Solana mumbles a formula to herself and quickly rushes off leaving her half-eaten food tray on the table. Rowan takes care of the garbage and trays. After, she heads back toward Lola’s booth to see if she found anything useful from whoever Madame Tallulah is. Cirvka at this time is always empty, all the guests are in the tents watching performers. It’s what she likes to call, the quiet time before the rush. Strolling passed various booths and tents she hears soft crying. Rowan follows the noise until she sees a hybrid curled up in herself. She’s hiding behind a tent and up against the black gate guarding the Cirvka property. Rowan takes a step closer and easily recognizes the horns—Pepper.
“What happened?” Rowan rushes and crouches down in front of her friend. She gently grabs Pepper’s wrists and pulls her hairy hands displaying dark sharp claws, away from her face.
“Nothing,” she sniffles. “Nothing. I’m just being silly. What are you doing here? You should be with Lola or Solana finding out how to get your magic.”
“That can wait. I’m worried about you. I thought you had a show? Why are you crying?” Rowan sits on the dirt ground.
“Nothing,” she repeats. “These shows get exhausting day in and day out. Sometimes I wish I could work a booth. It’s nothing, really. I guess I’m just being emotional.”
Rowan notices her eyes are red and she keeps blinking like there’s an eyelash stuck. “Did someone hurt your eyes?” She asks quietly.
“Sometimes the other hybrids like to kick dirt in my eyes. It’s fine though.”
“It most certainly is not fine!” Rowan shouts furious. Pepper flinches and wraps her arms around her body as though she’s in trouble. “Pepper maybe we can tell Shadow and—”
“You might think Shadow has a lot of pull here, but he doesn’t.” She doesn’t elaborate anymore even though Rowan wants her to.
Peppers stands and Rowan notices her performance costume is embroidered with gems and made with eccentric colored fabric. But what really grabs her attention is that it is torn in some places and filthy with dirt and...blood stains? Pepper brushes off her tunic and Rowan can see her tail wag behind her. Her hair is the only kempt thing about her appearance right now. “Thank you for caring about me.”
“You don’t need to thank me. We’re friends, right? I’m here for you.”
Pepper bites her lip like she wants to say something. Rowan doesn’t pry but she tells her she can confide in her for anything. “I was thinking about what you were saying at lunch. About how Knot, that fighter, was saying we all have a purpose of why we are here. I—” she stares down at her bare feet. Like her hands, they’re covered in thick brown hair and her black nails are filed to a point. “Cirvka in its own way is punishment. Performing for Shevka who don’t care about us...but it’s better than living with them. My mate, she was killed by Shevka soldiers. She was my everything, we were just starting our life together. I had nowhere else to go. I feared my village would be attacked again and I would be next. Cirvka is a salvation,” she wraps her hand around Rowan’s forearm grabbing her complete attention. “But it is also a prison.” Pepper talks about how despite the unity they all have here, there are always going to be outsiders. Pepper tells her something she’s only told one other person. Her mother was Shevka and her father a hybrid. It’s why the other hybrids make fun of her, because she’s not fully one of them. Compared to other hybrids she looks different—she has the body of a Shevka female and the facial beauty of one too, but the abundance of hair, and the horns and tail are what makes her clearly look like a hybrid.
Before Rowan can comment back, Pepper let’s go and without another word she leaves Rowan mute and aching.
Cirvka is a salvation but it is also a prison. The words echo in Rowan’s head. Is it possible what we all know about Cirvka could be a lie? Prince Arlo, The Overseer, Shadow, which parts do they truly play? As for the low blooded performers they all have the same stories—they are here because of the Shevka. Rowan ponders on that. What information is she missing?
“What are you doing here?” Shadow sneaks up from behind her.
“Will you quit that!” She turns to face him crossing her arms over her chest. He must love to torment and scare her, because this is the second time he’s done this.
“Pepper will be fine,” he says simply.
“And how do you know that? She hates it here! Can’t you tell she doesn’t want to perform?”
“She performs to make money that will pay for the food she eats, the clothes she wears and the bed she sleeps on. Pepper wouldn’t survive a day outside Cirvka. Shevka soldiers or civilians would kill her and that’s just the way things are.”
“I don’t understand,” she runs her hands through her hair. “How did I not know low bloods were being treated so badly?”
“Treated so badly?” Shadow huffs. “Low bloods are being massacred for no good reason other than being. It’s what the new king has always done.”
“But,” she stammers, “isn’t it better than the old king’s reign?” Rowan is still confused on the history of King Bren. She learned in her studies that creatures died from famine, villages were in ruin, crops were purposely destroyed by his destructive fire. But isn’t this what her father and the Shevka are doing, too? Rowan plays ignorant to the fact that she doesn’t know what to believe. She certainly doesn’t have the full facts.
“Do you need a history lesson?” He sounds bored. “You’re here now as one of us. Cirvka is your family and your home. Together we will stand and rise.” He chants like he’s said it a thousand times before.
Rowan frowns. “I don’t even know what I am. How can I be one of you when all I have ever known is who I was in that glamour!” She puts her hand over her forehead and shakes her head. She stares up at the blue sky letting her pale skin soak in the rays of the bright sun. “I don’t belong here. Everything I have ever known is a lie. I don’t even have a power to prove my worth.”
“Who you were before this doesn’t matter,” Shadow grabs her shoulders forcing her to look at him. For once he stares into her eyes instead of her lips. “Your past doesn’t define you. How you choose to act now and who you strive to be in the future is what matters. So, Roe, how will you choose to act?”
She blinks letting the words soak in. Years worth of conditioning on how to be the perfect princess. Years worth of feeling like she didn’t belong in her family. Years worth of solitude and loneliness, she can finally choose to be loved and cared for by friends. The same friends who saw past the glamour of being a princess and wanted to be friends with Roe. She’s not Rowan. She’s Roe, a Dakra who wants a friendship worth dying for. A friendship that makes you feel like you finally belong. She’s Roe, a Dakra who can find her solace here at Cirvka.
“I see how you work. You ask too many questions. You want everything to make sense, but sometimes—most times—life doesn’t make sense. Stop trying to answer questions that don’t have answers like why you don’t have powers, why you were glamoured, and why I found you,” he pauses, “Figure out how you can move forward and answer the now-questions. Who do you want to be? What do you want to gain? How do you want to live?”
“You’re right,” she whispers.
Shadow lets go of her shoulders and smirks. “I know I am. Now, I’m sure Lola and Solana are waiting for you. They probably have some potions and spells to try out on you.”
“Shadow, wait,” She blurts out. “I know I ask too many questions and I fixate on the past, but the past is what shapes us. I don’t know what your story is but...I know you’re not a bad guy.” Something inside of Rowan tells her that Shadow is sorely misunderstood. She clutches onto the belief that he will do right by all of them, and she prays to the gods that she’s not wrong about this.
And in the blink of an eye black shadows transport him away leaving her to herself. She may not know much about Shadow, actually she may not know anything about him at all, but it’s the silent demeanor, the way she catches him watching conversations at lunch
and the advice he gave moments ago, that make her believe he’s a good guy. Make her want to believe that there is something more to the silent male who pretends not to care.
Despite being at Cirvka for only three days, Rowan feels a peace that she never had at the castle. The instant friendship between Lola, Solana, and Pepper has been the type of companionship she has been longing for since she first discovered the toll loneliness can have on your wellbeing. She used to sit in her room at night and make up friends that would talk to her. From that, she felt she was being listened to and could pretend for once that someone cared to hear what she had to say. She could pretend they were real friends deeply interested in her. Many night’s she would cry herself to sleep wanting someone to hold her. Someone to tell her everything was going to be okay.
As a princess she learned no one can be trusted and this might make her naive, but she trusts her new friends. She loves her new friends in a way she can’t fully explain or understand herself. Her brothers were cruel to each other, as children they would play together, but one would always end up hurt. She never saw true love between her brothers. Only envy and hate. With Lola, Solana, and Pepper, she sees a wholesome goodness where they put each other before themselves and have an urge to care for each other and be the ones to offer an optimistic word when all is hopeless.
Heading back toward Lola’s booth, Lola has found a handful of books from Madame Tallulah. Solana is there to help and brings her own potion book to study. When dusk comes and the moon and stars fill the night sky, Pepper joins them in their search for answers. Rowan notices she’s struggling to get through reading so she sits with Pepper and reads out loud. Pepper smiles in a silent thanks. They spend hours reading up on how to make one’s magic stronger, but the one thing they can’t find is how to unleash magic in a magical being that is seemingly powerless. All there is, is how to give a human temporary magic.
As Rowan drinks her first potion of the night, Solana tells her to get a good night’s sleep and hopefully she’ll feel different in the morning.
* * *
CHAPTER FIVE
“Do you feel any different?” Solana wakes Rowan by straddling her hips and putting her face much too close to hers. Solana’s eyes are eager and calculating as she takes note to see if there’s any change.
Rowan pushes her gently off and sits up rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I don’t know. How do you use magic?” She sticks her hand out and wills the power to shoot out of her. Nothing. “Is there some specific move I have to make? A spell?”
“You should be able to feel it in your bones and will it how you want,” Solana falls back sprawling herself across the floor. “Looks like that potion was a failure,” she groans, but no one is more disappointed than Rowan is.
“Don’t worry,” Lola says now awake and stretching her arms above her head. “We will figure it out. It’ll be a process, but we have time.” She walks over to the clothing rack picking out an outfit for the day.
Rowan looks around the room and notices Pepper is gone. Shows don’t run this early. Solana and Lola must sense Rowan’s panic. They tell her Pepper sometimes likes to get up early and watch the sunrise, then gets an early start on the day by going to the performance tent to practice. Despite being the weakest and smallest hybrid at Cirvka, she never fails to strive toward greatness.
Hybrids don’t possess magical powers like Dakra or Shevka, instead their power comes from their animal side. Many have super strength, due to their large build—Pepper an exception. Since last night Rowan has wondered if she possesses any magical ability from her Shevka side. Some have incredible swiftness or the ability to fly. Hybrids each have a functionality that makes them unique and fascinating. Pepper has never discussed what she does in a performance. She seems more sensitive in discussing her true ability with Rowan. Rowan doesn’t want to feel pushy, she had already opened up so much and the pained look on her face last night and the irritation in her eyes from getting dirt kicked at her, it broke Rowan’s heart. She’ll tell her what she wants to when she is ready.
At Lola’s booth Rowan flips through pages trying to find answers. She shows Lola a page from one of Madame Tallulah’s books. A spell that gives humans powers. “Maybe this will work for me?”
“You aren’t a human,” Lola grabs the book and skims the page. “But maybe something along the lines will work,” she mumbles and adds, “I can alter the spell and make it so it gives you more power. I mean what’s the worst that can happen?”
She sits on the stool that Solana pulls up for her. Lola mutters the spell under her breath repeatedly until she can recite it by herself. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before uttering the spell, “Szavla olar hexcrava.”
A burst of light flows inside of her before dimming and disappearing. Solana and Lola take a step back, “Woah,” they say collectively. “Did you see her eyes?” Solana asks and Lola nods her head.
“What about my eyes?” Rowan stands from the stool and looks down at her hands, “Did it work?” She felt the power for a brief moment, but it passed just as quickly as it came.
“They glowed. Your eyes turned bright red for a moment and then it...stopped,” Rowan watches as Lola walks in a circle around her. “I...I don’t think it worked. Do you feel any different?”
“No,” Rowan frowns with disappointment. She pushes her palms out and concentrates as hard as she can.
Come on, magic. Do something.
Rowan searches deep in her veins for any power source to shoot out of her.
Come on magic. Come on.
“I don’t think it worked,” Solana sighs.
“How can you tell?” Rowan stammers, “I mean maybe it takes some practice to figure out how to will it in my favor.”
Lola shakes her head. “That’s not how it works. It’s like moving your fingers, you just do it. It doesn’t even require that much thought,” she bends her index finger. “Magic is like another body part. You will it as effortlessly as you would your feet when walking. Solana’s right, it didn’t work.” Lola slumps down on the stool and rubs her hands over her face in frustration.
Feeling the sting of their letdown, they were about to call it a day. Suddenly, a piercing scream comes from outside the booth. They all rush out to see the source of the commotion, but there is no one around them. They follow a low moaning noise toward the gate surrounding Cirvka. A male is curled up in fetal position on the ground twitching. There is smoke radiating off his collar.
“What happened?” Rowan asks with wide eyes as Solana inspects him.
“He must have tried to jump the fence,” Lola frowns.
“And the fence did that to him?” She says in horror. “It shocked him. Is that what these collars are for? To keep us in?”
“It’s for our own safety, Roe,” Lola replies quietly.
Rowan ignores their naivety and helps the male to his feet. He groans and rests his body weight on her and Solana’s shoulders as they lug him toward the healers tent. Yesterday Rowan had spent the majority of her day healing from a fight there. The bruises on her face are a deep black and blue color. The tonic had helped clear her head which was fuzzy and discombobulated from the forceful impact of Knot’s hits.
Healers come out to help the male inside the tent as Solana and Lola stand there quietly. Rowan tells them she’s going to stay and make sure he’s okay. She wants to know what happened and why he wanted to seemingly escape. Lola and Solana use their booths as excuses to leave and they continue their search for her magic.
The healers make Rowan wait while they tend to his injuries and make sure the electric shock didn’t do too much damage. Nearly an hour has passed before they tell her he’s conscious and ready for visitors.
He’s in the same cot that she had yesterday. The male is Dakra no doubt. His hair a soft chocolate brown, with bright brown eyes to match. He’s shirtless revealing bronze skin covered with tiny white scars.
“Hey,” Rowan says quietly as she pulls up a
chair to sit at his bedside. “My name is Roe.”
“Blade,” his deep voice answers. “You found me?”
She nods her head, “What happened? Were you trying to escape.”
“I-I don’t remember.”
“Is there any reason you’d want to escape?”
He shakes his head, “Where else would I have to go?”
“I’m sure you’ll remember in a few days,” her eyes gaze down at the thick red mark around his neck. Rowan is shocked to see the skin looks peeled and marred. From the looks of it the healers put a thick coat of salve over the wound. What surprises her the most is that his collar is still on—a newer looking one though. One to replace the fried collar.
“What are you doing in here?” Shadow once again sneaks up behind her.
“I was the one who found Blade. I just wanted to see if he’s okay.”
Shadow bites on the inside of his cheek looking agitated. He points his finger at Blade and in a spiteful tone says, “I’ll be back later.” With the blink of an eye, Shadow disappears.
“Does Shadow not like you?” Rowan asks.
Blade shrugs, “Wouldn’t care if he did.”
“I’ve never seen him so mad.” She is puzzled at Shadow’s reaction.
“I’m not scared of him,” Blade rolls his eyes. “He’s nothing but a lackey.”
“A lackey?” She tilts her head hoping he’ll elaborate more.
“Yeah. Have you ever wondered why Shadow doesn’t perform?” Blade pauses. Come to think to think of it, Rowan doesn’t know what Shadows powers are exactly. It’s clear he has shadows, but what are his shadows capable of? She shakes her head. “It’s because he’s too busy doing the dirty work for the monster who runs this place.”
Fight for the Crown Page 6
