Fire and Light

by Emily Ann Ward

  She smiled at him. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I don’t know if you can tell, but the gem stone is green. It’ll match that dress of yours.”

  She stared at him for a moment, her smile fading.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I love it.” She held it out for him. “Will you put it on for me?”

  They both sat up, and Evan brushed her hair aside. He looped the necklace around her slim neck and clasped the chain. He ran his hand down the line of her neck to her shoulder. Her skin was so soft. He kissed the exposed skin between her shoulder and neck. He heard her quick intake of breath and he pulled away, his face warming.

  She looked over her shoulder at him, then turned completely and faced him. “Thank you.” Her fingers played with the gem stone, turning it over. “Tisha tried to talk me into leaving the Avialies again.”

  He gritted his teeth and shook his head. “He’s such slime.”

  “I know. He even hinted at me working for them.”

  “What?”

  She sighed. “It’s kind of creepy. I’m sixteen, I don’t have any magic in my blood. . .why does he even care?”

  “He thinks we’re corrupting you. He’d probably feel really good about himself if he was the one to save you from us monsters.” He scoffed and flopped down on his back. The next firework that burst into the sky resembled a dragon, and he wondered if Mahris had helped with them. The Protectors were fine with magic when it suited their purposes.

  Sierra leaned on her elbow. “I wonder if they’ll ever see you as real people.”

  “I doubt it. In their eyes, Avialies are abominations.”

  “Do you think we’ll ever find a way to break the curse?”

  Evan glanced at her. Her gaze was fixed on him, her face serious. He sighed. “I don’t know. It’s been three years already. You’d think if they could have broken it, they would have already.”

  She touched his tunic, playing with a string. He held his breath. “I wish we could do more.”

  “Me, too. I wish I could hunt that Thieran down and kill him.”

  Her fingers stilled on his chest. “Kill him?”

  “After making him reverse the curse.”

  “How would you do that?”

  “I don’t know. I’d do whatever I had to.” He fell silent, thinking of torture or threatening his family members. He gazed at the fireworks above them. What kind of a person did that make him, that he’d be willing to do things like that for his family’s future? Tisha and Niculai had done that to Lyle. But how else were they going to reverse the curse? How else could they defeat someone so evil? “I wonder if they know who it is and they just lie to us when we ask about it.”

  “Who, your father and Alastor?”

  “Yeah. They treat me and Dar like we’re children.”

  Sierra said nothing, but he saw the smirk on her face.

  “Oh, you think we are children.”

  She smiled, twirling the string of his tunic around her finger. “Well, we’re not exactly adults.”

  Evan huffed. “I’m completely capable.”

  “Maybe they don’t tell you who it is because they’re worried you’ll do something stupid.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “What, like hunt him down?”

  She nodded. “Maybe they’re keeping you safe.”

  “Maybe.”

  She leaned towards him. “Maybe they don’t want anything to happen to you. Maybe they’re scared.”

  He nodded, but he wasn’t even sure what they were talking about anymore. “Look, they’re starting the finale.”

  Sierra lay down again, and they quietly watched the finale of the fireworks. The sky filled with shape after shape: exploding circles, swirls, dragons; vibrant colors that remained when he closed his eyes. Their thunder shook the ground and blocked out all other sound. This was his favorite part of the fireworks, when the finale seemed larger than anything else in his life at the moment.

  When it was finished, the crowd cheered and clapped. Sierra turned onto her side and looked at him. “I don’t want to go back to the others yet.”

  “Me, neither.”

  She reached out for him, but she didn’t play with his shirt this time, just rested her hand on his chest like it was the most natural thing in the world. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he felt his heart hammering through his ribcage. “I would never leave Rahuda because you’re there,” she said quietly. “And yesterday when I got bored at the noble party, I wanted you to be there. And today I came by your booth whenever I had the chance because I wanted to see you.”

  He swallowed. “Your visits were the highlights of my day.”

  “I know this might not work out,” she whispered, “but I don’t want to be afraid anymore.”

  She leaned towards him. Her hair fell down from behind her ear and tickled his face. She brushed it back, and he put his hand on her neck. He pulled her close, and their mouths met. He wrapped his other arm around her torso, reveling in the feel of her body against his. She kissed him deeply, her hand clutching to his chest. It traveled up to his neck, then down his torso to rest on his side. He ran a hand through her hair and cradled her head in his hand. She fit perfectly against him.

  He could kiss her forever. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d imagined what it’d be like to kiss her. There were so many times when he almost had, but he’d been afraid of how she might react. He was glad he hadn’t, because this was perfect.

  She pulled away after several moments, breathless. She set her forehead against his. “I’m tired of pretending we’re just friends.”

  He smiled. “I stopped that months ago.”

  She kissed him again, and he wrapped his arms around her. They carried on for quite some time, in their own world, but Sierra was again the first to pull away. “The others are probably looking for us,” she whispered.

  He stroked her jaw. “I don’t care about them.”

  She smiled and pecked him on the lips. “Come on, we should go.” She disentangled herself from his arms and stood up.

  Sighing, he got to his feet. He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her once more. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands weaving through his hair. He broke away after a moment. “We probably shouldn’t tell Alastor yet.”

  She shook her head. “Not yet.” She met his eyes. “Do you think we’ll be okay?”

  “What do you mean, our friendship?”

  “Everything. Our friendship, the Avialies, the curse.”

  He leaned his forehead on hers. “I’ll be just fine if I’m with you.”

  A smile broke out onto her face, and she pulled him down the hill. Evan felt like he was dreaming. The air was smoky from the fireworks, and they pushed through the crowd to where he’d left the others. He stared at their clasped hands, then at Sierra’s smiling face.

  “What are you staring at?” she asked, laughing.

  “I’m just glad you finally came to your senses.”

  She pushed him in the shoulder. He stumbled, but she held onto his hand and pulled him towards his parents and Seth and Sashe. He would have waited years for Sierra, decades, even centuries, and he’d do anything to give her a brighter future with him.

  CHAPTER SIX: WHIRLWIND

  The first time Matilda kissed him, Dar wasn’t expecting it. He’d dropped something off at her mother’s shop, and Matilda pulled him out the backdoor. She grabbed his tunic silently and kissed him. Though surprised, he leaned into her, kissing her back. He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands at first, and when he finally got the inclination to touch her face, she pulled away. Her bright blue eyes held his for a moment before she dashed back into the house.

  He spent the week in a daze, not sure whether to speak to her about it or not. When he next saw her, she acted normal, like nothing had changed between them. As though after years of friendship, she hadn’t just changed everything by kissing him.

  He’d had feelings for her since she mov
ed to Rahuda, but he hadn’t acted on it. He wasn’t as bold as Evan, who declared his love for Sierra in letters. He wasn’t as charming as Seth, who had Sashe’s eye the first day they met. Matilda had actually made the first move, though he supposed that wasn’t all that surprising, considering her personality versus his. Considering how many times his father pushed him away from courting girls.

  He made a decision to speak to her about them. They met in the barn with the others one night, and Sierra and Evan were touchy and flirty and sickening. They left early. Dar made a face at Matilda. “I wonder what they’re going to go do.”

  “Are they courting?” Matilda asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.” It wasn’t official, obviously, but they told him not to tell Matilda.

  She smiled, scooting closer to him. “You’re a bad liar.”

  He pretended to look offended. “Well, I say. . .”

  She put a hand on his knee and leaned towards him, her eyes on his lips. He met her mouth with his, so he wasn’t really sure who had kissed who. He touched her face, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. He pulled away after a few moments. “Are you going to run away again?”

  She smirked. “Should I?”

  “No, you should stay here and kiss me again.”

  She did, pulling him closer. She moved so she was straddling his lap, her hands on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her torso and clung to her hips. When she first moved here, kids teased her, saying she looked like a boy from the side, but Dar hadn’t heard any of those comments for at least a year now. Since her sixteenth birthday a couple weeks ago, she was wearing dresses that showed off her small breasts, and Dar couldn’t pretend not to notice.

  She broke away and got off his lap. “I don’t know how my mother would react to us.”

  “Oh?” he asked, breathless. His mind made the sluggish transition from Matilda’s breasts to her mother.

  “You being an Avialie. . .and a noble.” She shrugged, wiping some saliva off Dar’s lower lip.

  “Right. . .I know how my father would respond. We’d have to break it off.”

  “Let’s just keep it quiet for now,” she whispered. “Like Sierra and Evan.” She kissed him on the cheek and moved to the ladder. She left him stunned once again.

  ***

  Sierra and Evan didn’t stay quiet for long after that night. Father called her and Dar to his study and asked when their secret courtship had started. Sierra denied it, but Father said Matilda had told him all about it. Sierra looked at Dar accusingly, but Dar shook his head. “I didn’t say anything to her,” he said.

  “Why didn’t you say anything to me, Dar?” Father asked.

  Dar swallowed. “Sierra and Evan really like each other.” Evan would even say he loved Sierra.

  Father put his head in his hands. The door opened, and Mother came in. “You haven’t started yelling at her, have you?” she asked.

  Father raised his head and glared at her. “And what if I had?”

  “Listen, Alastor, you can’t stop Sierra from falling in love.”

  Sierra’s face went red.

  “She deserves to marry whomever she pleased,” Mother said. “We just have to keep her safe.”

  “Two daughters,” Father grumbled. He waved to the door. “Get out.”

  Sierra left first, but she waited for Dar in the corridor. She grabbed his arm. “Promise me you didn’t tell Matilda.”

  “I promise,” he said, pulling away from her grip.

  “Why does she always make things difficult for me?” Sierra huffed before sweeping down the corridor.

  Dar saw Matilda at her mother’s shop a few days later. “Why did you tell my father about Sierra and Evan?”

  She shrugged as she took the clothes from him in need of mending. Usually a servant did this, but Dar had taken his job for the excuse of walking into town and seeing Matilda. “Why not?” she asked.

  “They wanted to keep it a secret, Matilda,” Dar said.

  “Well, your father deserved to know. Besides, there should just be one secret courtship at a time. It’s like a rule.”

  He pursed his lips. “I don’t know.”

  “Don’t know what?” She tilted her head, a red curl falling over her face. She looked so innocent and cute.

  “I don’t know if you should have told him.”

  She glanced around the empty shop, then leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. “I promise I’ll stay quiet about us.”

  The next few years with Matilda was up and down. Dar wouldn’t have gone so far as to call their relationship a courtship. They spent plenty of time kissing in the barn or at the shop when her mother was out of town or next to the river at night time. They spoke about anything and everything. Dar got her gifts from his trips to Renaul, and they’d occasionally write letters to one another.

  When Matilda’s mother wanted her to court another Cosa in town named Victor, though, Matilda asked Dar to ‘take a break.’ He spent the next few weeks agonizing about what he might have done wrong, then started to forget about her. When Sierra would mention her, he’d suddenly remember she was courting Victor and he’d wonder how she was.

  It was Dar’s eighteenth birthday party that brought them back together. They had a very formal affair with the nobles, of course, but then afterwards, he snuck out to the barn with his closest friends. Matilda was wearing a dark blue dress that lit up her eyes. He knew she didn’t have many clothes that were so brightly colored.

  There was wine and some heavy liquor, and they started playing games. The boys were soon changing into various shapes, trying to impress the girls, even though the changes got harder with each drink.

  Dar left to pee, and on his way back, Matilda was coming down the ladder. He stumbled over to her and took her hand. “You’re so beautiful tonight,” he whispered.

  “Victor and I are finished,” she replied.

  He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. Their mouths crashed together, and their bodies melted into one, and when the others started making fun of them, they went to the river. Then Dar threw up, and Matilda went home, and he woke up shivering on the riverbank, wondering what exactly he’d done.

  On for a few months. Off when Dar’s father tried to get him to court Lady Jeanelle for pretense to show Dar was a normal noble like everyone else. On when that failed. Off when they started fighting about her and Sierra. On when that faded. Off when they got bored of each other. On when they grew hungry again.

  Dar knew they were stuck in a cycle, and he wondered why they couldn’t be like Seth and Sashe or Sierra and Evan. Yes, the two couples fought every now and then, but he had a feeling that Sierra and Evan would eventually marry. That even if they couldn’t have children, they would never give up on each other, no matter what happened. At times he felt that way with Matilda, like he’d do anything for her. Other times, he couldn’t stand her and wondered why he was so in love with her.

  ***

  Sierra’s second home had always been Evan’s house, but it became even more so after they started their courtship. She spent the majority of her time with him or at Sashe’s jewelry shop.

  One evening, she sat with Evan, his parents, and Dar in the living area. She leaned against Evan, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, her head on his chest. She felt so safe and content with him.

  A knock on their door interrupted their conversation, and Alastor came in. Two years ago, Sierra may have sat up and distanced herself from Evan, but he’d had more than enough time to grow used to the two of them together. They’d been together three years now.

  He cleared his throat, his gaze on the ground. “I have news about Ellena.”

  Ellena was an Avialie from another village in Shyra. She was a few years older than them, and she’d accidentally gotten pregnant a couple months ago. Sierra straightened up, pulling herself from Evan’s arms. “Is she okay?”

  Alastor slowly shook his head. “She died last night.” He spoke so quietl
y she almost didn’t hear him.

  She closed her eyes as Evan touched her back. Sierra remembered Ellena and her parents visiting Alastor and Natalia many times. She, Sashe, and Ellena used to play dolls or try to catch butterflies or, as they got older, talk about boys and dresses and do each other’s hair.

  “That’s horrible,” Lina said in a faint voice.

  “Are you okay?” Evan whispered in her ear.

  Sierra nodded, leaning back into him. He wrapped his arms around her again.

  The next day, Evan and the others came over for dinner. Afterwards, in the sitting room, they started talking about Ellena. Her infectious laugh, her high-pitched sneezes. They spoke about gifts they could send her family.

  Sierra would try to put something into the conversation, but every time she tried to speak, her throat tightened up and she had to blink away tears. She finally quietly excused herself and walked into the corridor. As soon as she closed the door, she let out a sob. She covered her mouth, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Adrian’s wife had had such a painful, horrible death. What if Ellena had died that way? Sierra imagined her crying and moaning and bleeding. It was like Allison all over again. Who else would she lose? She leaned against the wall.

  The door opened, and she tried to wipe her face. Evan came into the corridor. After closing the door, he embraced her. She allowed herself to cry into his chest. Ellena would never see day again, never breathe again, never have children. She was gone, along with countless other lives. And it was only the beginning. The Avialies would die, and there would be no one to replace them.

  After she was finished crying, Sierra took Evan’s hand and led him outside. They sat in the garden under the stars. She blew her nose on his handkerchief for what seemed like the hundredth time. “This curse is horrible,” she whispered.

  “I know. God, I want to end it. I want us to. . .” He looked sideways at her. “I want us to be able to have a future. And children.”