The Last of the Firedrakes

by Farah Oomerbhoy

  “Ah, the Black Wolf,” said the lion-haired man, looking menacing but somehow afraid of Rafe. Yet how could he be? He was surrounded by at least twenty men, and Rafe was alone. “What a pleasure to see you.”

  I turned my face to look up at Rafe. His eyes did not betray a hint of emotion.

  Why had he come? How did he know I was here?

  “She’s coming with me, Fagren, and there is nothing any of you can do about it,” said Rafe, an edge to his voice that I hadn’t heard before.

  “I wasn’t going to do anything to the girl, you know,” Fagren growled. “She was part of my payment for services rendered. I was only going to detain her for the night and let her go in the morning.”

  “Who paid you?” said Rafe.

  “The Blackwaters,” said Fagren promptly. It seemed his loyalty wavered with a threat to his safety.

  “You could have refused,” said Rafe scathingly, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. “You should learn to stay away from the Evolon students. One day the mastermage is going to have your head on a pike.”

  Fagren laughed. “Right you are, my boy. I will await the day in anticipation.” He waved us past. “Go. Take the girl. I got my money anyway.”

  “Come on,” Rafe said lightly in my ear.

  My heart was hammering in my chest, and I prayed that he couldn’t hear it. I couldn’t believe he had come for me. Despite the whole horrifying situation, I smiled. No one moved towards us as the Black Wolf guided me slowly though the crowd and out of that terrible place, one hand round my waist at all times.

  18

  First Love

  Before I knew it, we were outside. The fresh air was a blessing, and I inhaled deeply, instantly feeling better. Rafe led me down the dark alleys, keeping to the shadows, his arm fastened securely around my waist. I didn’t protest. He was walking so fast I needed the support to keep up.

  When we entered the upper town, Rafe pulled me into a shadowy corner, took off his mask, and held me up against the wall, his one hand resting on the stone wall behind me.

  “What do you think you were doing?” he scolded in a loud whisper. His beautiful, grey eyes looked angrier than I had ever seen before.

  My own emotions wavered, and my gratitude turned into anger. Who was he to ask me what I was doing?

  “What were you doing there?” I asked, anger building in my voice. “I mean, not that I am not grateful for you rescuing me, but how did you know I would be there? What is it that you are not telling me? Are they the people you hang around with?”

  “Hang?” he asked, an amused tone to his voice.

  “Keep company with,” I retorted quickly. “Murderers and thieves . . . they didn’t even stop you, and they seemed to know you very well. Who are they, your friends?”

  He was looking down at me with those deep, searching eyes of his, and I was acutely aware that his one hand had still not let go of my waist. I suddenly couldn’t remember what I had been saying.

  “Are you quite finished, Aurora?” he said. His face was hard, but his eyes danced, and he looked like he was trying to suppress a smile.

  “Yes, I think so,” I muttered, feeling a little stupid and embarrassed.

  I should have been thanking him, but instead I was fighting with him. What was wrong with me? The truth was that I just didn’t want him to know how much I liked him and how glad I was to see him, because he would probably just laugh at me. I had suspected for quite a while that he was some sort of fugitive or outlaw, or something to that effect, but it didn’t matter. Every time he looked at me, smiled at me, or even showed up, my stomach would start doing cartwheels and my heart would begin fluttering like a hundred butterflies had taken up residence there. I couldn’t understand why he had this effect on me, and it was starting to get most inconvenient.

  “Good!” he said, finally letting go of me and crossing his arms across his chest.

  When he withdrew and moved away from me, I felt a wrenching feeling in my chest, as though I would never be happy until Rafe put his arms around me again. I pulled my woolen cloak tightly around myself and shivered slightly.

  “Firstly, I would like you to know that those are not the people I hang around with,” he said. A hint of a smile curved slightly on one side of his handsome face. “I am not friends with them. Fagren owes me a debt for sparing his life once. In any event, even if they were my friends, what I would like to know is what you, a mage and clearly an untrained one at that, were doing in Fagren’s den. It’s the most notorious clan of the underworld of Eldoren.”

  I stared at him. Was he serious? Here I was, nearly killed, and he was interrogating me as if it was my fault. Well, it sort of was my fault for being so stupid and following Damien, but still. I suddenly realized that Rafe thought of me as nothing more than a spoiled child. My heart sank, and all my romantic fantasies went straight out the window.

  I had enough of this. I spun on my heel, hoping dearly that I wouldn’t fall, and walked towards the academy. In a flash, he was beside me. Again he put his arm round my waist and half-dragged, half-carried me into a side street.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed. “Do you want to be caught by the night patrol?”

  “The what?”

  “No underage mage is allowed outside the academy after dark. You know the rules. If the night patrol catches you, they will have you expelled,” Rafe said quickly but sternly. “Come on, Aurora. I’ll get you back into the school tonight, and you can tell me what happened on the way. I have heard that the Blackwaters take it upon themselves to harass and intimidate new mages. This was a silly game they have played before. But how they agreed to get you to go willingly with them is quite a mystery.”

  “I was trying to find out what Morgana and Lucian’s plans were,” I said. “Fagren gave them something in a small pouch, and they paid him for it.”

  “Did they discuss it or say anything?” asked Rafe.

  I shook my head. “No. All I saw was a small, brown leather pouch. They took it and left me there.”

  Rafe cursed darkly under his breath.

  “You should stay away from the Blackwaters. They are nothing but trouble,” he said, resuming our walk through the now deserted streets of the sleeping city. “If you had been harmed . . .” He broke off, shaking his handsome head and muttering to himself. “When you are back in school, maybe you should tell the mastermage and have them expelled.”

  “No,” I said again, a little calmer. “I have to learn to deal with this myself. If I get the Blackwaters expelled, they will come after me and start looking into who I really am.”

  “You really need to stay away from them, Aurora,” said Rafe. “How do I make you understand that the Blackwaters are dangerous?”

  “Don’t you want to know what they came all the way down here to get?” I said.

  “I will look into it,” said Rafe. “You just concentrate on staying out of trouble.”

  “But I can help,” I insisted. “I can find out what’s in that pouch.”

  Rafe shook his head. “No, Aurora. It’s too dangerous. If the Blackwaters find out that you have been spying on them, they won’t think twice about getting rid of you.”

  “Don’t worry. Once they know I’m not going to say anything to the professors, they will leave me alone,” I said, trying to convince myself. “They just think I am some insignificant ward of the Duke of Silverthorne. If I become friends with them, I can find out what Lucian’s plans are. Won’t Uncle Gabriel want to find out what they are up to? The pouch may contain some clue.” I sounded more confident than I felt.

  “You may be right,” said Rafe, but he still didn’t look convinced. “Be friends with them, but I don’t want you looking for the pouch. I will handle it.”

  I nodded and kept silent. Rafe didn’t think I was capable of doing anything, but I would show him. I would find out what was in that pouch, and then he would have to admit that I was not entirely useless.

  He led me into
a large house on a side street off the main avenue. The door was locked, but Rafe had a key.

  “What is this place?” I asked.

  “There are many routes in and out of the academy,” he said cryptically, a hint of a smile on his face.

  Rafe opened his fist and held up his hand. A ball of light quivered and swirled in it, lighting up the darkened house, just as he had done in the dungeons of Oblek’s castle. He took my hand in his as he led me through the shadows. As his warm hand closed about my fingers, I felt my heart flutter again.

  This was getting to be very inconvenient. What was I going to do when he went away again? And he would go away, he always did, and as usual I would have absolutely no idea where he was. There was no real future for us, and he was so obviously not interested. That thought saddened me, and my heart sank.

  The huge house looked like it had not been lived in for a very long time. Dust covers obscured all the furniture, including the chandeliers and statues. I could only imagine what this place would have looked like all clean and lit up. It was like a mini palace. Rafe led me up the massive marble staircase and down a long corridor to the last room.

  “Is this your house?” I asked, amazed that he knew his way around so well.

  He smiled. “One of them,” he said. Even in the darkness of this eerie house I felt safe, as long as he was with me.

  Who was he to have a house this big and never use it? I wished he would tell me who he really was. Not that it mattered. I would still be crazy about him. I had never felt this way before, and that was what terrified me the most.

  “This house belonged to my mother’s family,” he said finally.

  “And no one lives here?” It was a silly question, but it was out of my mouth before I realized.

  His face darkened. “No. Not since she died,” he said abruptly.

  He looked like he didn’t want to answer any more questions, so I kept my thoughts to myself.

  “I’m sorry,” I said sadly, feeling bad for his loss. “About your mother, I mean. At least you got to meet her. I can barely remember what my real mother even looked like.”

  His gaze softened, and he gave my hand a small squeeze, but he didn’t say anything more.

  The last door at the end of the corridor was unlocked. Rafe led me inside a small room where bookshelves lined the walls. The only other furniture in the room was a large mahogany desk and an old worn leather sofa. He went over to one of the shelves and pulled out a book. Part of the bookshelf moved inwards, revealing a dark passage.

  I was so used to secret passages now that I didn’t even flinch. I had half-expected it. How else was I going to get back into the school at night? Calisto and Damien must have closed the magical gate.

  “This leads directly to the cellar of your dorm house,” he said.

  Was that just a coincidence? My head could not process any new thoughts at the moment, so I just held Rafe’s hand and let him lead me through the passage.

  The fairly large, arched passage was dark and gloomy. The grey stone walls were cold and damp, and I could hear a dripping sound in the distance. I fervently hoped that there were no rats down there as we walked deeper under the city of Neris and towards the academy.

  I wondered when I would be able to see Rafe again. He always came and went so mysteriously, and I had no idea when he would turn up. I wished there was some way I could meet him more often.

  “Can you teach me to fight?” I said unexpectedly. If I learned from him, he would have to spend more time with me.

  “What?” said Rafe. Obviously he hadn’t expected that.

  “Well, since you say I keep getting into trouble,” I said slowly, not wanting to anger him, “I thought it would be good for me to know how to defend myself.”

  “And you want me to teach you?” he said as we walked quickly through the eerie passage, back to the school.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “And how am I supposed to meet you?” he asked, amused.

  “Well,” I said. I had not really thought about it, so the words spilled from me abruptly. “Maybe I could sneak out here some nights.”

  “Sneak out!” said Rafe, stopping to look at me, his lips arching in the cutest smile I had ever seen. Great, now he was laughing at me again. “No, I won’t have you breaking the rules and getting yourself into trouble. Don’t they teach you to fight in warrior classes?”

  I had to shake my head to stop myself from staring at him as I hurried after him.

  “Yes, the magical stuff is fine. I can manage that, but fighting with a sword is so cumbersome. I want to learn to fight with knives,” I said finally.

  “Knives!” Rafe looked amused again. “Why knives?”

  “Well,” I said, still holding his hand, following him through the secret passage, “knives are easy to conceal. You can carry more than one on your person at all times, and you can throw them. Erien said you were faster with knives than you are with a sword, which is impressive, since I’ve seen you fight.”

  “We shall see,” was all he said. He didn’t preen or look proud of himself, and I liked him even more for that.

  We had reached the end of the corridor. Rafe gave a simple push on the right stone in the wall, and a door opened into the cellar of my dorm house. I stopped and turned to look at him. He had paused, too, and was staring at me; our faces were only inches apart, and his grey eyes flickered in the dim light. I thought for a second that he was going to kiss me.

  “Good night, Aurora,” he said finally, moving back. “I will be gone for a while, so please stay out of trouble.”

  I blushed and looked down. He was going away again.

  “Where are you going?” I asked, trying to keep him there for as long as possible.

  “I don’t want to burden you with all the boring details,” he said, grinning, “but I have some work I have to do for your uncle. How much do you know about what is going on in Illiador?”

  “Not much,” I said. “I know that Lucian is trying to invoke an old law naming Illiador as the High Kingdom and Morgana as High Queen.”

  He nodded. “Yes, and there is unrest all over the seven kingdoms. Your granduncle has gone to Andrysia and Kelliandria to make sure that they don’t succumb to Morgana’s threats.”

  “Yes, he told me,” I said, “but do you think they will?”

  Rafe shook his head again. “Who knows? Morgana has now allied herself with the Drakaar, and Andrysia and Kelliandria are right in the middle. They may not have a choice. If it comes down to force and numbers, Morgana could very well take over the whole North. The fae that are left in Illiador are suffering. I must help the ones who want to leave to move south.”

  “When will you be back?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t really know,” he said.

  My heart sank, but I nodded nevertheless. “Good night, and take care of yourself.”

  Imagine my surprise when he pulled me against his chest and kissed the top of my head. I melted into his arms and put my arms round his waist. I wished I could have stayed there forever. I couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to him while he was gone.

  “I will,” he whispered into my hair. “And I want you to stay safe too. You really scared me today, Aurora. I don’t even want to think what could have happened if I hadn’t got there in time . . .” His voice broke off.

  I was elated. Rafe did really care about me; it wasn’t all in my head.

  Finally Rafe gently backed away, took my hand in his, kissed it, and gave a short bow. He pressed one of the stones on the wall, and the door started closing on its own.

  “Till we meet again, my princess,” he said gallantly and turned to walk away.

  My heart was crying for him to come back. But all I could do was stand rooted in my place, watching his back disappear into the shadowy recesses of the secret corridor. That’s when I knew for certain that what I had felt for Alex Carrington was just a silly crush. I was falling in love with Rafe, and it didn’t mat
ter who he really was. There was absolutely nothing I could do to prevent it.

  I sneaked back to my room and opened the door slowly, creeping on tiptoe towards my bed.

  “Where were you?” Vivienne whispered, lighting a small candle and sitting up in her bed. “I was worried.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I just lost track of time.”

  Vivienne raised both her eyebrows. “What are you not telling me?” she said, jumping off her bed and coming over to sit next to me.

  I finally relented and told her about the Blackwaters and how they tricked me.

  “I told you Damien was dangerous,” Vivienne said after I had finished my story.

  I nodded.

  “And how did you escape?” she asked, wide-eyed.

  “The Black Wolf saved me,” I said, with a stupid grin on my face.

  Vivienne gasped. “The Black Wolf! Is he as handsome as they say he is?” she asked, nearly swooning.

  “More,” I said, grinning.

  “Who is he?” Vivienne asked, leaning closer.

  I shrugged. I guess it was better that I didn’t know. Then I didn’t have to lie.

  “No idea,” I said, “but it makes no difference. He’s just wonderful.”

  “And dangerous,” said Vivienne, looking like a stern professor again. “You don’t even know him, Rory. I have heard stories about the Black Wolf that would make you shiver. He may be very charming and handsome, and ladies all over the lands practically swoon at his name”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“but some say he has killed members of the Shadow Guard, and anyone that powerful is not to be trifled with.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said, ending the topic. I really didn’t want to get into the “you don’t know him. He is dangerous,” conversation. “What’s really important is what the Blackwaters have in that pouch they bought from the thief lord.”

  “I don’t think we should get involved, Rory,” said Vivienne. “If we get caught, there’s no telling what they might do to us.”

  “I can’t forget it, Vivienne. Whatever is in that pouch is probably something that my guardian would like to know about. Please help me. I need someone to be a lookout while I search for it.”