Dorian Wraith's Arc

Chapter 4 of 27

Beak opened the blue door and waved them inside before Dorian could speak. The pink-haired fairy folded his colored wings tight against his back and shut the door behind them. Callie stood at the top of the stairs in a nightshirt, arms crossed. She looked at Dorian, then at Evander, then turned and walked into her room. The lock clicked. Dorian took a step after her and stopped. Beak put a hand on his shoulder. "Later," Beak said. "Let her be angry. She earned it." Dorian sat at the table and told Beak everything. The Ball of Light. The three men in the trees. The wind that came out of his hands when he pictured Evander safe. He kept his voice low because Evander was already asleep on the bench by the fire, one arm under his head. Beak listened without moving. When Dorian said the word love out loud, Beak grinned so wide it showed teeth. "I told you," Beak said. "Fear burns. Anger burns. Love holds." He tapped the table. "Keep him close. He is your anchor now. Do not send him away like you sent the girl." The year that followed was long and quiet. Beak trained Dorian every morning in the clearing behind the cabin. He drilled him on wind, water, earth, and the small green things that grew between stones. When Dorian faltered, Beak told him to look at the door of the cabin, where Evander often sat peeling apples in the sun. Dorian would look, and the spell would come. He learned to hold fire in one palm and cold water in the other. He learned to still a spell before it left his hand. The pink and yellow book Beak had given him filled its pages as he read, showing new spells only when he was ready. Evander stayed. He chopped wood. He made Callie laugh again by burning bread on purpose. One night by the fire he took Dorian's hand and did not let go. Dorian kissed him and the room did not catch fire, and that was how Dorian knew he had it, all of it, at last. They shared the small back room after that. Callie rolled her eyes but she smiled when she did it. Beak pretended not to notice and noticed everything. Still, something sat wrong. Evander flinched when riders passed on the far road. He would not say his father's name. Once Dorian woke in the night and found Evander at the window, staring out at the dark trees, hand tight on the sill. When Dorian asked what was wrong, Evander said nothing was wrong and came back to bed. Dorian lay awake after that. He had mastered his magic. He had a home. He had a boy who loved him back. And the boy was hiding something.