Veleria found Caed moving around the cabin the next morning. Having heard her, he spoke before Veleria could open her mouth.
“If you were wondering if your passenger was Caellach Fauror, you were right, it’s him, though I found it gets more complicated than that.” Caed said, placing a folded shirt into an open pack. “I may have gotten our lich’s involvement completely wrong.”
Coming up beside him, Veleria noted that the sorcerer had a healthy glow to him. In a way he looked younger, though she found this surprising given Caed’s sorcery already allowed him to remain as such.
“Are you leaving?” She asked him.
“We are. I’m taking you over the border to Ashvale, and getting that deal with Cromwell before Raker can fuck me.” He turned to her then, though Veleria had already turned away in thought. Her clothes were loose-fitting. He felt his veins pulse when her blouse moved against her breasts, outlining their shape. Knitting his brows in frustration, he returned to packing. Whatever moment they shared the previous night had passed.
Once they were over the border they were done.
Regardless of feelings, he doubted that Veleria would want anything to do with him again anyway. At this thought, he paused, staring at the half-folded clothing he held in his hands. Was he feeling regret towards his actions? She had said it herself. It was a transaction. They paid each other, though he arguably received more than Veleria had. Yet, they could have done so under better circumstances. He knew that.
“You’re rather amicable for a guy who smashed two horses into gore and kidnapped a random woman on a whim.”
Caed stopped what he was doing.
“One,” he glared into the rounded pupils of her golden eyes, “you are not a random woman. I knew who you were. Two, you gave me what I wanted. What do you want me to say?”
“I…I guess I don’t know. Maybe I’m just surprised?” Veleria tented her fingers against her chest. “I watched Adrian knife a guy in the throat and I still slept near him. He lied to me about so many things…I think I’m struggling to understand you when compared to others. I guess I never understood Adrian, either.”
“People are complicated. You talk about me and Giarmund, but what about you, Veleria? I had you tied up and you just sat there and talked to me. Then you fucked me, what, three times? If I think back to the person I had to vet—the old you—then I’d never believe any of this shit happened. Hell, the fact that you even let Giarmund near you told me something was up.” Caed held his hand out to his side just as a canteen flew into his palm. She hadn’t even seen it coming. “You can’t see what I see, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“When I grabbed you back near Ashvale, Caellach said that the two of you weren’t yet capable of something. Didn’t know what that meant at the time, but now I can see the form your magic takes thanks to our adventure last night. Your body was remade.” He stood in front of her now, holding Veleria by her shoulders. She merely looked up at him. “Caellach must have changed your body when he resurrected you. Your heart…It’s like a living ball of condensed magic. Closest comparison I can make would be the ‘tree’ the leylines originate from.”
Caed continued while trailing his hands down her arms, “your veins are like the roots—the leylines—of that tree. Only, I don’t think you’re complete.”
Veleria frowned, “and what does that have to do with me understanding others?”
“You were a scared, awkward, and malnourished little thing before you died. Now you have two minds in one head and a body that is changing on you. One of those minds isn’t even from this world. Quite frankly, you aren’t exactly the same Veleria as before. You aren’t mortal…How do you expect to understand those you aren’t like?”
Shifting uncomfortably, Veleria took his hands in her own. They were big and a bit colder than hers. She found that she liked the connection despite their meeting. Adrian could not understand her, either, but Caed had some grasp on the situation. She appreciated that.
She knew that she should hate Caed for how he had handled her; however, she found that she could not.
“I see…I apologize for what I said.” She said, sheepishly.
Caed smirked, “part of being a sorcerer is sometimes things get lost in translation. I could be a better human, but I’m selfish, and I want for a lot of things that I can just take by force.” He took one of her hands to his lips and kissed the space between her knuckles and nails. “I won’t pretend that killing those horses wasn’t entirely fucked. Ya get used to some cognitive dissonance in your head when you have magic dependency.”
His slipping back into his speech mannerisms comforted her. Veleria smiled.
“Are you feeling better now?” She asked.
“Better? I feel incredible.” Caed returned to packing. “I could go toe to toe with Raker…If he had a lobotomy before we dueled. Power is great and all, and I can’t tell you what it’s like to not need Spiritcaller, but it pales in comparison to experience and sheer savagery. That’s why we’re leaving.”
That got Veleria thinking. She looked down at her palms. From what she had seen, from what she most assuredly knew, Caellach was powerful. Could she fight Raker? Unlikely, if what Caed just told her was true. Her body was not yet capable of producing Caellach’s flames.
She walked past him to grab what little equipment she had.