Vala Heritage

by J. F. Jenkins

  “If you hadn’t caved first, I probably would have. I miss you,” he said.

  “I miss you too,” she whispered. She heard the door to Aunt Eyde’s chambers opening in the distance. She couldn’t be caught on the phone with Anj. The questions wouldn't make it worth her while. “I should go and make sure Teague isn’t being defiled by my sister. If I have the chance, I’ll try calling you later tonight but I’m a few hours ahead of you guys.”

  “Where are you?”

  “My aunt’s, I told you that.”

  “But where is that?”

  “I have to go. I’ll call you later,” she said quickly.

  “Wear a sweater!” Was the last thing she heard before she hung up.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jewl watched Sonnet pull her hair back out of her face and make kissy faces into the mirror. The two were in the bedroom and getting ready to go to sleep. They always shared a room when they lived together at Aunt Eyde’s. When they were younger, Sonnet was plagued with nightmares. Staying with Jewl was a comfort, and now it was simply tradition.

  “Teague is adorable,” Sonnet said at last. “I don’t think he’s into me though.”

  “You two just met, and he doesn’t act into anyone back at school if it makes you feel any better,” Jewl said, glancing back down at the magazine she had been paging through. She didn’t want to encourage Sonnet’s new infatuation with him.

  “Pity,” Sonnet said with a dramatic sigh. She put her hairbrush down. “Do you care about me?”

  Jewl frowned, closing her magazine and setting it aside. “Yes, of course I do. You’re one of the most important things in my life.”

  Sonnet sighed again, this time sounding sad and tired when she did. “I’m not sure I can believe you. I want to, but your behavior leaves room for a lot of doubt.”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said quietly and moved to be by her sister’s side. Pulling up a chair, she sat next to Sonnet at the vanity. “What did she do to you?”

  With a roll of her eyes, Sonnet lifted up the back of her shirt. Jewl's eyes darted toward her sister's bare shoulders and a small gasp escaped her lips. Burned in her flesh were the following phrases: “I am worthless. I am unloved. I am ugly. I am stupid. Nobody cares. Everything she says is a lie.” She whispered the words, reading them several times, before turning away unable to look at it any longer.

  It took every ounce of her willpower to not storm out of the room and give her aunt a piece of her mind, if not worse. While the guards would no doubt be able to take her down, her aunt would be dead. Jewl would be able to die with that satisfaction at least. Doing something irrational and stupid wasn't the answer to their problems. She needed to plan carefully.

  “I'm sorry,” Jewl finally said unable to handle the awkward tension created by only listening to the breeze blowing through the window.

  “Good, because you should be. You have no idea what it's like here. I can't believe you would go off and do something so selfish. Did you think about me at all when you saw him?” She pulled her shirt back down. Tears flooded her eyes.

  “I did.” But not in the way she should have been thinking about her sister. She'd been so focused on their father’s safety, and figuring out how to persuade Sonnet into loving him again, she hadn't thought about what her aunt would do to Sonnet. I shouldn't have ever thought she was exempt. Eyde doesn't care about her, she's still nothing more than a tool.

  Sonnet shook her head. “I'd like to believe you, but I'm starting to wonder if auntie is right about you. She thinks you're taking after your mother more. Apparently it's a good thing.”

  “No, it's not. I'm not like her at all.” She grabbed her sister’s hand. “Tell me how it happened.”

  “There isn't much to tell. I was minding my own business and working on schoolwork out on the patio. Pierce found me and brought me to her office. He held me down over her desk and she used her pen to write on my back.”

  “She didn't do that with a pen.” The skin was charred, broken and black. Jewl would never forget the sight of it for the rest of her life. Her sister was permanently scarred because of her aunt’s stupidity.

  Sonnet let out a sour sounding laugh. “You know auntie. She has all sorts of enchanted items that she's accumulated over the years as gifts. This one is from the Divine god of fire himself. It's a pen full of magma and it never runs dry. Quite useful for writing binding unbreakable documents and torturing defenseless fifteen-year-old girls.”

  “The God of Fire gave it to her? Why?”

  “Auntie did a huge favor for him — gave him a little treat on the side. It's politics and business. I'm sure you know how it goes since this is right up your ally, being a member of the ever-important secret society right? It's all about favors.”

  She spoke so casually about the whole thing, as if the horror her aunt had done didn't bother her as much as Jewl's apparent betrayal.

  Jewl didn't know what to say. She was torn between the desire to defend herself and making things up to her sister. If she tried to justify everything, then Sonnet might pull further away and that was the last thing she wanted. Instead, she bit her lower lip and gave her sister's hand a squeeze.

  “I'm sorry. I won't be so careless again, or so selfish. It's probably not possible, but how can I make it better?”

  “Whatever Aunt Eyde wants you to do, do it,” she said, returning the squeeze. For a moment, Jewl couldn't help but wonder if this was all part of her aunt's plan. Did she put Sonnet up to this and teach her how to be manipulative as well?

  I hope not or else everything is lost. She nodded at her sister. “I'll do what I can. I'm not sure what she's going to ask me though, and my abilities are limited.”

  Sonnet didn't reply with anything beyond, “Mm-hmm,” then went back to brushing her hair.

  “I will try, though.”

  “Yes, I'm sure you will.”

  Jewl sighed and took this as a sign to go back to her bed. Lying down on the mattress, she returned to paging through the magazine. It gave her something to do, but her mind was nowhere near the celebrities gracing the glossy pages. She didn't care about whom was dating who or which woman wore the same purple dress better. The only thing she could think about was how her aunt had tormented her sister by writing lies on her back in an effort to hurt her in the worst possible way.

  Physical wounds could be tolerated and healed over far more quickly than emotional ones. Eyde was not only preying on Sonnet's flesh, but her self-esteem. No wonder the girl was so flaky and insecure. It couldn't have been the first time she'd been told these things by their aunt either. The woman had probably been feeding her those lies ever since Jewl was shipped off to school.

  “Like I said before, I want to believe you.” Sonnet set down the hairbrush and gave her an obviously forced smile. She then got up and sat on her own bed. “I don't want to talk about this anymore. Tell me more about school. It's been a long time since you've been back here, and I think I should learn all the rules and hidden workings at school before I go next year.”

  “I heard. I also heard you started showing abilities.”

  She clapped her hands together with excitement. “I did. Watch this.”

  With a snap of her fingers, lightening shot out of her fingertips. One bolt traveled back and forth between her thumb and pointer finger. For the first time since they were reunited, she wore a genuine smile on her face. Jewl smiled too. This was the first thing she could be happy about since arriving.

  “Electricity?” Jewl asked.

  “As far as I can tell. There might still be more to it. I was so surprised. I zapped myself washing my hands in the sink about two months ago. After that, I started taking the electricity from the appliances and overloading myself to the point where I was afraid to move. Somehow auntie and I were able to figure out how to get the energy out of me without hurting anyone. It's been an exciting past couple of weeks. She brought an Elemental for me to talk to, and they've shown me how t
o manage everything.” She snapped her fingers again and the lightening was gone.

  “It's amazing. I didn't realize we had elemental powers.”

  Sonnet nodded, still beaming with pride. “I know. It's some kind of dormant magic from three generations ago, I guess. We did a little research on the family tree.”

  “I'm happy for you.” And Jewl meant it. With Sonnet at Vala, she'd be out from under their aunt's constant watchful eyes. The woman had spies, but there was so much more freedom there. Plus Sonnet needed to spend time with people her own age, other teenagers. Those were few and far between at Aunt Eyde's palace.

  “I'm glad you share the same feelings as me. So tell me everything about the school: the classes, the atmosphere, the boys. Pickings have to be good if you had one for so long. Isn't he why you never come home?”

  Jewl ignored the left-handed compliment. “He's one reason.” She didn't have the heart to say she couldn't stand to be at 'home'.

  “Spill! And I want to see a picture.”

  Sighing, Jewl pulled out her cell phone and opened up a picture of her and the twins taken just before her last break up with Anj. Staring at the picture she saw how happy they were together. Zes sat next to his brother, slouching with his usual small smile. His body language was a little tense, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him. He hated pictures. Anj had his arm around her, squeezing her close to his body while giving his famous smirk. Jewl wasn't even looking at the camera. She'd been too busy staring up at him and she had a hand raised as if to swat him. If she remembered the moment correctly, he'd been tickling her to get her to smile for the picture. She and Zes shared the same loathing for the task. She tolerated them, but pictures had a tendency to make her feel sad. They represented memories of things that once were.

  Sonnet fawned over the picture, giggling uncontrollably. “Twins? You didn't tell me you were dating twins! They're hot, too.”

  “I didn't tell you I was dating them both because I didn't date them both.” She rolled her eyes.

  “I would have.”

  “I don't think they'd enjoy sharing a girlfriend. They have a hard enough time doing that with their socks.”

  Her sister giggled again, and then handed the phone back. “What happened?”

  Jewl let out long breath, closed the magazine again deciding to lie back onto the pillow and stared at the ceiling. “He broke up with me because I have too many secrets. Two days after that picture was taken, actually. We got into a fight, and he decided he was tired of it all. Usually I'm the one who ended things. We're sort of off and on.”

  “So you could still get back together.”

  “We could, but normally we're not apart for this long. It's a few weeks at the most. We've been separated for months now.” She chewed on her lower lip, debating how much she wanted to trust her sister. She'd risk it. It was a trivial thing she could share to test her loyalties. “I think it's for the better, though. He has a lot of secrets of his own you see, and I'm pretty sure he's starting to see how unfair his double standards are. We're supposed to have a date when break is done. He said he wants to tell me everything.”

  Sonnet let out a dreamy sigh. “Tall, dark and handsome as well as mysterious? That sounds so sexy. If you don't take him back, I will. What kind of secrets does he have?”

  “They're complicated. It's something to do with his magic, but he's good at keeping everything hidden. Not even his brother knows the whole story. I honestly have no idea what it could be.”

  All she had were theories, but even those were far from being solid. Nothing sounded good enough. The most she knew was it had something to do with his dreams, his ability to know things.

  “Interesting. Speaking of his brother, is he—”

  “Yes, he's taken. They're too old for you, anyway. They're going to be eighteen in the spring.”

  “So?”

  “So you're fifteen.”

  “You're sixteen now,” Sonnet pointed out.

  Jewl nodded. “Yes, I am. And I'm going to be seventeen around Christmas.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Age is only a number anyway. I've always had a thing for older boys. Remember Zach? He was dreamy.”

  She stiffened at the mention of their dead bodyguard. Jewl hadn't been expecting to ever hear Sonnet's lips speak his name again. “He sends his regards by the way.”

  “Your boyfriend's brother?”

  “No, Zacheus.”

  “You still see him?” Sonnet asked, raising an eyebrow. She propped herself up on an arm and stared at her sister. Jewl tried to not let it bother her.

  She shifted her position as well, doing what she could to avoid eye contact. Her sister had her father's eyes. It was unnerving and unfair. “I visit once every few months if I'm able to. There are stones that give me the ability to teleport to the underworld.”

  “You'll visit him in Hell, but not me.”

  This place is worse than Hell. “I can change that.”

  “I don't want your pity.” Sonnet rolled away and threw the covers up around her body before turning out the light.

  I've made a bigger mess of things than I realized, Jewl thought.

  She rolled away and got underneath the covers. Not like it was fair for her to have so much on her shoulders to begin with, but that was another story entirely, another problem to add to her growing list.

  “It has nothing to do with pity,” she whispered.

  It's because I'm scared.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The following morning Jewl woke up alone. She figured Sonnet had already left to get ready and eat some breakfast. She decided to follow suit. Not bothering to shower, Jewl found something clean to wear, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, then made her way to the dining hall. Sure enough, Sonnet was there sitting next to Teague and flirting with him shamelessly. Her aunt was nowhere to be seen, but she preferred that. Being able to eat in peace was a small comfort.

  “Sleep well?” Sonnet asked, her eyes never leaving Teague. It took Jewl a moment to realize she was being spoken to.

  “I slept solidly,” she said. That wasn't anything out of the ordinary for her. She didn't dream much, and she liked that. When she did dream, they were jumbled and disorienting. Besides, Anj dreamed enough for both of them.

  Sonnet didn't say anything else, giggling as she touched the tip of Teague's nose with a few fingers.

  He shifted in his chair and kept his eyes on the table in front of him. “There are waffles with white fluffy.”

  “It's whipped cream, cutie,” Sonnet said.

  “Whipped cream,” he said.

  “Louisa made Belgian waffles for us today. They're amazing and totally worth all of the extra calories. I wouldn't normally indulge myself so much, but I consider this a special occasion. I'll work it off extra hard tomorrow.” She picked up a dollop of the whipped cream and sucked it off her finger.

  Jewl glared at her sister disgusted by the sight before her. All she needs to do is start stripping. The girl was desperate. Her eyes briefly met Teague's. She saw a different kind of desperation in his. All she offered him was a small half-smile. Pointing it out would only make things worse.

  Instead, she kept their other conversation going. “Something tells me you'll live. You're already super skinny.”

  With a roll of her eyes, Sonnet reached for her water glass. “I'm sure out in the country where you're going to school, I'm considered skinny. Out here it’s a whole other story. I can't get away with being curvy like you.”

  Jewl’s jaw tightened. Did she just call me fat? Ignore her and the lies. It's all a manipulation tactic. One that her aunt no doubt taught her. “If it helps you feel better, you are much thinner than I am.” And I could probably stand to gain some weight. Or, at the least, some muscle.

  Her sister eyed her for a moment, and then nodded. “You're sweet. You got all of those great tiny petite princess genes. I'm all legs and awkward.”

  “That's puberty for you.”
r />   “I think you're pretty Sonnet,” Teague whispered. Jewl barely heard him. When she glanced his way, she saw he was sitting even more tensely than he was before. It was almost as if he was waiting to be pounced on, then and there.

  Sonnet didn't touch him, though. She didn't even look his way, but she did smile. “You are so sweet. I'll show you the greenhouse today while auntie is with sis. I don't want you to be bored or alone. There's a butterfly garden and everything.”

  “I like those.”

  Jewl raised an eyebrow. “And when did Aunt Eyde tell you we were going to be meeting? She's yet to say anything to me.”

  “On my way to breakfast. She said sometime soonish. I don't think it will take long.” She shrugged then went back to giving Teague her undivided attention.

  “Great.”

  She took two waffles, making sure to load them up extra thick with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Hopefully Sonnet saw and realized she didn't need to be a perfect stick in order to feel beautiful. Plus, she also wanted to prove that all of the hurtful comments hadn't gotten to her. Why was she even bothering to entertain them? Anj thinks I'm beautiful. And that reminder was more than enough to push everything else aside.

  The temptation to call him again was great, or at least send him a text. He didn't like those much, but he'd understand her lack of desire to actually speak, right? Given her situation, a conversation wouldn't be in her best interest. There was always voice mail, but he could pick up before she got the chance to leave one. Especially since he had given her a personalized ring tone to identify her by. He'd sounded so eager to talk before.

  Sonnet was staring at her now. How long had she been doing that?

  Jewl straightened herself and stared back. “Yes?”

  “You're weird.”

  She laughed. “You say that as if it's a bad thing. If you're going to be coming to Vala, you'll need to get used to it. Everyone is weird there, and I don't mean because of our special abilities.”

  “I noticed. If Teague is any example of the students there, then this should be interesting. He's so strange but adorable all at once.” She touched one of his cheeks. Jewl half expected her to start talking to him as if he were a puppy. The urge was hard enough for her to resist sometimes.