Ronan laughed. My eyes traced the source of his laughter to the floor near the bed. He lay there, one hand across his stomach. “I didn’t quite drain the sun. It’s nighttime.”
I swung my feet off the bed, a motion that reminded me that not all of my pain and stiffness had gone. “How long have we been here?”
“Several hours,” he said. “Longer than I planned.”
If the wizards knew we were missing, we’d both be in trouble. I more than Ronan. He was the most accomplished apprentice Docendum had seen in decades. I was a servant. My reputation, any claim to virtue, was probably already ruined. I didn’t hurry off the bed, though. I needed time to regain my strength. “You could’ve warned me you were turning me into a tree.”
Ronan pulled himself into a sitting position. “It would’ve only worried you. Very few wizards can manage to transform people into plants.” He gave me a crooked smile. “I’ve joined their ranks.”
My jaw went slack. “You tried an incantation on me not knowing whether you could do it?”
“Of course, I knew I could do it. I had to turn myself into a tree as well. I made sure I’d mastered that before I attempted it on you.”
Then I remembered the point of the whole venture. “Did it work?” My hand went to my neck, checking for a wizard’s mark. Foolishness on my part. I had run my fingers along Ronan’s mark often enough to know it left no impression on the skin.
“I didn’t put the mark on your neck,” he said.
I smiled, all crossness gone. “It worked?”
“Yes.”
I slipped off the bed and practically threw myself at him for a hug. “I have magic?”
He wrapped an arm lightly around me. His heartbeat pulsed through his tunic, strong and steady. “You have a little piece of mine. Hopefully, it’s enough for you to perform a few spells to protect yourself. I’ll teach you how to do invisibility, levitation, and extra strength. You mustn’t ever use them in front of other people unless you’re in danger.” Ronan rested his cheek against my head. “Don’t touch any of the magic books as those will still burn your hands. Don’t try to learn more spells. To do anything else would put us both at risk. You understand?”
Back when the idea of giving me a mark had first occurred to Ronan, I’d assured him of as much. I nodded readily. “Yes.”
In my defense, Ronan should have known when it came to learning, I was a liar. I’d already read half the books in Mage Wolfson’s guest library.
The rest of Ronan’s assertion finally registered in my mind. I pulled away from him and sat on the floor next to him. “Wait, where did you put my mark?”
His lips twitched into a smirk. “I had to conceal it, Sella. That left me little choice.”
I lifted my skirt to check my calves. Not there. I didn’t dare lift my skirt higher for modesty’s sake. But Ronan apparently had.
His smile grew into a chuckle. “Don’t look at me like I’m a rogue. We wouldn’t want people accidentally catching sight of it.”
“Where is it?” I repeated.
“Under your bodice.”
I blushed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Did you…was I naked?”
“Yes,” he said solemnly. “But you were a tree.” Another smirk. “I bet you’re glad now that I turned you into a Hawthorn. You had lovely white flowers, by the way.”
“Is that why you turned me into a tree? For decorum’s sake?”
He casually stroked a lock of my hair. “The mark can’t be transferred from person to person, but trees have the fortunate ability to be grafted. To make the spell work, I turned a good portion of my body into a tree as well and enchanted objects to perform precise surgery, then when that was through, I cast a spell to make sure the graft took quickly and another to speed its healing. I admit I’m still rather weak from it all.” He lowered his hand to his side. “I can’t transform myself into a horse right now to carry you back.”
I should’ve noticed before that he wasn’t moving much. My gaze went over him. “Are you unwell?”
“I’ll be fine. But we better not leave until morning.” He said the words apologetically, breaking them to me as a piece of bad news that I might not have considered. “I need to rest, and you can’t wander in the dark by yourself.”
I nodded. “I suppose there’s no way to beat the gossip home.” It had undoubtedly started already. “We’ll stay here until you’re well.”
He put his hand over mine. “We’ll tell everyone we were climbing the cliffs, and you fell and broke both legs. Mending them took so much of my strength that I couldn’t make the trip back.”
“And I was too worried to leave you.”