A squeak came out of the small shadow and it scurried off the bed and out the bedroom door. Neala jumped up and ran after it. She caught up to the scampering little girl at the hallway and grabbed her tiny arm, turning her around. The petite child was a girl with dusty brown hair, black eyes and looked frail.
“What were you doing in my room, on my bed?” Neala said, feeling the fire breathing in her throat. The little mouse squeaked again and tried to get away. Neala took pity on this little thing. She focused her energy on the little girl, trying to make her happy and calm.
“My name is Neala. I am new here and don’t have many friends. Will you be my friend?” Neala let go of the little girls’ arm after seeing the fog roll over and the little girl smiled broad.
“My name’s Zera, I’m the youngest daughter of the Queen. I heard that my sister had arrived. Mother doesn’t like me to leave the castle, but I couldn’t wait to meet you. I didn’t mean to wake you. You looked so beautiful sleeping.” The little girl squeaked out. Neala dropped the fog over the girl after hearing the truth and the girl let out a terrifying squeal.
“Please don’t be afraid, I will not hurt you. You scared me is all, you didn’t even wake up my protector. Would you like to come back to the room, and we can talk?” Neala held out her hand to little Zera. The girl’s eyes opened wide, and she took her hand. Neala held her hand and couldn’t believe how frail this child was. When they got back to the room, it was dark. Neala grabbed a nearby torch and touched the end sparking it to life. She lit some other nearby torches. They sat cross-legged on the four-poster bed.
“How old are you Zera?” She asked, guessing she couldn’t be more than in her 10th moon.
“I am 14 this moon. Only two more until I can show mother that I am also a powerful Pyre. She believes that I have no power in my blood at all. I have some red in my hair too, when the light hits it right.” Zera said, staring in awe at Neala’s hair.
“Where I come from my red hair made me different and made people not like me. I have met no one else with red hair until I met the Queen. I don’t see many other redheads here. Is it unusual?” Neala asked as the bubbly little girl was waiting to talk again.
“Oh yes, it is said that only royal blood has red hair. The Pyre blood is getting weaker. There are only a few and the Queen makes them her personal assistants or in the queen’s guard. Mother was very disappointed when I was not born with it. She almost denounced me before her advisors convinced her to keep me.” Zera said shifting and looking down at her feet.
“How do you know all this?” Neala was never told this much when she was at Terra, in fact people kept everything from her.
“The queen herself told me. I know I must still prove myself to her.” Zera said matter of fact. Overwhelming sorrow and pity came over Neala as she looked at this pint-size figure. They talked into the night until they both fell asleep, like long-lost friends.
The next morning, Neala dressed in red chiffon dresses and for once, she let her red hair cascade in large curls. The Queen had the handmaiden instruct her on the basic rules of their court.
“The royal family must always speak first. No one must look the family in the eyes unless being spoken to. They must always address you as your highness and never interrupt.” Her new handmaid said.
“What is your name?” Neala interrupted her half on purpose and half wondering what she would do. It took the maiden back and looked as if she was choking on her words. Neala waited while she composed herself.
“I am Ember.” She said, not wanting to say any more.
“Hi, I am Neala. My friends call me Nia. I hope one day that you will call me that. When the Queen is present, please address me as your highness if you must. But, when these doors are closed, I am Nia. And I am not used to any of this. I am scared and don’t know what I am doing. I could use all the help you can give me.” Neala said and smiled at Ember. The girl nodded but she could not help but notice the suspicion still in her expression. She led Neala to the Queen who was dining in the main entrance hall. Zera was there all dressed up and using all her best manners sitting next to her mother. Neala sat on the other side of the Queen to her breakfast.
“Good morning Princess. I trust you slept well?” The Queen said beaming with pride.
“Yes, your grace, the softest bed I’ve ever laid on, thank you.” Neala said, which satisfied the queen. She took a big drink of her morning wine.
“We will tour the grounds and then I will show you our garden area. We have all the equipment you will need. The ground has proved barren for us, and the seeds never germinate. I would expect that with your abilities, you could get the ground producing in no time.” The queen said, Neala was not sure she was talking to her as much as formulating her own plan.
They ate the rest of breakfast in silence. The servants had the leftovers cleaned up almost before they left the hall. They left the castle and followed their assigned warriors to a far distant part of the grounds. People bowed deep and stopped what they were doing at first sight of the Queen. She was sure that this was now an involuntary movement by the Pyre people. From what she had seen of the Queen so far, the guards were a formality, as she was stronger than anyone she had ever seen.
They came to a halt at a rickety wooden fence. If this had once been a garden, it was before the Pyre ever settled there. The ground was hard as stone and cracked. There were no remnants of any rows, and not even weeds penetrated its hard surface. A small shed sat at back, Neala was ushered inside. The shed held old and broken tools such as shovels, hoes and picks. There were jars and bags of seeds that had labels of different fruits and vegetables. She could make out corn, wheat, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, beets, and radishes.
“I have assigned these five for you to be of service as you wish. Let them know if there is anything else that you need, and it will be yours. Make sure you clean up in time for dinner.” The queen said quickly, turning to leave.
Neala stood rooted to the ground as the servant daemons stared at her. She had never gardened before; they had their own staff at Terra that specialized in plant growth. She only knew that you needed soil, water, and sun for plants to grow. So why had the Pyre not been able to figure that out? Neala walked into the garden area, knelt, and felt the earth. She felt no life left in the dirt. She instructed the staff going on trying to loosen the dirt and make rows like she had seen in her fields.
All afternoon Neala and the fellow daemons brought buckets and buckets of water to the field. They made even rows of dirt and then brought in more water. Neala had her little sister gather scraps of food from the kitchen and begin a compost pile that Neala had hoped would bring in some minerals for the dead earth. By the end of a backbreaking day, they had what looked like a promising garden with nothing to show for it.
Walking back to the castle sore and tired she became wary of what her unpredictable mother might say. She hadn’t lived up to the ridiculous expectation this stranger had set for her. Her lighthearted sister matched her step for step with a slight skip to her walk. Neala was surprised by how hard she worked, and she showed natural leadership skills with her tasks today. Not at all the way the Queen described her as. Zera had much more strength and resilience than the Queen gave her credit for.
When the two arrived in the great hall there was food ready on the table, but the Queen was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is the Queen?” Neala asked one of the kitchen maids.
“Her majesty was not feeling well your grace.” The maid said.
“That means mother has had too much to drink. I would suspect she heard that the fields are still barren. She is under lots of stress. Our daemons are starving to death.” Zera said as she ravished her dinner.
Neala looked down at the food in front of her, hard soda bread, cheese, rabbit.
“Excuse me, but can you please get Ember for me?” She looked to the maid who bowed and
hurried off. Neala took only what she could eat and then packaged up the rest. Zera looked on wide-eyed with food hanging from her mouth.
“Mother says that the royal family must never break food with the commoners. She will not be pleased.” Zera squeaked.
“I am not breaking bread; I am redistributing rations. There is more than enough for 10 people here. If people are starving to death, then we must not be selfish. These are our people and we must do what we can to ensure their health and safety.” Neala told her sister. She smiled to herself having heard those words from her father’s lips once.
Ember was soon at the table and bowed.
“Dear Ember. Please take these and distribute them out to the poorest of folks. Start with any hungry children and on. I then wish to have a good report of the exact conditions of these people. Before dawn, I will be back out in the fields and wish for you to accompany me to give me a full report. I will also require your help in other manners.” Neala said, sounding much more confident and authoritative than ever. She had never given direct orders without using her abilities.
Ember hesitated and looked at the food and then did as she was told. Neala ate what she left at the table before bidding her sister goodnight. She soaked in the tub trying to rid her muscles of the ache they felt.
Neala was up before the sun the next morning and to her surprise, Zera was waiting for her in the entrance hall. Her hair pulled up high, and she had on clean hide trousers and lace-up boots. She could’ve been mistaken for a Terra child ready to head to the field. Zera giggled at Neala’s expression and they went off to the fields together.
When the princess arrived, they were the first ones there. Neala feared that maybe the village had given up hope like her mother did. Determined to prove them wrong, she took the path to the storage shed. They took inventory on the different seeds they had and Neala began plotting how best to lay out the fields. Now was not the time to give up, and she had to believe she could bring life back into the soil.
When they left the shed, they were met with all the same workers from yesterday and then much more. Ember stepped forward from the crowd to Neala’s side.
“Who are the rest of the people Ember?” Neala stared at the people. They wore soiled clothes and their faces showed their bone structure. Men, women, and children alike.
“These are the people who received your gifts, your grace. They came to repay you and show you gratitude.”
“Why are they so underfed? I can see their bones. They look like they have been starving.”
Neala gasped at the darkened appearance of her people.
“The Queen has deemed them unworthy and therefore they get rations last. Most weeks, there is not enough for them all. Many families had been without food for weeks until last night.”
“Why are they unworthy? There are children here for god’s sake.”
“They have the weakest, or no Pyre abilities. They do not possess enough fire strength, some cannot produce their own fire, and none of them have persuasive abilities.”
Neala was shocked. Back home, all of Terra had teachers that would help to enhance all the Terra abilities. Neala knew that it took practice and patience to grow the abilities. Her father once said that abilities were like a muscle and must be used every day to grow stronger.
Neala walked toward the new faces and as she approached, they all bowed down to one knee and looked down.
“Please get up. I am here to get these fields back to life. If there is any among you that can help, I would be most grateful.” Neala watched as one by one all the people stood back up and raised their hands. Neala looked at her people and nodded. She gave Zera the children and taxed them to find any food scraps in the village to fill the new compost pile. Next, she sent some women to find any chickens that they could find and to bring them to the garden. Any available men were sent to find extra wood so they could make a water tower for irrigation.
By mid-morning she had half of the village bustling about to get this garden going. With the chickens coming in they began pecking and scratching the ground and fertilizing the dirt as they went. She had some builders construct a coop that she could use to move the chickens in patterns around the garden. By mid-day they tilled the soil, fertilized, and watered it.
With little light left in the day, and hope fading with it, Neala bent down to the earth once more. She knelt and placed her hands on the soil. She felt a spark of life in the ground this time and concentrated on the rich dense soil she used back with Della. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the soil had changed from the light dry ground to a lush black soil. The surrounding people cheered and whooped all around. She motioned for people to plant behind her as she moved throughout the rows turning the soil. By dusk, they had used all the seeds available and all they could do now is wait.
When Neala and Zera left that evening there was electricity in the air. The once palpable darkness of her people seemed to spark of hope and fire. She was using her Terra abilities and still gaining the respect and admiration from her Pyre people. Except for one that is.
Her mother swayed in the main hall when they came in, all laughter and joy stopped. The Queen’s cheeks were as red as her eyes.
“Well. You have used all our stores and nothing to show for it. And look at you, green eyed. I must have been wrong about you. You are soft, giving our food to those who don’t pull their weight around here. And dragging this little one around with you.” The Queen drank deep from her chalice. Neala and Zera stood frozen from fear. The woman in front of them might as well have been the devil reincarnated. Neala had never encountered such vile hatred before and did not know what to expect from her.
“If you do not come through for me, then you and this little mouse are of no use to me. To think I spent my years searching for you. You are not the savior of the Pyre people. I must be that for them.” The queen staggered off leaving a deafening silence in her path. She was certain of one thing, if those fields did not produce, their lives were in danger.
Chapter 14
Salvation
The light broke into the stained-glass window creating a rainbow throughout her room. She lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. Her fear and regret had kept her up for most of the night, and she was unsure if she could face the day.
Her heavy door creaked open and the small blonde Ember came in. She had clean clothes and boots in her hands.
“Ember, I fear I have granted false hope to these daemons. I am nothing special, just a girl. I don’t know why my mother thought I could save this place, and now it seems I might never make it out.” Neala sighed as she swung her legs off the bed and met Ember’s expression.
“Your grace, you do not give yourself enough credit. You differ from any royal this tribe has ever met. Hope is hope, it carries the same power whether that hope turns out to be the truth. Come and meet Lady Zera in the garden and restore your own hope.” Ember handed the clothes over and a small scone.
Neala jumped up at once and threw her clothes on. She let her long red hair stay loose as she hurried out the door consuming the scone as she went. When they got to the garden people had gathered all around and she could not see what they were staring at. The people parted and bowed as she made her way through the crowd. When she reached the fence, she could see. In all the rows, the tiniest glimmer of truth was popping out of the ground.
Zera ran to her and wrapped her arms around her waist. There were big tears swelled up in her eyes.
“I knew you could do it! You have saved us.” Zera whispered with tears streaming down her face.
Neala went to the closest rows of potatoes and prayed to the gods. Her hands touched the soil, and she imagined the rabbit stews back home with big chunks of potatoes. She heard the roars of glee from the workers before she could see for herself. The potatoes shoots had grown to maturity. As the roars happened, they fell silent. Neala turned and all t
he people were on their knees, heads down to the dirt.
The red Queen was walking through the crowds and towards the fields. Neala followed suit and bowed.
“My dearest daughter, stand up. Look at this miracle you have given your people! Have I not told you of the prophecy that this child would save our people? The evil of starvation was upon us and now we will live. We will be strong once again and it will pose us to take over this land. With Princess Neala by our side, nothing can stop us.” The Queen addressed her court and like puppets, they clapped and nodded as soon as she finished.
Neala stood up shaking and faced the queen. The queen held out her hands and took Neala’s. Neala felt a warm sensation in her hands and looked down, the queen’s hands were on fire. The queen kept her hands ablaze as she looked into Neala’s eyes.
“There, now those wretched green eyes are their proper red once again. You must not show these people those green eyes or they will never respect you.” The Queen advised as she turned to face her people once again. “As soon as they harvest these fields, we will have a feast with every Pyre invited to consume this bounty. So, the sooner the better.” The queen proclaimed. It sounded like a threat. The Queen embraced Neala and kissed both cheeks before she left with her guards.
The morning was filled with daemons coming and going to harvest all the crops Neala was growing. By the time they finished, and the plants replanted and watered Neala was dizzy with exhaustion. Gemma pushed against her and Neala leaned on her to steady herself.
“Your grace, you do not look well. Let me grab a horse for your ride back to the castle.” Ember said and then hurried off to the stables. She came back with the same midnight horse that brought her to town. Neala needed help to get on the horse and wrapped her arms around the horse’s neck and laid her head down. Soon the world faded, and darkness consumed her.
The dreams flashed before her eyes like a distant memory. She ran her hands through tall wheat grass in a wide-open lush green field. The waves roared in her ears and the water tickled her feet. The scene flashed away, and she was standing on the platform again staring at the crowd of Pyre, amidst the crowd were the familiar faces of Samuel, Callista, Tyee, and Zera. Green, Red, black and grey eyes all staring back at her. The sweet escape did not last long.
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