Heir of Illaria: Book One of the Illaria Series

by Dyan Chick

  “Unless we can get you to move that without touching it, we have only taught you a parlor trick. It has no real merit,” Max spat out.

  I dropped my outstretched arms to my sides, hurt by his insult. “I’m trying.”

  Max pressed his palms into his eyes. “Ashton, you work with her until dinner. Etta, try harder. It might be easier if I’m not here watching.”

  I frowned as he walked from the clearing and strode into his quarters.

  Ashton let out an exaggerated sigh as he retrieved the ring from its position across from me and dropped it at my feet. “Let’s try it closer to you and then if you get it, we can move it back a little bit at a time.”

  “You don’t have to stay,” I said. “I can keep practicing on my own. I know you don’t want to be here.”

  “I told you,” Ashton said, “I do what Max asks. Now, try moving the ring.”

  The last thing I wanted was to let him see me fail. I pressed my lips together and rolled up the sleeves of my dress. Maybe I just needed to concentrate harder. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. The sound of the wind in the tress and the birds chirping filled my ears. The scent of pine soothed me. It was almost like being back in my woods. You can do this. It’s just you and the ring. Nothing else. I pictured myself alone in the trees near my home then opened my eyes.

  Focusing on the metal ring, I imagined it moving where I wanted it to go as Max had instructed. The ring shook and my heart quickened. It started to rise. A loud popping noise broke through the trees and all of the birds stopped singing. I jumped back in surprise. When I looked down at the ring, it was gone. I stared across the cleaning to where I wanted the ring to move and didn’t see it there. I slumped down onto the ground, resting my head in my hands.

  “It’s fine,” Ashton said. “Not everybody is cut out to be a sorcerer.”

  I didn’t look up. I didn’t want to see the gloating smile I knew Ashton was wearing.

  “Etta!” Max’s voice was loud and angry.

  I lifted my head to search for him.

  He emerged from his tent holding several pieces of metal in his opened hands. “What did you do that for?” He walked toward me and dropped the metal pieces at my feet. It was the ring, only now it was shattered.

  I brushed my fingers over the pieces of metal in complete shock.

  Max’s features softened. “You didn’t do this on purpose, did you?”

  “No. I don’t know how this happened.”

  Max sighed. “Well, at least we know there’s strong enough magic in there for you to be able to do some damage.” He reached down and helped me up.

  “Ashton, you’ll work with her again tomorrow. We need to find out what she can do.”

  My stomach knotted as I realized I’d be spending the day with Ashton. He glared at me as if I were purposefully ruining his life.

  I had about an hour of free time before dinner, so I walked back through all of the places Ashton had shown me earlier, trying to get a better feel for the camp. My arms felt heavy and tired, as if I had been working in the garden harvesting crops all morning. I didn’t realize magic would be so physically exhausting.

  My feet seemed to have a mind of their own, leading me through the trees while my mind replayed the event with the ring over and over in my head. What had I done to the ring? How did it end up in Max’s quarters, shattered? It was my first chance to impress my brother and instead, I had made myself look foolish.

  The sound of birds drew me toward the aviary. Inside, owls and ravens greeted me with friendly cries. If you could ignore the smell, the aviary was a nice place to visit. Finding some seeds, I started to feed the birds. A tiny, white owl flew down from a corner perch and landed briefly on my arm. She let me touch her soft feathers before flying away. The birds seemed so happy. At least they were easy to please.

  The door opened behind me and I turned to see Saffron enter, holding a tiny scroll in her hand. She smiled when she saw me. “I heard your brother kept you busy today.”

  I dropped the last of the seeds from my hands into a bowl in front of a large gray dove. The bird pecked away at the seeds. My shoulders dropped and I realized how tired I was from spending the morning trying to make something happen with the magic I didn’t know I had. One morning with my brother and I’d already managed to disappoint him. My life continued to get more complicated every day. “Yes, it has been a long, strange day.”

  I watched her place the paper into a tube on the leg of a white dove. She stroked the bird before picking it up and walking out of the doors with it in her hands.

  I followed and watched her release the bird into the sky.

  “Where’s the bird going?” I asked as I watched it reduce to a small speck of white against blue.

  “Message for our secondary camp in the mountains,” she said.

  I raised my eyebrows. “We have another camp?”

  Saffron nodded. “We have two more camps. They are much smaller than this one. There is one in the mountains of Marimont and then one near the King’s castle. The camp by the king only has 4 men at a time. We used to have one more small camp. Outside your village so we could watch you and keep you safe. We broke it down after we moved you.”

  I had no idea how big of an operation the Ravens really were until that moment. Hope welled up inside me. If they were this large, and organized, maybe there was actually a way to bring down the king.

  “How was your tour this morning?” Saffron asked.

  “It would have been better with a different guide,” I said.

  She chuckled. “Ashton’s not so bad. He’s been through a lot,” she paused, “actually reminds me of you in a lot of ways.”

  I huffed. “I hope I’m never as conceited as he is.”

  Saffron put her arm around my shoulder. “Try not to take it personally. Besides,” she shrugged, “it might be good practice for all of the lords and ladies and royals you’ll be meeting in a few weeks.”

  I winced at the thought of mingling with all of the highborn people I was going to have to meet. I was starting to like the Raven’s camp. I made a mental note to not get too attached to anything. I didn’t want to start to think of this place as home only to have it ripped away from me.

  “Now,” Saffron began, “tell me about sorcery training.”

  “It was bad.” I covered my face with my hands. “Max didn’t tell you?”

  She shook her head. “I haven’t seen him at all today.”

  I stopped walking and she stopped with me. I knew I shouldn’t say anything, but I asked anyway.

  “Saffron, what’s with you and Max? I mean, I saw the kiss but you act so formally around him.”

  She sighed. “It’s a long story, really. What it comes down to is that we were in love once. A very long time ago. Before the Ravens, even. We were children, but it was love.” Her eyes looked far away, her gaze glassy.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Nothing, really,” she said, breaking the faraway look. “It’s just not possible for us to be together. So we had to go our separate ways. We hadn’t seen each other in months and we fell into old habits.”

  I furrowed my brow. “Why can’t you be together?”

  She locked her eyes on mine. “Because he is going to be king. He’ll have to marry for political reasons rather than love.”

  My breath caught in my chest. I knew royalty couldn’t marry for love but seeing Max have to toss aside his childhood love made it more real. Wait. “Weren’t my parents in love?”

  Saffron’s mouth twisted. “From what I’ve heard, yes, they were. But your mother was a princess, so she could marry a king.”

  A princess. My mother was a princess before she married my father. I knew that was how it worked, but I didn’t think about it before. I’m a princess. I felt the color drain from my face.

  “What’s wrong?” Saffron asked.

  “The diplomatic missions I’m being sent on.” I couldn’t finish the thought.

&nb
sp; Saffron pulled her mouth into a tight line. She nodded. “Yes, Etta. You’ll have to do the same as Max.”

  Before Max is even king, they’re going to marry me off. I knew it was coming, but I thought I’d have more time. I thought I would get to help the Ravens put Max on the throne first. I’m not ready to get married. I’m still trying to figure out who I am and what being a princess means.

  I grabbed Saffron by her shoulders. “Why now? Can’t it wait?”

  She gently lowered my arms. “We need to forge an alliance with a country that has an army. Marriage is the best way to do that. You have the most important job. Without an army, we can’t defeat the king.”

  The space around me seemed to turn slightly sideways and I steadied myself with a few deep breaths. I was overreacting. This wasn’t news. Everybody knew that princesses marry high ranking nobles, princes or kings, even. What does it really matter if it happens now or later? It’s not like I’m giving up a great love of my own. Maybe it’s better this way. I won’t have to fight and I won’t have time to fall in love with anybody. Maybe I’ll even love my husband.

  As much as I tried to find the good, I couldn’t fight the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was as if I was forgetting about something important. Some reason why I couldn’t marry. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

  12

  “Again!” Ashton shouted from his place lounging in a low hanging tree branch.

  I pushed my sweat stuck hair from my forehead off of my face and focused on the four little boxes set on stumps in front of me. Each box contained one of the four elements: water, fire, air, and earth. I concentrated hard. Trying to get a reaction from any of the four boxes. My body ached from the constant state of tension. I sighed and spun away from the stumps, massaging my temples.

  “It’s no use,” I cried out.

  He jumped down from the branch with the grace of a cat. He landed quietly on the ground.

  “You’re overthinking it,” he said for the hundredth time. “That’s why we have children do this. Kids don’t overthink things the way adults do.”

  I clenched my jaw. Easy for you to say. You aren’t the one out here staring at little boxes while somebody watches you.

  “That’s not helping.” I glared at him. It had been nearly two days of staring at boxes in the worst heat I had ever experienced.

  “Watch,” Ashton instructed. Once again, he took my place in the center of the boxes and stood in front of them. He rolled his shoulders and stood up straight, eyes locked on the center box, fire. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then opened them and reached toward the box. Flames shot out of the box, letting off a fierce heat.

  He dropped his hands, causing the fire to shrink back into its place inside the little box. He looked at me. “See?”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Yes. I see. You keep showing me, but that isn’t helping. You already know your element. You stare right at the box you need and focus all of your energy on it. I have to look at all of them, through all of them. To feel the right one. It’s impossible.” I threw my hands in the air, dropping them at my sides. “Plus, I can barely focus in this heat!” I pushed my hair back out of my eyes again.

  Ashton looked around the clearing.

  “Hoping somebody else can take over for you?” I asked in frustration.

  “You’d like that, I’m sure,” he said. He looked around again.

  “What are you doing?” I shouted. The heat and the lack of progress had made me cranky.

  “Calm down,” he said quietly.

  I forced myself to relax my tense shoulders. “I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s just - I feel so useless.”

  He smiled at me.

  We weren’t exactly friends, but over the last two days I had seen a different side to him. He was mostly a patient teacher. He took my training seriously, despite the fact that I knew it was costing him time he could be practicing himself.

  “There’s a theory I heard once,” he said.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “That adults can have an easier time finding their element if they, well, if they have a few drinks. Helps them let their guard down and be more impulsive. More like a child.”

  I smiled. “You’re totally making that up.”

  He put his hands out in front of him in mock surrender. “No, I swear. I heard it from another sorcerer.”

  I pressed my lips together and thought for a moment. I knew it was probably a bad idea but I wanted to open one of those boxes so badly. “Do you think it would really work?”

  He shrugged. “It’s probably not going to hurt at the rate we’re going. There’s only one downside.” He crossed his arms. “We’d kinda have to sneak into town.”

  “Why?”

  “There’s no alcohol in the Raven camp. Max says it dulls our senses. So if anybody wants a drink, they have to go to the village.”

  I swallowed hard. Nobody told me I had to stay in camp, but I knew the King’s Guard was hunting me. This is a bad idea.

  “It’s about a mile away,” Ashton said.

  I looked at the little boxes that had been the source of all of my stress the last two days. If I could learn how to channel magic, I wouldn’t have to worry about being safe. I could learn how to protect myself. I’m tired of being so defenseless. I nodded at Ashton. “I’m in.”

  He smiled. “Didn’t think you’d have it in you, I have to admit.” He looked up at the sun. “It’s almost dinner. We’ll go once the sun sets.”

  My stomach filled with butterflies. I felt guilty about sneaking out without telling anybody. I’m sure I’d be in huge trouble if I was caught. Then again, Max was planning my whole life out for me without talking to me about it. The least I could do for myself was to have a few adventures before I was married off. Plus, this was for a good cause. Max said that a sorcerer was the most powerful thing you could be. He thought it was important. Maybe he’d understand. Maybe nobody will find out.

  Ashton was putting the element boxes into a satchel when I arrived at the Sorcery training clearing. The last rays of the sun shone through the trees, it would be dark soon.

  “Are you bringing the element boxes?” I asked.

  “We’ll have to have you try them outside of town. The walk back to camp might be enough to sober you up.” He pulled the satchel over his shoulder.

  “I’ve never had a drink before,” I said.

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “Never? Not even on feast days?”

  “Well, a sip at Sir Henry’s but nothing more. My grandmother always said it wasn’t appropriate.”

  “Never had a taste with your friends?”

  I shook my head. “I didn’t really spend time with other kids in the village. And I never really wanted to try it. I saw enough grown men acting like idiots because of it.”

  We started to make our way through the woods, Ashton leading the way.

  “I thought I had the worse childhood.” He smiled at me. “Being raised in the Ravens. But it sounds like you were kept pretty closed off. At least I played with other kids.”

  I pushed some of the stray curls away from my face. “I guess I never thought about it too much. To me, it was normal. I didn’t know any different.”

  “That’s true. I started sneaking out to this village when I was about 10. That’s when I realized how different things were in this camp from how they are in other places. Then I got to go on a few supply runs when I was older.”

  I was surprised by how much he was sharing about his life and wanted to know more. “How old are you?” I asked.

  “I’ll be 20 next week. That’s why I’m taking my sorcery test then. You can’t take it until you turn 18 but they only have the trials once every three years. So I missed out last time.”

  “Why 18?” I asked.

  “The guild doesn’t want you to practice magic without a master until you’re 18. Once you pass the trials, you can legally perform magic on your own.”

  “What
if you don’t have a master?” I asked, thinking of my own situation. If I was able to channel magic, how would I learn?

  “You can’t do magic without a master,” he said. “If you need training, I suppose Max will have to apply to be your master or find you somebody. If we teach you without registering you with the guild, we’ll be breaking the law. Max won’t do that. He’s the leader of the Order of the Dragon, and he’d lose his title if he broke guild law.”

  There was so much I didn’t understand. How had this whole other world existed around me for so long? “So you’ll be done training with Max after you pass?” Maybe Max would take a new apprentice.

  “I could be. Or I can keep going. There’s advanced trials you can test for, higher levels. Depends on how high you want to move into the sorcerer’s guild.”

  “It sounds complicated,” I said.

  “I can explain it all to you one of these days,” he said.

  I smiled. This was a different version of Ashton. I think I like this Ashton. Maybe he was like me, the woods always helped calm me back home.

  “Max thinks I’ll be able to test for the Order of the Dragon in a year or two. It’s the highest ranking group for sorcerers who align with fire. I could be the youngest member ever.”

  There was so much I didn’t know. “Is there an order for every element?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know much about the other elements.” He climbed over a fallen tree and then turned to face me. He offered a hand to help me climb over it.

  His touch sent a wave of heat through me. My pulse quickened. Calm down. It’s just Ashton. I tried to focus on the fallen tree and not on my hand in his. He had changed over the last few days. He wasn’t the same angry person I first me.

  “I’m sorry.” I said as I jumped off of the tree. I dropped his hand.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “I’ve taken so much time away from you. Time that you should have used to study.”

  He smiled. “I’m not so mad about that anymore. Besides,” he shrugged, “Max says the true test of mastery is being able to teach.”