Back to business. I sat in the chair beside her. “You’ve already been to see them?” I asked. It wasn’t the first question that had sprung to mind, but I was trying to formulate the others in a way that wouldn’t offend anyone.
“I’ve assessed the situation, yes. When Netalia tried to remove your magic and you blasted her, they managed to collect it. Traditionally, the woman has always been the holder of the magic, but Netalia was a little unstable after being set alight, so they turned to Iain.”
“The woman has always been the holder of the magic?” I repeated, confused. “But I know plenty of male mages, your son one of them.”
Matilda glanced at Jett. He nodded slightly.
“What do you know of Queen Fleur?” Matilda asked me hesitantly. “I know that she was in a war,” I said. “Against her own soul mate. Apart from that, I don’t really know all that much. Actually, I had a statue of her when I was here. Someone took it though.”
“Well...” Jett said, fiddling in a drawer near him. “Here.” He set a little statue on the desk. I pulled it towards me to inspect it. At first glance, I thought it was my statue, but then I noticed twin sword on her back and a tiny bird perched on her left shoulder. Her hair still fell down her back, and a circlet was still present, yet her features were undefined.
“Why did someone make a statue of me?” I asked, befuddled. I picked it up. “This is a tad creepy.”
“That’s not you, Sky. We took the statue to restore it.” Jett said, watching me closely. “That’s Queen Fleur, without the vandalism,” Matilda said. “Obviously you’ve noticed the similarities.” She bounced Sky in her lap. “You’re the next Queen.”
For a moment I didn’t do anything at all. I couldn’t move, so I sat there staring at Queen Fleur in my hands. Suddenly Morrigan flew in through the open window, alighting easily on my left shoulder as though helping them prove their point. Sky giggled and clapped her hands at the sight of him.
“What are... what does this... what?” I managed to stutter.
My father came around the side of the desk and took the statue from me. His large hands enveloped mine. “Iain and Netalia knew,” he said. “That’s why they banished you. And the mages who tried to kidnap you from Ar Cena, they knew as well.”
“How long have you known?” I asked in a monotone. I felt like I was drifting outside my body, like it wasn’t really me asking the question.
“Around about the time you brought that statue back. That coupled with the colour of your eyes and the way Phoenix was avoiding you gave me some pretty big hints. Then when you picked the twin swords and Morrigan came along,” he tickled the bird under the chin. To my surprise, Morri let him. “It was pretty obvious. I tried to get you to hide it anyway. I wanted you there for as long as possible.”
“Stop stop stop,” I held my hands out and shook my head. “Too much. Start from the beginning. My eyes?” “The Queen always has green eyes. We’re not too sure why, but the first Queen had them, so it’s possible her reincarnations inherited them.” Matilda said. “There have been a few mages that have come through here with those eyes, but only two have been reincarnations. Fleur, and now you.”
I opened my mouth to question further, but Jett stopped me.
“How about we get through the bulk of your questions now,” he said. “And go over the finer points later?”
I closed my mouth and nodded.
“Phoenix avoiding me?” Guilt flushed under my skin as I said his name.
Matilda and Jett exchanged glances. “I thought we’d get to him,” Matilda said, and my heart plummeted. “Sky, as you can probably guess, if you’re the next Queen, then-”
“- he’s the next King,” I finished. I suddenly
remembered the history lesson from a few years ago. Queen Fleur and her soul mate, King Morgan, had been fighting a war against each other. I wiped suddenly sweaty palms on my breeches. “So, what, does this mean Phoenix and I are going to be fighting a war against each other?”
I’d been half-joking, but then I saw the look on Jett’s face. “We hope it’s not going to come to that,” he said, and I felt sick. “The Ancients tried to take care of that with a curse. They cursed the King and Queen to fall in love, so that they could make peace and co-exist. So far, it has not worked. The reincarnation cycle has not been broken, and here you sit in front of us.”
“So I’m cursedto fall in love with Phoenix,” I spat, suddenly angry. “Since when was this all planned out for me? Was anyone ever going to tell me?”
“We thought it best to keep you in the dark, so that if you were questioned at any time, you really would have no idea what was going on,” Jett said, trying to placate me. “When they banished you anyway, we honestly didn’t know what was going to happen.”
“So what did happen? My magic came back all on its own.” “Your magic manifested,” Matilda replied. Sky was looking upset in her lap and I suddenly felt awful for losing my temper. “Left to its own devices... well... we didn’t want to risk that. We were working on a plan to bring you back ourselves, but the rogue mages forced our hand.”
“And then you handed me over to Iain and Netalia.” I crossed my arms and legs. “I only had time to create a quick portal. I’d come from the castle, so that path offered the least amount of resistance. I took it; I couldn’t exactly wait around to carefully construct a new one,” Jett said. “But even so, I want you to know that leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I wouldn’t have done it if it could have been avoided.”
I bit back responses, feeling them too private to reveal in front of Matilda. He had left me, when I was still a child, before I could remember. I remembered Mum telling me that when I’d ventured the dangerous question of who my father was.
“So as to Phoenix avoiding you,” he said, trying to get back on track. “He knew of the legends. He’d already guessed who he was before he came to the Academy; it’s why he begged Iain and Netalia to take him in. Aloysius was preparing to crown and train him.”
I couldn’t imagine Phoenix begging anyone for anything. If he’d known who he was, why was he trying to run from it?
“And now they’ve exiled him back,” I said, my eyes on the floor in front of me. “But I saw him not that long ago.” “Iain and Netalia lured him back with the promise of seeing you again. He thought it was a trick but came anyway. When he saw you and realised what they were training you to do, he came and found me. After tipping me off with all of the information he could, he then left for Orthandrell again. Iain and Netalia still have a lot of loyal followers, and he was very aware that his being in the state was a danger to his life.”
He’d known that Jett was going to overthrow the two elders. But he couldn’t have known how long it would take him. From now on, I’d entertain myself with the thought that he didn’t know how I was going to be treated.
“My swords.” I said through gritted teeth, prompting the next explanation. I couldn’t bear to hear anymore about Phoenix.
“Both of your previous incarnations favoured them as their primary weapon,” Matilda said, bouncing Sky on her lap; the child had been looking sullen and bored. “And Morrigan has always been present. Perhaps he’s a reincarnation too.”
The bird peeped shrilly as though he understood. When Sky burbled and reached for him though, he ducked under my ponytail, safely out of harm’s way... or in this case, Sky’s reach.
“So that’s why you didn’t want Netalia to see me with him,” I said to Jett, comprehension dawning. “And she chucked such a fit about the swords... as though it would change who I was if I didn’t use them!”
“She was panicking; they’d only had to deal with this a few times before. All of the other times, either banishing them or restricting certain items had worked... of course, she wasn’t to know that whilst they may have been reincarnations, the country was never in dire enough need of a monarch. Their magic never manifested. None of the ones they banished would’ve become King or Queen.�
�
“And now?” my mouth was dry. “What’s changed now? What’s happened?” “Iain and Netalia happened,” Matilda said, a frown marring her delicate eyebrows. “They neglected their duties to the country and its people. They crowned themselves rulers of the land but had no interest in maintaining it.”
That couldn’t be all, but I was reeling from too much information already. I stood abruptly, Morri squeaking as I almost unsettled him.
“I need to go,” I told the three of them. “I’ll be with my friends.”
“Are you alright?” Jett asked worriedly. “I’m fine,” just found out I was the newest monarch of a stricken country, but I’m fine. “Just need to let it all sink in.”
“I’ll come to collect you near dinnertime,” Matilda said. “I’ll try to regain your magic from Iain then.” I nodded, and then clenched my fists as the need for power consumed me again. I fought it down, and forced myself to leave the office. My friends were waiting for me.
“What did they say?” Dena asked, concern in her voice. I forced myself to look at her. “Nothing important.” I heard myself say.
~Chapter Eleven~
I stood in the shower, everything Jett and Matilda had told me rolling through my head. The water was scalding, but it felt like it was scouring me clean. Morri had taken his usual perch atop the shower stall.
“You’d better not be the reincarnation of some prince or something,” I told him sternly. “You’ve seen me naked way too many times.”
He tilted his head to one side. I sighed and sat down on the cold tiles, not feeling the abrupt change in
temperature.
I was the new monarch. Apparently. All I had were green eyes and a bird to prove it though. And the man I loved was King.
I clutched my head. If I thought being reintroduced to this world was too much, then this was way out of my league.
“Sky?” I heard Dena call. I saw her boots under the stall door. “Petre’s mother is looking for you.”
“I’ll be out in a minute.” Biggest lie ever. She hesitated for a moment and then walked out of the bathroom. I dragged myself back to my feet and stood under the water rebelliously for a few more minutes.
When I emerged from the bathroom, my damp hair preventing Morri from riding on my shoulder, forcing him to sit on my head instead, Matilda was waiting for me outside my door. She was by herself this time.
“Where’s Sky?” I asked.
“With her brothers,” she replied. “Petre is rather taken with her.” We trotted down the stairs, and it was only when we started heading for the dungeons that my heart began to beat faster.
“Are you sure you’re going to be able to do this?” I asked Matilda, trying not to sound like I was doubting her. She came to a halt, halfway down the stairs. We were only inches apart, our features illuminated by the flickering torches in their brackets.
“Sky. I’m the last surviving member of a sisterhood that has been around since Queen Fleur died. She had her doubts about Iain and Netalia, so she brought together a group of women to carry on her legacy. My mother was a sister, and she passed her knowledge on to me. If you hadn’t become Queen, I would’ve passed my secrets onto my daughter,” Matilda looked at me in the half-light. “I regret not being able to do anything before this, but without someone to fight for – you - there was no point.”
“But why didn’t you do something when I arrived with Petre a few years ago?” “I had no idea who you were; Jett only tipped me off when he brought you back. As for the repairs needed in Abdoor, my pregnancy weakened me, and I wasn’t able to practise magic the entire time I was carrying Sky. I also didn’t want to risk losing her; I had no daughters, only sons, and wouldn’t have been able to pass my knowledge down as needed if you hadn’t come along.”
She continued down the stairs, and I followed. More information to take in. It had never occurred to me when I was visiting Petre’s family that his mother was the mage out of all of them.
I hurried down the stairs to keep up with her. Though I wasn’t looking forward to the two monsters in the cells below me, I did want my magic back.
“Who are you?” Iain demanded, standing with his arms folded in his cell. Netalia was determinedly ignoring both of us.
“My name is Matilda Lyon,” Petre’s mother said, folding her hands neatly in front of her. “You have something that isn’t yours, and I’m here to remove it from you.”
Netalia barked out a harsh laugh, and we turned to look at her. “You cannot possibly know how to remove magic from someone,” she said, her voice cruel. “That art was lost when Queen Fleur died.”
“Except for you, of course,” Matilda said, almost kindly. “Is that what you’re implying?”
Netalia didn’t respond. Matilda lifted her hand, grey light dancing around her fingertips.
“This won’t hurt a bit.” She said sweetly to Iain. My former Master clutched his head as her magic swirled around him. His face was screwed up in agony. I remembered the exhaustion of waking up without my magic, and for a second almost pitied him.
Then I remembered my trial, and any hint of pity fled. The grey magic was pulling back, a glittering cloud. Tendrils of white were laced through it. It passed through the bars of the cell and Iain collapsed. Netalia struggled to her feet, trying to see him.
“Hold your hand out,” Matilda instructed me. I did so, somewhat apprehensively. “This might tingle a bit.” White fire tentatively wrapped around one of my fingers. I gasped as it did so; it felt like a million pins and needles. Apparently I passed whatever test it had been conducting, as the fire shot up my arm. I felt like I’d been plunged into cold water; my vision sharpened as I took a sharp intake of breath. The fire disappeared right over my heart. I could feel it in my veins, swirling, unsettled. I felt powerful.
I felt alive. “How did you do that?” Netalia was demanding. I ignored her, curling my fingers into a fist. White flames tinged with the green of my old magic lit on my
knuckles. “We’ll be calling on you as we need information,” Matilda told Netalia. “Until then, you can get used to your cells.”
I led the way up the stairs, brimming with energy. I rolled my shoulders back, trying to relieve some of the tension.
“What now?” I asked Matilda.
“We report back to Jett,” she said. “And then we leave for Castor.”
“Why the capital?” It was something I’d been wondering for a while.
Matilda looked at me like I’d gone a little bit crazy.
“Because that’s where the palace is,” she explained. “And that’s where your rule will be presiding from.”
I halted in my tracks. “Um, no, no palaces please,” I said. Flames still gleamed on my fingers; I couldn’t make them go away. “I’m having a hard enough time adjusting to this whole ‘Queen’ business. I don’t need to be sitting in a big stone castle to do it.”
Matilda almost smiled and gestured around us.
“A big stone castle such as your Academy?” she asked, a hint of Petre’s dry humour in her tone.
I waved it away.
“You know what I mean. Besides, I haven’t told my friends-” “Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore,” Matilda said, and when I lifted my head to look at her, she wasn’t looking at me.
I bit my lip as I noticed my friends waiting for us at the top of the stairs. The flames on my fingers extinguished. “And how long did you think you could keep this a secret?” Dena asked, folding her arms. It was the sternest I’d ever seen her.
“I wasn’t ready to tell you,” I admitted. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to leave you with this,” Matilda said, and then scooped up Sky from Petre’s grasp. “Have fun.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell us?” Rain asked. “We’re your friends. We want to be here for you.”
I lifted my shoulders and let them fall in a helpless shrug.
“Sky, we just want-” “Because it’s weird!” I shout
ed suddenly, cutting Yasmin off, unable to keep it in. “Because I’m not a Queen, or a monarch, or anyone really. I’m just Sky. I’m twenty years old. I’m not ready to start living out of home let alone rulea freakin’ country. I want to start classes again. I want to be worrying about last week’s homework. I want to be... average.”
“As average as you can be in a magical word,” Dena finished for me. She smiled, the ice melting from her eyes. She held her arms out to me and I hugged her closely, trying not to let her feel me shaking.
“So what now?” I mumbled into her shoulder.
“Now we head to the capital,” she said. “And we help you become the best Queen you can be.”
I clutched her tighter for just a second. When I let her go, my eyes were dry, and my fingers were steady. “Well, I’ve got something new to play with,” I told my group, and lifted my hand, the white fire alight on my palm. “Want to go try it out?”
They did. We headed out of the double doors and towards the forest behind the Academy, where Raven and I had caught the rogue scout when they attacked us. We were almost to the tree line when I heard a small shriek.
“Sammy!” the boy catapulted himself into my arms, hugging me tightly. He’d put on few pounds since I’d saved him from the Du’rangor, and his hair was determinedly ashy-brown, the same as Petre’s and Matilda’s. “How are you, young man?”
“I am good!” he told me, and then wriggled to get down. I set him back on the grass. “Watch, Sky, watch!” He squared his shoulders. Small grey flames ignited on his finger tips and he shot them off in rapid succession. They dissipated before they got too far but it was still extremely impressive for a mageling.
“That’s amazing,” I told him. “Have you been practicing?”
He nodded, grey eyes shining up at me.
“Mother’s been tutoring me,” he said, and then bounced around. “Can I have a piggy-back? Please?”
“Samlin, you’re being a bother,” Petre said disdainfully. “No he’s not,” I said, crouching down so he could jump on my back. “Come on, Sammy, hope aboard.” He leapt onto my back and screeched with laughter as I took off running towards the forest, his light little body bouncing with each step. I heard the others running to keep up with me.
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