Falling For Fire

by Talia Jager

  Sorin finished the kiss but touched his forehead to mine. His warm hand still on my cheek, he said, “I’ve fallen for you too, Aurora.” Then he stepped back and walked away.

  Chapter Eleven

  Aurora

  The Autumn Equinox came quickly, and I tried everything not to think about seeing Sorin. My father climbed into the carriage first, followed by my mother, me, and then my siblings. The other carriages were filling up with Winter Fae. The atmosphere was positive. Most fae had enjoyed the Summer Solstice celebration and were looking forward to the Autumn party. Of course, there were a few that pouted, but they came anyway.

  The trip was bumpy and listening to my mother moan and groan was unpleasant, but I refused to let anything get me down. I’d be with Sorin soon, even if it wasn’t like when we met at the falls. I’d see him, talk to him, maybe even dance with him. On the other hand, now that we had admitted we liked each other, being together like this would be difficult.

  Our carriage pulled onto a dirt road. The castle was right in front of us. Up the road a little more was the Summer Fae carriage. I pushed down the smile that wanted to spread across my face as I thought of Sorin being just ahead of me.

  The Autumn castle was tall and brown with many towers. Surrounding it were trees with red, orange, and yellow leaves.

  Our carriage parked next to the Summer Fae’s. Slowly, so it didn’t seem that I was excited, I turned my head. Sorin shot me a quick smile, and without thinking, I returned it with one of my own. Thankfully before anyone could notice, the Autumn Fae Master of Ceremonies stepped out onto the balcony and waited for the audience to be quiet.

  “Fair Folk, we welcome you to the land of Autumn! May I present the royal family: King Septimus, Queen Crisanta, Prince Roux, and Princess Baize.”

  The queen wore a dress with an earthy brown bodice that had embroidered vines ending in autumn leaves. Bright red, orange, and yellow leaves fell down the dress from the waist down, ending in a train covered in leaves. Her crown was large with gold leaves.

  Baize had short auburn and dark purple hair, and she wore a short gold dress with a layered skirt of autumn colors and leaves scattered over it. Her crown was simple, silver leaves.

  The king and prince were in matching brown pants, long black boots, and knee-length gold tunics. The king also wore an unbuttoned black overcoat with gold trim.

  King Septimus took a step forward. “Today we open the gates to our land and welcome you to take a look around and be with us as we celebrate the autumnal equinox. Our fae have just finished making sure that autumn has begun where it needs to; therefore, it is time to rejoice!”

  Queen Crisanta joined her husband. “Enjoy our autumn display, and then eat and dance with us.”

  On cue, the earth rose behind us, and we all turned to watch as the hill grew higher, then the earth flattened again and began to rumble like a quake. An Autumn faerie pointed his hand at the ground, and a hole appeared. He jumped in and a minute later popped out right in front of the castle. The guests, including myself, all oohed.

  The ground rumbled again and then separated.

  When the ground joined back together, the two fae standing near the trees raised their arms. I could feel the rumbling on both sides of us, and the trees shot off a bunch of brightly colored leaves into the air. Slowly they descended like a light snow falling all around us.

  Drums started, and a bunch of Autumn faeries began dancing with loud shoes, banging rhythmically on the dance floor. I had never seen such dancing, but I immediately loved it.

  The Autumn Fae started cheering, so the rest of us joined in.

  “And now we’d like to invite all of the royal families to the floor to dance,” the Master of Ceremonies said.

  Prince Roux walked over to me and held out his hand. I curtsied and placed my hand in his. He walked me to the floor, and we began a dance. Princess Baize and the Summer prince Dune danced. The Spring prince, Jarek, asked Eira to dance, which left Sorin to dance with Lumi.

  “You have a beautiful land,” I said to Roux.

  “Thank you.”

  I stared at the leaf marking on the left side of his neck. “Your marking is neat.”

  He glanced at mine. “Yours too.”

  Well, he didn’t have a lot to say. “What do you like to do?”

  He looked at me as if I had said something completely insane. “Do?”

  I sighed, and he twirled me. “Do you have any hobbies?”

  “I like to be active.” He twirled me again.

  I got the feeling he either wasn’t a big talker or just not a big talker with me, so I stayed quiet for the rest of the dance. Once it finished, they announced the food was out, and the dance floor emptied.

  I took my time walking over to the food area. The table was full of the Autumn Fae’s favorite foods: sweet potato casserole, butternut squash soup, roasted Brussels sprouts, eggplant bake, and every type of apple dessert you could think of.

  I got in line and saw Sorin pass behind me, pick up a plate, and stand next to me, letting his hand brush mine. “Hey,” he said.

  “Hi.” I swallowed hard and piled food on my plate.

  “Save me a dance?”

  “Absolutely.”

  I gobbled up the delicious food in an attempt to get on the dance floor quickly.

  Skye ran up and threw her arms around me. “Can you show me more of your magick?”

  I smiled and knelt down. “What would you like?”

  She tapped her finger on her chin. “Can you make it snow a lot?”

  Laughing, I answered, “I could, but I don’t think the Autumn Fae would like that much. Next time the celebration will be in my land, and you will see more snow than you’ll know what to do with. We can build a snowman or make snow angels, even go ice-skating. Whatever you want.”

  “Really?” Her eyes widened.

  “Yes.”

  “Cool.”

  I made a snowball in my hand and gave it to her. “Will this do for now?”

  She nodded and ran off with the ball.

  Raina walked up. “She’s cute.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Watch yourself, Rory.”

  “I will.”

  Raina was right. I shouldn’t go right to Sorin. I needed to be seen dancing with lots of different fae. I danced with Keir, Navin, and Cedar. When I finished, I finally let my eyes wander and find Sorin.

  I waited for him as he closed the space between us. “May I have this dance?”

  “Yes.” My breath caught.

  I closed my eyes for a second when he pulled me close. He smelled so good. Fighting the urge to run my hand up his hair and kiss him, I let him lead me in a dance. It was much more pleasant than my dance with any of the others had been.

  “You look radiant as always.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Are you enjoying the celebration?”

  “I am. I like getting to see how others do things…and I like getting to see you.”

  “Even if this is as close as we can get?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Sorin and I joined Raina, who was talking to Keir, Jora, Navin, and Iris. They all lowered their heads in respect. “It’s really weird seeing you guys do that,” I said softly.

  “We have to.”

  I sighed, knowing they were right. “Just as long as you don’t do it at the falls.”

  “Remember the first time at the falls when we all bowed our heads, and you told us if we ever did that again you’d kick our behinds?”

  I laughed. “Yeah. I meant it too.” I looked around. “At least in a more private setting. I don’t think I’d get away with beating you up here.”

  Navin snorted. “Iris is pretty strong. You might not win.”

  “Really?” I glanced over at her.

  “Navin!” Iris elbowed him. “I’m sure you’d win.”

  “Don’t treat me special. I’d love to spar with you sometime though.”

  “I’m sure we�
��ll get the chance to do that.” She rolled her eyes.

  “We should. I wish we could all train with each other. Not just physically, but with our magick as well. I think we’d all benefit.”

  “The different lands have to trust each other first and that will take some time,” Sorin said.

  “Roux wasn’t very receptive to me trying to talk to him.”

  “He’s a jerk,” Jora said.

  “You don’t even know him,” Cedar responded.

  “Oh c’mon, tell me you don’t think that.”

  “He’s not bad, he’s just not—”

  “Open? Happy? Likeable?” Jora listed adjectives.

  “Yeah.”

  “Remember how you guys feel now when you’re in charge. Don’t become stuffy.”

  “I don’t see that happening, but if it does, you need to step in.”

  “How?” Jora asked. “We’re not exactly allowed on each other’s land unless we’re invited.”

  “Even the royals only meet on neutral land.”

  Something needed to change. We shouldn’t be living like this. We should have harmony.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sorin

  I tapped my foot impatiently as my father went on and on about the importance of mastering different fighting techniques. I was already late to meet Keir. I knew the meeting was important, but I hated missing my chance to see Aurora.

  Finally Father dismissed me. I waited until his bedroom door closed, and then I snuck out and hurried to where the horses were. Keir was gone, so I jumped on a horse and flew to the falls.

  Once we landed, I made my way through the woods until I came upon the clearing. The same faeries as always were there, having fun, getting along. Aurora was dancing with Navin. My hands clenched as the jealousy built up in me. I started over to them to push him out of the way and dance with her myself, but sanity set in. She wouldn’t stand for that. She was just having fun, like she had done for years before I ever came to these things. The berries had been eaten, and they were all just flirting. That’s all it was. And what right did I have to be jealous? It wasn’t like we were together. We couldn’t be. But she couldn’t be with Navin either.

  Aurora looked over then, and our eyes met. The corners of her lips turned up, and she whispered in Navin’s ear and then came walking over to me. “You’re late.”

  “Sorry.”

  She held out her hand. “Come on.”

  I took it and she led me to where she had been dancing. Navin slapped me on the back. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” I nodded, feeling guilty for wanting to pound on him seconds ago.

  Aurora faced me and put her arms around my neck. I placed my hands on her sides. Then she swayed back and forth. It wasn’t a formal dance like at the celebration, but a nice slow dance. We didn’t talk. She laid her head on my chest, and I smiled.

  After a few minutes, she led me to the clearing by the falls and we sat down. “Why were you late?”

  “My father held a meeting that I was required to attend.”

  “Anything I should know about?”

  “No. Just stressing how important it is to be skilled in all different fighting techniques because you never know what you’ll be up against.”

  “Oh.” Her forehead crinkled. “Interesting. Do you know many different ways?”

  “I do, which is why I didn’t understand why I had to be there. Guess just for show.”

  After studying my face for a moment, she said, “I want to know more about you.”

  “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

  She lay on her back and looked up at the starry sky. “What do you dream of?”

  “You.”

  She laughed. “No. Really.”

  “I really do dream of you.”

  She looked over at me and then back at the sky. “What about bigger dreams? Where do you see yourself in five years?”

  I thought about her question for a minute. “The answer is kind of lame. I’ll probably be doing the same things I am now. Teaching younger faeries how to fight. Hurling. Taking care of my kingdom.”

  “Married to someone who doesn’t make your heart leap.”

  “Yeah,” I said with a sigh and stared up at the sky too, wishing there was a way to change the law before I turned eighteen.

  She was quiet for a couple of minutes and then asked, “What’s your favorite food?”

  “Sweet melons and kale.”

  “Together?”

  “Ew. No.”

  She laughed. “What’s your favorite book?”

  “Book?”

  “Do you know how to read?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well then, what do you like to read?”

  She had me stumped. “I don’t have any books. I was taught how to read, but I don’t actually read.”

  She pushed up onto her elbows. “You don’t read?”

  “I gather you do.”

  “Oh, yes. Books take you to other worlds.”

  “Are they human books?”

  “Yes.”

  “And your parents allow this?”

  “Mm-hmm. My father enjoys reading too.”

  Curious, I asked, “What’s he like? Your father.”

  “He’s a good guy. Knows how to lead. Strong. Even when he’s strict, I know he loves us. He likes to learn about the world, history and stuff. I think that’s why I got him to say yes to opening the gates so easily. He’s like me. He wants to embrace other cultures and learn about things outside our land.”

  “Is your mother the same way?”

  “No, but she’s not…” She paused like she was trying to think of what to say. “She doesn’t coddle us, but she’s not cold either. She doesn’t seem to really care about what’s outside the gates though. She’s happy being closed off. My sister Eira is like that too. Could care less about any other lands. Lumi is more like my dad. Neige is too young to care yet.”

  “Are you close with your sisters?”

  “Yes.” She glanced at Raina, who was talking with Jora and Iris. “Not like I am with Raina.”

  “She’s like your sister, huh?”

  “Yeah.” She smiled. “I’ve actually known her longer than my sisters.”

  “Really?”

  “We were born a week apart, and our mothers are close, so we were together as infants. Slept in the same bassinet.”

  “If it weren’t for your markings, they might have mixed you two up,” I teased.

  “We joke about that.” She ran my fingers over her snowflakes. All of our markings were one of a kind but had a family resemblance. Raina’s snowflake markings looked completely different from hers, just like Keir’s sun marking looked different from mine. “I know how much your sister loves you, but what about your brother?”

  “We get along. He’s competitive. Always trying to beat me.”

  “But he hasn’t?”

  “No. I’m still stronger and faster. He challenges me every day. Sometimes I think I should just let him win.”

  “He’d know though. He’d feel it.”

  “True.” She had a point. He’d feel me giving in.

  “So what about Keir? Is he like a brother?”

  “Yes. Maybe not quite as much as Raina is like your sister. We didn’t share a bed.”

  She laughed, which made me pause and look at her. I wanted to remember exactly what she looked like when she was happy.

  “We met when we were kids, though, and have been best friends ever since.”

  “It’s ready!” Jora called out, and Aurora sat up.

  “What’s ready?” I asked.

  Aurora smiled. “The leaves.” She pulled me up. “C’mon.”

  “Leaves? What leaves?” I didn’t let go of her hand.

  The Autumn Fae had made a few very big piles of leaves. Aurora leaned close and said, “Because it’s fall, the trees in the neutral land have shed their leaves, and we can make big piles.”

  Jora took off running
and jumped into one of the piles, sending a few of the leaves flying up. Linden and Cedar followed. Then Keir took a turn. Aurora looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and squeezed my hand. I nodded in response, and the next thing I knew, we were running toward a pile of leaves.

  “Jump!” she shouted. My feet left the ground, and I landed in a pile of leaves right next to her.

  Laughing, I said, “That was awesome.”

  “Let’s go again!”

  I jumped with her a few more times, enjoying each one.

  We were gathered in the clearing, chatting, when Jora and Cedar suddenly looked at each other. “Someone’s coming!” Jora said. “I feel a vibration in the earth.”

  “Who?” My eyes widened.

  “I don’t know.”

  Trying to think quickly, I asked, “Which way are they coming from?”

  She paused for a few seconds and then answered, “Summer.”

  “How long?”

  “Few minutes.”

  Because of the direction they were coming from, Keir and I would be trapped here. “Keir and I have to hide. The rest of you go.”

  Aurora shook her head. “I’m staying until everybody else is gone. Get your horses. Keir, go around with the Autumn Fae. Sorin, hide your horse.”

  “Rory,” Raina said. “What if you’re caught?”

  “I can’t go until everyone is safe. I’ll go as soon as Keir is gone.”

  Keir ran back to where our horses were.

  I admired Aurora’s strong leadership and sense of loyalty. “I can’t let you stay, Aurora.”

  “I’m not asking. We don’t have time to argue. Raina, go home, take my horse too.”

  “Rory…”

  “I’ll be along soon.”

  Jora whipped up a breeze and scattered the leaves. I glanced around to make sure there wasn’t anything else to clean up.

  Keir brought me my horse. “Thank you. Now go.”

  Everyone dispersed, and I turned to Aurora. “Your turn.”

  She nodded and turned to go when we heard the hoof beats approaching. There was no time for her to leave. We had to hide. I scanned the area.