The Ice Diamond Cuff (Custodian Novel #4) (7 page)

Jalia took a step back behind her daughter
and wrapped her arms around Eadlin's shoulders.

"He knows what he is doing, Mother," Eadlin
whispered, her eyes not leaving the scene unfolding before her.

The tension in the great hall was tangible as
the moments ticked by. Eventually, the angry hissing lessened and
the steam abated. Faedra groaned.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Consciousness was tugging at the darkness
that wrapped itself around Faedra like a warm blanket. She fought
it. She didn't want to wake and let the light in. Somewhere deep
inside, she knew if she did the furnace in her head would come
roaring back to life, and, right at that moment, she didn't feel
strong enough to contain it.

"Faedra," a soothing whisper stroked around
the edges of her dark blanket, threatening to pull it back and
expose the light, expose her to the roaring, uncontrollable
fire.

"Faedra, wake up," the voice continued.
Faedra felt a sensation snake a path down her cheek. The grazing of
knuckles perhaps; she recognized that feeling. She grabbed hold of
the dark blanket and pulled it tighter around herself. She would
not give in. She wanted to stay in this dark, quiet spot
forever.

Her lips. She could feel something on her
lips. Oh, God...Faen! She would burn him. No! No, she wouldn't
allow that to happen. Her eyes opened, wide and scared. She
scrambled back as fast as she could, away from her Guardian. She
wouldn't hurt the people she loved. What was he thinking? Didn't he
know how dangerous she was?

Faedra blinked several times as light flooded
her eyes. Breathing hard, she blinked again, trying to bring
everything into focus. Where was she? Draconis's castle, that much
she remembered. Why was she on the floor? Why was Faen there? A few
more blinks and her surroundings came into focus. Faen's face was
close to hers, blocking the room from view. He forced a smile
through the disquiet she saw on his features. He brought a hand up
to her cheek. Fear spiked through her. She tried to back up some
more but was thwarted by a cold stone wall.

"Stop," she whimpered, eyeing his ascending
hand with abject terror. "I'll hurt you..." a tear slid down her
cheek, "...I don't want to hurt you ever again."

Somewhere deep, Faedra’s subconscious
registered that her tear didn't sizzle and evaporate before it
reached her chin. She narrowed her eyes at Faen and reached up to
wipe the salty droplet away. She looked at her wet finger, then
back at her Guardian. The roaring wasn't there, why hadn't she
noticed that before?

"You won't," Faen said. He shifted a little,
allowing the rest of the room to come into view. The first thing
she noticed was Derian holding her ankle.

"Derian," she breathed, almost inaudible.
"How do you do that?"

Derian gave a slight hitch of his shoulder.
"Water extinguishes fire."

"And fire melts ice."

All heads turned to Jalia. The look of
contempt on the water queen's face was quickly squashed and
replaced with regal composure. She glanced over at her husband,
revealing no more emotion to the onlookers.

"What an odd thing to say," Jocelyn leaned
over and whispered to Allora.

Jocelyn's comment pulled Faedra's attention
away from Jalia and Derian. Up until now, too much had been going
on in her head for her to notice how many of her friends were
standing around gaping at her with worried expressions plastered
across their faces. She wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or
embarrassed. Until just a short while ago, she was confident that
she had Savu's power under her control. It was a constant battle,
but she hadn't lost control of it for a couple of month's now. No
longer did anyone she loved have to fear her. Then, out of the
blue, with the touch of a hand, she felt like she was back to
square one. She wondered if she could corral her strength to get on
top of the power again. She had to, she didn't have a choice.
Faedra sighed at the realization that what she was feeling, or not
feeling, as the case may be, was just a short reprieve.

She shot her friends a tight smile.

"How are you feeling?" Faen asked.

"Right now, I feel normal. But I'm sure
Derian won't want to walk around holding onto me for the rest of my
life." Faedra glanced down to where Derian was still holding onto
her ankle before looking up and meeting his compassionate gaze.

"What happened before, Your Highness, was
partly my fault," Derian spoke softly.

Faedra shot him a look of question.

"I did not realize that your power would come
rushing back with such force. I should not have let go of you so
suddenly. To be honest, I am surprised you had the strength to hold
onto it as long as you did. You could have killed us all..."

Faedra's expression turned fearful again.

"...And that would have been my fault, too,"
Derian said, trying to reassure her. "We will try again, but slower
this time...when you are ready."

Faen moved so that he was seated next to
Faedra. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Faedra glanced up
at the man she loved, searching his eyes for support. They didn't
let her down. Love poured from every cell in his body and wrapped
around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her
eyes.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"I know." Faen buried his nose in her hair
and kissed the top of her head.

"You can do this, Faedra." Faedra opened her
eyes at the sound of her young friend's voice. Jocelyn had stepped
forward from the group. "You beat Savu singlehandedly when it took
all the power of the seven realms to do it the first time."

Etyran moved forward and put his hand on
Jocelyn's shoulder. "She's right, you know, old girl. You beat this
power before. You can do it again."

Jocelyn looked up at him and smiled. Faedra
noticed Alyssa shift uncomfortably behind Etyran and Jocelyn. The
young Lightbender quickly downcast her eyes and twiddled with her
fingers when she noticed Faedra looking at her. Faedra felt a pang
of sadness spear her in the heart. She had grown to like Alyssa
since their unconventional meeting in a cave on Drofoz. Etyran had
sensed the young Lightbender and wrestled her to the ground after
she'd been coerced into using her ability and sent to spy on them
by the tyrant sorcerer who had taken over Todmus's realm. But it
soon became apparent she wanted nothing to do with the sorcerer and
was only doing his bidding because he was threatening Etyran's
life. Being the only other Lightbender left in the seven realms,
Etyran's heart had been torn between Alyssa and Jocelyn. Faedra was
glad his heart had picked the latter. She really wanted to see her
two best friends together. They just seemed to fit. One day Alyssa
would find love, of that, Faedra was sure. She closed her eyes and
drew in a deep, calming breath, bringing herself back to the task
at hand.

When she opened them, and cast a glance
around the rest of the group, everyone nodded and gave her a warm,
supportive smile. Except Alaris, who rolled his eyes as he folded
his arms over his chest. Sentimentality was obviously not one of
his strong suits.

Bringing her attention back to Derian, she
gave him a tight smile. Knowing that within minutes the tranquility
in her head would likely be destroyed, yet again, by the sound of a
blasting furnace. Adrenaline coursed through her veins.
Not
helping, Faedra!
her subconscious yelled at her. She sighed. It
was right, of course. Heightened emotions would do her no good in
this situation. She didn't want this but knew she had no choice.
She couldn't walk around holding hands with the king of another
realm for the rest of her life. She doubted his wife, or Faen, for
that matter, would be best pleased with that potential
solution.

No, there was nothing she could do but suck
it up and take one for the girls, but she had to calm her pounding
heart first. As if Faen could read her mind, he started rubbing his
thumb over the back of her hand. The simple motion was a soothing
salve to her raw nerves. He exuded calm energy. How he was doing it
in this situation was beyond her but she was thankful that he knew
what she needed and gave it willingly. It was something he had
learned over the past year. If he stayed calm she could draw from
his energy and use it to calm herself and therefore better control
her powers. It was working well, so far.

Faedra reached out with imaginary hands and
grabbed hold of Faen's energy like her life depended on it. She
breathed it in, infused it into every cell. She glanced up at him.
He was studying her, reading the signs. She could tell from his
smile that he knew his energy was working, giving her the strength
she needed to withstand what was to come.

Faedra's lips twitched in reply. She turned
back to Derian who was waiting patiently for her to let him know
she was ready.

"This time, when I release you, I will do so
one finger at a time," Derian explained. "That way your power will
return in a steady flow, instead of one disastrous deluge."

Faedra swallowed, her eyes fixed on the man
gripping her ankle who was waiting for her command. She gave it
with a barely discernible nod of her head.

Derian lifted his little finger.

Faedra felt a warm tingle in her foot.

Derian lifted his ring finger.

Both feet became warm, and the tingle
traveled up past her ankle into her calf. She drew in another
calming breath.
Concentrate, Faedra. You can do this,
she
told herself.

Derian lifted his index finger.

The heat intensified, working its way up her
legs and into her belly. Faedra gasped at the sudden intrusion.
Derian's hand stilled. She noticed a small curl of steam rise from
between his fingers.

You can do this, Faedra. Concentrate.
Her subconscious stood on the sidelines like a proud mom at a
soccer game.

"Are you okay?" Faen whispered. Stroking the
back of her hand with his thumb.

Faedra closed her eyes and gave Faen a quick
nod. "I can do this," she whispered, more to herself than to her
Guardian.

"I know you can."

"One more," Faedra murmured to Derian without
opening her eyes.

Derian lifted his forefinger, leaving only
his thumb touching Faedra's skin.

Raging fire roared up her chest and into her
neck. She sucked in a breath, squeezing her eyes tight and fisting
her hands. Faedra exhaled sharply, her breathing turning into short
staccato gasps for air.

"Derian!" Faedra heard Faen shout.

Guessing he was going to ask the water king
to replace his fingers, Faedra opened her eyes. "No! I can do this,
just...give me a minute. I'm nearly there."

Faen searched his charge's eyes and saw only
determination there. Faedra squeezed her eyes shut again as another
wave of heat came raging through her body. Faen brought a hand up,
stroked her cheek and withdrew it with a hiss.

Faedra opened her eyes and gave him an
apologetic look. "I didn't say I was there yet," she murmured,
breathing still heavy. She closed her eyes again.

Water extinguishes fire
. Derian's
matter-of-fact explanation popped into Faedra's head. She felt Faen
gently pull away from her and lean her back against the stone wall.
The heat must be getting to him, she thought absentmindedly as she
tried to rein in the power.

And oxygen feeds it.
The thought hit
her like a freight train. She held her breath and imagined a hose
pipe spewing water over the flames. A moment passed and Faedra
rejoiced as she
saw
the flames recede, become more
controllable.

"Faedra." She felt Faen shake her shoulders.
"Faedra, breathe!"

She could hear the group close in, urgent
mutters erupted around her.

Just another moment
, she thought to
herself.
I've nearly got this, just another moment
. She felt
her shoulders being shaken again, more urgently this time.
Just
a few more seconds.

"Derian!" Faen shouted. "Put your fingers
back on!"

Faedra opened her eyes and gasped in a gulp
of air. "No!" she shouted at Derian, trying to catch her
breath.

Derian shot her a look of surprise.

Faedra looked up at Faen, her heart lurched
when she saw the concern in his eyes. She grabbed his hand and
placed it against her cheek. "I did it." She smiled at him before
turning to the water king. "You can let me go now. Thank you,
Derian."

The water king inclined his head and pulled
his thumb away from the Custodian's ankle.

A collective sigh from the group grabbed
Faedra's attention. Jocelyn lunged forward and threw her arms
around her friend.

"Oh, thank Kernunnos you are safe!" she
whispered in Faedra's ear. "You scared me."

Jocelyn pulled back.

"I scared myself," Faedra said.

"Jocelyn, if you don't mind." Faen gently
pushed his sister to one side and scooped up his charge. "I wish to
get this young lady home."

Faedra cast a sheepish glance around the rest
of the group and felt her cheeks heat, and it wasn't from her
power. "Put me down, Faen. I'm perfectly capable of walking."

"No."

Faedra's eyebrows shot up. "No?"

Faen's eyes fixed her with a no-nonsense
glare as she felt his muscles tense around her. "No," he
repeated.

Since when did he get all bossy? "Well,
um...okay then." Faedra wasn't in the mood to argue with him,
knowing full well she could make him put her down at any time,
something he undoubtedly knew, too. But, truth be told, she rather
enjoyed being wrapped in his arms and decided she didn't much care
what anyone else was thinking. She felt Faen's tension release and
laid her head against his shoulder.

"Very well, then," she said, a wry smile
curving her lip. "Home, James, and don't spare the horses."