I pushed her hand away. “Of course. Dad brought you back?” “After you went missing again, I thought I was going to go mad,” she said softly. “You were taken straight from your bed, but the police couldn’t find any trace of them leaving the house. I took to sleeping in your room, in case you came back. About a week after you disappeared for the second time, I woke in the middle of the night to find someone in the room. Before I could shout out or anything, he gave me my memories back.”
My mouth fell open.
“So you… you remember? Everything?”
“Everything,” she confirmed. “And some new things, Your Majesty.”
It was the first time anyone had called me that.
“Don’t,” I said, flinching. “Do not call me that. I won’t hear it.”
“Not even from own mother?”
“Especially not from my mother.”
We were standing in the magnificent room, her hands clamped around mine. “Are you… I mean… do you have-?”
“I do not have my magic,” she said. “When Iain and Netalia banished me, they took it. Jett said there’s no hope of getting it back. They too, are magic-less now.”
I gnawed on my lip, feeling slightly guilty. The reason neither Iain nor Netalia didn’t have a drop of magic was because I’d confiscated it all. Well, to be more specific, Matilda had. This meant I had some of my mother’s magic amalgamated into my own. I twisted my fingers, wondering if there was a way to give it back. Mum put her hand over mine, extinguishing the small flame I’d conjured.
“I don’t want my magic back, Rose,” she said sternly. “What I went through when they took it… I don’t want to go through that ever again.”
I found myself nodding. I remembered too well the withdrawal symptoms after Iain and Netalia had taken my magic the second time. My mother had gone through it as soon as she had been returned to the human realm. But there had been no end to hers. I wondered if she still felt it sometimes.
“So, you haven’t seen Dad in eighteen years, and you’re standing around talking to me?” I said, smiling slightly. Mum squeezed my hand softly before letting go. “Twenty years, actually. Your father never knew about you until you told him at the end of your first year at the Academy. He never stayed with us.”
“You said he did, though.”
“I lied,” she heaved a sigh. “I needed to be able to tell you something, Rose. You were asking about him a lot.”
I thought back to the last time my mother had told me that he’d left us. I’d been starting high school.
“You kept that lie for a long time,” I said eventually. “Would you have kept it going forever?”
“Yes,” she replied, meeting my eyes. “It was best. For both of us.”
“If you say so.” “As for standing here talking to you, it’s important that you remember your father and I have been separated for years. He may not be the man I fell in love with anymore.”
To the people of this realm, I was their monarch. To my friends, a hero. To my Mum, a child.
That was ok though. I think I needed a bit of mothering. “I’ll certainly spend time with him. He is my soul mate after all,” she grinned heartily at me, and I groaned as I knew what was coming. “So… your soul mate, my daughter.”
“Yes?” I asked in a monotone.
She looked at me with understanding in her eyes.
“Did he break your heart?”
“What? No. If anything, I broke his. I left him behind.”
“Well, you were banished.”
“That too.”
More pointed looks. I concerned myself with the chandelier above us.
“Did you sleep with him?” she asked finally.
“What?!” I squeaked, stepping back. “No! I did not, thank you!”
“Would you tell me if you did?”
It was a trap.
“Mum, that’s so gross. Yuck. Yuck.
She eyed me off. “I’ve never been more convinced that you’re still a virgin.”
I suddenly wondered if my father could remove certain memories, because this would certainly be one of them.
She opened her mouth, presumably to continue the topic. I pointed threateningly.
“Possibly the only time I’ll pull rank on you as your monarch,” I told her. “No more on this subject.”
She curtsied mockingly and I immediately felt bad. “On the issue of your royal-ness,” she said, sitting on a sofa and beckoning for me to join her. “I’ve been informed that you don’t want the crown.”
“Yet,” I finished for her, sitting down. “I know I can’t deny who I am, but whilst we’re here in the city, I want to see it through the eyes of someone who lives here. I get the feeling these people won’t be governed by someone they don’t know.”
“After meeting Ryman, I think these people would be quite willing to be governed by anyone else but him,” she sighed, tucking a loose bit of hair behind her ear. “But I think you are wise to want to see the city first. Most people would grab at power.”
“I’m not most people.”
She smiled.
“You’ve made that abundantly clear, my petal.” She smoothed down my hair and kissed my cheek. I suddenly felt like I was five years old again. I closed my eyes, relishing the feeling. I’d been too old lately. I felt like I was supposed to be fifty, not twenty. Too much was being asked of me too quickly, but at the same time, I could feel the power flowing under my skin. Now that I was aware of it, there were times when I could almost sense my past lives.
“Shall we head down to dinner?” Mum asked, and I nodded wearily. We washed up and headed down. I was still in my travelling clothes, not having had the chance to change, but I was too hungry and tired to care. I ate with the others, barely tasting the leg of lamb, and when it came time to retire to our rooms, my eyelids were drooping. A palace servant showed me to my room, and I managed to kick my boots off before falling onto the feather bed and falling asleep.
The next morning I was awakened by a bell tolling somewhere not far from the palace. I sat up groggily, and when I heard birdsong outside my window, held my arm out automatically. Morri perched on it, still singing.
“Been making friends, have you?” I asked him. I thought of meeting Ryman yesterday. “I haven’t, I don’t think.”
I stripped off my dirty clothes and upon seeing the bowl of hot water someone had placed on my dresser, plunged my face into it. I wiped the water off with the towel sitting next to the bowl and winced when I saw the amount of filth that now marred the white cloth.
“Did I walk around like that all yesterday?” I asked Morri, who for once stayed silent. I cleaned my face as best I could, and then pulled on some clean breeches and a loose white shirt. I’d already decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea to wear my green tunic; I didn’t want Ryman commenting on my magic again.
Someone knocked tentatively on my door. I opened my mouth to call them in, but remembered I wasn’t in the Academy anymore. I crossed the room and pulled the door open.
“Larni,” I breathed, and then she catapulted into my arms and hugged me so tightly I couldn’t say anything else. Morri abandoned ship, flitting out of the open window.
“Miss, I was so worried about you!” she said into my shoulder. “I knew it was a risk to come to you that first morning, and I had to flee almost straight away but it was worth it to see you again!”
I pressed my face against my former servant’s shoulder. Larni had become so much more to me than my servant, my first year at the Academy. She’d become my friend.
“Why are you dressed as a servant?” I asked her finally, holding her at arm’s length. “I thought Jett said-” “I’m masquerading as one of Governor Ryman’s servants,” she said, pulling the door closed so that we were alone. “I left Keyes shortly after you all left for here. I travelled with one of the supply caravans and then slipped through with the rest of them. So far they haven’t noticed that there’s one extra servant in the kit
chens.”
“Larni,” I said, stunned. “Why would you do all that?”
“Because I know who you are,” she said, and then swept into a low curtsy. “Your Majesty.” “Don’t,” I groaned. I heaved her back to her feet. “Please, won’t you join me and my friends? It really doesn’t feel right, you being down in the kitchens again.” “You mean to take the crown, don’t you?”
“Yes, but-” “Well it seems to me that you’re going to want someone with an ear to the ground. Who better than a servant who can go wherever she wants and not be questioned?” Larni met my eyes steadily, and I suddenly realised they’d shifted in colour. “Besides, I’ll have help. You saw to that.”
She lifted her hand, a ball of red flame sitting squarely in her palm. I watched it for a second before putting my hand over hers, extinguishing the fire just like my mother had done to me.
“How?” was all I asked. “Your father returned my memories and trained me in return for helping him get you back,” she explained. “He was the one to remove my memories and those of my family as well. He said it was to stop you from gaining the attention of Iain and Netalia.”
My mouth went dry. “Jett did that?” I repeated quietly. I remembered everything now; my father must’ve given all of my stolen memories back, including the ones he took himself when I discovered Larni’s magic for the first time.
“Yes, but it’s alright.”
“No it’s not. They realised who I was anyway. He shouldn’t have tampered with your memory-” “He did it because he was afraid for you,” she put her hand on my arm. “Don’t be angry at him for what he did in the past. Sky, he just wanted to protect you. It’s all done and dusted now anyway.”
I took a deep breath but then nodded. Larni had been the one who’d been wronged, and if she was ok with it, then I wouldn’t pursue it further.
“Ready for some happier news now?” she asked. “Niko, my brother. He’s been declared to be a mageling.”
“That’s fantastic!” I said, grinning widely. “Hey, he’ll be in training with Samlin, Petre’s little brother!” “If there’s still an Academy in a few years. You’ve kind of got the Masters of the school locked up in a dungeon below the castle.”
“Oh yeah,” for a few glorious moments I’d forgotten all about Iain and Netalia. “Guess I’ll have to do something about them.”
“A trial would be best.” Her words immediately brought back hideous recollections of the ‘trial’ Iain and Netalia had put me through.
“I think that would suit them,” I said softly. “And I think I know what I want the outcome to be.”
“You can’t rig the trial. That’s why it’s called a trial. It’s decided before a jury.”
“I didn’t have a jury,” I said, not seeing her. “Why should they?”
Larni fidgeted; she obviously didn’t know what to say. I saved her by reaching forwards and opening the door. “I’ve got a city to see,” I said. “Come visit me tonight? I’d like to know what the staff of the palace think of their governor.”
She nodded, already dutiful again. She dipped a curtsy before I could stop her and then trotted out of the door. I followed her after a few moments, heading towards the mess hall for breakfast.
“Where do you want to go first?” Dena asked me over the table. “Not sure.” I hadn’t even thought of where to investigate first. My thoughts had been too focussed of actually getting to the city and taking up residence in the palace without raising a fuss. Now that I’d accomplished that, I didn’t know where to start. “Anyone have any suggestions?”
Ispin was wriggling eagerly in his seat.
“How about the docks?” he asked.
“You and boats.” Yasmin said teasingly.
“Boats?” This was the first I’d heard of Castor having docks, or of Ispin liking boats.
“My family come from a long line of ship builders,” he explained. “I carry on the love.”
“Then why do you live so far inland?” Petre asked.
“My father does not carry on the love.” I decided to indulge Ispin and agreed on the docks. We headed out the same door that we’d been led through, and then convinced the guards on the gate to let us through. We were handed a small golden token to show the guards when we returned, and naturally Ispin was the one to take it.
The city on foot was completely different from seeing it on horseback. The area near the palace was clean and tidy, with guards patrolling in pairs. The vendors had been contained to specific market places, leaving the street clear. I hadn’t been expecting to find the capital so orderly. Maybe there was some good to Ryman being governor.
Any good will I was feeling towards the governor vanished as soon as we set foot in the lower districts. The cobblestones beneath our boots were so dirty that it was as though we were walking on packed dirt rather than a city street. Filthy water ran in the gutters, or what I thought was water until I trod in a puddle. Grubby children were threading their way through the throngs of people. I didn’t even notice the young girl beside me until Petre lit a ball of grey fire in his palm. She fled then, all thoughts of stealing my purse scared away by the sight of magic. I’d noticed that several other people had shied away from it too. I took note of that.
I smelt the sea before I saw it. As we got closer, I then smelt the produce of the sea. I wrinkled my nose at the offal and rotten fish bits residing in barrels around the dock’s vendors. Grey waves were curling and crashing onto grey, pebbly sand, gulls watching for fish scraps from atop the posts of the wooden dock.
Ispin bounded forwards at the sight of a majestic ship further out to sea. I watched the sails billow as it came in closer, men scurrying about on deck. Ispin scared several gulls from their posts as he hurried past. We all traded amused looks and then followed.
We stepped around fishermen and their catch still flopping upon the wooden boards. The ship was coming in faster, riding a southerly breeze into port. Men were gathering on the dock, preparing to receive it. Ispin reached them before we did, but they didn’t even notice him.
I watched as the ship was brought about, and ropes were thrown to the waiting men. Ispin somehow ended up with a rope and I heard Rain sigh exasperatedly. Her soul mate looked as though all of his birthdays had come at once.
The men hauled the ship to the dock in a collective effort. I watched Ispin strain and pull on his rope, not using magic to aid himself. I frowned. Magic would’ve made it a lot easier. Why didn’t he use it?
“You lot goin’ t’ stand around gawking or yez gonna help?” One of the men demanded gruffly. Ispin gestured furiously and we moved forward to pick up ropes. I almost commanded my magic to help, but something stopped me. Maybe it was the reaction of the people in the lower district to Petre’s magelight, or maybe it was that Ispin hadn’t used his magic.
The rope was rough and heavy in my hands. I pulled as much as I could, working in time with the rest of the crew, but I don’t think I was helping much.
The ship slid closer and closer to the dock until it was near enough for a gangway to be passed down. We helped guide it down, and suddenly men were hurrying up and down it, beginning to unload the ship of its cargo.
“Whatchu all wearin’ them fancy shirts fer?” the same man asked of us. I glanced around quickly; I’d be the only one to wear a normal shirt this morning. My friends were all still stuck in the habit of dressing in their school clothes.
“We’re from the Academy,” Ispin said, and I noticed that some of the happiness from a few minutes earlier had vanished. “We’re staying with the governor.”
“Pah,” the man spat over the side of the dock. “Fancy lil’ students from the school up the road, is it? Well, we don’t need none of yer fancy magic schoolin’ here. Clear off, wouldya?”
Ispin stepped back, hurt and confused. We had helped, hadn’t we? We’d brought the ship in using our bare hands; none of this fancy magic schooling the man has dismissed so. I saw Yasmin put her arm around Ispin’s shoulder
s and steer him away. I lingered for a second, contemplating whether to say something or not. Petre caught my eye and shook his head. I sighed and followed my friends back to shore.
“Is there something going on here that I don’t know about?” I asked my group as we sat on the pebbly sand, watching pewter waves slide up towards us. “The people in the market shied away from Petre’s magic, and that man didn’t seem particularly happy to see us.”
“I don’t know much about Governor Ryman except for what I’ve heard my father say about him,” Ispin said. “But I know he’s a mage. And I know that he prefers his guards to be mages.”
I remembered the guards watching us from every corner. Something about them seemed hard. I shuddered involuntarily.
“I’d go back and talk to the dock men, but something tells me we’re not welcome back there. I don’t think we’d get a straight answer out of anyone wearing our school shirts,” I said. “Why don’t you guys head back and change?”
“What about you?” Dena asked.
“I just want to have a look around by myself for a bit.”
“How will we find you again?” I spotted a small blackbird heading straight for us. “Morri will be able to find me.” I said, lifting a hand for him to perch on. The bird peeped something in agreement, and flew to Dena, alighting on her shoulder easily.
“Are you sure? You’re not going to get into trouble, or-”
I cut my best friend off with a look.
“Dena. I don’t usually float my own boat, but I think I’ll be alright.” “She’ll be fine,” Ispin said, who’d pricked his ears up at the word ‘boat’. “Dena, she could roast anyone who she didn’t like. And that was just our first year.”
Dena sighed as Yasmin and Rain laughed. Theresa remained stoic, not giving anything away.
“Whatever you reckon.” Dena said, standing up, sand falling from her breeches. It was only when she began to walk off that I realised how cold her dismissal had been. I watched the rest of the group follow her, leaving me on the cold beach, my heart heavy in my chest. I sat in the sand feeling sorry for myself for a few minutes before heaving myself to my feet and beginning to make my way along the beach in the opposite direction to my friends. There was a breakwater that stopped me from walking along the beach too far, and so I was forced back up into the hustle and bustle of Castor’s market district.
Soul Blaze Page 10
