Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 335

Chapter 335: Interruptions
The way up the cliffs was surprisingly simple. When Mia reached the base of the massive slopes, her magic caused her to look to the left, where the lowest shelf was just about the height of the horses’ knees.

The small jump upward was doable by any stretch, and so the group continued along the wide, white shelves, slowly rising in elevation. Most had shallow pools, though some were relatively dry. By the time night fell, they had come to a shelf that was large enough to easily allow for the humans and animals to bed down for the evening without getting wet or fearing the edge.

For it was, at this point, a long way down.

Mia, out of curiosity, had made her way tremulously to the end of the shelf. They had been climbing so gradually that it really couldn’t be as far up as it seemed. After all, they had woken up in the forest that very morning!

However, the distance down was far greater than Mia anticipated, and she experienced a moment of vertigo. Swaying slightly, she was surprised with a strong hand caught hers and pulled her back.

“Don’t fall,” Ford warned. Mia blinked at him, and then looked past his shoulder to where her father had been tending the horses. He shot them a sharp glance, or rather, he shot Ford a sharp glance, and her a pained one.

Mia sighed. “I won’t.”

Ford glanced at the very close edge of the shelf, and his mouth firmed.

“Are you sure?”

His hold on her hand was gentle. Not restraining her from pulling away, but not weak. It made her heart beat a little faster.

Her aunt’s words were still in the back of her mind from weeks ago. She was the guardian of her own heart. Though Ford’s question had been about falling off the edge of the shelf, she was in great danger of quite a different kind of falling.

Looking away from Ford, she gazed out at the magnificent view to distract herself from his touch, though she didn’t pull away.

The relief to the drain on her magic was subtle, but she didn’t want to give it up right now. At least, that was the reason she gave herself for leaving her hand in his.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She whispered.

The sun was close to setting, and the arrangement of clouds across the Western horizon provided the perfect canvas for a riot of color. At the height they’d climbed, they could see across a vast distance of the treetops, the tallest branches and leaves dancing subtly in the evening breeze.

The next day, they would climb higher still. Would they reach a place where she would be able to see all the way home?

That seemed impossible, but part of her hoped so. Home was so very far away.

“It’s frightening,” Ford said, surprising her.

“Frightening? Because of the height?” Her eyes darted down to the forest below.

“Because there’s so much out there. It’s so… open,” Ford shrugged, and Mia remembered his reaction to sleeping under the stars. Had he been afraid then, too, and just never expressed it?

“The world is big,” She smiled a little at her understatement, and a corner of his mouth twitched.

“I’m not used to it. I thought I was, but the forest felt closer than this. Larger and more open than the mines, certainly, but the trees blocked the view and the sky. I didn’t think about it until now. But,” He gestured at the horizon. “I can see everything. And everything can see me, too. It feels exposed. Vulnerable. It makes me want to hide.”

Mia straightened in surprise at the declaration. “You could, if you wanted to.”

“Your father might have objections to that,” Ford looked back towards the light of the horizon.

Mia bit back a sharp retort about what her father could do with his objections, and took a deep breath before answering. “Well, one of your conditions of coming along was lessons in magic. I’m sure grandpa’s taught you some, but how can you improve if you don’t practice? Besides, Papa said we could try some things, didn’t he?”

“I suppose,” Ford responded cautiously. “It would give your magic a break, wouldn’t it?”

Mia nodded, but wondered if that would be enough justification to give her father. Perhaps she was asking for too much change in her father for one day. Patience might be the better route. The journey would continue.

The breeze picked up again over the landscape. It sent a slight shiver through Mia, and goosebumps bloomed on her arms.

“Are you cold?” Ford stepped forward to block the wind, and she relaxed a little. Why did he make her feel this way?

His new positioning made the angle of her wrist a little awkward. She straightened it slightly, and he moved his hand in response. When she feared he would pull away… he laced his fingers through hers.

“No… I’m not cold,” She replied belatedly. “Ford, I…”

She swallowed, averting her eyes from his dark, compelling stare.

“Sorry,” He pulled his hand away and glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t want to aggravate your father. I shouldn’t do anything to make him upset.”

His words echoed her own thoughts, even though she didn’t want to admit it.

“Preserving my magic upsets him?” Mia rolled her eyes, downplaying how convinced her father seemed to be that there was some manner of unwanted romantic interaction between them.

Well, unwanted by Seth at least. Mia was increasingly convinced of what she wanted, though she could not necessarily vouch for its wisdom.

She’d made some unwise choices of late, and did not necessarily trust her own judgment now.

“It’s not that,” Ford scratched the back of his head. “I don’t really know how to say this–”

“Mia?” Her father called from where the bedrolls had been laid out on the driest portion of the little plateau. “Can you come here for a moment, please?”