Chapter Twenty-Three
Ecstatic is the closest word I could think of to describe the sheer joy in Benzea that I was unable to say a word as punishment. Nicholas was really enjoying it too having kissed me almost every step of the way to Benzea’s house that morning. Apparently, he was allowed in my presence. I couldn’t ask him to find out. I was remembering his addictive lip locks when Benzea turned a bright pink.
“Young lady.” His eyes were wide in surprise. “Such thoughts to be whispered on the wind. I would not have thought you would-” He cut himself off as his tiny eyes grew to their maximum. “You are a wind whisperer.” He clapped his hands on my cheeks.
“Do you know what this means?” I couldn’t shake my head because he was still holding my face. “I’ll tell Seraph.” He ran into his kitchen, and I sat at the work table waiting for him to come back.
Benzea’s face was damp from the scrubbing he had just given it. “Go outside and try to grow something to amaze me.” He chuckled to himself while he pushed me out his front door. “I am hard to amaze. Prove to me you’ve been studying my most valued book.” His tiny legs moved quickly as he went toward the big white house.
I sat down in his backyard.
Isabeau was a wind whisperer too, I had heard her yesterday. I wondered how far wind whispering traveled. Did everyone know that I loved the way that Nicholas kissed me?
I put my hands on the earth. I couldn’t think of anything impressive, and Benzea had been determined not to be impressed anyway. I grew a blackberry bush and was eating berries impressed with myself. I sang Christmas songs in my head while I popped several more berries into my mouth.
I heard Brynn’s annoying voice coming from the street in front of Benzea’s house and grimaced. She was talking to Toryn. “I hope you do get stuck with her. She’s a freak. She’ll kill herself right after the wedding if you’re lucky.”
“You should seek the company of someone who wants it.”
“If you continue to speak so rudely to me, I will be forced to let Seraph know that you are shaming my family’s gift of me to you.” Toryn lost the mean grin he’d been wearing and looked in my direction. “I am to teach the art of alluring. I’m asking you to with walk me.” I watched him grind his teeth and furiously walk with her as she continued to chatter on.
How could have Nicholas ever wanted her?
I couldn’t help but feel bad for Toryn. The kiss he had given her was going to cost him his happiness for the rest of his life. That was much too harsh. I backed up right into a giant cactus and yipped, albeit silently.
What the devil did Benzea have such a mean looking cactus for?
I sat next to the blackberry bush and cursed Benzea’s name. What was taking him so long? I was roasting alive under the hot sun.
“What are you doing?” Toryn asked. I tried to get the bush to grow an overhang. I fanned myself, and he grinned. “I know just how to fix that.” He led me to this waterfall that emptied into a deep swimming hole. “Well?”
At last I wasn’t wearing white. I jumped into the water and when I came up I saw Toryn smiling down at me wearing just shorts, the rest of his clothes having been removed and tossed to the side. I had been so hot I hadn’t even considered taking off my shoes.
Toryn dove in and came up right in front of me. “Want to see something cool?” I just smiled, not sure if I should. “Ready?” He spread his hands out and the water began to swirl around us. It sucked me into the circular rotation and right into Toryn. “Amazing huh?”
I nodded and tried to swim backwards to put some space between us but he just came with me. “I hope you didn’t hear Brynn earlier. I saw you standing on the side of Benzea’s house.” I nodded and he looked up at the sky in an, oh crap, sort of way and then back at me. He smiled really big when he was embarrassed.
“We are very family oriented in the gypsy culture. Being very protective is just the way we are so when we act in a way that offends a clan member, especially one who has been gifted to you, it is a show of great disrespect.” He backed up. “I uh… was standing near Benzea’s house earlier today and heard something myself.”
I looked around at the surroundings trying to will away the heat that shot to my face.
He heard my voice on the wind? Heard me thinking about Nicholas’ kisses?
“I think that before you can deem him the best kiss you’ve ever had, I should get a shot at it.” I heard growling and couldn’t tell where it was coming from until Toryn looked to the left of me towards land. “Isn’t that right, Nick?”
“I can’t help but notice you’ve just got to have a kiss from every woman I am promised to.” Toryn left the water and went face to face with Nicholas. Both hunched their shoulders, and their expressions were dark. I climbed out of the water and gained the attention of them both as my shoes spewed water with a slurping sound at my every step.
The best thing I thought to do would to be to ignore them. I walked right past them both and headed back toward Benzea’s house. I created mud in the dirt every time my shoes gushed. I was starting to feel like a clown with big mud shoes. I didn’t look back behind me, and I didn’t hear fighting anymore so I hoped this meant ignoring their spectacle had ended it.
Seraph and four other adult gypsies including Benzea were waiting for me in the backyard.
Is it just me or am I constantly getting wet whenever it is the most inopportune time?
They were all looking at me in either disgust, surprise or a mixture therein. Seraph came toward me, and I tried to squeeze some water from my shirt.
“Your silence need not continue,” she said.
“Thank you,” I said more because I wanted to see if I had my voice returned to me and then I was laughing because I was really happy to have it back.
“You grew this?” Benzea pointed to the cactus. “It’s magnificent.”
Seraph took off her cloak and draped it around me. It was a soft velvety texture. “Why a cactus?” When she looked into my eyes like she was doing right then I was filled with the urge to run. It was bizarre to think about. Harold had physically hurt me, and he had it in him to do much worse and I never ran from him.
Seraph averted her gaze suddenly, and I thought I saw moisture filling her eyes before she turned away.
“Kellan.” One of the men stepped forward. He had a long bushy beard that was black and a big, round nose that was almost cartoonish. “That wind whispering talent of yours needs to be practiced right quickly. You’ll learn to control it.” I looked at Seraph realizing what he meant.
She had heard my comparing her to Harold? Wow, I hated this talent gift crap. Was it something I could refuse?
“I will teach you to wind whisper,” Blackbeard told me. “You may call me Barthow.” I shook his hand and tried to keep my mind clear. He pointed to the young woman next to Benzea. “She will teach you to tame the fire.” She inclined her head slightly, a pleasant smile on her face. Her hair was red like mine.
“There are many things for you to learn,” Madric said, stepping toward me into the place Barthow had just left. “If you are ambitious enough I can begin to teach you alluring and water wielding. I can teach you after you’ve learned from Benzea, Barthow and Minerva.”
“I don’t think the art of alluring will be necessary for Kellan, Madric.” This meant one less thing on my to-do list, but I wanted to learn alluring. The stone like expression on Seraph’s face kept me from asking her why she had said it wasn’t necessary for me.
“Very well,” Madric answered her. “You will split your time evenly among us.” He squeezed my shoulder in an affectionate way. “The gypsy way of life is embracing you. We hope you will embrace it and your clan in turn.” I smiled not quite sure what I was supposed to say at that point.
Everyone left including Benzea, who told me I had indeed amazed him. Only Seraph and I remained in Benzea’s backyard.
“You never did tell me why you chose a cactus.”
“I didn’t. It just grew.”
“Ah.” She nodded with a smile on her lips. “You were jealous.” I was shaking my head, but she ignored my denial. “Of who I wonder?”
If I was jealous then that meant I was jealous of Brynn? Yuck, that was knowledge I could have lived without.
“We need to pick a suitable punishment for Brynn and Nicholas.” My head was full of punishments for Brynn all in an instant. “They will suffer the same punishment, so make sure it is fitting.”
That information took a lot of the fun out of it. “How long do I have to think of something?”
“Not long. You were supposed to have been considering this matter. I’ll give you until we reach our home.” We started walking toward the big house. Everyone was smiling at us. They looked at Seraph with so much love. It was the kind of love that was earned, not expected.
“So have you decided? They should both be waiting inside to receive their punishments.” We were already back at the house. How could I have completely spaced on what I was supposed to have been thinking about? “I have confidence that you will act with justice and a forgiving heart.”