by Dyan Chick
A horn sounded from outside.
Thank the gods. I needed to get out of this tent and away from this girl. She was being nice to me, but I didn’t want to like her. Not after how familiar she was with Ashton. Even though I knew it was ridiculous to be so protective of him, I couldn’t let go. Not yet.
Celeste tucked the box under her bed. “Opening ceremonies.” She walked toward the tent flap and held it open for us to walk through. We stopped in front of the tent, Ashton’s hand still holding on to mine.
“I’ll walk Wilona back and meet you there,” Ashton said.
“Apprentice thing?” I asked.
“You’ll get to go to the dinner,” Ashton explained, “but everybody who is testing has to meet for a rules meeting and check in first.”
“Go on,” I said, “don’t be late for me. I can find my way back.”
“It won’t take long,” he said.
“Go,” I said. “I’m fine.”
He squeezed my hand. “I’ll see you after the dinner.”
A pulling sensation tugged inside my stomach as he headed away with Celeste. We hadn’t ever discussed what that kiss meant or what we were to each other, but I felt connected to him in a way I’d never felt to anybody else. When we were together, I felt like I was home. It was a strange experience and it didn’t make any sense. How had I gotten so wrapped up in him so quickly? My mind and my heart were at war with each other. It didn’t seem possible to have these feelings for him so quickly, but they were there, impossible to ignore.
Ashton and Celeste disappeared through the crowds. Staring after him wasn’t doing me any good. With a sigh, I went back to my tent where I found Saffron in the process of lacing up her boots. The armor was gone, replaced by a simple blue dress. Her curly blond hair hung loose. She looked rested.
“How was the tour?” she asked me.
I shrugged. “Alright. Mostly just tents and meadow.”
She nodded. “Yes, that’s true. It’ll be more fun in the coming days.”
I turned away from Saffron to hide a yawn.
“You need to get some rest,” she put her arm around my shoulder, “but first, dinner and a show.”
While I was in the tent with Saffron, a space in the meadow had been filled with large round tables. Each of the tables had baskets and platters of food. I searched the crowd of people for Ashton. Saffron guided me to an empty seat at a table near a raised platform. As soon as we sat, several other people joined us at the table. They were older and I wondered if they were parents of some of the apprentices who were testing.
The mood was jovial and I was soon surrounded by happy conversation. A white-haired man on my right introduced himself as a retired sorcerer. His first apprentice was now a master, here with his first apprentice. He laughed as he explained how he had grand-apprentices. For the first time, I realized how close the sorcery community was. Everybody seemed to know each other. As I participated in polite conversation, I stole glances around the meadow, trying to find the apprentices so I could catch a glimpse of Ashton.
Saffron leaned in to me. “He’s fine. Eat.”
I frowned, disappointed that I had been so obvious. Picking up a roll, I took a few bites. Chewing gave me an excuse to listen rather than speak so I made an effort to try some of everything on the table. The white-haired man was more than happy to tell me his entire life story, which was surprisingly interesting. Any time he’d ask me a question, I’d take another bite and limit myself to a word or two.
After a while, people began to stop reaching for food. Teapots and teacups appeared on all of the tables magically. I seemed to be the only person who was surprised. As the tea was poured, a murmur moved through the tables. Heads turned toward the sky where thousands of fireflies had appeared above us. The sun was nearly gone and the fireflies looked like glittering stars. The sound of applause rippled through the tables as a man walked across the platform.
He was small, probably about my height. He wore blue robes and a blue hat over his long gray hair. He spoke with a smooth, kind voice. “Welcome to the annual sorcery trials.”
More applause.
He lifted his hands to silence the crowd. “This year we will be testing sixty-one students from three kingdoms. The next two days are set aside for practice, and you may ask judges questions. Then we will begin the testing. Tonight, we celebrate all of the hard work these young people have done to get here. If you’ll turn your attention to the skies.”
I looked up and my mouth fell open. The fireflies had positioned themselves into rows, then they began to ripple like waves. A group of fireflies shaped like a fish traveled through the waves. Other creatures I did not recognize began to swim through the waves. One had a large round head and eight arms wiggling under it. I saw a turtle and a star moving through the currents of light. Then the gold of the bugs began to melt into a bright green, then blue, then purple. They flashed through a series of colors all the while rippling and flowing like waves. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. The ripples gave way to spirals of color that changed and flowed into one another. My neck was starting to get sore from looking up for so long. Just when I was going to give up and drop my head, the fireflies returned to their original color and spread out along the sky to look like stars.
19
As much as I wanted to see Ashton after dinner, the exhaustion of the last few days won over and I was asleep before he returned. When I woke to birdsong the next morning, he was sound asleep in his bed. Part of me wanted to wake him and ask about his night. The more magic I saw, the more I wanted to start learning it for myself. Was it possible that I could take the trials on my own one day? Holding my hands above my face, I looked at my fingers. Somehow, I had made magic with my bare hands. If I had some real training, what would I be capable of doing?
Dropping my hands, I stared at the purple fabric of the tent. The sound of deep breathing mixed with the birdsong. How can they sleep through all these birds? Turning to my side, I tried to go back to sleep, but I knew it was useless. I surrendered to the morning and crawled out of bed. Since Ashton was still asleep, I quickly changed with my back to him before ducking out of the tent.
It was a beautiful sunny morning. I glanced back at the tent, half expecting somebody to tell me to turn around. I felt like the peasant girl sneaking to the woods. Nobody told me that I couldn’t go out alone while I was here. Shaking the thought away, I moved forward, weaving in and out of tents. My breath came out in a cloud and I hugged my arms against my chest. It was quiet and peaceful. There weren’t very many people walking around yet and the only sound I could hear was the music of the birds.
Despite the cold, I felt more at peace than I had in a long time. The tingle of magic in my hands had become comfortable and somehow made me feel safe. It was a different feeling than I got from the Reapers. I shivered. It was only a matter of time before I’d face off with them again. Pausing, I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing in the fresh air and the freedom. Once I left this place, who knew what I was in store for?
“Good morning, young miss.”
With a start, I opened my eyes. The man who spoke at dinner last night was smiling at me. He was wearing the same blue robes. Gray hair hung loose around his shoulders. He was standing in the entrance of a tent and I realized I had stopped right in front of it.
“Good morning.” I started to walk away, but doubled back to him. “The fireflies last night were really beautiful.”
He inclined his head. “Thank you, I’ve been working on that for years.” He sunk into a low bow. “Master Flanders at your service.”
I dipped into a slight curtsy. “Wilona.” I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be hiding who I was here. Ashton had introduced me as Wilona, but he always called me that.
Master Flanders stretched out his arms toward me, palms facing me. I flinched, unsure of what he was doing. I took a step backward and he lowered his hands.
“There is an ancient kind of magic in your
veins,” he said. “I haven’t met anybody who aligned with water since the last Aqualine King.”
My father aligned with water? The deeper I got into this new life, the more I learned about my family. Things I should have already known. Does that mean he knows who I am? If water is that rare, will this sorcerer guess that I’m a member of the royal family?
Wait. How does he know my alignment? Maybe he’s just guessing, trying to get a reaction from me. I licked my lips and considered how I should answer. Was he testing me? Curiosity won and I lowered my voice. “How do you know that I align with water?”
He shrugged. “All sorcerers have unique gifts, though some are more impressive than others. For the most part, we are the same. We are trained in similar ways and learn similar skills. Our affinity with an element gives us an edge in any magic that uses that specific element. My special gift is that I can tell what other sorcerer’s elements are.”
“That would have been very helpful a few weeks ago.” It would have been nice to avoid all of the misadventures I had encountered in the process of finding my element. But then, I don’t think Ashton would have kissed me. Which would have made my life much easier.
I shifted my feet and looked away from Master Flanders. His unblinking expression made me feel like he knew what I was thinking. If he could read my element, what else could he do? He gave me the same feeling that Max had the night I snuck out with Ashton. Like he knew more about me than I knew about myself. The comparison sent a shiver down my spine. No. Not quite like Max. I took a small breath and looked up at him, trying to get a read on him. He wasn’t like Max, more like my grandmother. She always seemed to know when I was holding something back.
“You misunderstand,” he continued. “I can’t read it until the magic has been unlocked within the person. You have to find it for yourself first. So, you see, it really is a silly gift. No real value other than helping me when I judge apprentices here at the trials. I have a feeling that your special gift is very unique.”
I wrinkled my brow. Those icy blue flames must be my gift. If only I knew how to use them. Maybe this sorcerer was the one I had hoped for, the person who could help me. Can I trust him? I probably shouldn’t tell him about the flames yet. Not knowing how far the king’s reach extended, it was safer to keep details to myself.
“I haven’t done any training yet.” It was the truth.
“Now that is unusual at your age.” He held his chin between his thumb and forefinger and seemed to be studying me.
Feeling self conscious, I worried I said too much. “I guess I should be going.”
“Please, stay,” he said, “I have a few hours and I haven’t had the chance to teach new students since I started judging the trials. If you’d like, I can show you some basics.”
I thought briefly about what Max would say. He’d say I had already said too much. Saffron would probably agree. What would Ashton say? I decided I didn’t care. He’d spent the whole night out with Celeste. He didn’t get a say. This man served on some sort of council and judged for the trials. He’s probably harmless. “Okay. If it isn’t an imposition.”
He swept his hand out toward an area of the meadow where there weren’t any tents. “Not at all. After you.”
Master Flanders started me with learning how to stand to better channel magic. I stood with my legs apart, knees slightly bent and arms loose at my side. From this position, he encouraged the use of pivots, so you always kept one foot planted on solid ground at all times. Apparently, you could pull more source magic from the earth if you were always touching it. I greedily accepted every tip he offered me. Somehow, my blue flames sent the Reapers away but the trade off was that I spent the next several hours unconscious. I knew I needed to get stronger. If a stance would do it for me, I was willing to try.
“I’m guessing you already figured out what magic feels like?” he asked.
I nodded. “My hands and fingers tingle when I’m around it. Sometimes I feel it in the rest of my body, too. It feels cold, but sometimes it also feels hot.”
He pressed his lips together. “You’ve used it. Your magic. You don’t feel it internally unless you are in the act of using it.”
I looked down, trying to hide the pink rising in my cheeks. I didn’t want to explain about the blue fire or the Reapers.
“Did a friend teach you?” he asked.
I thought for a moment. “I guess so. I learned how to unlock an element box. Then I watched and did the same thing he did.”
“What did you do, exactly?”
I hesitated, not sure if I should keep talking. He looked at me with kind, patient eyes. My grandmother gave me that same look. He didn’t seem like somebody who was going to harm me. Besides, the Reapers knew, so the king already knew what I could do. Maybe he can help me.
“I made blue fire.” I watched his face carefully for his reaction to my words.
His mouth twitched and a half smile emerged. “Really? Why that is a rare talent, indeed. There’s a reason why you said it felt hot and cold. That’s because you are making arctic fire, though it’s actually ice that looks like fire. It causes a freezing heat. Excellent defense against undead creatures. Especially strong against dark magic. That makes you very dangerous if you can learn how to control it.”
Arctic fire. I wanted to know everything there was to know about this fire. “Is it only something that people who have a water affinity can do?”
He nodded. “Part of what makes it so rare. Most sorcerers are aligned to air or earth. Water and fire are rare, with water being the rarest of all elements. Magic is passed down in families. The Aqualine family had a water user in every generation.” He winked at me.
He knows who I am. My heartbeat quickened. Should I stop talking? Maybe I should go find Saffron. My curiosity was stronger than my doubt, sending my mind reeling.
If this power was so useful, why was my family dead? Did they know how to use it? Could it have saved them when the duke attacked? Could it save me? “How does it help against dark magic and the undead?”
“The ice can penetrate deeper than other types of magic. The undead have to be killed from the inside out. So they can be killed with fire, but it has to reach the heart and too often, they put the flames out before it can burn through the body or the bones. The ice in the arctic fire can go right through the body. If you learn to control it, you’ll be able to kill even the darkest creatures.”
“Like Reapers?”
He nodded. “Yes, but you have to have perfect control and excellent aim. The Reapers have few weaknesses, so most think they cannot be killed. But if you can get that ice to penetrate to their hearts, you can kill them.”
My heart swelled, filling me with hope. The Reapers can be killed. Being hunted by men, like the King’s Guard, was not as scary as being hunted by the undead monsters that have been tracking me. If I could learn to control my power, I could end them forever. That would weaken the king and keep me safer.
I bounced up on my toes. “How do I learn to control that?”
He chuckled and looked to the sky. “I have about an hour left this morning. I can show you how to make a plant grow. It’s usually the first skill we teach new students.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t want to learn how to make a plant grow. I want to learn to control the arctic fire.”
“Patience,” he said, “You have to learn how to control your magic before you can harness something so powerful.”
I dropped my hands to my side. “But I’ve used it twice already.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Did you stay conscious after you used it?”
I shook my head.
“Your body reacted in self defense but it can’t handle that amount of magic flowing through you, yet. You have to start at the beginning and learn to control it a little at a time.”
It made sense that I’d need to build the skills to use magic. It had taken me years to develop my embroidery skills, but then I’d learned to us
e the bow so quickly. Massaging my temples, I wished I could just skip ahead. It would have been so much easier to learn this when I was a child. A wave of frustration filled me. There was so much I had missed out on while I had been hidden away.
He didn’t wait for me to respond before dropping to the ground and resting his hand under a small flower.
I’ve got to start somewhere. I crouched down next to him, eyes glued to the little flower he was holding. Before I could even settle on the ground, vines began to spread from the flower. The tendrils expanded and stretched across the field, flower buds forming along the vines. My eyes widened. Bright yellow flowers, identical to the one he had his hand under, bloomed like magic. It is magic.
I gasped. “How did you do that?” How had this been kept from me all these years?
“Choose the plant you want to make grow and lightly rest your hand under the plant. You have to clear your mind of all thoughts except for those to make that plant grow. Imagine it sprouting, imagine the leaves filling out, imagine the blooms that will grow from your guidance. Will that thought into the plant. Help it grow.”
It sounded too easy. After all of the trouble I went through to open the little box, how was I going to make a plant grow by thinking it? Feeling a little foolish, I took a deep breath and then rested my hand under a different yellow flower. Grow. Nothing happened. Dropping my hand, I pushed my hair away from my face. “Just imagine it growing?”
Master Flanders nodded. “Yes, but you have to believe it. Clear your mind of all else. Try to get inside the plant with your mind.”
We were still alone in the field, though I could hear more activity in the distance as people started to walk around the camp. This was beginners magic and I was nearly the same age as the apprentices here who were ready to take their trials. You’ve got to start somewhere. Trying to ignore the sounds from the camp, I pushed up my sleeves and extended my arm toward the flower.
