“Fine. I’ll agree to stop saying it out loud. I’m still going to push myself to achieve more than a second grader anyway.”
“Well you should. You are very talented with the elemy and I have a feeling you’ll go quite far. You just have to focus more on your training and less on getting me to tell you stories. Now, let’s get back to work. The next level for you to achieve is putting out fire.” She got up from her chair and walked over to one of the shelves in the library. She picked up the large candle and brought it back to her seat. Once she set it down on the coffee table between them, she used her own crystal skill to light the candle. “Now, Behn, put out the flame.”
Behn recalled all of the previous lessons and wondered how Jena would have explained the process. Would she say to eliminate the oxygen or create a breeze to blow it out? He decided on the latter and created a quick breeze which snuffed out the flame. Immediately, he looked over to Juila to see her reaction.
“Very good, Behn. You used a breeze, right?”
“Yes.”
“Can you put it out in any other way?” She lit the candle again using her mind.
Behn nodded and concentrated on moving the oxygen away from the flame. It took slightly longer, but he could see the benefit in knowing either method. If he needed a flame to go out without the possibility of spreading, then the second option was by far the best one. The flame got smaller until it went out, only to be replaced by a small puff of smoke which rose straight up from the wick.
Juila could tell what he had done the second time. The smoke rising without moving around also told her that the oxygen had been eliminated. The second technique was by far harder to accomplish than the first one he had chosen. She was glad he had used both methods without first asking how it was to be done because it showed he was applying previous techniques.
“That was perfect. I’m going to have you do both methods several more times before we move on.” She lit the candle. “Go ahead.”
The candle winked out.
Juila lit it.
Out again, much quicker this time.
Faster, Juila produced another flame.
Instantly, it went out.
Several more times they went through it as if it were a game. Finally, Juila laughed and said, “I surrender. You obviously are a quick study on this skill. Do you want a break, or do you want to go on to the next one.”
“What’s the next one?”
“You get to light the candle!” She smiled as she saw Behn’s horrified expression.
“I think we should wait for Jena to get here. If I can’t manage to control the flame, then it would be better to have two of you to put it out!”
Juila tilted her head and then had to agree to his wisdom. Then another idea struck her; they should take the next lesson out to the garage where it would be difficult to set the concrete on fire. It was a perfect location, actually, since her father’s regular telepod would be in Tuala. They would have plenty of space to work without fear of burning down the house. Even if the power of the samaras would not help augment Behn’s powers, he did not need to be particularly strong when learning to create a flame.
She stood up from her plush chair and said, “Let’s get a snack.” She looked down on her timepiece and wondered why Jena had not gotten home yet. Even as she was having the worried thought, she could sense Jena as Sofia’s car turned onto their driveway. She sighed in relief and kept walking until she reached the kitchen.
Behn sat down at the island and wondered what Juila was going to get for a snack.
Juila opened the refrigerator and looked over the meager items. Suddenly she decided she wanted something from home rather than from Earth. With a surreptitious glance in either direction to make sure she would not be seen she created a large plate with scrambled eggs and fried foxl.
Behn’s eyes grew wide as he was now looking on a plate of hot food which had not been on the island the second before. This must be what the girls had talked about when they said he would learn to create something using the elemy. This was the first time he could appreciate the utility of it. Normally, he had to wait for food to be prepared. Once he learned how to create for himself, he would never have to go hungry while he made a meal by hand.
The front door opened and Jena walked through the foyer and into the kitchen. She spied the plate on the island and then looked suspiciously at her sister. “Is that what I think it is?”
Juila looked sheepish as she replied, “Yes.”
“Juila, you know what dad said about using your powers out in the open.”
“I don’t see how it’s any different than when Dad does it to make dinner,” Juila responded.
“It’s not any different, but we’re here to learn Earth’s ways so we’re supposed to make the ordinary effort.”
“That’s all well and good except when I’m craving fried foxl. Besides, don’t you think Behn should try some native cuisine?”
“You’re reaching, Juila.” Jena could not fault her logic. The food did smell delicious. She relented and said, “Where are the forks? It looks like there’s plenty for three people.” She sat down at the island stool next to Behn and looked up at her sister expectantly.
Juila squealed with delight and immediately three forks appeared on the countertop.
The three dug into the meal.
Behn was first worried he would not like the foxl, but then found he did remember eating it as a kid. There were so many things he had yet to remember. One by one the memories were returning. He only hoped he would have total recall before taking this story to his doubting sister, Valentina.
When the plate no longer had a morsel of food left on it, Juila again used her powers to take care of the mess. She looked smugly at her sister and said, “Now we can resume Behn’s lessons. We were far too hungry to carry on before.”
“Before? You guys started without me?”
“You took forever, Jena. Behn has proven he can put out a flame. As fast as I created it, he put it out. He used both techniques with equal skill.”
“That’s great, Behn.” Jena looked over at him with a huge grin on her face. She was just as proud of his progress as Juila.
“I thought we might take the next lesson out to the garage. Behn will have a harder time burning down the house if we’re out in the concrete. Don’t you think?”
“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything. Let’s go.”
The three walked out to the telepod garage. The sat down on the floor.
Jena asked, “Where’s the candle?”
“Sorry! I forgot it in the library.” A moment later the candle appeared on the concrete floor in the middle of where they sat.
Behn could only hope to have the ease of skill and accuracy of the girls someday. They used their power effortlessly and he was quite impressed. He no longer commented on it since he could tell it made them uncomfortable, but he still thought it nonetheless.
Jena explained the process for creating the flame and Behn achieved success several times before they decided to call an end to the daily lessons. Jena really wanted some time alone with Juila so she did not want to move on to the next skill.
Behn could tell the girls were done teaching for the day. Before they stood up he turned to Jena and asked, “Has something happened from Tuala to make you sad?”
Jena’s eyes shot over to Juila with accusation clear in her mind. Juila shook her head slightly and then Jena looked back to Behn as she asked, “What would make you come to that conclusion?”
“I don’t know. Just a feeling I had. I couldn’t imagine anything bad happening with either of your parents and you seemed fine with Juila. The only other thing it could have been would be something from home. Tuala, I mean.”
“I know what you mean and you’re right. Something very bad has happened in our old lives. We should probably explain a custom to you so you might understand the situation better. Are you sure you want to hear this story? It could take a while.”
“There is a custom which is often followed among upper-class families…”
“And any other class when two families are particularly close,” Juila interrupted.
Jena glared at her sister’s interruption and said, “Yes, that, too. Anyway, it’s call a betrothal. Have you ever heard of the term?”
Behn did recall it, but only from history classes. He was certain it would have a different meaning on Tuala and said as much.
Jena grinned and then said, “It means the same thing in Tuala. Anyway, when I was six years old, it was arranged for me to be betrothed to the son of one of the most respected Elders. In fact he’s the First of the Elders so it was a great honor considering we were considered orphans up until this year.”
“So you’re saying you have a fiancé, Jena?” Behn could hardly believe what he was hearing. This whole thing seemed so archaic and unbelievable. He had to be misunderstanding her somehow.
“Willian is my betrothed. We have a contract for marriage when we turn eighteen or when we finish school,” Jena corrected Behn’s choice of word for the relationship.
“I don’t see a difference.”
“We haven’t dated, Behn. We are contracted to marry one another when we’re adults. I’ve been to his parent’s house and they have treated me as their first-daughter—that’s what the Tualans call the girl in the relationship when it comes to the other family.
“Traditionally, the girl would become betrothed before she’s six months old and then go and live with the boy’s family to be raised alongside the boy. The reasoning is that both of the children would be raised with the same set of values and they would admire one another and be the best of friends.
“In my case, I’ve only spent a few months at a time at Elder Debbon’s house. Because of my training with Jehoban, I was not able to have the traditional relationship with my betrothed.”
“Not that it would’ve mattered,” Juila muttered.
Again, Jena glared at her sister for the rude comment. Then she had to reevaluate her harsh criticism of her sister since she had been right all along with Willian.
Behn interrupted Jena’s thought when he asked, “So has something happened with Willian?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. He has written to me several times since I’ve been here and I did not know I could access my mail from here. Needless to say, his letters to me were getting more and more demanding. My father intercepted my mail and he was not happy with what he saw. We are waiting to see what will be done, but I think it’s safe to say, my betrothal is going to be called off.”
“Is that bad? He sounds like a jerk!”
“It is bad. It brings dishonor to both houses when a betrothal is broken. The union is sanctioned by Jehoban and is considered a blessing on both houses.”
Behn looked over at Juila and said, “I take it you don’t think much of Willian.”
“I’ve never liked him. I think this could be the best thing which ever happened to Jena. Now she’ll be free of his unreasonable demands and she can choose someone to love on her own terms as it should have been from the start.”
“Wow! I see,” Behn replied as he let out a long breath. Juila’s anger toward Willian was quite concerning. The guy must be bad news to have gotten on Juila’s bad side. She was the most easy-going person he had ever met. “Thank you for sharing your situation with me. If you ever want to talk about it, you know you can trust me.” He stood up from the cold concrete and offered both of his hands to the girls to help them up.
“That’s something which would never occur to Willian,” Juila remarked snidely.
“What?” Behn asked.
“Being chivalrous in helping Jena up from the ground. He would have left the garage and then yelled for Jena to hurry up and quit lollygagging around.”
Jena could not argue with the truth so she opted to remain silent.
“You’re still going to the movies with Luke tonight, right?” Behn asked suddenly as they were walking back into the house. “I think you have the right idea to go out with a friend while this is getting resolved.”
“See, Jena! That’s exactly what I’ve been telling her all along,” Juila said to Behn after rubbing it in to Jena.
“Not exactly, Juila. You wanted me to date even before we knew there was a problem.”
“I’ve known there was a problem since we were seven years old. It’s just taken this long for you to admit the guy’s a controlling jerk,” Juila replied heatedly.
Behn knew when it was time for him to make his escape. He leaned forward and kissed Juila on the cheek and said, “I’ll pick you up at seven. See you later, Jena.” He waved at both girls and hurried through the foyer and out the front door.
“I’m surprised you told Behn about your situation with Willian,” Juila said softly to her sister.
“Me, too. I guess I just wanted a fresh perspective on the whole thing.” She shook her head and started to walk through the foyer.
“Where are you going?” Juila asked. For once she did not have the link with her sister open.
“I think I’m going to soak in a nice hot bubble bath for a bit before Luke calls to let me know what time he’ll be coming over. You should probably link with me to make sure I don’t drown since I slept so poorly last night.” Jena pulled herself up the stairs with the railing. She was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted.
Juila took her sister’s advice and linked minds with her. She was sad to see all of the troubled thoughts coursing through Jena’s mind. She had no idea how heavily this whole mess had weighed upon her. Carefully, Juila tucked another idea into her mind about how she was going to mess up Willian for hurting her sister yet again.
Chapter Fourteen
WILLIAN STILL HAD not been home since his father had given him the ultimatum. He was not some child to be taken to task for a stupid misunderstanding. He had every right to call Jena out for her refusal to talk to him for so many mesans. There was no other man who would put up with such behavior and he was not going to either.
As he stalked through the grounds on the estate, he thought of different ways to get even with Jena. If the betrothal were called off, then she would have caused him to lose honor and then his plans to become First Elder after his father would be impossible to achieve. Jena would not be the cause of his downfall.
Short of going to Earth and forcing her to return to Tuala, he could not see a way out of this mess. If they thought he would apologize to Jena, then they had another thing coming. He had done nothing wrong in this whole mess. How come nobody was siding with him? Wasn’t he the one who had been abandoned and ignored?
Jena should have come to him about wanting to go to Earth with her mother. Instead, she up and left without as much as a goodbye. To make matters worse, she had been gone for several mesans before he even knew about it.
That was not a very good point to make. As an attentive man, he should have noticed her absence much sooner. Forget the last argument. She should have come to him and asked his opinion about getting to know her mother. Why she needed one at her age was beyond him anyway.
He was not about to go back into his parent’s house. It was better for them to worry about where he was so he decided to spend the night at a friend’s house. He gathered several items from his room using the elemy and marched off of the house grounds and down the street. His parents could spend some time thinking about him and what he meant to them rather than how wonderful Jena was and how he had supposedly done her wrong.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chelesa had been monitoring her son through his birth crystal. More than once she was grateful for the parental link to their children’s necklaces. She was able to clearly see and hear everything going on around Willian. If she really wanted to, she could also use the birth crystal to read his very thoug
hts.
She knew Willian’s thoughts were quite dark at the moment and she did not want to subject herself to such negativity. She left his mind alone and just monitored his whereabouts. When she saw him go into his friend’s house, she disconnected the link and looked over at her husband.
“He’s going to spend the night at one of his friend’s house. Do you think we pushed him too far?” Chelesa was concerned for her son even though she thought the betrothal should have been called off anons before.
“I doubt we even pushed him at all, except to anger. I’m sure he thinks of himself as the victim here and he blames us for not seeing the big picture.”
“I think you may be right,” Chelesa said as she sank down on the edge of their bed. The day had been long and exhausting and yet she doubted sleep would come easily.
“We need to trust Jehoban can work this out for the good, Chelesa.” Debbon sat beside his wife and put his hand gently on her leg to offer comfort.
Chelesa placed her own hand over his and looked up into his eyes as she said, “I’m trying. Sometimes I wonder what path will have to be taken before it comes out alright.”
Debbon chuckled because his wife always had interesting insights to Jehoban’s methods. Usually she was right. Now he was probably going to have trouble falling asleep while he pondered all the different ways this situation could go and all of the possible outcomes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amanda and Riccan were off for another flying lesson when Behn and Luke both drove in to pick up the girls. The girls parted ways as they each got into different cars. Juila had purposely chosen not to connect their mental link so Jena would be able to relax and have a good time without worrying what her sister would say.
Luke and Jena went to a comedic movie. He was a perfect gentleman and bought them both popcorn, soda, and several candies. They whispered to one another during the previews and then fell silent as they became engrossed in eating and laughing at the movie.
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