Soul Song ~ Book One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Raising her chin to show defiance as well as look the much taller Elder in the eye, Grandmother pulled to her full five feet two to face the six foot four Elder.

"Evann," she said, with as much chill in her voice as she could muster, which was quite a bit. The faint twinkle in his eye turned to full blown mischief as he looked down on her.

"Luan," he rumbled, his grin betraying his stony voice.

Wrinkling her nose, Luan asked, "Couldn't you at least tie up your hair? It looks as though it's been housing mice for the cool months...six years ago." Hands on her hips, she steadied herself as Evann gave her a sly smile, causing her heart to skip a beat, or maybe two. With a single step, Evann stood within an inch of Luan. If she raised her head any higher, it would fall off, but the sudden close proximity of the man before her, unbalanced her. In an effort to continue to come off as indignant, she pressed her hands further on her hips with her head even higher. Her Magiks sparked to life in her eyes with an underlying threat. A threat Evann didn't seem to take seriously.

It had been so long since she'd been this close to him. The battle raging inside was a losing one. His scent, his eyes, so familiar, and so painful. It intoxicated as well as enraged her. Before she could resolve her battle, Evann added surprise to the mix when he snatched the thin leather belt holding her lavender tunic tight around her waist. An involuntary gasp escaped her as the tunic loosened, hanging off her like a sack cloth bag, rather than a tunic. The nerve!

Broadly, unabashedly, Evann grinned as he stepped back to his original place. Tying back his hair, he left his long gray beard free. Luan's blood boiled along with her embarrassed fury. She took her eyes off Evann to look at Mirabella and Damien. I will not ruin this for the children, she vowed. Taking a deep breath, she bottled up her fury until it only simmered. Ignoring Evann, she turned toward the couple.

"Let us begin."

From her vantage point, Dania watched the exchange between Grandmother and Elder Evann in amazement. She hadn't known Grandmother long, but she'd had the impression it wasn't a good idea to cross her. For a moment, she feared for Elder Evann's safety.

As Mirabella and Damien stood before Luan and Elder Evann, their hands clasped, a tiny tendril of green Magik snaked its way out from Grandmother's midsection, heading toward Elder Evann. Grandmother glared at the little tendril.

"Stop that," she snapped at it. The tendril ducked like a chastised puppy, and pulled back into Grandmother. Glancing at Elder Evann, Dania noticed he was having trouble standing still. At his feet, a pool of blue Elder Magik sparked, apparently causing his feet to itch.

A younger Healer scooted over to Dania.

"They are always like that when they are near each other," she sighed.

"Who?" Dania asked. The woman nodded at Grandmother and Evann.

"Them. No other couple has shown such power together, or such passion. We always giggle about how they only managed to have one child. With that much passion, they could people the entirety of Dolra," she laughed. "I'm Ilanda, by the by."

Dania smiled, and nodded in acknowledgement. She didn't feel the need to tell her name as Ilanda would already know, so she asked, "What is that?" instead.

"What?"

Dania pointed to the tendrils that were now sneaking out of both Grandmother and Evann.

"Oh, those are the Magiks. You know, the entities that reside within Healers and Elders. That's what they looks like." She smiled, and turned her attentions to the ceremony beginning.