DISCLAIMER: "Abhorsen", all names, places, and related indicia are the sole property of Garth Nix, whose work I hold in great admiration. The Ulseils, Venyeiyas, and Orkaire belong to me.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Watering Ferns

"Wake
up,
Kagael
Abhorsen…"

The words were soft like snow, softly cool and coolly stinging; they fell upon her like snow, and seemed to melt upon touching her burning skin. She felt like a dry, dusty husk being watered.

Had she heard that voice before…somewhere? Kagael couldn't quite place it. Male, not old, but not young either. The voice sounded kindly, with the sort of concern that comes of having been hurt before.

"Kagael."

She opened her eyes, sitting up slowly, and saw a stranger. He was a man, perhaps in his early thirties, but his blue-black hair was already graying. His face, Kagael thought, though lean and handsome, was a little too thin. There was something akin to despair lurking in his deep burgundy eyes, like that of a dying man.

He sat on a chair across from the bed, and stood, almost respectfully, when she sat up. His raiment was of fine, dark- colored cloth overlaid with a glossy shagreen vest. He looked like nobility. Behind him, on a small stand, was an elegant vase of china blue, which held a fern that looked to be withering away.

"Who…" Her voice sounded whispery-scratchy like sand. She wet her throat and tried again; "Who are you?"

"I am your captor," the man answered simply, his expression unchanging.

"You're the Prince," Kagael said, realization dawning.

The man nodded. "I am Prince Sulumor."

Kagael plunged for the Charter, forming her mind into a razor and thrusting with all her strength towards the river of shimmering gold. Eyes squeezed shut and jaw clenched tight, she felt Gwidhe's newly instigated shield fly apart in a multitude of sharply glittering shards, filling her skull with insurmountable pinpoints of pain. Insentience, she filled her hands with marks of breaking and burning and cast them at Sulumor, linked together in a feverish torrent of common binding marks.

The spell surged forward, serpentine and shedding sparks, only to splatter, splaying out as water drops against Prince Sulumor's front.

How…What? Kagael couldn't seem to register clearly what had just happened. She felt her supporting arm collapse under her from the sudden weakness that came of breaking Gwidhe's barrier and casting that unsystematic spell. Her vision swam as her cheek sank against the pillow. Mistily, she made out Prince Sulumor lifting an arm to wipe the wetness from his face with a dark sleeve.

At his gesture, the droplets on the floor seemed to fly up and gather, hovering, in front of the Prince. He reached for a tall glass from the table beside him and, with gentle fingers, herded the clear, floating puddle into the container. It looked just like an ordinary glass of water now.

The room smelled like spring and melting snow as Sulumor turned and tipped the contents of the glass into the china vase.

"Excuse me, Kagael," the Prince said with his back to her, "Rest now, and regain your strength."

There was a soft chink as Sulumor set down the glass. He moved towards the door of the room, slipping from the periphery of Kagael's vision. She watched, disbelieving, as the withering fern was engulfed in glistening mist-fires of blue. The fronds slowly uncurled, lifting upward, the skeletal brown filling out into a healthy pale green, and Kagael slept.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o- O

Sulia Serafine-sensei…you continue to flatter me! I don't deserve you as a reader!

& Everyone else… I would like to thank you guys for enjoying this fic. It made me feel special! ((big grin)) I'm a horrible person, really, and I'll understand if you're angry with me for being such a lazy bum. Oh! Here's an idea—get an FFN account for yourself, and put me on your Author Alert Watch List! That way, you'll get an email notice whenever I update, so you don't need to check for new chappies.

Finally, YES I REALIZE I CATEGORIZED THIS PIECE OF CRUD UNDER Action/Adventure/ROMANCE, but get this—I've never written a romance before and I already know that I'll stink to high heaven at it, so be…lenient, pls, b/c I'm t-r-y-i-n-g my best… D mn it, I'm a pathetic 14-year-old wannabe, and I know it every time I sit down at my laptop to write. (& Did I ever mention that my compy is so slow it makes Chafaris w/ arthritis look like Liu Xiang?-?-?)

((pant pant))

heheh…ranting is fun…

Sorry sorry sorry that this chapter was so fragmentary! I'm having mega-writers'-block, but I still thought that I ought to get this thing updated… Next up…it's Kagy's sweet sixteen! ;)

Thank you for sticking with me this far…those of you who've actually stuck, that is. ((wipes tears)) There's only, like, four of you, but that's okay! ((bawls)) If you're a reader, just know that I love you for that! I WILL finish this fic, no matter how crappy I find it, and however long it takes. It's the first d mn thing I ever uploaded—it's the reason I registered on FFN!-!-! For that reason alone, if no other—AND the fact that Artemis might take a blowtorch to me—I WILL SEE KAGY THROUGH!-!-!

Finally, pls don't post a signed review for this chapter yet; I'll probably be adding to it before long!