I sighed, my clothes dripping, my hair sticking to my forehead. This was going to be a long day.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, increasing my body temperature. Hot enough to dry my clothes but not hot enough to burn.
”Again,” I prepared to shoot another flame, my hand bursting into red before the beam shot towards him.
“Sorry…” I murmured, rolling my shoulders and preparing for his thirteenth attack of the day.
This time, I was more successful, managing to pull the water into something vaguely resembling a spinning blob. For a moment, I felt a rush of exhilaration, my body temperature cooling as the water fed me energy—
Then, every single container holding water in the room burst open.
I sighed again, running a hand through my wet hair. This time, I didn’t dry my clothes. I slipped out of my shirt, squeezed the water out and threw my shirt towards Key, who was busy communicating with Scylla. He caught it in his mouth, growled at me and set it aside.
“Okay, we need to cover the basics,” I said. “Make a ball of water.”
My face flooded with heat and colour, what little water remained suspended wobbling and tricking slowly to the ground. Was I hallucinating? Because each time I saw it, his bare chest grew more and more attractive.
I averted my eyes, heart thundering in my chest. After a moment, I managed to pull all the water I’d dispersed into a puddle at my feet. Then, stretching a hand over the puddle, I drew on the reserves of my power, enjoying the sensation of rushing energy as I drew a small, wobbling ball of water into shape.
“That’s right,” I nodded, completely oblivious to the way Elliot reacted when I took off my shirt. “Keep it steady. Get it into a perfect shape of a ball.”
But the moment my eyes flickered up, dancing briefly over his bare chest, my concentration broke. The water, reacting to my emotions, exploded outwards, spraying everywhere.
I turned away, trying not to make my frustration apparent. At this rate, we wouldn’t even be close. Key snickered at us, specifically at Elliot as if he knew a secret.
“Let’s take a break,” I sighed, shaking my head.
“I’m sorry.” I shoved my hands into my hair, gritting my teeth in frustration. “It just… rushes out of me. I have power, I do, but I can’t…”
“Control it,” I finished for him. “It’s all right. We’ll work it out. Some people take longer to control their magic.”
[TIME SKIP - Elle's POV, one day later]
Finally, after a long week of hard studying and training, Sunday, our free day, had arrived. My plan had been to hang out with Andreas and Kaden, but the morning had come, and they had been nowhere to be seen………strange. So I'd played soccer with a few boys from my water manipulation class, had lunch, and when the afternoon had come, I'd retired to the dormitory to relax.
It was almost five o'clock now. I was curled up in an armchair, a thick volume of poetry sitting on my lap. But, as they had at least a hundred times before, my eyes drifted from the page to Prince Colton's door….. which had been shut from the moment I had awoken. He was in there–I could here him shifting around now, bedsheets rustling, but for some unknown reason, he hadn't emerged.
Scylla, who was laying across my shoulders, jumped off and made for his door. After a few moments of intense staring, she pawed lightly at it, whining.
"Key… Where's Key?"
I sighed. Rising to my feet and discarding the book, I approached the door with the intention of scooping my bdonmate up. But the moment I arrived, my hand raised of its own accord to knock three times.
Elliot Amberly was was trouble with a capital T. I had kept up my cold resolve ever since I was a child. I had never gotten sick in the last three years. Exhausted, maybe, but never sick.
And Elliot Amberly managed to break all of my records. Because here I was, lying in bed with my head pounding almost as if it was going to explode. My throat felt dry and I felt achingly hot—and not because I was using my fire manipulation. No, it was because I, Colton Miller, was sick.
All because Elliot Amberly could not control his water magic and I’d been a constant victim.
I was perfectly content in my room with Key wrapped around me, keeping me comfortable. I wa perfectly content with being alone with just Key. But life doesn’t give me what I want, because someone knocked on my door.
At first, I wanted to ignore it, but then I stood on my feet, a bit dizzy, before I walked over to the door anyway. Opening it, I twisted my face into a harsh scowl.
”What?”
The door swung open, revealing an exhausted, very grumpy Cole.
"What?" he growled harshly, but rather than scare me away or cause me to flinch, it did the opposite. An amused smile ghosted over my lips at the sight of his red, slightly running nose and glazed eyes.
"Are you sick?" I was unable to keep a note of amusement from my voice as I spoke.
Muttering a curse at his question, as well as the tone of his voice, I opted to respond by shooting him another glare.
“What do you want, Amberly?” My voice was raspy and harsh because of the cold I’d gotten, and it just made me want to strangle the male in front of me even more.
A sudden rush of confidence overtook me. Leaning against the doorframe, I slipped my hands into my pockets. "I was worried," I told him simply, "So I came to check on you."
A second glance, this time over his shoulder, gave way to the realization that there was no teacup on his bedside table, no medicinal vials scattered around. "Have you been… taking anything at all? Or just lying there?"
I scowled harder, shaking my head and immediately regretting the action afterwards.
“Doesn’t matter,” I said rather harshly. “Thank you for checking up on me, but it was unnecessary. Goodbye, Elliot.”
With that, I moved to close the door shut.
Heaving a sigh, I placed both palms on the door and pushed back, keeping it open. "Colton, it's not going to get any better if you don't take anything for it."
While I wasn't paying attention, Scylla squeezed past my legs and darted into the room, making straight for Key. I paid her no mind, shaking a few stray curls from my forehead. "Let me make you some tea."
“I don’t drink tea,” I scrunched my nose in disgust. “Medicine is unnecessary. I’ll get better without it, so would my migraine do me a big favor and walk back out?”
Now, I know I was being a little rude, but there were times I was far meaner than normal. One was when I didn’t get my morning coffee. The other was when I was disturbed in my sleep. And third was when I wasn’t feeling well.
Which is why I felt no guilt. At all.
"Ouch." His words clearly having no effect on me, I shook my head, curls bouncing. "Do you really want to show up in front of the King and the Court in your current state?" I pointed out tactfully, heart stumbling over a few beats as my eyes skimmed the length of his body. "I'm guessing you don't get sick very often. Would you prefer if people saw you healthy, or like this?"
Realizing my scowl wasn’t doing anything but increasing the massive headache I was feeling, I dropped it although I kept the harsh look up.
“You want to help me get better?” I inquired, dipping low so my face was barely inches away from his face. “Then help me by leaving me alone. I’ll sleep it off.”
My breath caught in my throat, eyes widening ever so slightly. He was so close—his mouth barely two inches from mine—and despite his current position…… In my mind, Scylla let out a low whistle. Cheeks darkening, I reprimanded myself harshly, somehow pulling my act together enough to raise an eyebrow and step away.
"Yeah, I'll go make you some tea."
I growled harshly. Was that guy always so stubborn? I shouldn’t have opened the door in the first place.
“Right, go right ahead then,” I rolled my eyes. “Waste your time.” Who said I was going to drink the tea, anyway?
"Yes, sir." I raised my hand in a teasing salute despite the fact that his low growl had sent shivers racing down my spine. "May I ask whether His Royal Highness would like honey with his tea?"
“His Royal Highness wants you to get out,” God, communicating with him increased the headache I was feeling. “So scram. Do whatever you want. Put in whatever you want as long as it gets you out of my hair.”
"Duly noted. And…." I peered over his shoulder and into his dim bedroom. "I'll just leave Scylla with you."
With that, I disappeared into the kitchen. An odd surge of pride rose within me—I'd managed to restrain my Windsinging for an entire conversation, an impressive feat in itself. Even yesterday, when Colton and I were training, it had been a constant struggle. But now…. maybe I was finally getting the hang of it.
I shut the door in relief, silently making a note to never open it ever again. Falling back on my bed, I pulled the covers over me, ignoring the way Key and Scylla looked at me.
I closed my eyes, the burning sensation decreasing a bit. My headache began to worsen, but soon it was like a dull ache in the back of my mind as I slowly lost myself to the darkness.
Fifteen minutes later, I was at Colton's door again, a steaming teacup in one hand and a spoonful of honey mixed with turmeric in the other. I kicked it gently since my hands were full and waited, holding my breath.
Key heard the knock and turned to look at Colton, who hadn’t stirred the slightest. Scowling, Key trotted over to the door, bit the handle, twisted it and pulled it back, opening the door for whoever was outside.
“Hey, Key,” I greeted softly, holding up the teacup. “I’ve brought tea for Cole.”
Key raised an eyebrow at the way Elliot addresses his bondmate, but said nothing as he stepped aside to let him in.
Even though he knew Colton would be annoyed (because he strictly told Key not to open the door unless Scylla wanted out), he did it, anyway.
I approached Colton’s bedside and set the teacup down.
“Colton..” I said softly, my hand on his shoulder.
