Page 7 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

I'd gripped her shoulders, desperate for answers."What do you mean?Why a rose?"

"The rose of your heart," she had murmured, trapped within a trance before her eyes had snapped open."Let go of me, boy.I only share what is shown to me and nothing more."

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, hope had bloomed within my black heart.A brilliant light that felt warm and gave me purpose.It hadn't lasted long, for her next words shattered that feeling in an instant.

"Betrayal is what I see in your path, boy.Betrayal of the one you love most.Betrayal of the one that destiny has chosen for you."

I'd scoffed at that, all strength sapped from me."Destiny took that person from me long ago.I've already betrayed her by not being there to protect her when I should have."

"One must but look to the clouds and see, boy."Then the old woman had spat at my feet, turned, and left.With her absence, my mind was locked into memories I'd long thought past.

The memory hit me like a physical blow, not the painful kind I usually suppressed, but the sweet ones someone had stolen from her.

"Elias!"the girl before me said with a wide smile."I was hoping you'd be here.Come."She grabbed my hand, uncaring that it was an unseelie hand, uncaring that we were supposed to be enemies.

"Where are you taking me, princess?To my death?"I forced a groan, pretending to be annoyed even as my lips twitched.

"You'll see, silly," she called over her shoulder, tugging me up the low hill.Lavender filled the air as we raced through a wild patch, the scent clinging to us like laughter.She let go of my hand and fell backward into the blooms, giggling.No hesitation.She trusted the land not to harm her.It cradled her like something sacred.Even without her seelie magic, the world already seemed to answer her.

She reached her hand out toward me, motioning for me to join her.I couldn't say no to her, so I lay down beside her.Though she could trust the land to catch her, I knew it would not treat me with the same kindness.

"Do you see it?"She breathed, inhaling the essence of the flowers before letting the breath escape her in a content sigh.Her large brown eyes fixed on the sky as she watched the soft clouds above.

I followed her gaze."See what?"

She nuzzled closer to me, her shoulder grazing mine in the barest of touches."The beauty of it."

My attention shifted until all I could see was her face.She stared up toward the clouds with a gentle grin upon her rosy lips, and the lavender lifted toward the same sky behind her, painting the serenest image I'd ever seen.Her hair fell over her shoulders in waves of strawberry blond, so silky I fought the urge to run my fingers through the strands."I do.I can see the beauty."

"I think that one looks like a crowned frog," she announced, pointing to a large cloud above us.

"Hmm," I said softly, "I don't see it.Looks more like a dungeon rat."

"What is that?"

"Nothing.Just a big rodent," I answered, hoping she never had to know more than that.

She sighed, then rolled onto her side to look at me.I did the same, lifting my head onto my folded elbow, my other hand lifting to tuck her hair behind her ear.It was silky smooth, just as I'd known it would be.

"I wish you could stay here.I heard what she...they are making you do."Her eyes glistened with moisture, though I knew my strong and brave princess would never let them fall.She breathed deeply, then blinked the wetness away before giving me a smile that neither one of us felt."You could stay anyway," she offered."Just become one of us and live with me forever."

I pressed my forehead to hers for half a moment before pulling away."You know that I would spend forever with you in a heartbeat if I could.I have no choice in this matter."

I'd made the mistake of telling my mother what Rosemary was to me, what Rosemary was still too young to realize herself.She'd discover it when she came of age.Until then, there was nothing I wouldn't do to keep her safe.She was the one creature on this earth for whom I would soften.My mother knew it, and she apparently did not consent to what fate had decided.In the morning, I'd be sent to the northern front to fight along our borders.

Her fingers wrapped around my own."I'll miss you terribly when you're gone, but while you're there, just look to the clouds when you miss me.You will find me there."Her head found my shoulder, soft and trusting, as we both stared up at the clouds, her clouds.

"I will look up at those clouds, at every cloud, because I will miss you fiercely.I will watch the skies until one day we are reunited," I said, the words soft and full of what I already knew consumed my heart.I did not confess my love or the pulsing thread that formed between us; it wasn't time for that yet.

"Oh, Elias.Not every moment," she replied, a quiet laugh vibrating through us both."You have to live.Promise me you will live too."

"I promise to live for you."I twisted then, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek as she yawned.The scent of lavender hanging thick in the air around us tugged us both toward sleep.

Ipulled myself from the memory, my chest tight with a loss I couldn't name.Someone had ripped these moments from her mind, left her defenseless and alone.Someone powerful enough to weave memory magic so thorough that even I couldn't break through it.

But who?And why?

As I watched her cottage windows glow with candlelight, one thing became crystal clear.I would get her memories back.I would have her love me again.And I would discover who had dared to steal us from each other.