Magically appearing somewhere,” he clarified.

Kalin nodded.

“Everyone with magic can do those things,” Regina said.

Kalin suddenly felt sad. “I’ve done those things before, when I was younger,” he said softly. The memories came forward again, and he put his mug on the hearth and fidgeted. Here he was, in a new home with new friends—and maybe a new love—but he still felt like the boy who was punished for using magic, who wasn’t good enough.

Everyone except Regina stood and left, as if sensing he wanted to talk to her.

She moved and sat beside him. “What is it?” she asked, reaching over and taking his hand.

He sighed. “It’s just—difficult. Remembering what happened when I was younger. I keep being brought back there, back home.”

They sat silently for a moment, and then she leaned over and kissed his cheek. “You can tell me anything,” she said, sitting back, and he looked at her with gratitude, and put his arm around her. She smiled, snuggling into him.

He held her closely, warmed by her touch. “I don’t really want to talk about it. I’m just trying to put it out of my mind,” he said, resting his head against hers. “I don’t want to keep remembering.” He breathed in the scent of her hair, the scent of her.

She cuddled him closely. “It wasn’t your fault, the way your parents treated you. None of it was your fault. Just because you were born with magic doesn’t mean you’re any less than them. That idiot king, making it seem like there’s something wrong with us.”

Kalin couldn’t help but smile. “The idiot king we’re trying to save,” he murmured.

She laughed softly. “The same one,” she said, snuggling him farther.

They sat for a while, holding each other, and Kalin kissed her on the forehead. There was more to it—more about his family that none of them knew—but it wasn’t the right time to bring it up. He stayed in Regina’s embrace, wishing he could sit there all night but knowing he had to go back to training.

As if sensing what he was thinking, Regina pulled away from him slightly. “We have to get back to work,” she said, and he nodded. She smiled. “But not yet,” she whispered, leaning close and gently kissing him.

He felt the rush of sensation go through him, the whirl of emotions when their lips met, and he held her face in his hands, deepening the kiss. She held on to him tightly while their mouths moved against each other, their tongues entwined, their breathing becoming ragged. He wished they were in his room, wished they were lying down, wished he could run his hands all over her body. She tasted so amazing. It was all he could do not to bring her into his lap, his desire to feel her pressed up against him was so strong. He sunk his fingers into her hair, and she moaned in his arms, enticing a low groan from him. He couldn’t get enough of her. He was wondering how much more he could take when he pulled back, trying to catch his breath.

Regina smiled, blushing, also struggling to breathe, and he let go of her. “I’ll see you later,” she said, then stood, seeming as overwhelmed as he was.

He loved, loved, having an effect on her.

She headed back up to her room, and Kalin sat there for a moment before rising and walking across the room, but suddenly stopped. An odd sensation came over him, something he hadn’t felt before. He put a hand on his chest, trying to understand what it was. He felt a kind of connection, like he was joined to something, something outside of himself. The sensation lessened slightly, but it was still there, a dull ache.

He frowned. He didn’t know what this was. But he didn’t like it.