Soaring High

A gentle hand on her shoulder had Adelia jolting upright. She felt disoriented for a moment, caught between sleep and the waking world, before she blinked and realized Rowan stood beside her.

"It's gotten late," he murmured softly. "Why don't you take a bit of a break?"

Sitting back she found herself leaning into his touch for a moment, only to glance to the side when she heard a soft little snore. Lord Ivan slept slumped over the table, his braid messy with how much he had tugged at his hair and his eyes moved beneath his lids, as though he was dreaming vividly.

"We should wake him," Adelia murmured and found her voice a little sleep-rough. "Did Sorceress Iva already retire?"

"She did," Rowan answered just as softly. "And good luck waking Ivan, his sleep belongs to his goddess. As far as I know they spend time together whenever he leaves the waking world."

He offered her a hand. "But I will relocate him into one of the guest chambers and I will send Cynar a message so he knows his partner will stay the night."

She took his hand and found herself effortlessly pulled to her feet, his other hand deftly pulling the chair she had sat on back and out of the way. Adelia looked down on the mess of papers strewn over the desk, the half-ideas and possibilities of something they had to make work within a week. Preferably in a timeframe so she had at least a day left to build whatever clockwork contraption she'd need.

She was too tired to keep thinking, however, exhaustion weighing heavily on her bones and she gave Rowan's hand in her a gentle squeeze. "Thank you for waking me."

He gave her a soft little smile. "Anytime. I do spend the night awake so it will be no hardship for me to come rouse you again in the future, if you wish me to."

That would be nice, actually. While Adelia was good at sticking to her routine, she did at times get caught up in her beloved hobby and lost track of time completely.

"I would like that, thank you," she said and Rowan gave her a graceful incline of his head, before he let go of her to step towards Lord Ivan.

He had the lord hoisted into his arms as though he weighed nothing and Adelia muffled a giggle behind her hand when Lord Ivan's head fell back against her husband's arm and he started snoring far more audibly. His eyes still moved and his snore stuttered, a smile appearing on his face and he murmured something unintelligible.

"I have never heard that language before Ivan fell asleep around me," Rowan said as she stepped ahead to open the door so he had an easy time maneuvering through. "He has no idea he does this nor can he replicate it, so I think it is something divine. Whatever conversations he has with his goddess remain utterly private."

"I've never heard of a god being this close to a worshipper," Adelia admitted. She had learned a lot since coming here, and while the gods of the Wilds were held in high regards, she had always wondered just how much they actually spoke or interacted with their followers.

Rowan hummed in agreement. "Before I met Ivan, I personally thought that worshipping gods was... a bit like using a bandage to cover the wound of unanswered questions." His gaze darkened and his expression grew a little grimmer. "I could not understand how gods could exist after all the cruelty I had witnessed."

He was silent for a moment. "I still don't know what to think about gods, aside from the fact that they are as fallible as mortals, but Ivan and his goddess... they share a deep bond, one that I haven't seen before or since."

Lord Ivan murmured something again and this time Adelia heard his voice better. It was strangely echo-y, however, and the utterly foreign words were threaded through with something that she couldn't name even if she tried to.

"Lady Miriam," Adelia found herself asking. "Is she also tied to a god?"

Rowan was silent for a moment, appearing thoughtful, his brows furrowing. "I have no idea what she found in the ocean, but if it isn't a god then it is something far older and at least just as powerful, if not more so." He sighed softly. "Something about her trading her heart away will never sit right with me."

Knowing what Adelia knew now the conversation between Lady Miriam and her husband back at the first party made a lot more sense now. "Your heart doesn't beat and hers got replaced," she murmured and he nodded. "Is one truly worse than the other?"

He gave her a wry little smile. "It isn't and rationally I know that. But whenever I see her, something within me... bristles." His tone turned dry as he added, "It doesn't help that we're not exactly best friends, either. She is as vexing as her missing heart."

Adelia couldn't help but chuckle a little and they started to ascend the stairs, heading towards the guest bedrooms.

"I keep learning more and more new wondrous things," Adelia murmured as they reached the first bedroom and she opened the door, stepping aside so Rowan could enter.

She watched as he placed Lord Ivan on the bed and spread a blanket over him. Almost immediately, Lord Ivan started to flop around until he was comfortably starfished on the bed, blanket askew.

"I really wish Ivan would gossip about his goddess," Rowan muttered. "His sleep is so curiously weird."

Rowan stepped out of the room and Adelia closed the door. She was tired, still, but as they walked towards her rooms she suddenly found she wished they didn't have to separate.

That she might curl up on a chair in his study and just... enjoy being around him. She could listen to the scratch of his quill across paper, the gentle noise of pages getting flipped or set aside, the faint creak of his chair whenever he leaned back.

There would be no breathing sounds, but that would be alright. There would still be noises of life. But she also knew how improbable that was. She needed real rest in a proper bed and she needed to be ready for the next day. For her duties, for more planning, for maybe even starting a first clockwork-magic test run.

And yet, once they stopped in front of her door, she lingered, looking up at Rowan and she found herself really taking him in, downright memorizing his features rather than noticing them in passing. His thick coal-dark lashes, his dark eyes that, if he tipped his head just right, held the faintest of bloody glimmers, his lips moving as he opened his mouth, giving her a brief glimpse of sharp, dangerous fangs.

She liked his danger, she thought as he turned to face her fully. She liked that he was dangerous, that he wasn't human, that he was so willing to be nothing but gentle with her.

But then she noticed his troubled expression and her focus shifted. "Is everything alright, Rowan?"

He hesitated for a moment, visibly sorting through his words before he spoke, "I hope you know that I was listening in when you spoke with that deplorable lord."

She nodded. "I was counting on you to." It had made her feel safer to know he would be at her side at a mere whisper from her end. "Thank you for being at my side tonight."

His expression eased slightly, but there remained something unsure about him. Adelia found herself offering her hands the way he so often had to her. He blinked and then smiled faintly and he lifted his hand to slide his palms into hers, skin cool but not icy. She curled her fingers around his hands and he did the same, ever so careful with his claws.

He was always so careful with her without making her feel weak or lesser. As though he wanted to be gentle, rather than thinking her flimsy and breakable.

"I know you told him beautiful lies," he said quietly, looking down at their entangled hands. His gaze lifted to meet hers again as he continued, just as quietly, "But for the sake of my worried mind, if there is any truth to anything you said, I hope you know -"

She gave his hands a firm squeeze and swiftly stepped forward sharply, right up to him, their hands pressed between their chests now and he fell silent, eyes widening briefly in surprise.

"I love it here," she said, speaking no louder than he but with unshakeable firmness. "I want to be here, Rowan. If you were to exile me from your lands I would not go back home. I would speak with Lady Miriam or perhaps Lady Iris, if she didn't worry about conflicting loyalties, if I could stay with one of them, instead."

Something along his shoulders eased and his smile was small but sweet enough that she found herself wishing she could taste it. That she might rise onto her tiptoes and brush her lips to his, to touch his face and find out what such things felt like. To find out how he might kiss her back.

"I might have come to you scared and unsure," she continued quietly, firmly holding his gaze. "But who am I now, standing before you?"

She trusted him to see her truly, to know her the way only Izabel and Katrina ever had before she had left her home. She trusted him to know that she trusted him, too. That she enjoyed his company, though, perhaps she might tell him so, from time to time. Praise was always a nice thing to receive.

His sweet smile widened, fangs getting revealed and she found she loved that smile. She loved the way he looked at her, like she had fangs and claws of her own, as though she was as much of a force as he himself.

He let go of one of her hands to reach up, cupping her cheek and he whispered, "I see someone strong enough to make evil kneel."

His smile widened a little, that glimmer in his dark eyes growing until it replaced the blackness of his eyes entirely, pupils getting swallowed in that bloody red until it felt as though she looked up at something ominous, a lethal creature downright leaning over her, death wrapped into a human-looking disguise.

There was no part of her heart nor her soul or mind that could possibly recognize him as anything less than a monster in that moment, that pupil-less red gaze downright holding her captive.

She leaned her cheek into his palm, cradling his other hand close to her chest still and she found herself smiling back at her monstrous, fanged, bloody-eyed husband, his touch against the side of her face still so gentle it felt warm despite his cool skin.

"Trust me, too," she whispered. "Trust that I am exactly where I want to be."

He leaned closer still and she tilted her face up towards him, wondering if he might... he pulled away again the next moment, settling back onto his heels, the ominous red bleeding out of his gaze again.

"I'm glad," he said softly, with such a boyishly happy smile, all fanged charm and glad joy, that she found herself smiling back just as unrestrained. He smiled at her a moment longer, before he blinked and cleared his throat, letting his hand fall away from her cheek. "Forgive me, I shouldn't keep you up any longer."

She gave his hand in hers a squeeze. "I'll see you in the morning?"

He gave her a nod. "I will seek you out after breakfast?"

Adelia gave his hand one last squeeze before she let go. "I look forward to it."

She stepped into her rooms and when she turned around to close the door, the hallway stood empty, her husband gone. She found herself chuckling softly, glad that he felt more comfortable around her now, that he no longer thought he had to hide anything about him.

Undressing and slipping on a night gown, Adelia crawled into bed, snuggling beneath the thick covers that easily kept the cold out and enveloped her in cozy warmth.

She stared at the ceiling for a long moment, hoping Katrina could rest at least somewhat well tonight and she drifted off to sleep to some vague ideas about moving plates and gears and enchantments carved into metal.

*.*.*

Adelia had to admit that she had entirely forgotten about breakfast. The moment she had woken up, her mind refreshed after a good rest, she had returned to her workroom the moment she was washed and dressed for the day.

Sorting through the papers, the scrawled ideas and theories she soon found herself bringing out her tools and materials. Part of the issue yesterday had been that none of them knew what the strange, sickly crystal was made of and therefore Sorceress Iva had said that enchanting anything would be tricky.

If she knew the materials she knew which elements to use, how to connect the different points to make magic flow and create a desired effect. But with a stone of unknown origin and power and makeup enchanting an item that it would be set into would involve a lot of trial and error.

Just like melding magic and clockwork creations together.

A week looked incredibly paltry in the dark morning hours and Adelia stared at the pages with three different sets of handwritings, Lord Ivan adding what knowledge he had as a cleric.

The way sorcerers and mages used magic differed rather greatly from how clerics used it and Adelia pressed her lips together, turning things over and over in her mind until something clicked together, like gears settling into place and jolting into motion.

A cleric's magic was based on the power of the world at large, of the influence of the gods that had, according to scripture, built everything from the ground up at the start of time. A mage's magic came from within, from their own bloodstream and the strength of their mind and soul.

Combining any with clockwork arts was already a tricky thing, but what if... what if they mixed all three together? Since none of them would be around to fill the enchantment with magic, and make it work this way until it ran out of energy, the stone was meant to replace them.

Nature and innate self-held power tangled together might just be the answer. If it worked. Adelia would have to wait until Sorceress Iva and Lord Ivan were up to speak with them, for she would not be able to do this by herself.

At least not without studying the arts of magic for years and Katrina most certainly did not have years.

A polite, clear knock on the door made her pause and call out. She blinked when Rowan entered, carrying a tray of food.

"Your meal, my dearest lady," he said with a charming little smile, before his gaze fell to the papers she had arranged, the wet quill in her hands and new scrawled notes on the end of an already cluttered page. "I see your mind is already quite at work."

"I think I may have figured something out. Maybe," Adelia murmured and he crossed the room to set the food down on one of the clear tables at the side. "I will have to consult Sorceress Iva and Lord Ivan if my ideas have any merrit."

Rowan hummed in understanding. "Is there anything you can do right now by yourself?" he asked then and at her reluctant no, he gestured at the food. "Would you like to join me then, please?"

Adelia couldn't help but give him a fond little smile. "Yes, thank you."

They moved to one of the empty tables at the side and while Adelia ate, Rowan filled a goblet with something that was undoubtedly blood, thick and dark red.

"Is there a difference between fresh and bottled blood?" Adelia asked between bites and he gave her a nod.

"While it quenches the sanguine hunger, there is an aspect that it lacks compared to fresh from the source. A... vitality, I would say." He was silent for a moment as he mulled it over. "I can't describe it. If I drink from a human it is as though I can taste their life, as if I feel their heartbeat on my tongue and for just a moment it feels as though my heart might start beating again as well."

His expression was serious as he added in a soft voice, "It is that very feeling that many vampires fall victim to. They chase that feeling of being alive that no amount of undead power can give them. There is a thrill to being mortal, to experiencing the world with your senses in a way that changes irrevocably once mortality is left behind."

"Do you miss it?" Adelia asked just as softly and he gave her a small, reassuring smile.

"It would be a lie to say that I don't miss certain things," he answered. "The taste of a hearty meal that isn't blood, the plethora of tastes that I once enjoyed that now are... bland, in comparison. I miss the sun, too." His smile grew a little. "But there is more that I love about being a vampire. I love the speed, the power, the ability to fly anywhere I like. I love that the cold doesn't bother me and that I can offer a home to others like me."

Adelia thought back to the monster that had crashed onto her balcony – to Rowan, though it was hard to think of him as the winged, cloth-covered creature that had bled buckets.

"May I see you in your other form someday?" she asked.

He paused briefly in surprise. "You would like to?" At her nod he set the goblet aside. "Whenever you wish, then. We could go right now, if you'd like. The sun won't rise for at least three hours."

Adelia straightened where she sat. "Can you carry another person while you fly?"

He laughed, delight brightening his features and he got to his feet, offering her his clawed hand, his voice dropping to a lower, quite pleasant tone as he said, "My dearest Adelia, it will be my pleasure to take you flying."

She took his hand and was pulled to her feet. They left the workroom with brisk steps, though they had to take a detour up to her rooms so she could grab her fur-lined cloak and gloves, along with a scarf.

Rowan took the scarf from her, winding it around her neck while she put the gloves on, fingers gentle as he made sure the ends were properly tucked in. As soon as she was ready, they headed out into the courtyard, the fog filling the space wall to wall as much as ever. It gave the snow-covered courtyard and the dark stone walls a strange atmosphere, something half unreal and half ghostly.

"If anything makes you uncomfortable, let me know," Rowan said, quiet and seriously as they stopped a few steps away from the entrance, snow crunching beneath their boots. "I will listen."

"I know," she answered and remained where she was, tucking the cloak a bit more around her to keep out the biting chill of winter that not even Sorceress Iva's bracelet could keep at bay. "Whenever you're ready."

He smiled and closed his eyes. As soon as his body began shifting, Adelia realized that she had, mayhaps, underestimated just how... gruesome it might look. Rowan's body bulged larger and his limbs shifted, the crack of bones filling the silent, wintry courtyard, his flesh stretching to the point where she half expected it to rip open and spill dark blood right before fur started to grow.

She had to bite down on the urge to take a step back as his chest seemed to crack open, ribs pressing outward as though an inner force pressed them against skin and cloth, before his clothes shredded apart, fur starting to press out, his shoes bursting open for deformed feet that kept cracking and realigning the fine bones within until at last, massive wings arched up, before they slammed forward onto the ground.

A towering bat now stood before Adelia, large, fuzzy ears shifting and focusing on her, black eyes watching her closely. Well, mostly a bat. There was a distinct off-ness to the limbs that hinted at previously human limbs, the hind legs thicker and the feet bigger, the neck a little longer as well and the chest wasn't quite as round as Adelia had seen on diagrams she had glimpsed once in the past.

Rowan remained where he was and he made a soft sort of chittering noise that should have been cute, but it carried an undertone that made a soft, cold little shiver crawl down Adelia's spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

"You almost look bigger than I remember," she murmured and made her body unfreeze from where she had instinctively stilled, some part of her brain snapping out a warning that she was in the presence of something monstrous and deadly.

But really, it was just her husband and he'd never lay a hand or claw on her.

She stepped forward and despite knowing she was safe, her body felt more alert and alive than before, her heartbeat feeling stronger in her chest, her breaths more pronounced, the crunch of snow beneath her boots sharper.

Rowan didn't move a muscle and as she stopped right in front of him she found herself drawing the comparisons to what she remembered seeing that night months ago. Even with a large cloth covering him, she had gotten a look at his chest and wings.

"Can I touch?" she asked and he bowed his head down with a soft little chitter that did sound cute this time, even with the little chill that went through her at the tone. She would get used to him being in this form soon enough.

She tugged off her gloves and reached out, her fingertips finding surprisingly soft fur. She had expected it to be coarser, but this was nice. Adelia carefully gave his chest a gentle pat and glanced up to find those black eyes still fixed on her.

She reached up to touch his jaw and he gently leaned into her touch, so clearly careful of his size and strength that her heart softened and warmed. He really was sweet, no matter what shape he came in.

Adelia glanced up at one of the big ears and couldn't resist the little spark of mischief that found her. Especially since it was so safe to be herself around her husband.

So she reached up, going as far on her tiptoes as she could to reach, running her fingertips along the very edge of his ear, light enough that it must have tickled him, for he flicked his ear and shifted his head away, managing to pin her with a wry look even in this form.

Adelia found herself giggling a little and he made another little chittering sound and leaned closer again, sniffing at her cheek and then giving her shoulder a careful, gentle nudge.

She reached out to grasp his large head between her palms, his gaze still on her and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his. He still wasn't warm, even in this form.

"Shall we fly?" Adelia asked quietly, a spark of excitement skittering through her. She had never particularly struggled with heights, but she was certain that standing on a balcony and soaring through the air were worlds apart. Would it frighten her? Or would she love it?

Rowan pulled back to crouch lower, giving another of those cute-creepy chitters. A dress, as Adelia came to realize, was not the ideal clothing choice for this endeavor and she couldn't help but laugh herself as she awkwardly clambered onto Rowan's back.

It was nothing like mounting a horse, that was for sure. She carefully righted herself atop him, legs drawn up so she was sort of knee-sitting on him, for he was too broad for anything else. She also worried about hindering his wings, Rowan would survive a fall from any height, but she would not be so lucky.

Carefully arranging her skirts and cloak as much as possible and tucking her gloves from her pockets to put them back on, she gave his neck a gentle pat.

"Ready when you are," she said and Rowan made another chittering sound, before he shifted.

Adelia gasped softly, her entire body moving in a way she was decidedly not familiar with, hands reaching out to press against him, stabilizing her a little. He really was a large creature in this form.

And then his muscles all tensed and he broke out into a flurry of motion, pushing up into the air, massive wings beating and catching air and she found herself thrown forward, her arms grabbing him tightly around the throat.

Face buried against his neck she just did her best to hold on as he reached the top of the courtyard walls, pushing off of them to soar higher still. It was only when his flight calmed into something smoother that she lifted her head, blinking against the rush of stinging-cold air.

Rowan chittered at her and she carefully sat up a bit more, warily keeping her hands pressed to his neck still, but the moment she got a look around, awe stole her breath away.

There was so much to see! The snow seemed to downright illuminated even in the dark of pre-dawn and she spotted the glow of Ravenburg beyond the wintry forest, numerous golden little lights shining like luring fairy lights.

Rowan was flying rather swiftly, though she didn't doubt for a second that he could go far faster than this, but even at this pace the landscape seemed to race past them. She peered around, leaning forward with a soft gasp when she spotted black horses racing through the forest. Nightmares were traveling through the forest, visible in brief glimpses between bare branches.

A moment later she spotted a pack of werewolves stepping out of the forest, looking like deadly bipedal, somewhat humanoid wolf-creatures. They looked up and started to howl, a deeper almost growl-edged sound compared to what Adelia had heard on occasion over the years back home when wolves had howled in the distance.

Rowan chittered back, no louder than before, but the werewolves must have heard anyway, for the howl trailed off and they walked on and for all their size and muscle they moved in a surprisingly lithe manner.

Adelia carefully sat up a little further, feeling more confident that she wouldn't fall right away, the wind whistling past her and Rowan's wings beating like sheets snapping in the wind. They weren't as loud as she had expected for their massive size, but they were far from quiet either.

It was bitingly icy, though, she had to admit and she huddled into her cloak as much as possible as she stared around with wide eyes. It was wondrous to soar through the sky and despite the darkness of night the snow made everything brighter. It helped that Rowan didn't fly as high as he likely could.

They flew a wide arc around the keep, allowing Adelia a better look at the surrounding lands, at some villages near Ravenburg and a wide river, a ribbon of darkness cleaving between white snowbanks.

The freezing cold, however, crept ever further past her cloak and gloves and thick woolen dress until she could no longer feel her fingers and her ears and nose had long stopped stinging.

"I think we have to go back," she had to admit when shivers began to grip her limbs and Rowan made a chittering noise.

He banked right, Adelia ducking lower against him and he returned to the Grim Keep swiftly. She clung to his neck again as he glided down, grunting a bit in surprise when his landing nearly made her face-plant into his furry shoulders.

Rowan lowered himself as much as possible and Adelia crawled off of him even more awkwardly than she had gotten on his back, stumbling a step when her feet hit the ground. Ah, her toes felt a bit numb with the cold.

Rowan gently nudged her towards the keep and she reached up, giving his cheek a brief, gentle touch, before she hurried towards the promised warmth inside.

To her surprise, he didn't follow right away, but when she glanced back the courtyard was empty, churned up snow showing where they had taken off and landed. She did spot a second set of footprints leading off to the side with the sort of forcibly crushed snow that told her Rowan had likely moved at supernatural speed.

When her gaze fell to his shredded clothing she blinked and swiftly closed the entrance door, feeling a bit foolish for forgetting about that. The next moment she found herself laughing softly, the elation from the flight gripping her again despite the shivering.

"I take it you enjoyed yourself?" Rowan's voice suddenly behind her made her jump with a quickly cut-off yelp and she whirled around to see her husband standing before her, barefoot and a simple shirt thrown on, though it wasn't tucked into his pants and it had a few paint stains here and there.

"Apologies," he said and she waved him off.

"It's alright, I do want you to be comfortable and yourself," she said firmly and his smile was warm and charmed in a way that made her own smile grow upon seeing it.

"I know," he said and stepped closer, offering her his arm. "But I also want you to be comfortable. How about this, I will pause by the door and give it a knock to let you know I'll appear behind you?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Adelia had to admit as she took his arm. She would like to think that she would get used to his speed at one point, but it would be nice to not get startled by her husband. She glanced up at him. "Would you join me in my rooms?"

"It will be my honor." He accompanied her up the stairs and as soon as they were in her rooms she found herself in front of the fire and Rowan adding two more logs, gently stoking the flames higher.

"Would it be possible for you to take me flying again?" Adelia asked as he sat down on the rug beside her, the glow of the fire giving his bone-pale skin a faintly healthier glow.

He visibly perked up at that. "Any time you like," he answered. "And we definitely need to go flying when the sky is clear, the view of the stars is unparalleled."

"I look forward to it." She truly did, it sounded like it was going to be a beautiful experience.

Adelia leaned back then to enjoy the heat and as her shivers slowly vanished, her mind wandered back to the tasks at hand and her light, joyful mood turned solemn.

"If I fail..." She paused, struggling with words for a moment. "If I fail at removing Emmertal, I can't let Katrina walk to her death."

"Of course not," Rowan answered, a quiet firmness to his words and he leaned forward a bit, catching her gaze. "Whatever you decide to do, you will have my full support."

Adelia found herself glancing to the drawer she kept the divorce papers in and since she didn't feel cold anymore, she got up to retrieve them.

"I will hand these over to Emmertal when he visits in a week," she said and his expression became unreadable. "He can't die in our lands and it will be unlikely he'll die the next day. If all goes according to plan I hope to have him dead in around a month, way before any wedding takes place."

Which was more than long enough for her divorce papers to get checked over and likely recognized as legitimate by her parents and the king. She took a deep breath. "And if I can't kill Emmertal I'll let him leave with these and I'll run away with Katrina. If no one thinks me connected to the Wilds anymore they won't come here to attack anyone."

"If it comes to that I'll ask Iva to create wards for you so magic can't be used to track you down," he said after a moment. "If you like I can reach out to my sire, she could accompany you to wherever you want to go."

Adelia didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay here, but she would never forgive herself if she just watched and did nothing as Katrina got wed to a true monster.

"I could come visit you, if you'd like, if it came to that," Rowan offered and she felt herself grow a little lighter. A smile appeared when he added, "As will likely Iris, Ivan and Miriam."

"I would like that," she answered softly, before setting the divorce papers aside. "But that is one of the worst case scenarios. These papers will get to my parents even before Emmertal is dead and they will likely get recognized as legitimate."

She paused, looking for the right words, before she said, "I would like to stay anyway, if you'll have me."

Rowan reached out, taking her hands and she held onto him in return as he smiled at her, sweet and warm. "I promised you would be welcome to stay back when we first got married and it holds true now. This is your home for as long as you want it to be, no matter what ties us together."

"Forever, then," she answered and his answering smile was big enough to reveal a hint of his fangs.

"It will go well," he murmured and then his smile stretched wider into a decidedly less friendly and a little more feral expression. "I haven't used my ability to thrall others in a long, long time, but I still remember how. I might just pay Emmertal a visit come spring, perhaps a month before his wedding and politely ask him to leap off a tower."

"Only when we're sure it won't be traced back to you," Adelia said quietly, only to pause. "Or you ask your sire to do it. You could arrange a visit with King Harold and be seen at court the night he dies."

It would be far harder in that case to prove that Rowan had anything to do with Emmertal's death – unless his sire was seen and if it was revealed that she was connected to him, then it would be easy enough to accuse Rowan of foul play.

A deadly illness was still their best bet. Adelia had spoken with Sorceress Iva and Lord Ivan about magic's ability to heal sicknesses last night and they had told her that magic could help, but if an illness was too persistent or the afflicted body not strong enough, not even magic could stop an inevitable fate. It could only draw things out.

Poison on the other hand was a different thing, it could be dealt with better as long as it got noticed in time. Not even a skilled mage could claw someone at the brink of death back into the world of the living if their organs had gotten damaged beyond repair.

Which was why mages had developed spells to detect poison before it was ingested and exactly why Adelia was trying so hard to make something of that sickly crystal. As much as she would have loved to pour poison down Lord Emmertal's throat, it simply was not meant to be.

"Let me know if I should reach out to her," Rowan said, before glancing towards the window and sighing softly. "But I fear I must leave soon. If you need anything, Lam will help as much as he can until I rise again."

"What happens to you during the day, if you don't mind me asking?" Adelia asked as she rose to her feet to accompany Rowan towards the door.

"It is a sort of... sleep-like state that I fall into. Quite frankly, I just look like a corpse," he said with a dry sort of humor. "I suppose it is a survival tactic my kind developed. If anyone were to open a coffin during the day and spot an unmoving, unbreathing body, they were likely to assume they had just found a recently deceased person. I might find myself robbed blind when I wake, but that would be it."

"But if a hunter were to find you?" she asked and he hummed a low note.

"Unless I am exposed to the sun, staked, or I shackled in silver, I am unlikely to wake." So anything that might kill him would wake him.

She opened the door for him and he stepped through, paused and turned to face her. "If you ever need to find my resting place, there is a book with a blue fabric cover and embroidered with white. Pull on that and the secret door will open."

That was good to know. "I'll be sure to remember that," Adelia answered, though she hoped things never got so dire as to force her into either retrieving his limp body or hurting him into waking up.

Rowan was about to say something else, when he paused, faintly cocked his head and then said, "Ivan just left his room and it sounds like he's heading into the kitchen for food." He gave her a smile. "I will seek you out again once I wake. If you'd like to stay undistrubed, tie a ribbon to the door handle."

"I'll keep that in mind." She had never minded his presence so far, but she also knew that, once she was deep in experimenting, she preferred to remain undisturbed. "Rest well, Rowan."

He gave her a sweet little bow, before he turned on his heels and the next moment he was gone, a little rush of displaced air blowing Adelia's hair back. She smiled to herself, before she ducked back inside to ensure she looked presentable.

Her hair was quite a mess after flying so she took care of it, before stepping out to head down into the kitchen. Lord Ivan perked up upon spotting her, as bare-chested as ever and his long, golden hair unbraided. It reached down to his hips she noticed, which was quite an enviable length. Her hair had never grown quite that long despite her only ever cutting it to get rid of split ends.

It made her wonder, ever so briefly, if she wouldn't like to cut the whole length short, just to try it out. It would terribly scandalize her parents and just about everyone back home, where long hair had been a sign of health and wealth ever since she had been little.

"Let me finish eating and we can go back to work," Lord Ivan said as she joined him on the table, one of the undercooks pausing briefly to hand both of them a cup of freshly squeezed berry juice.

They both thanked the girl, who moved on with a big smile.

"Take your time," Adelia answered, only to find herself talking about her theories the next moment. It was the first time she truly had someone to work with, to bounce ideas off of.

It was so much better than doing everything by herself. Lord Ivan may not know much about clockwork creations, but he was intelligent and attentive and if the situation wasn't so dire she would have an incredible amount of fun exploring the limits of her craft. And what else might be possible if they managed to merge clockwork and magic.

As soon as Lord Ivan finished devouring the last bite, he pushed to his feet and they returned to her workroom, where she grabbed a new, blank paper.

"I was wondering," she said and started sketching. "If we couldn't combine clerical magic and sorcery. If clerics draw their magic from nature and sorcerers use their from within..." She drew some arcs and connections. "If we use the crystal as a 'nature' source and then transform the energy we got from it into sorcery, could we make that work?"

Lord Ivan had mentioned that a cleric's magic wasn't exactly made for enchantments, which was one of the reasons why he had been so interested in combining it with clockwork.

Lord Ivan stared at her idea, before he looked at her and a golden glow went through his tattoos, flecks of gold shimmering in his eyes and for just a moment Adelia swore she sensed a larger presence beside his.

Something so impossibly big she couldn't even begin to comprehend it, made of power and light and heat and life. Like she was about to look straight into a massive sun and only her instinct kept her from moving her head any further.

"We can't combine our magic that way," Lord Ivan murmured and she was about to nod, biting back frustrated disappointment, when he grinned, wide and toothy his hands gripping her shoulders in growing, barely restrained excitement. "You are fucking brilliant. We need to try this right now."

He downright raced for the door, yanking it open and yelling for someone to retrieve Sorceress Iva. Adelia couldn't help but be gripped by hope, tighter than ever before, her heart beating faster.

This might just work. It had to work.