“Okay,” I surrendered finally. “We’ll go. I need to go to Ebony’s anyway.”
“What?” Jayson said. “We’re going to see the Ashaiks? Again?”
“You don’t have to come with me.” I said, frowning, as we made our way back upstairs. “But I need to send off my application to the Council and I have no idea what to put. Silva said I should wait a week before I send anything off, but honestly I don’t think I can afford to wait that long.”
Jayson grabbed my bags as we entered the Grand Hall and I gathered up the rest of my stuff which had been conveniently placed by the door.
That reminded me. “Where are my maids?” I asked Evelyn. “I thought they’d want to see me.”
Evelyn fidgeted guiltily. “They are no longer part of our service.”
I gasped. “What? Why? Did they leave?”
Evelyn found that grimly amusing. “No dear, they are not allowed to leave. We had to send them back; we could no longer afford to keep them.”
My eyes widened. “Sent them back where?”
“To Ephizon; to become slaves for someone else,” she answered sadly.
“Oh no,” I breathed.
“Come on,” Jayson nudged me, seeing the shock on my face. “Let’s go.”
I nodded absently and followed him. We made our way to Ebony’s house without speaking. But when I knocked on the door of her little cottage, Libby appeared and instantly my outlook brightened.
“Hello Libby.” I said to her, smiling. “Where’s your mother?”
I could hear Ebony’s voice growing increasingly louder. “Libby, how many times have I told you to wait for me before you answer–oh! Ruby. Hi.”
“Hi,” I greeted. “I’m looking for Nik or anyone who can help me write this application for the Council.”
“Well you’re in luck,” she smiled. “Nik’s here; come on in. You too, Blondie.” She winked at Jayson, who looked slightly uncomfortable.
I spent the rest of the afternoon writing and re-writing my letter to the Council. Jayson waited, rather impatiently and looking awkward, beside me; despite his previous protests. Chara –bless her- tried desperately to have a conversation with him while I worked with Nik; but it was only when Adrian arrived later on that he actually spoke up, which was both odd and confusing.
“By the way,” Chara said as I was finally about to leave. “We thought you’d want to learn to protect your mind from Silva and others like her. So we got you a tutor. He’s the best around for miles and taught all of us.”
“Cool,” I smiled gratefully; but distractedly. “Who is it?” I asked; my mind occupied with wondering where Jayson had disappeared off to.
He’d left about half an hour ago with Adrian. They’d had another heated discussion about something stupid and they’d been irritating me, as I was trying to concentrate on my letter, so I’d told them to argue elsewhere. I didn’t expect they’d be gone this long though. As I reached Ebony’s front door I spotted Jayson stood outside on his own; glancing skywards with his hands in his pockets. I frowned, shrugging to myself, and turned back to Chara; smiling. I was interested in hearing who this acclaimed tutor was.
“It’s Adrian,” she enlightened me, and my smiled rapidly faded. “He’s going to contact you when he’s free, so be warned.”
“Okay,” I said, both surprised and worried.
Consider me warned. I thought.
Chapter Fifteen
Adrian didn’t contact me that night, or the next day, or even the day after.
I sent off my application to the Council that very first night and was waiting for a response from that too. Chara had also let me know that the others, including his royal arsehole, had grudgingly applied as well.
There was literally nothing useful I could occupy my time with, so for the next few days I moped around Jayson’s place with nothing but my own thoughts to amuse me; my first mistake. So, obviously, when Flint asked me on the third night if I wanted to go out with him, Jayson and the crew to the Broken Talon; I automatically said yes. This was my second mistake.
The Broken Talon was nothing like I imagined. For a start, the moment I walked through the door, a firework exploded soundlessly above my head into several thousand sparks. These embers congregated together instantly, formulating the Karisian symbol for welcome. Second, these sexy waiter guys appeared, covered in iridescent tattoos and constantly spinning lit torches and orbs around their bodies; one chucking a burning orb in my direction. Before I could react Jayson snatched the orb from the air and clutched it in his hand.
“Thanks mate,” he called to the waiter, who grinned and continued on, still juggling his flaming devices.
The floor was on fire; literally. Low flames danced around my ankles, wafting up from the floorboards. The fire wasn’t warm, surprisingly -even if I couldn’t be burned by fire, I could still feel its heat- but it emitted a weird vibrating sensation that tingled when it came into contact with my skin.
The Broken Talon was a seriously cool place; I soon realised.
Half naked drummers with some pretty nice biceps blasted out electric tribal songs. A heaving crowd danced on the main floor. Fireworks exploded intermittently, flaming arrangements lined the bars, and acrobats dangled on thick flaming ribbons from the ceiling. The atmosphere was so intoxicating it took me a moment to focus on my friends again.
“What is that?” I wondered, gesturing towards the flaming orb in Jayson’s hand. At closer inspection I realised that it had two layers and only the outer shell was on fire; the inner layer contained bubbling liquid barely visible through the flames.
“It’s called Dragon Spit.” Flint winked, summoning a straw from God knows where and piercing it through the outer layer effortlessly. “Try it.”
I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously, “It’s not…alcoholic, is it?”
He laughed, his pinkish eyes clear and believable. “Of course not; would I lie to you?”
I glanced at Jayson as he grinned innocently, “Try it; it won’t kill you.”
My third mistake was to believe them.
I’m sure I made more mistakes that night, but I couldn’t remember anything after consuming that foul drink –which was as deadly as it sounded.
When I first woke up on the fourth day after sending off my Council application, I sat up slowly. My head whirled instantly and I ran to the bathroom and threw up… a lot.
When I eventually found enough courage to lift my head from the toilet seat, there was a hollow ringing in my ears. The room spun nauseatingly and I vomited again. After that I felt considerably better, though I had a throbbing headache and the light stung my eyes.
Finally I managed to stand up and most of the walls stayed where they were, so I stumbled back to bed –where I planned to stay for the remainder of the day. Stupid, stupid Flint and Jayson; I grumbled mentally. I felt unnecessarily hideous; I shut my eyes fiercely and began to plan my revenge.
Unfortunately, as if fate had planned it as some cruel cosmic joke, that’s when someone banged on my door. Initially I decided to ignore it, but then I thought it might be important and, groaning irritably, I leaned over and shouted ‘come in’. The door swung open and it was Adrian.
“What?” I demanded. Okay, I wasn’t very nice most mornings, but with a killer hangover and an empty stomach I was downright horrible.
All he said was that he’d meet me outside in an hour. Then he went back out; slamming the door on the way. I flinched at the loud noise. I grumbled, threw my pillow over my head and pretended I didn’t exist. I must have fallen back to sleep because the sound of the door clattering open disturbed my slumber. Almost instantly I heard Adrian’s rough, agitated voice.
“Get up Ruby, I said an hour,” he growled.
I rubbed my aching forehead, “How late am I?”
“Ten minutes.”
I sighed exhaustedly. “I’ll be two minutes.” I grudgingly forced myself up onto my elbows. “How did you get in here?”
&nbs
p; “Jayson let me in,” he glared. “I guessed that he still lived here.”
“Does Kieran know I live here too?” I wondered, still trying to get used to the searing light.
“No.” he answered curtly. “Now hurry up. I’ll meet you outside.”
With that, he stormed out of the door again.
I allowed myself thirty seconds to clear my head, and then I reluctantly got up and got dressed. Everything hurt. Flint had passed out on the sofa, so I snuck past him on my tiptoes, then I staggered downstairs and out of the main entrance to find Adrian leading on a wall outside, looking stubbornly superior. When he saw me his expression transformed into glaring suspicion.
“You look like crap,” he noticed, seeming especially grouchy today.
I frowned, “Thanks. It’s nice to know last night’s events stuck with me.”
“Follow me.” It wasn’t a friendly offer, but I followed him anyway.
I wasn’t surprised at how different Adrian’s common room was to the one I currently lived in. There were no big open fireplaces or skylights to see the setting sun or the blazing stars at night. Instead the walls were coated in ivy, and large open doors lead out into a wickedly untamed garden. Everything was made of wood and the walls, underneath the occasional ivy vine, were painted a soft green; the colour of freshly cut grass in summer.
Adrian got straight to business, he gestured for me to sit on a large oak chair which sat opposite its identical twin. I quickly obeyed, knowing that the sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could leave. Adrian told me to wait, and then disappeared off into one of the nearby rooms. He returned a moment later carrying a small box crafted from some sort of heavy grey stone.
Adrian sat down in the chair across from me, placing the box on his knee. He tapped it lightly as he spoke, “In this box is a piece of root from the Tekari tree. When diluted it’s used in healing to put people to sleep, but in its natural form its properties are so strong that the root actually radiates sedatives. This radiation can penetrate the mind and make you fall unconscious in seconds. Obviously this is useful to us because if you can learn to block out this radiation, or sedative waves as we call them, you can also block any other types of mental invasions; such as Silva’s for example.”
I nodded, trying to absorb all this while my brain felt like it was doing somersaults in my skull. Which wasn’t good, let me tell you.
“The simplest way to do this is to clear your mind and think of nothing at all, but this method can get a little difficult in emergency situations; say if someone was fighting you it would be impossible to not think of the fact your face is being punched. The second method is to block the invasion with a wall.” Adrian explained. Surprisingly, he seemed to be enjoying sharing his knowledge. He barely seemed grumpy at all anymore.
“How do I make a wall?” I asked.
Adrian glowered, apparently not liking being interrupted, and said. “It’s built over practice and time. Each time you successfully resist a mental attack it’s like theoretically adding a new brick to your wall. As your wall develops, it becomes quicker and easier to defend yourself.”
“Yes,” I waved impatiently; feeling aggravated. “But how do you defend yourself in the first place?”
Adrian exhaled angrily and said through gritted teeth, “If you wait a moment I’ll tell you.” He paused, and I crossed my arms over my chest obediently –sarcastically- and he eventually continued. “First you need to think of one thing that is extremely significant to you; it can be a memory, a certain smell or taste, or even a word.”
“A word.” I repeated, pondering on that.
I knew the answer instantly.
Sungha. That was my significant word.
How many times had Kieran whispered it to me? I remembered the way he held me in his arms when I was dying; cradling me against his chest with his fingertips running through my hair soothingly. He’d uttered that one word so delicately, as if weighing its meaning on his lips, tasting its essence on his tongue, and despite everything, despite death beckoning me irresistibly, I felt calm, protected and loved.
Pah! Loved by Kieran? What a stupid notion. He was just a good liar.
I didn’t even know what Sungha meant; not exactly anyway. I didn’t know why it mattered, but it did. It was a part of our relationship I didn’t understand, only had blind faith in; the way a sightless child trusts her mother to guide her through treacherous obstacles.
It affected us equally; infecting him also. I once chased away the darkness in Kieran’s eyes during one of his uncontainable rages. With that special word I brought him back from whatever evil had tormented him, blackening his iris. It made him himself again. The warrior who holds my heart clenched between his talons whether it hurts or not.
“Have you thought of something yet?” Adrian said bluntly, tearing me abruptly from my thoughts.
I swallowed, and then nodded.
“Good, what is it?”
I frowned at him. “It’s personal. Would you tell me yours?”
“No,” he said immediately, closing himself off. “But that’s different.”
“How is it?” I demanded.
“I am teaching you, you are not teaching me.”
“No game.” I planted my feet stubbornly. “I’ll only talk if you will.”
He sighed petulantly. “Fine. Well, once you have your ‘thing’ you have to concentrate on it so that everything around you becomes less dominant and more recessive in your mind; like background noise. After time you’ll be able to focus on your ‘thing’ simultaneously as doing other things, but this takes practice and for now just concentrate on the blocking the invasions.”
I still felt clueless, but nevertheless Adrian lifted the stone box and held it towards me. Reluctantly I reached for it, placing it on my lap like it was a poisonous frog. “Now what?” I asked warily.
Adrian’s cold black eyes darted to the box. “When you open it, you’ll feel a sedative wave hit you. This’ll make you feel drowsy and eventually you’ll black out. However, if you preoccupy your mind with your ‘thing’, this prevents any waves from invading your mind; letting you stay conscious.”
“Okay,” I swallowed. “So basically: open the box and try to stay awake.”
“Yes,” Adrian nodded, and then he snatched the box from my grasp without warning. “I’ll hold this,” he decided, “I don’t want you dropping it when you pass out.” He moved his tanned fingers to grip the edge of the box; gently prizing it open. “Ready? One, two three…”
The wave hit me slowly at first, but with a rapidly increasing intensity. I concentrated on the word Sungha, trying to shield my mind from anything else. I focused on its meaning to me, the way if felt on mine or Kieran’s lips, but I could feel my already-throbbing head drifting…
I woke up with a start; my head spinning. Adrian was leaning over me.
“Well that was appalling.” He stated. “But it was expected. Try again.”
I don’t know how long I sat there for, but I felt exhausted after the first attempt. When it became obvious I wasn’t improving Adrian let me have a break; though, let’s face it, it wasn’t really a break as I had neither a cup of tea nor a Kitkat. But soon it was back to work.
By the time Adrian surrendered I hadn’t gotten anywhere and I’d barely blocked a wave for more than twenty continuous seconds.
Reawakening again after the fifteenth failed attempt of protecting my mind, I placed my head in my hands; leaning over. I felt like crying.
“This is hopeless,” I said pathetically. “What kind of Swartette am I? I can’t even block out a stupid root for God’s sake.”
Then Adrian surprised me. In a rare moment of kindness, he reached out to reassuringly touch my shoulder. “We can try again tomorrow Ruby.”
“What do we have here?” Kieran’s voice cut through me like scissors. I jumped and Adrian removed his hand instantly. “Adrian, you should know better than to let strays in off the street.”
My
heart thumped heavily as I glanced over to him. He stood in the threshold of the double doors that led to the garden, wearing nothing but joggers and trainers despite the intermittently sprinkling snow outside. The sight of him, his gorgeous cinnamon skin glistening with sweat and melted snowflakes –obviously he’d been running or flying- his breathing ever so slightly hard… it made me shudder with a renewed longing. But then I saw his eyes and, underneath his exterior of masculine arrogance, I saw the flicker of a lost boy. It made me angry. He didn’t deserve to look lost.
I got up roughly, my head pounding as I thanked Adrian for his time and then rushed to the door.
Kieran called, “Hey! Don’t leave because of me. I’m sorry I called you a stray. I know you’re a pedigree at heart.”
I turned over my shoulder and glared at him. “I’m not leaving because of you, but because the stench of your sweat is more than I can handle.”
I swung open the door angrily, but what was on the other size made me freeze. Sofia was standing there, keys in hand, reaching for the door handle.
Sofia. Sofia lived here. With Kieran. The bitch.
An expression of surprise was on her stupidly mesmerising face, her full lips caught in a wary twist. Once again I was struck by her beauty; it was too much. With her elegant but athletic figure, all graceful curves and long strong limbs, her flawless skin and ridiculously long eyelashes, I suddenly felt not only ugly and hung-over but overwhelmed by the fact that there was no way in hell I could ever compete with her.
“What are you doing here?” her eyes narrowed so much that her curling bottom lashes almost joined her top ones.
Adrian whistled lowly and then muttered a swearword.
“Don’t worry,” I turned and glared once more at Kieran, feeling my aggression and hatred rising. “I’m leaving.”
I brushed past her, not even caring how rude I was being, then stomped off down the hall. Angry tears welled up in my eyes but I forced them back furiously. When Kieran –I knew it was him instantly- caught my arm I was so wired up that I turned around and shoved him hard in his stomach; telling him to stay the hell away from me. I’d forgotten how strong he was, packed with iron muscle, and he didn’t budge even slightly.
Risen (The Firebird Trilogy Book 2) Page 18
