She had not noticed until the music had stopped that it had been affecting her too. Despite all the time they had spent together, it seemed that the charming magic of his music still worked on her. Ralis took a deep bow as the crowd applauded loudly and begged for more.
“Thank you! Thank you everyone!” Ralis beamed, his eyes misty. “And especially thank you to my friends.” He looked between Raigh and Amri with a heartfelt smile.
Amri felt herself blushing wildly at his attention, but this time she was aware that the aching feeling in her chest was not hers, it was magic that influenced it. Even still as Ralis took her hand again she felt like her heart was going to leap out of its chest. She laughed at her own reaction. She had thought that she didn’t need to worry about Ralis’s charms anymore.
Not only was the audience clapping wildly and cheering but they were also throwing piles of gold, silver and bronze coins onto the stage. Some even pushed through the crowd to dump out their entire bags worth of money onto the stage. Raigh had disappeared into the back and returned with a sack. Back on the stage, she dropped to her hands and knees and was excitedly scooping up the coins as fast as she could, a greedy smile on her face. Amri dropped to help as Ralis continued to bow and wave to his adoring fans.
The flow of coins seemed like it would never end. They continued to pile up on the stage, even after Ralis disappeared into the back. Raigh and Amri hurriedly scooped them up, before disappearing into the back themselves.
Browen was congratulating Ralis as Amri entered with a full sack of gold. Raigh reached out her hand to take the second bag, with that same greedy smile still bright on her face.
“That was amazing Ralis! I knew you’d be a hit!” Raigh turned her smile from the coin to Ralis while her tail flicked excitedly behind her. “Look how much gold you made!”
“I didn’t do it for the gold.” Ralis was grinning from ear to ear.
“I know, but it’s a nice bonus, right?” Raigh continued. “I better take this to the Ringmaster, can’t have this much gold just sitting in the back of a tent. I’ll be back!”
With that she hurried from the tent before anyone could say anything.
“Thank you Amri.” Ralis almost glowed with happiness as he addressed her. “That meant the world to me, even if they only loved me because of my charm.”
She smiled back and was surprised to be pulled into a loving embrace.
“My life has been a whirlwind these last few weeks.” He continued. “It has been some of the happiest moments of my life… and some of the saddest.” He pulled away and beamed between her and Browen. “I’m so glad to finally have friends that I can share these moments with, happy and sad.”
Amri smiled back, she had never felt such comradery as she felt with her travelling companions. She had friends before, and people she relied on, but there was always a distance to that friendship. Despite Browen’s attempts she never wanted to get close to him, he was a noble and they couldn’t be trusted. She was somewhat close to Kirra, Morris, Kip and a few other Verta orphans her age, but even with them there was a distance, you never knew when they would be caught by the guards or disappear in the night. And now she had four people in her life that she cared deeply for. In a strange twist of irony, Browen was one of them.
“Me too.” She answered.
Browen nodded, sharing the sentiment. For a moment Amri wondered if Browen had any friends growing up or if that was why he had tried so hard to be hers. The thought made her feel bad and she wondered if perhaps she had been wrong to push him away for so long.
The emotions in the tent were beginning to be too much and Amri pulled away with a laugh. “Can I get out of these ridiculous clothes now?”
Ralis shared her laughter and released her. “I think I’ll be fine to perform by myself next time. Thank you for that lovely image of you dancing though.” He gave her a flirtatious wink and she hated that it made her blush.
Amri gave Ralis a playful slap on the shoulder. “That’s the last time I help you out! I want both of you to forget what you saw, it never happened.”
Browen and Ralis exchanged mischievous grins as Amri disappeared to change back into her new clothes.
Chapter Ten
Ezra
The flame flickered inside of Ezra insistently. It burned and scratched at the edges of her mind. She could feel it white hot, just below the marks of her tattoo. It needed to be released, it needed to burn. She could easily kill everyone around her, set the tents ablaze and level the town with flame.
As the impulse tempted her, she shuddered. They were not her thoughts; this was not her. She felt herself becoming a danger to those around her with every passing minute that she resisted. She could not hold it back forever and it terrified her that this struggle was going to be for the rest of her life. No wonder Gillian Purrean, the Elven Hero of the flame, needed to be locked in chains as her mind was slowly lost to the fire inside. It was all too tempting to let the power consume Ezra’s mind, to let it wield her like a tool rather than the other way around.
The feeling grew worse the longer she resisted the flame. Ezra recalled that after using it to kill the Snow’s End soldiers, it had gone quiet. Temporarily satisfied and less insistent. But she stood by what she told Browen earlier, it was too dangerous to just let it loose in the woods, especially in the summer heat. She needed to use it, but not here, she needed to find someplace where the fire would not spread.
She spotted Fin, one of the carnival troupe musicians, walking drunkenly past the tent she was manning, a pair of ladies on his arms. Desperately she called out to him.
“Fin, I need you to take over.” She tried to conceal the agony in her voice but was uncertain how successful she had been.
Regardless Fin had stopped and looked in her direction with a perked eyebrow. “Eh? I don’t do tickets.”
“Just for a moment, I…” She paused; it was harder to lie with the flame coiling around her mind. “I need to relieve myself.”
“Relieve?” He tilted his head to the side and one of the girls whispered in his ear. He laughed at whatever she had said and nodded at Ezra. “Ah, you need to piss. You should have just said so. Be quick, I’ve got places to be.” He gave the ladies on his arms a sultry wink.
Ezra rolled her eyes and quickly disappeared through the crowd. She didn’t really have a destination in mind but focused on getting away from the crowds and the tents. She eventually found herself at the back of the carnival grounds, where all the wagons had been parked for the evening. It was eerily quiet, and empty compared to the crowds and sounds only a few feet away. Like every time the caravan parked somewhere, there was a small bonfire set at the center of the circle of wagons.
Her eyes locked on the flames and the sight made the fire inside grow even more restless, to the point where it was barely contained within her. She could feel flames dancing around her skin unsummoned, and the grass beneath her feet turned to ash, even the dirt charred as she moved towards the bonfire.
The bonfire was small before her, but at least it was a safe place to add more flames. She pulled off the glove that concealed the fiery green markings on her pale white skin, then directed her palm towards the bonfire. She took a deep breath, unsure if she could control it again once she let it out. The last time she had released the flame it had destroyed a small army and the woods around it, and she had fallen unconscious for days. She needed to try and control it this time.
She felt herself flashing back to her magic lessons with Fennalee and Arze. She had been terrible at controlling her magic and had proven to be much more efficient at simply releasing destructive blasts of power. Arze had been much better at controlling his magic, he had been so much further ahead of her, even if that was still not enough in Fennalee’s eyes.
She felt her chin waiver as she recalled her brother, she missed him more than anything. It had felt l
ike a part of her had been torn away the day they had been separated. Her gaze fell on the burning green markings that painted her entire left arm. They weren’t twins anymore. Too much had happened, Ezra had changed too much. She wondered if her twin would even recognize the person that she had become in the few weeks she had been away. The thought brought waves of tears to her eyes. She cried out into the night and let the fire rage through her.
It erupted with a violent force and decimated the small fire pit. The flames consumed all of the fuel in seconds and left the grass and dirt around it black. Her face was still tear streaked as she grabbed a hold of her left arm with her right and tried to keep the direction of the flame focused on the place where the fire pit had been. The blast was so forceful into the ground that more fire sparked out like rain and nearly set the wagons around it ablaze.
Seeing the devastation her flames were causing, Ezra tried to force the fire to quiet. It took all her mental power and she nearly passed out from the effort, but eventually, the blast of fire stopped. She collapsed to the ground, fully exhausted. The fire continued to crackle for a moment before it was snuffed out for a lack of fuel. Then the campground was silent once again.
Her breathing was ragged, and she wanted nothing more than to lay on the ground and close her eyes. The brilliant colour of the tattoo had faded and she felt some relief from the flame. It seemed to be temporarily sated, but she feared it would not be for long.
Arze would have been better at this. She thought to herself.
He would have been able to control the fire and maybe even resist its call longer. Free to embrace in her darker emotions without witness, Ezra let her sadness fully wash over her. She had lost everything, she could never go home, and her own mother now hunted her. The most important person in the world to her, was beyond her reach. Even if she was reunited with her twin now, she knew that things would never be as they were. She missed him so badly, it hurt. But she had gained something else, something she never knew she needed. It had not been an easy journey, and Miri still annoyed her more than anything, but she undoubtedly could call each of her travelling companions’ friends.
The sound of approaching voices pulled Ezra from her mental anguish and she quieted, not wanting to be seen so vulnerable. Before the figures could get any closer, she scrambled into the shadows between a pair of wagons and forced her breath to steady. It was easier to hide without the light of the bonfire to expose her, but she also worried that its sudden disappearance would raise suspicions.
“And you are certain that he isn’t like you?” The voice of the Ringmaster was suddenly audible as the pair of figures neared.
“Unless he’s lying, and I don’t think he is.” Raigh answered, her arms were full with heavy looking bags as she followed the Ringmaster to the wagon that Ezra had hidden beside.
“I know you like him. You’re not lying to me, are you? Raighlae, tell me the truth.”
Her whole body grew stiff as she snapped back at him. “You know I can’t lie to you.”
The Ringmaster sighed. “Damn shame. At least you’ve managed to wrap him around your finger. Have you managed to convince him to stay?”
“No. But maybe after tonight he’ll change his mind, the call of the stage and all that.”
“He had better. We could take the show to a whole new level with his talents! Just think about it, a man who can charm an entire crowd into giving away all their worldly possessions. I need him.”
“I know.” Raigh sighed as they entered the wagon.
“You need to convince him Raighlae.” Ezra could still hear the voice of the Ringmaster as he shuffled around inside of his wagon. “He needs to stay here with us. We might even be able to perform in bigger cities with his charms. Maybe even Verta. Do whatever you must to make him stay. Promise him anything, make him fall in love with you, whatever it takes, you hear me.”
“You don’t think I’ve been trying!” Raigh snapped back.
“Try harder!” The Ringmaster sighed loudly. “What is so damn interesting about Esper? Have you found out?”
“No. He won’t tell me, but whatever it is, it’s important.”
“You’ve lost your touch I see.” The Ringmaster accused, his voice sour.
“No… It’s different… he’s different.” Raigh answered her voice strained. “I’m trying, I really am. It’s his friends. His friends don’t want to stay and so he doesn’t want to stay.”
“Well I see this going one of two ways.” The Ringmasters voice had gone very cold. “You either need to convince his friends to stay or you need to make them no longer his friends.”
“That’s…” Raigh started but was cut off by the Ringmaster.
“Raighlae, Ralis is staying with us and I don’t care what you have to do to make it happen.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make him stay.” Ezra could barely hear Raigh’s muffled response through the wooden frame of the wagon.
“That’s my good girl.” The Ringmaster said as he stepped back out of his wagon.
Raigh trailed behind him, the bags no longer in her arms.
“Make sure that this is the best evening of his life.” The Ringmaster continued. “You have until we get to the Endarin River to make him stay. Again, I want to be very clear on this, I do not care what you need to do to make this happen. That boy is a veritable money tree and I will not lose him.”
“Whatever it takes.” She repeated.
Ezra couldn’t believe what she was hearing and suddenly felt terrible for ignoring all of Miri’s worries, as well as awful for poor Ralis. She felt the flame boil inside her and struggled to keep it in check as it longed to roast the pair alive. The fire inside latched onto her anger and she could feel it using the strong emotion to influence her. She gritted her teeth together and closed her eyes, she needed to calm down, she had to tell the others what she heard.
It took everything she had to calm her mind again and when she opened her eyes, Raigh and the Ringmaster were nowhere to be seen. Ezra could barely stand, her limbs shook with exhaustion, but regardless she made her way back towards the crowds. She needed to warn the others.
Chapter Eleven
Miri
Miri had never been around so many people before and felt anxious in their presence. Even at the Dawn Well, an event that felt like a lifetime ago, the crowds were nothing like the way that the Humans swarmed around her. Her time in Verta had been mostly in the shadows and abandoned streets, but she did not doubt that the great city somehow had even more people.
She had been tasked with accepting coins in exchange for a show within the largest of the tents. According to Katya it was the biggest show in the carnival and usually drew the largest crowd. Inside Miri could hear Skhr’rahj working with their beasts to the continual awe of the audience. Thankfully Miri was not alone in her task. Katya kept close to her, working hard regardless of how far along she clearly was in her pregnancy. Despite her strong desire to leave the carnival far behind them, Miri could not bring herself to dislike Katya. She had a motherly kindness that reminded Miri of something she had lost long ago.
Another burst of people hurried towards them and Miri had to suppress a whimper as she worked. Every time she moved her head, she feared that the intricate hairstyle that Elsie had used to hide her ears would collapse and reveal the truth. In addition, she felt herself constantly worrying for her friends. They were all wanted by the Queen now and certainly there would be more bounty hunters than those they had avoided at the roadhouse. She felt like everyone was staring at her, trying to figure out if she was an Elf. Or perhaps they already knew, and they were waiting for the right moment to strike at her.
A hand fell upon her shoulder and Miri cried out as she turned to face her attacker. Katya pulled her hand away at the reaction and gave Miri a caring smile.
“Why don’t you take a break?” Katya re
sted a hand on her swollen belly as she spoke. “This is your first proper visit to the Carnival of Dream. Go take a moment and enjoy yourself.”
Miri’s face had fallen, she felt bad that she had spun so violently towards someone as kind as Katya. Perhaps she did need a break, a moment away from the people and the noises.
“You would be alone then?” Her eyes dropped to Katya’s belly in concern. The pregnant woman had already been on her feet for hours.
She waved her hand dismissively. “Please don’t worry about me, I get that enough from Skiv and the others here. Why don’t you go find where Saerena is performing, I think that the two of you will have a lot in common.”
Miri’s eyebrows perked up at the reminder. She had been told when she first arrived that the carnival had an Elf working with them, and yet she had not had a chance to meet her.
“Where may I find her?”
Katya pointed towards a bright red tent. “I believe that’s hers.”
Miri hesitated and Katya laughed as she accepted a handful of coins from a family of four.
“Go on, if I need help, I will get help.”
Miri nodded and disappeared into the crowd. Her anxiety worsened as she attempted to move through the thick throng of people. She hated how close they crowded around her, and their eyes felt as if they were searching for a reason to attack. As she neared the bright red tent, she concluded that Humans must breed frequently for there to be so many of them.
Miri paused outside of the tent and squinted at the complicated word that had been painted on it. “The Con…” She tried out loud when she struggled to sound it out in her head.
“The Contortionist.” The bored looking carnival hand, a young boy whose name she had forgotten, remarked.
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