by Nina Walker
I sighed and found my seat in the classroom, keeping my head down. The industrial room had orderly desks pushed together in pods. I was sitting in an empty pod, well aware that everywhere else was filled with cliques of alchemists. Most of the classes had people my age, but today there was a mix of ages in the room. I ignored the awkward loneliness inside and stared at the row of crystals and potted plants on the far wall.
Someone audibly cleared their throat. I looked up to meet Faulk’s impenetrable eyes.
“Did you not hear me the first time, Loxely?” she asked with a sneer that curled her thin upper lip.
I shook my head. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Get up,” she growled. “Have you not prepared anything for today?”
I blinked, confused. “Huh?”
“Figures,” she huffed. “Lucas said he told you but who really knows with that boy. We never should have trusted him to get the job done when he treats you like you’re made of tissue paper.”
“What are you talking about?”
Her blonde hair was pulled back in her usual bun, enhancing the sharpness of her cheekbones. Her white uniform gleamed as she stalked to the front of the simple classroom. “I said get up,” she barked over her shoulder.
It was Monday afternoon. We always worked on blue on Monday afternoons. Even if most of us couldn’t do much of anything with it, we were still expected to try. I’d never had much luck with blue, but that didn’t warrant her yelling at me. Blue was rare.
I stood to face her, and she spun on me with a look of complete annoyance, like I was the dumbest person she’d ever met.
Well, geez, nice to see you, too!
“You’re starting your lesson on red alchemy today,” Faulk said. “Or did you forget already?”
My stomach flopped. “That’s today?” Lucas had warned me, but he said Faulk was supposed to let me know the details first.
“Yes, it’s today. Did you not get the date?” She grinned slowly.
I scowled. What did I expect from Faulk? She was enjoying my discomfort.
Didn’t matter. She obviously wasn’t going to wait for me to tell her my legitimate excuse because she turned and continued her angry tirade. “If you’re not prepared to teach red alchemy, then I’ll have to help you along, won’t I?”
I swallowed. Was she serious? Last thing we needed was that sadistic woman pushing us into attempting anything to do with red. I reminded myself to play nicely with Faulk. That would piss her off more than challenging her, which had to be the reason why she’d sprung this on me. But a little planning would have been nice.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked and shifted to face the alchemists sitting in the room. There were about forty, all ages, but two of the youngest children sat in the front row, gaping up at me. My hands began to sweat. I didn’t want to let anyone down. But I also didn’t want anyone to learn red alchemy. I wouldn’t curse this magic on my worst enemy.
“Let’s start with a question and answer period, shall we?”
I shrugged, and several keen hands shot into the air.
I pointed to the youngest of the lot.
“Hi, Jessa. I’m Charity.” The child smiled. She reminded me of Lacey, and my heart dropped. “I was wondering if it’s just blood that you can use, or have you tried other reds?” Her tiny voice was so sure, and her eyes lifted in complete fascination.
“No, I haven’t been able to get anything besides blood to work,” I replied. “I’ve tried, but it’s just blood that has power so far.”
She nodded enthusiastically, and I forced her into my peripheral vision to call on another raised hand. To think that a child wanted my power, my horribly damaging power, made me want to run far, far away from this classroom. I blinked and tried to focus on the next question.
“What do you feel when you do it?” a boy about my age asked. “When you make someone do something like that, make them do what you say, what does that feel like?”
I carefully considered the question. The kid’s black, shaggy hair hung in his hooded eyes, but I could make out the sparkle of anticipation in them just the same. I recognized him, we’d been in several classes together, and he’d once teased me about dating Lucas before we’d been official.
“It feels amazing,” I answered honestly, “but also, it feels terrible. Scary. Like I’m not actually in control of anything.”
His smile quirked, the desire to learn red rose in him, like this power was our drug. And for him, red alchemy would be the ultimate fix to satiate his addiction. I shivered. Not because he scared me, but because sometimes, I scared myself.
“That’s enough for now,” Faulk said, stepping to the center of the room. “Let’s try it, shall we? Everyone grab a partner, a dagger, and a plant.” She motioned to the wall of tools. “I want you to take turns trying to pull the red from each other’s blood, healing when necessary.”
The room buzzed with activity as the students set out to work. I stood on the edge, arms crossed over my stomach, half worried someone would succeed. After several rounds of the alchemists’ failed attempts, however, I began to relax. No one was even close, and the blood was beginning to get messy. I hoped this would be over quickly. I watched the minutes on the clock as they ticked away. The frustration was growing within each person, only a small mirror to that of Faulk’s. I forced myself to appear neutral.
When class was scheduled to end and nobody left, I began to get antsy. I found myself making eye contact with Faulk and frowning.
“That’s enough!” Faulk finally snapped. “That’s all for today, we’ll try again next week.” Then she strode over to me, her boots clipping on the polished concrete. “You better come prepared next time,” she snapped. “Better have something to offer us.” Then she stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her.
Maybe you should have told me about the proper time and place and I would have done that today, you stubborn cow!
My body eased, and I hurried toward the door. So glad that’s over.
“She’s right, you know,” someone called out over the stir of conversation. I turned to face the boy who’d questioned me about what red felt like. Silence descended as every pair of eyes locked on me. He continued, his voice dark and filled with the same frustration that had built over the course of the lesson. “You need to try harder, Jessa. If you don’t, we’ll wonder why you’re so selfish.”
I froze, shame gluing me to the spot.
Then he added, “No one wants to bow down to a narcissistic queen.”
The edges of my vision blurred red, and the anger filled me so completely, I felt as if I would explode. Why was I feeling sorry for myself, trying to fit in with these people?
He was being selfish, here.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Dax.” He stood.
“Well, Dax,” I said coolly, walking closer, “next time I sit down to dinner with my future family, I’ll be sure to mention your concerns to the King. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to know all about the alchemist blaming the future queen for his own failure.”
His face stilled, bright red, as he glowered. I regretted the come-back immediately. It wasn’t me.
“You think you’re better than us,” he replied darkly, reaching out and putting his hand on my upper arm.
I shook him off of me immediately. “You have no idea what I think, so don’t pretend to know the first thing about me.”
So, why don’t you enlighten me, Jessa. His voice echoed through my head. My eyes flashed to the purple stone strung to a black leather cord around his neck. I stepped back. Purple Alchemy…rare. I hadn’t met many who could do it. But this was a challenge, a show of his own power.
He can only hear what I want him to hear. He shook his straight black hair out of his face and smirked. How far did his power go?
“No,” I said forcefully, then turned and marched from the room.
You shouldn’t have goaded him on like that!
I gr
oaned and fell back against my mattress. All I wanted to do was crawl into a little ball and hide under the thick comforter for the rest of eternity. Okay, but that lesson had actually gone great. Nobody had shown an ounce of ability in red alchemy. Letting that guy get the best of me had been the one downfall.
I rolled over and stared at the yellow wallpaper. It was hideous, truly.
Okay, it wasn’t hideous by everyone’s standards. Just mine. Someone probably thought it was beautiful, but to me, it was not only my least favorite color, it reminded me of where I was. It was way too fancy. Of all the rooms I’d stayed in, the dorms had probably been the best. My room there had been nondescript, simple. This one was dripping in the trappings of royalty.
Not to mention how I was next door to Celia. I saw her more than I wanted lately. She’d always smile at me sweetly, but her eyes were daggers and she never said a word. I was bracing myself for some twisted form of retaliation.
So far? Nothing. And that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Maybe she was only here to spy? Maybe she was waiting for me to disappear so she could get Lucas back? There was nothing for her to wait on, not really. The Resistance, what was left of it, hadn’t made contact with me since Jasmine died. I was merely surviving until the day I’d be married off.
There’s got to be something I can do to get out of here.
I needed to think. I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself, stop complaining, and start making a plan. That’s what Jasmine would have done. That’s probably what Sasha was doing, even in her terrible circumstance.
My father was practically locked in his room, but at least we’d been permitted to visit each other. I’d gone to see him every evening after dinner, and tonight was no exception.
He let me in his room and wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. “You’re bored out of your mind in here, aren’t you?” I said as we went to lounge on the couch.
He shrugged. “They gave me some books to occupy my time. If I mind my business, Faulk said I’d get more of a role in your life here.”
“You trust her?”
He shook his head, his smile faltering. “Nope. She makes me nervous.”
I needed a plan for both of us. I stood and paced the room. His was an exact copy to mine, just in navy instead of yellow.
“What’s going through that head of yours, Jessa?”
I shrugged and plopped back down onto the sofa.
The plan had to be kept secret from him. I knew there were royal officers always outside the door. I glanced around the room, past the built-in bookshelf, the thick rug, and the huge picture window, my eyes landing on the potted plant in the corner.
“Practice,” I breathed.
“What?”
“I need more practice.”
Today, Faulk had made the alchemists practice something they didn’t know how to do. Granted, it hadn’t worked, but that was common in all my alchemy lessons. We practiced, day in and day out. We tried over and over again to master all kinds of magics that seemed impossible. But we did it anyway. We tried. And sometimes, we got better.
Sometimes, we discovered new abilities.
“That’s what I’ve been missing,” I said, looking back to Dad.
His eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”
I leaned over and closed the space between us, hugging him. His familiar woodsy scent washed over me. I pulled back and met his gaze.
“I gotta go,” I said. I kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Before he could argue, I sprinted from the room, out in the hall, and back to my own suite. This wasn’t something I was ready to do in front of anybody, even my Dad.
Sure enough, the identical potted plant stood tall in the corner of my room, as well. “Hello there,” I whispered, kneeling on the floor at its base.
There was something unique about me besides red. All the focus had been on red, but what about that other thing I had done all those months ago?
The memory rushed back. Dancing on that stage, when I’d had so little control over what was happening to me, I’d done more than just access purple alchemy. I’d separated the color into its primary colors—red and blue.
How had I done that? And more importantly, what did it do?
As far as I knew, nobody understood it. But what if that kind of magic was even more important than red alchemy? If I could figure it out without anyone else knowing, I might be able to use it to get us out of here. Lucas had done the same with white, another mysterious alchemy.
I picked a long, smooth leaf. It snapped from the stem. Then I split it between my fingernails, the green color oozed out and into the air in the space of a heartbeat. The swirling magic twisted into the air like thick smoke, eager for instruction. Normally, I would send it to heal someone, but instead I imagined the color separating.
Yellow and blue. Come on, yellow and blue.
Nothing happened.
I sighed as the color dissolved into a mist. Ruined. There was no salvaging a leaf that had the color stripped away.
I went to the closet and rifled through the garments, my eye out for something purple. Spotting something workable, I removed a dress from its hanger. It was made of silk, slipping through my fingers. I considered the material, knowing it would be harder to manipulate this way than if I had a plant to work with. But I’d done it before. I could do it again. I made a quick mental note to get a rainbow stone necklace as soon as possible. Now that I was officially a Guardian of Color, I was pretty sure I could get myself one without any problems.
Moving to my bed, I held the shiny fabric on my lap. I willed something to happen, but the magic wouldn’t answer my call. I laid back with a huff. What was I missing?
I remembered that performance and the dance. I focused on each move, reciting it all in my mind’s eye. Connecting with the passion, with life-purpose—that’s what purple was all about. I allowed that passion to overwhelm me as I imagined the dance over and over. My muscles knew the movements by memory, and I ached to move. A tear leaked from the side of my eye.
Still, I missed it. The thrill of performance, the natural way I felt on the stage. It felt like home.
I blinked, forcing the tears away. Get a grip, Jessa.
Just above my body, the purple swirled in clouds of iridescent magic. I gasped and sat up, allowing it to envelop me.
The purple urged me forward, to reach out and connect. Could I connect with someone’s mind again? Or maybe I could even do what Lily had; maybe I could use it to predict my future.
But instead, I imagined the colors separating into blue and red.
Unlike the green, the purple opened up in an instant. The color seemed to relax as it shifted into a bold cobalt blue and a fiery red. I reached out, willing the new colors to do something. I wasn’t quite sure what, as I’d never gotten to color this way. This magic was different. It buzzed in a frenzy, as if it were restless.
When the red touched my fingers, it zinged away from me and vanished. I grabbed at the blue and the same thing happened.
Why can’t I touch it?
A tide of exhaustion overwhelmed me, like a heavy flood pouring over my body. I blinked, fighting it, but there was no use. It pulled me under.
I almost had it! The excitement inside drowned, my body succumbing to the need for sleep.
Practice. I held the thought in my mind as my eyes closed.
I’ll practice again tomorrow.
5
Sasha
My soul longed for magic. So, when I woke to a clicking at the door, I assumed it was my restless imagination and rolled back over to the comfort of sleep.
“Hey, wake up,” a voice whispered against my ear.
I flipped over and shot my hand out into the darkness. Nobody was there.
Okay, now I’m really losing my mind.
I had been so bored in this drab prison, that it wasn’t the first time my mind had played tricks on me. The ebb of sleep nudged at me again.
&
nbsp; “It’s me,” the voice said. “It’s Lucas.”
I sat up, blinking against the darkness. My mind was foggy, but I was sure I’d heard something that time. I squinted. Still, nobody.
“White alchemy, remember.”
I shook my head, annoyed for not catching on quicker. White alchemy was a magic no one else had, that I was aware of, except for Lucas. He had used it to make our entire helicopter invisible once. The magic had both shocked and relieved me. I’d always wondered if white had power, and the shielding magic made sense to my logical side.
“What is it?” I asked, clearing my throat from the sleep. I’d been out like a light, the kind of sleep so heavy it felt like swimming through quicksand to wake up.
“Here,” he handed me the blue stone and I immediately used it to shield our conversation from the possibility of listening ears.
“Okay.” I sat up and stretched my neck. “We’re good.”
“I’m going to stay invisible. I think it’s going to be safer that way.”
I stood and stretched my legs. “Out with it, Lucas,” I sighed.
“It’s time to get you out of here,” he said. My senses kicked into overdrive, the buzz of adrenaline shooting through my veins.
“Let’s do it.”
“I’ve been invisible since I left my bedroom, so nobody should have been able to follow me down here. I’m going out on a huge limb to get you out of here, I think you understand that.”
“I do. I promise, I’ll keep your secret safe. Now, are you going to turn me invisible with you or what?”
“At the right time, yes,” he said, his voice soft in the darkness. “Security isn’t as tight tonight. My father has the first exhibition planned for the morning and most of the officers are currently en route. He and I are flying out first thing tomorrow.”
“So what’s the plan?” I asked.
“There’s no time to explain. Just follow my lead.”
Oh, that sounds awesome! “Okay, fine.”
“And Sasha,” he said, “I might need you to try red alchemy again.”
