Darkness Within

by Carli Castle

  “Yes, indeed, but Harper does it because she doesn’t want to oppose mother in anything.”

  Lucas said nothing else, not wanting to say something that could offend her. Instead, he conjured a pen, and marked the box that said he would be attending and handed it back to Elle.

  ***

  Caleb remained in his office until late, still stumped as to what he needed to do. The pressure was becoming unbearable. He felt out of control, which wasn’t something he was used to. He had been called to the council at a young age because he was always in control, he somehow knew what to do at all times. But not in this situation.

  He hated to admit how clueless he was. And how afraid he was for Lucas. And of him.

  He’d seen that glint in his eye at the meeting that morning. That glint that lasted just an instant, but had chilled Caleb all the way down to his bones. If he hadn’t been able to get through to Lucas, something very bad would have happened. Who knew how far it would have gotten.

  He had to talk to his mom, he had to let her know. He could try to convince her they needed to talk about those powers, about their danger to Lucas.

  He sat at his desk, putting his hand over the smooth surface, which was clean of anything he didn’t actually need. The coolness of it helped calm him somehow. Everything in the desk was organized inside drawers, with easy access, but no fuss. It was the way he liked things, clean and clear, unlike the rest of his life.

  He opened the top drawer, the one he kept locked with a charm. The first thing that caught his eye was a picture. He kept it there, on top of everything else, despite knowing he shouldn’t. He should get rid of it, because it made him feel things he didn’t want to feel.

  Harper.

  He’d captured it himself one night after a marathon session of lovemaking. Her hair was mussed, falling onto her forehead. Her eyes sparkled, and there was a small, satisfied smile on her lips. She was hugging a pillow, her shoulder bare, creamy, perfect. She was absolutely perfect and all he wanted was to be with her.

  She had a way of calming him. Harper and her way with words, always soft, always calm. He liked that about her. He liked that he could just be quiet around her, that he didn’t have to say a thing to be understood. And the physical part of their relationship had never been bad, either. They had an understanding, and they were happy with it.

  Except he wasn’t.

  He liked to pretend he was, but deep down, he knew he wanted more from her. He didn’t know how much more, or even if he could handle it, but he couldn’t deny to himself that it had hurt a little when she ended things. He could deny it to everyone else, but not to himself. It had just come out of the blue. One day everything had been fine, the next she wanted to end things and for them to stay away from each other. It didn’t help that he had to see her so often at council meetings, and she tended to sit at the opposite end of the table, where his eyes would land automatically.

  Still, he couldn’t be upset at her, because they hadn’t promised each other anything. He’d known what it was about for them—companionship.

  He put the picture back into the desk and closed the drawer. She wasn’t the one he should be thinking of. He needed to think of Lucas, of how he could help him. They needed to figure out a way for him to control those powers, that darkness that poked its head whenever the power surfaced. Lucas didn’t have to tell him for Caleb to know about it. He could see it there, bubbling just beneath the surface.

  He put his hand to the drawer and it glowed a faint yellow color, indicating it was locked, and he stood and went home.

  Chapter Twelve

  As the next few weeks came and went, spring gave way to summer. Lucas didn’t like the heat of summer, but he was enjoying it a lot more than he normally would, maybe because he had Elle’s company when he spent time outdoors. The heat didn’t bother him as much when he was with her.

  If it wasn’t for her, he would have become a cave person.

  Sometimes, they went down to the beach, just to sit on a blanket and read together. She would read her own book on healing, and he would read on the goddesses, which continued to be his obsession. And it was perfect. Just sitting there together, in silence, with the sounds of the sea all around them.

  They’d even ventured to town together, Elle with a disguise—this time a blue eyed blonde—and sat in a café and drank tea while they pretended to be a normal couple.

  She grounded him in a way he hadn’t felt before. Even his power wasn’t out of control when she was around, and even though she wasn’t part of council meetings, just thinking of her helped him control his emotions when Aali went off about stuff.

  She was the highlight of his days. He had even started to find some joy in using his green thumb. He had planted seeds on planters on his porch, and tended them every morning. She checked on them when she came to visit, talking to them and telling them how pretty they were. That was after he’d told her his mother talked to her plants as well. It was cute.

  His better moods were also helping him with his alchemy, and though he hadn’t invented anything interesting, just a pen that never ran out of ink, he was having a lot of fun. There were pens that did that already, but making his own was nice. He didn’t have to buy one now. He was working on making the ink change too, but he’d only succeeded in it changing from blue to black and back.

  They had been spending more and more time together, whether she came to his house, or he sneaked into hers when everyone was sleeping. He would climb up the balcony, since he didn’t have the handy power of gliding, and she would then let him into her room. It was an impressive room, almost as big as his entire house.

  Other times, they met at the jeweled waterfall after her shifts at the healing house, or they would meet down by the ocean for picnics, or long walks, or really long kissing sessions.

  The morning of her birthday came, and he spent a big part of the morning thinking of her and what she could be doing. She was probably getting ready for her party, even though it wouldn’t happen for several hours.

  The only thing bothering him was Caleb’s change. It was obvious he was extremely stressed, and given that he’s almost lost control of himself at the last council meeting, Lucas couldn’t blame him. Lucas was just glad Caleb hadn’t told their mother. His brother didn’t need her breathing down his neck, just like everyone else.

  He walked across the front of his house, the big porch where his new plants were thriving on pots, and moved across the rocky cliff. Maybe he could use this spot to practice his fire power. There was no one he could hurt there, which calmed and assured him. It was plain daylight, sunny and bright. It was a beautiful day to have a birthday, he thought, taking deep breaths to keep himself calm, and to attempt to keep the anger tied down when it came.

  He breathed slowly, in through his nose, out through his mouth, visualizing his breath going through his system.

  In his mind, he pictured the creatures from that night. The Shadows, because he was sure that’s what they were. Thinking of them brought back that feeling he got when he’d seen them. First the fear, then the anger. He had felt so much anger at feeling defenseless, at thinking he was going to die without being able to do a thing for himself and that girl.

  For a long time, he kept that image in his head, tried to summon those same feelings, but nothing happened. No warmth spreading over his chest and arms. He tried thinking of other things that infuriated him, like injustice. Like the abuse that happened at the hands of people that had more power than others.

  None of it worked.

  He must have been outside for an hour when he was about to give up. When Aali came to his head. It was as if he could actually see the old man standing in front of him, that trademark scowl on his face, like he had eaten something particularly bitter.

  As he thought of Aali’s spiteful words, his mocking Caleb’s relation to Lucas and their entire family, the anger did finally come. It spread, making his chest burn. The burn then spread to his arms, down to his
hands, and before he knew it, fire was spurting out with such force his arms jerked and he spun around with its tremendous force, the fireball going straight for the forest below his house. He yelped as he fell smack on his behind, jagged rock biting into his skin. His heart galloping a million beats per second, he stood, and ran down toward the forest. He wasn’t sure what he would do once he got there, but he was not going to go hide inside his house while something—or someone—burned down because of him. As he made his way down the slight hill where his house sat, he saw the tree the fireball had hit, which was burning fast and hard.

  The whole forest was now going to burn down, because he hadn’t thought things through. He could not have felt stupider if he had done it intentionally.

  He didn’t even have time to think about what he could do, when a group of fairies appeared and became their normal human size. One of them stalked toward him, her face red. She was of a homely figure, with wide hips and a plump face that would have been sweet if she hadn’t been scowling at him.

  “What in the world happened here?” she demanded, hands on her hips. “Did you just light this tree on fire?”

  Lucas panicked. Had she seen him?

  “Of course you didn’t. You live around here,” she added before he could say anything at all. “The forest burns down, chances are your house goes with it.”

  He didn’t want to say that wouldn’t happen, because his house was higher on the rocks, and the chances of it burning were a lot smaller, but he didn’t say a thing. Mostly because he was so embarrassed.

  The fairy ran back to the tree, taking out her pouch of fairy dust and threw it at the tree in handfuls. The other fairies were doing the same, and soon enough, the tree was back to normal, not a single scorch mark on it.

  “Do let me know if you see who could have done something like this, boy,” she said. Somehow when she called him ‘boy’, it didn’t sound condescending like it did when Aali called him that. Instead, she sounded motherly, like she was looking out for him. She sounded like his own mom and he wanted to smile if he didn’t think she would smack him for it.

  “I will,” he said, feeling sheepish and foolish, and also a little guilty for lying.

  It’s not lying if you don’t say a thing. The small voice was no surprise, but he still turned to see if someone was standing behind him.

  “All right,” the fairy said, putting away her pouch. “Girls, go back to your work.” The group of younger fairies turned back into their working selves. He could only wave goodbye as she turned around, became tiny again, and flew away into the bushes, leaving a glittering trail behind her. He looked around the area. The tree looked as if it had never been engulfed in fire. It was astounding, the things fairies could do.

  Fairly sure he was done with his practice he walked back home, noticing the most recent newspaper, which was by the side of the door. He’d stopped reading the paper, because all he saw were stories of the dead they’d found and their insane theories of who or what could have done it. It got old really quickly.

  He dropped the paper into the trash when he went to his lab to check on Elle’s birthday present, which he’d been making for days.

  He only hoped she liked it, he thought, as he viewed the almost finished result.

  The miniature versions of the aurora flower glittered like diamonds in the light. He was happy with the results. He’d had a hard time deciding what to get her, because anything Elle wanted, she could easily get for herself. She was a princess after all. But this was something he could give her that he knew she didn’t have. There were replicas of the aurora sold in shops, but none were like this. This he created with elements, with his own hands. He drew and molded them until they were exactly what he wanted for her.

  As he inspected them, he noticed they were nearly done, all he needed to do was color them, and that didn’t take long.

  He grabbed the paints, which came in small glass bottles with a dropper. He let drops of color fall right on the almost cured crystals and put his hands over the glass where the flowers were. He didn’t use his pure power, because he obviously couldn’t control that, so he used a lighter and fired it up. As the small flame spurted out of the tiny opening, he used his innate magic, what everyone in Esmeralda was born with, and he manipulated it to heat up the container with the flowers. The color spread on the flowers and they changed colors every few seconds. It was exactly what he’d wanted.

  He walked away satisfied, excited to see her face when she saw the flowers.

  He knew it was dangerous to go to her birthday party, since he would have a really hard time hiding how he felt about her, but he didn’t care. He wanted to celebrate her birthday with her, or at least in her vicinity.

  In the kitchen, he heated some of his mom’s delicious potato soup, and went back to check on the flowers. He watched them change colors for a while, noticing they changed every ten seconds. Exceedingly proud of the accomplishment, he grabbed them from the container in which he made them, and set them down gently on a simple black box with a green bow on it. She would get a kick out of that.

  He looked at the clock, realizing he needed to start getting ready, and went to the bedroom, placing the box on the bed before he went to shower.

  He got dressed in his most formal attire, a black suit with a white shirt underneath. He even wore a tie, and he hated ties with a passion.

  When it was time, he grabbed the box with the flowers and walked outside, absently pulling at his tie.

  When he teleported to palace grounds, he was taken aback by how different it looked. The flowers had been charmed out of their pinks and whites to every color of the rainbow, which was definitely Elle’s doing. They smelled glorious, and the garden looked amazing with all the color. The lights floating above him were off, as there was still plenty of sunlight, but he imagined they would look beautiful when they came on after dark.

  He walked into the entryway and it also was like he’d never been there.

  The table that normally sat in the middle of the room was still there, but the vase of flowers that usually sat on it was not. Instead, there was an enormous guest book, and a fancy, peacock quill on a silver stand right next to it. He walked up to it, wrote his name, and went beyond, where a wide arch led into another room with two daybeds under large windows. There was another table, this one a lot smaller. On it, there was a little silver plate with a small card placed next to it, which read: Please, place gifts here.

  He didn’t see any other gifts on there, and he assumed they would disappear and go to another part of the palace. He decided not to place his on it, carrying it with him instead. He wanted to watch her open the box, he thought as he climbed the double staircase and followed signs to get to the ballroom.

  He’d never been in that part of the palace before, and for the first time, realized just how big it was. It never occurred to him just how many rooms there could be. It was all decorated in a rather tasteful manner, which he’d been expecting. The tables were round and big, and it was with pleasure spreading in his chest that he saw the hibiscus flowers as centerpieces. He had to wonder how Elle had gotten away with that and how she had never mentioned it to him. Not that she talked much about her party, other than about her dress, which she had said on many occasions that she hated. He thought it was cool she would be wearing green in a sea of neutrals.

  There was a stage where a band was playing some sort of classical music, which was nice, and the guests—all of whom had dressed as the invitation had requested—were sitting around the tables, sipping on champagne and talking among one another. Elle was obviously not there yet, so he looked around in search of someone he knew.

  There were a lot of people there, hundreds of them, and he felt a little odd standing there just looking around. He almost sighed out loud when he saw Caleb deep in conversation with Olon, both wearing dark suits. He walked over to them, glad they were there so didn’t have to pretend that he was good at talking to people.

  “Well,
hello brother.” Caleb smiled, looking up at him.

  “It’s great to see you, Lucas,” Olon said, gesturing to a chair.

  “You as well, Olon. It’s not often we interact outside of the council.” Lucas took the seat next to Olon and angled his body to engage in conversation with them.

  “Yes, indeed. We ought to make it a more regular occurrence. I don’t do much outside of council duties,” Olon said.

  “I absolutely agree,” Lucas responded, wishing that would actually happen, but knowing it probably would not. Royalty had too many duties to have a good social life, and as the king of Dhara had no children, Olon, his younger brother, was the one in charge of royal duties.

  The music died down just then and King Patrick and Queen Isabel walked into the vast room. They both looked amazing. The Queen was wearing a shimmering white dress that reached the floor. It had long sleeves, which were fitted to her slender arms, and she was wearing a tiara. King Patrick was in a black tux with a white shirt underneath, and he too was wearing his crown. It wasn’t ornate by any means, but it was still rather impressive.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored to have you all here to celebrate our youngest daughter’s eighteenth birthday,” King Patrick said, his voice carrying over the entire hall. “Please, help us in welcoming our daughter and birthday girl, Eleanore.”

  Everyone in the hall applauded, but Lucas couldn’t get his hands to move. He was pretty sure he’d stopped breathing.

  She walked out like on a cloud, dressed in an emerald gown with a shimmering material that flowed like it was made of air itself. It reached just under her knees, flaring out at the hip, and a tight bodice. It went over one shoulder, leaving the other one exposed.

  Her gleaming dark hair was pinned back at the front and cascaded down her back in a mass of waves. He’d never realized how much hair she had.

  She was smiling, her lips slick and pink, her eyes rimmed with black that made them sparkle like emeralds hitting sunlight.