by Dixon, TJ
“Dairon.” He says.
(Aventurine)
I am lying on my bed crying when the door opens. I don’t look up. It will be the servant bringing my meal, but I haven’t eaten anything since I was locked up. I don’t plan to start now either.
“Aventurine.” It’s mother. I don’t turn around though. I don’t even acknowledge her. “It seems you will be going back to the academy.”
It takes a moment for it to sink in. I am going back to the academy… I sniff and sit up. I turn to face mother. I am unable to say anything. Is this some sort of a deception? It seems inconceivable that mother would back down over this. Did refusing to eat help?
“I have also chosen a suitable husband for you.” Mother says and this time I gasp.
“Do I not get a say in who I will marry?” I reply angrily.
“No… Just be grateful that he has gone to a lot of effort to get you back into the academy.” Mother says and I blink in confusion. “The boy you will marry, when you are both older, is Peter of the Wind.”
“What…? Peter agreed to marry me? And I thought you didn’t want me to have anything to do with him.” I ask in pure astonishment.
“He has not yet agreed, but it is your job to make sure he does. He has proven himself to be a very worthy husband.”
“How?” I ask dumbfounded.
“I’m under contract not to reveal that.” Mother says. This is just too surreal. “Regardless, if you don’t acquire Peter’s hand in marriage then you will be disowned from the Divine Flame family and cast out onto the streets.”
“What if he already has someone else?” I ask my mind a surreal blur.
“Then steal him from them.”
“But you’ve always said we must take a pure husband. If he’s already with…”
“Whether he is pure or not, you must marry him. I am not expecting you be the Higher Partner in this marriage.” This just doesn’t sound like mother, and to be thrown on the streets if I can’t convince Peter… I’m not sure whether to be happy that I am going back, or a nervous wreck because of this impossible seeming task. Perhaps both? Even if I complete it though, I will surely be the Lower Partner. For a noble girl this is unthinkable unless marrying royalty. Just who is Peter?
Chapter 9 (Peter)
I narrowly avoid Rin’s ice attack. It is not powerful enough to seriously harm me but it would certainly hurt. I expected she wouldn’t be happy, but I didn’t expect to be attacked.
“Rin, let’s talk.” I say nervously.
“Like you talked to me before you left? Like you talked to me before you had Yu Kii taken away by the head? Like you talked to me before you didn’t come back for two days? Like you talked to me through the Queen’s necklace? I thought you were dead! You idiot!” She says and throws another ice attack at me. I deflect it this time.
“I’m not dead.”
“I can see that!”
“But I might be if you keep attacking me.”
“You defeated elves, as Yu Kii tells me, so I am sure that a few ice shards wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps I should use something more powerful.”
“Please don’t!” I protest.
“So next time what are you going to do before you disappear?”
“Um, talk to you?”
“Damned right you will!” Rin says and bursts into tears. She sits on Hermes’ bed and I just don’t know what to do. I’d rather she kept on throwing ice at me than this.
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” I say approaching her nervously.
“You promise not to disappear without me again?” Rin asks through her tears.
“I promise.” I say. Rin slowly stops crying and then dries her tears.
“I’m going.” Rin says with a final sniff and ports away. I sigh, and then open the door.
“You can come back in.” I tell Hermes and Dairon. They were standing there in silence, as if afraid of each other. They smile as I call them in but are careful not to touch each other as they enter. Hermes enters first followed by Dairon.
“So how did you pick up…?” Hermes says and looks fearfully at Dairon, who in turn looks to the ground.
“Close the door.” I say and they both start to, but Dairon stops and Hermes closes it. “Dairon was the enemy. I was ordered by the Queen to capture or kill the elves that were preventing Contractia from supplying a city called Minerva. I killed one of Dairon’s comrades, one escaped and I captured Dairon. As you know I’d rather not kill people if I don’t need to. He also helped me read the clue that Claire left us. It seems that Lucy needs to hear a song called ‘Song of the Third Prince’, or perhaps a song sung by a ‘third’ prince. Yu Kii thinks it means the third born prince of the elves.”
“Perhaps it doesn’t relate to the elves at all. Just because the clue was in elven writing doesn’t mean the song is elven.” Hermes says.
“I know, but we have to start somewhere.”
“There might be something in The Great Library.” Hermes suggests.
“We should see whether Dairon can read that book we got there.” I say. “Where is it at the moment?”
“I doubt it is elven. Rin would have said when she looked at it. Rin has it anyway.”
“Not right now then.” I say with a wince.
“She must be a powerful mage.” Dairon says fearfully. “I never knew that there were so many mages with such great power in Contractia.”
“She’s not a bad mage, but she doesn’t have the same raw power that I used in Minerva.” I say. “She’s my friend though, so I could hardly use that power against her, even if I still had it.”
“Even if you still had it?” Dairon asks confused.
“I took power from hundreds of people…” I start to say but Hermes gasps.
“Hundreds of people? You kissed, hundreds of…?” Hermes asks in shock.
“No. I didn’t kiss them. I wasn’t in battle so I used a different method to take their power.”
“Is this the unnatural power that they speak of?” Dairon asks.
“I don’t really know how you’d describe it. Would you call it dimensional magic, Hermes?”
“I’ve never really thought about it. I wouldn’t go around calling dimensional magic unnatural though. People will take offence.” Hermes says, and then takes a quick step away from Dairon as if afraid he will do something.
“You two really need to learn to get along. There’s really no need to be afraid. Dairon isn’t about to do anything to you Hermes, and Hermes isn’t going to do anything to you Dairon.” I say.
“Have you thought about beds?” Hermes asks nervously.
“They’re quite big so we could just put them together and… You don’t like the idea?”
“No.” Hermes says shaking her head wildly. “Please no.”
“Fine, I’ll sleep on the floor and you can both use the beds.” I say but they both shake their heads this time.
“Impossible.” Dairon says.
“There’s no way that the master is going to sleep on the floor while the slaves have the beds.” Hermes says.
“I already told you not to think of…” I start to say.
“…myself as a slave. But that doesn’t change the fact that I am.” Hermes says. “Even if I wasn’t, there’s no way I’d let you sleep on the floor whilst we had the beds.”
“So what do you suggest?” I ask.
“I suppose you’re going to say no if I suggest Dairon sleeps on the floor?” Hermes says.
“Correct.”
“Then how about I do?” Hermes asks.
“No.” I say instantly.
“There’s room at my old house for another person. How about we send him there? Jenny could port him here whenever you want.” Hermes suggests.
“I suppose that would work.” I say thoughtfully. “I want to use Dairon’s expertise at our training sessions, but that would be when Jenny comes here anyway, so she could port him.”
“I can’t use magic anymore though.”
Dairon says.
“You can still help others use magic correctly.” I say.
“Your methods are very different from mine though.” Dairon says nervously.
“That’s all the more reason to have you help us. I’ll start by having you help me, and then we’ll see about helping the others. Tomorrow I’ll have Emma continue to do the wind training, and I’ll train with you.”
“It was meant to be Year 2 training tomorrow.” Hermes says.
“Oh, ok. I’m sure you can manage without me for another day.” I say.
“Do you want Rin to really kill you?” Hermes asks.
“Fine… Not tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to training with you.” I say to Dairon.
“I doubt there’s anything I can teach someone as powerful as you, but I’ll do my best.” Dairon says.
“Well, let’s not waste time. It is already fairly late, and we don’t want to disturb Jenny and Jimmy after they’ve gone to bed.” I say and hold out my hand to Dairon. He cautiously reaches out and holds my hand. I port us outside Hermes’ old home. I knock on the door.
“Coming!” I hear Jimmy’s voice. He opens the door, and then his mouth falls wide open. “Peter.”
“Is something wrong?” I ask concerned. His aura seems to be even more shocked than his appearance shows, which is saying something.
“No.” He lies and I frown. He realises that I’ve caught on and winces. “Come in. Let’s not talk on the doorstep.”
“Ok.” I say, and enter with Dairon right behind me. Jimmy notices Dairon’s ears and delicate appearance immediately.
“Is he an elf?” Jimmy asks with a gasp.
“Yes.” I say with a nod. Then I ask. “Now, what’s wrong?”
“It’s not exactly wrong, but I’m not alone.”
“Jenny?”
“No, we have an extra person staying here at the moment. We should have asked you, but… It was a bit awkward.”
“Oh… Is there still room for an extra person?” I ask worried.
“The elf?” Jimmy asks nervously.
“Yes, Dairon.” I say.
“Hmm, well we can’t exactly refuse you when this house is yours anyway. There is room but we’ll need to get an extra bed. It would also mean using that room. The one where… Well, where it happened. We’ve been avoiding using it.”
“You mean where Hermes…? Where she was tortured?” I bring myself to say it for Dairon’s sake. He deserves to know what happened there if he may need to use that room.
“Yes.” He says and we both look for a moment at Dairon.
“Elves are very sensitive about the soul of a place. Could I use this room instead?” He says nervously.
“I’ll need to talk to Jenny and Yusa about the details.” Jimmy says and then realises what he said.
“So Yusa is your guest?” I ask in surprise.
“Yes.” Jimmy says hanging his head.
“There’s nothing to be worried about.” I say.
“I was meant to keep it a secret.” Jimmy says.
“Sorry, but we’re not going to tell anyone.” I say.
“It was mostly you that I was meant to keep it a secret from.”
“Why?” I ask surprised.
“I guess it was in case you might think less of her because she was relying on our help.”
“Why would I think that?” I ask completely confused.
“I didn’t say you would.”
“Is Yusa in?” I ask.
“Yes.” Jimmy says.
“Could you get her? I want to introduce Dairon.”
“Ok.” Jimmy says with a sigh, and heads up the stairs. He returns a minute later with an embarrassed looking Yusa.
“Hello.” She says quietly.
“Hi Yusa.” I say.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was staying here.” Yusa says looking down at the ground.
“Don’t worry about it. This is Dairon. He’s going to be staying with you for now. As you may have noticed, he’s an elf.” I say.
“Yes.” Yusa says nervously.
“There’s no need to be scared of each other. Dairon was the enemy, but he has signed a contract and is now my slave. He also can’t use magic anymore. I still expect you to treat him with respect though, just like you’d treat anyone else. If you treat each other with respect, I am sure you will get along fine. The rest of the club will in time learn of Dairon, but you are not to reveal his existence to anyone. The same will go for the rest of the club when they learn of him.”
“May I ask, how you…?” Yusa starts to ask but I interrupt.
“No you may not, or rather, I am not allowed to answer you.” I reply before she can finish.
“Sorry!” Yusa apologises.
“Don’t worry about it Yusa. Dairon, this is Yusa, one of my club members. Jimmy here is a friend, as is Jenny who I am sure you’ll meet soon enough.”
“Will you be staying for dinner?” Jimmy asks me.
“Sorry, I can’t stay, but I’ll visit again to make sure everything is working out OK. Yusa I’ll see you in training. Everyone please try to get along.” I say and can tell from his desperate look that Dairon is really not happy that I am leaving already. I can’t stay forever though. “Goodbye everyone.”
“Goodbye.” Jimmy says first, and then Yusa, and finally Dairon. I then port back to my room.
“How did it go?” Hermes asks.
“I hope they don’t have too much trouble. Did you know Yusa was staying with Jimmy and Jenny?”
“No.” Hermes says surprised.
“Well don’t tell anyone, because they’re trying to keep it secret. I didn’t even know they knew each other, but I guess Yusa knew Jenny. I guess she must have asked Jenny to let her stay there, or Jenny offered.”
“Yusa has been talking to Jenny after training a bit. I guess that must be it.” Hermes says. “But is there room there for four people in that old house?”
“They think they’ll be able to manage, and there’s more room than there is here.” I say.
“True. I’m just glad you didn’t send me back there.” Hermes says.
“Like I’d do that.” I say with a laugh.
“I’m a bit annoyed they just let someone stay there without telling you though.” Hermes says and I can tell she really is.
“Don’t worry about it. I let them use it, so I can’t really complain if they have guests. It’s not like they’ve destroyed the place.”
“Guests are one thing, but guests are just for a day or two. It sounds like Yusa is living there.”
“Well she is, but it’s not like I’m inconvenienced. They’re the ones who have four people living there now. I just hope that Dairon gets on ok with them. What bothers me the most though, is that I had to kill again. It was to save a city, so I shouldn’t feel guilty, but I do. I sought out that guy and then killed him, or her. I should have toned down my attack, but I was using too much power, so if I had let it drag on I’d have been the one to die, and I wouldn’t have been the only one. That doesn’t make me feel any less guilty though. Why couldn’t the Queen have commanded me to kill a monster or something?”
“I thought you weren’t meant to tell anyone the details.” Hermes says shocked.
“I can only tell one person.” I say. “You can’t tell anyone else either, so don’t tell Rin, or anyone else. Not even that I’ve told you anything.”
“I’m surprised you chose me and not Rin.”
“Rin attacked me, and… Well anyway, I couldn’t tell Rin.”
“I don’t blame her for attacking you! You just left without telling any of us.”
“Sorry, I just felt there wasn’t time.”
“You could have used the Queen’s necklace.”
“I planned to when I got there, but it didn’t seem to work from Minerva.” I say. The truth is that I forgot to try. I was too caught up in the job.
“Really?” Hermes asks and I can tell she doesn’t believe me.
“Well, I may have forgotten but…”
“That sounds like you.” Hermes says with a sigh. “You’re going to kill Rin with worry one of these days, and me too!”
“Sorry.”
“Just please tell us next time, and take us with you if you are able to.” Hermes pleads.
“I’ll at least tell you.” I say. “I hope we are all at the stage where we can do all of these sorts of things together by the time we graduate. For this though I needed to take the Divine Flames and Yu Kii.”
“The Divine Flames? Aventurine and her family?” Hermes asks surprised.
“Her mother and sister. Aventurine should be back at the academy tomorrow though, if her mother keeps her word.” I tell Hermes.
“Most nobles do unless they have a good reason not to. They consider it to be dishonourable to break their word. Of course the ones who are already disgraced have no reason to keep their word, but the Divine Flames are a renowned family. I would be amazed if she broke her word.” Hermes says.
“I hope you don’t have reason to be amazed then. Now I’m really tired, so I hate to say it but I really want to get some sleep.”
“Don’t worry. I’m tired too.” Hermes says.
“Oh, and make sure not to tell anyone, not even Rin, what we discussed here today.”
“Your secrets are safe with me. Goodnight Peter.” Hermes says.
“Thank you. Goodnight Hermes.” I reply, knowing that I can trust Hermes without checking her aura.
In bed I look up to the stars before trying to sleep. They don’t seem to notice me, but to my shock I can hear their arguing voices. It has been so long, and suddenly I can hear them again? Then they are silent. I am sure they noticed me. It is not a comfortable silence. I try to sleep but it is hard.
“Hermes? Are you awake?” I ask still unable to sleep.
“Yes.” She laughs back at me tiredly.
“What do you hear when you look up at the stars?” I ask quietly.
“Hear?” Hermes asks confused.
“Yes.”
“Nothing... Why?” Hermes asks slightly more awake now.
“Never mind.”
“Can you hear them again?” Hermes asks.
“I did, for a moment. Then they went silent again.”
