The wind from the ocean was sharp. Slicing through the air with salt and chill. I tightened the cloak around me as we descended the narrow path towards the river. Sayshore looked just as I had described it in the book - most coiling around the rocks, the water glowing faintly beneath the moonlight.
William walked ahead, taking powerful strides. Silent again.
"This flower," he said finally, without looking back. "What does it look like?"
"Pale blue," I answered. "Like frozen fire. It'll stand out because it also glows. Some say it hums.... silly I know."
He glanced to me, one brow raised,"a humming flower."
"It's magic," I shrugged.
We moved in silence for a while, the only sound of lapping of water and the crunching of boots under the gravel.... And then.....
"There," I whispered.
Nestled between two rocks, kissed by a beam of moonlight, was a single flower. Delicate. Luminous. I couldn't believe that it was real.
We both paused.
"I'll get it," I said stepping forward.
He grabbed my arm.
"Wait,"
I froze, heart thudding, " what?"
"I'll get it,"
"You can't,"
"Why can't I?"
"Only a maiden can pluck it,"I said walking towards it.
Then I saw them. Footprints, fresh, leading to the flower and away.
Someone was here.
William drew a sword scanning the shadows. "Stay behind me,"
I didn't argue. My fingers tightly curled on my cloak.
"The flowers glow...." I stared at the flower slowly wilting.
"What's happening?" He asked.
"The person who tried to pluck it must have been cursed,"
"Excuse me?"
"It's called the memory flower." I whispered. "It stores the fragment of whoever touches it. That's why they need it for the ritual. It can bind soul to spell."
"Wonderful," he muttered. "Anything else?"
"So it has the memories of whoever was here,"
He turned to look at me fully, "and how are we to see them?"
"We do a ritual of our own,"
Before he could respond a scream tore through the air. William surged forward. I followed sprinting over slick stones, heart hammering in my throat.
The sound came from beyond the bend in the river, near a crooked willow tree.
We reached it, just a figure collapsed onto the riverbank.
A girl. Pale. Barefoot. A chain around one ankle.
She looked up at us with wide frightened eyes.
"Hel...help me," she cried.
I dropped to my knees beside her and started checking for wounds.
"Are you alone?" I asked.
She nodded, "They left me here saying I was cursed."
So she was the one who tried to pluck the flower?
William crouched low, blade ready, " who is they?"
"They wear silver masks," she whimpered. "They have the others too, help them."
William stepped between us, "Get her up, we're leaving."
He helped me lift the girl. The girl leaned on me heavily , her breaths shallow and uneven as we stumbled back to the carriage. William kept to our side, ever alert.
"We're almost there,"I whispered to the girl. Brushing damp hair from her face.
Then I stopped.
"Can you help her, I am tired," I said helping her lean on William.
He looked at me puzzled.
"I can't leave that flower," I said.
"It's wilting," he muttered slightly annoyed.
"She didn't go there alone, someone else was there with her," I said. "The flower has that memory and it will help us."
"Help her up," he ordered.
"No," I said with defiance. "Am getting the flower."
I ran.
"Stop!" William barked.
I sprinted towards the river bank, cloak fluttering in the wind.
William cursed under his breath and charged after me.
"The flower!" I shouted.
It wasn't where we left it. Now it was drifting, gently on the surface of the water, glowing faintly as it floated downstream.
I skidded to a stop at the river's edge eyes wild, "Am getting it!"
"Damn woman!" William shouted. "Get away from the water!"
I leaned forward reaching....
The bank crumbled. With a shriek I tumbled in. The splash shattered the stillness. The river was colder than death and deceptively fast. My hands flailed above the surface once, twice then I sunk in. Water got in my nose and my eyes stung.
A strong hand wrapped round my waist and helped me up. We surged out of the water with him carrying me. He hauled me onto the bank, coughing soaked to the bone, his jaw clenched in fury.
I choked on water but I was smiling.
William knelt beside me, breathing hard, fury simmering just beneath his skin.
"What were you thinking?" He growled.
I opened my trembling hands. In my palm wet, luminous, glowing faintly was the flower.
"I got it," I said, coughing again but triumphant. "I got the flower."
He stared at it, then at me, then stood and paced away, both hands on his hips. Face unreadable.
"We'll finally know who we are up against," I rasped.
I looked at William who was still turned away, fists clenched.
"You can't swim," he said his voice low. "You know that but you went for the flower, what is wrong with you?"
"You saved me,"
"Again. I saved you again," he said turning to look at me.
It couldn't be.
"At the hunting competition, are you the one who pulled me out of the water?" I asked, standing up.
He huffed and with long stride walked to the carriage, his fists still clenched.