A shout drew her attention, and she reluctantly pulled her lips from Remi. She still felt the same comfort, his arms around her, her own around his neck and her body pressed against his. Then she remembered the priestess, and they took a step away from each other.
Another shout and she turned around, the heat still overwhelming yet not burning. Had they formed some other creature? But the soldier before her shielded his face with his arm as he called out for her.
The flames died away, and Lis realised that the building they were in was well alight. Remi released her and stretched out his hands, and the flames died away. The fire marked the walls, and the platform smoked. Her bedding was nothing but ash.
‘Are you hurt, Your Highness?’ the soldier asked.
‘No,’ she murmured, her head still light from the strange feeling of being wrapped in Remi’s flames. ‘Did you see the phoenix?’ she asked, stepping forward, but the man stepped back away from her and bowed. ‘What did you see?’
‘I’m not exactly sure,’ the man murmured.
Lis could feel the blush coming to her cheeks. What did he think he had seen? They may be linked and promised, but they weren’t married yet. And the prince certainly wasn’t behaving as he should. She looked back at him standing silent behind her. He had never behaved as he should when it came to her.
‘It was as through the phoenix stood between us, protecting the two of you. Although the flames spread, and when I saw the smoke…’
‘It is separate from us?’ Lis asked.
‘I don’t know what I saw,’ the man murmured. Lis wondered if he had seen more than he wanted to and wasn’t sure how to say it. ‘I will send for more bedding—or do you think we should find somewhere else?’
Lis took a moment to look around the room. The damage was superficial, but she wondered if this would be a risk whenever they came together or one doubted the other. They couldn’t spend their lives burning the world around them. She sighed and nodded, and the man disappeared.
The blood still marking the floor made her wonder if it might be a good idea to find somewhere else, but she wasn’t sure where that might be. The prison, she remembered, was made of stone. That might be more durable and less flammable. And it was away from the smell of blood that seemed to fill her senses suddenly. It was as though the priestesses were to cause her trouble for eternity. She put her hand to her nose. ‘Maybe we should leave,’ she murmured.
‘Do you want me to leave you?’ Remi asked.
She shook her head as the hunter entered the room, ‘I think we should keep you together. Despite the danger to others, I think you might be safer together.’
‘Safer?’ Lis asked. ‘We could have killed everyone here.’
He shook his head, a slight smile curling up the corner of his lip. ‘I shall send someone to clean up the mess, but you need to sleep. It was not so long ago that the two of you were thought to be dead.’
Remi opened his hand, and a small flame leapt to life. It jumped from his hand to the puddle of blood that marked where the priestess had died, then burned along the trail. It slipped beneath the door, and Lis heard a shout on the other side. She rushed forward and opened the door as a young soldier stood and watched the flame run along the covered walkway. Then it disappeared. He carried an armful of bedding, and he stood and stared at Lis.
‘Bring that inside,’ the hunter muttered.
He moved past Lis and then stopped by the platform, where only remnants of the other bedding remained.
‘Here,’ Remi offered, pointing to a place against the far wall. There was no charring or hint of the drama of the night, and the man dropped the bundle, bowed low and disappeared. Remi bent down and started straightening out the bedding. Lis looked from the place the blood had been to the hunter and then back to Remi.
‘Sleep,’ the hunter said, bowing low, and then he too left them. As he closed the door behind him, Lis realised there was no longer a guard on the inside of the room.
She was still staring at the door when Remi took her hand. She jumped, but he held her tight and led her to the bed. She lay down and allowed him to pull the covers over her. Then he sat against the wall, his legs out before him. And without a word, he gently ran his fingers through her hair.
‘Are you not going to sleep?’ she asked.
‘She wasn’t working alone,’ he murmured.
‘Remi,’ she said softly, sitting back up and moving to sit beside him. ‘You can’t do this alone.’
‘You need to sleep,’ he said.
‘As do you.’
‘What if I burn the building to the ground while I sleep?’
‘I don’t think you will.’
‘What if the phoenix takes control? What if it tries to protect us?’
‘Surely it knows these men work with us.’
‘Are you certain?’
‘I’m not certain of anything at this moment.’
‘Then let us sleep and see what happens.’
She smiled up at him and moved back down the makeshift bed, holding the covers for him to lie beside her.
‘Are you sure?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she admitted, ‘but I think we stand a better chance together, whatever is to come.’
He nodded once and lay down beside her. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as his arm closed around her. The same feeling of contentment washed over her. She opened her eyes briefly to make sure they weren’t burning, and in the darkness that surrounded them, she allowed herself to sleep.
Chapter 13
Wei-Song watched the child playing on the beach. She squealed and ran away from the waves before following the retreating water back across the sand, splashing and then running away. She had never appeared so relaxed and childlike before, and Wei-Song worried it was a sign of something worse to come.
The master stood beside her, smiling at the child’s antics. She wondered what Yang would have made of the behaviour, but she saw little of him. He spent a most of time in his room, possibly sleeping. Wei-Song worried he had spent more energy than he could spare to bring Lis back from the nearly dead. And she was sure that he missed her. She had been tempted to follow Lis, but the child had said they needed to maintain some distance, to allow Lis and the prince time to find each other.
Wei-Song thought it was a bad idea to let her go alone. The crown prince had been so different that day, throwing his fire around, trying to kill Lis. Would seeing her be enough to bring him back to where he was meant to be? Was it more wishful thinking than actual sight that had directed the child to push Lis to find him?
Wei-Song was increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. She didn’t know how her mother faired, or what her father—no, the emperor—thought of what had occurred. Did he know that she lived, or even that Lis had survived? She looked up at the man beside her, still smiling at the child in the waves. This man was her father. Not that she had ever called him such, but she loved him as she loved her mother, and she knew with a certainty that he would do anything to keep her safe.
The emperor held no such feelings. Wei-Song may have felt something for the prince, but she wasn’t quite sure what that might be. The child looked back at them and waved before running headlong back into the water. How could the child be so sure he could be saved? Wei-Song knew there was a connection between him and Lis, although she doubted Lis felt the same for him. Although she had been eager to head back to the Palace Isle and risk it all to find him.
He had seemed so disappointed to learn she was his sister, and that his mother had kept such a thing from him. She wondered if the prince doubted the empress would do the same for him. Lis had been right—he was lost. She only hoped Lis could help him be found.
Tired and wet, the child appeared before them. ‘I’m hungry,’ she said, looking back longingly at the water.
‘That looked like fun,’ the master said as he reached out a hand to take hers. Wei-Song was reminded of him indulging her as a child. When th
e others had worked hard between classes, she had been allowed some freedoms. Although, as she watched the child walk ahead of her along the path, hand in hand with the master, she wondered if that had been because of who her parents were rather than who she was.
As they walked, she wondered what else the child had seen and whether she could tell them if Lis had found Remi. She knew not to push, and that the child would share when she had something to share, but Wei-Song was finding it hard to wait.
As they sat at the table and the child filled herself as though she hadn’t eaten in months, Wei-Song’s mind still wandered. She thought of Yang, still hidden away in his room.
‘What do you think Lis would have called me?’ the child asked suddenly.
‘I thought you couldn’t have a name,’ Wei-Song said, sitting her own bowl back on the table.
‘The world is different,’ the child said, pushing more food into her mouth. ‘I can’t remember the name my own mother gave me. And Lis wanted to give me a name. What do you think it would have been?’
‘I can’t guess,’ the master said. ‘What do you think?’
The girl shrugged and returned to eating.
Wei-Song and the master shared a look of confusion across the table.
‘How is the world different?’ Wei-Song asked carefully.
‘The phoenix returned,’ she said between mouthfuls.
‘And what does that mean?’ Wei-Song asked.
The girl shrugged.
‘Can’t you see what it will do?’
She shook her head, smiled broadly and then sat her chopsticks down. ‘I can’t see anything.’
‘You can’t see what comes next?’
‘Nothing,’ she said with an even wider smile. ‘I saw the phoenix and then nothing—no history, no visions, no idea of what people want or think.’
‘Why is that?’ the master asked.
She shrugged again. ‘Can I go and play with the others?’ she asked. ‘I know there are some of my kind who have magic as well as visions; I would like to see if I have any skills.’
The master nodded, and she skipped out of the room. She was like a different child.
‘Do you think they have stopped?’ Wei-Song asked.
‘It appears so, but why? And what is the phoenix?’
‘Lis saw something in the flames,’ she said.
‘Something around the prince?’
Wei-Song nodded. ‘She saw it when they were fighting. She murmured about it in her sleep. She worried it would consume him. Do you think that it has? Has he been lost?’
‘Lis would have returned to us if she could, if there was nothing for her on the Palace Isle. Maybe she has found a way to save him.’
‘But there are magics and the like trying to end them.’
‘She is stronger than you think.’
‘I have a fairly good idea of how strong she is,’ Wei-Song snapped, then bowed her head. ‘I’m sorry, Master. I wonder that I should not have gone with her. What if something has happened? The Empire was attacked by magic, and they may not forgive her even if she fought with the Empire’s men. What if the prince didn’t survive?’
‘They are both a lot stronger than we think they are,’ the master said softly.
‘I do hope so.’
‘Your brother is a good man,’ he said, giving her a smile. ‘And Lis knows what he is. When they need us, we shall follow them to the Palace Isle and stand beside them.’
‘I don’t want to expose you to such a world,’ Wei-Song said.
He laughed then and rested his hand on her arm. ‘I was born into such a world. I have seen far more of it than you.’
She nodded and rested her hand on his.
Wei-Song headed out to the little stone terrace that overlooked the ocean. It was a secluded place that the master often used for quiet contemplation, and she needed some quiet time herself. The days since Lis had left had been harder than she imagined. She constantly worried if Lis had survived the Palace Isle and what she might have found there. In some ways, it was a relief to believe the prince was alive, but she wasn’t sure how he would react to Lis. He had seemed to hate her enough to want to kill her, but he had been twisted by the magic then. Could Lis bring him back?
She slid open the door to the little terrace to find someone already there. She apologised as she backed up, then recognised Yang when the man turned. He appeared older, thinner and less robust for a man of his age. She stepped forward and bowed to him. He waved her away with a laugh and turned back to the view.
‘I have heard the child has lost her visions,’ he said softly, his voice croaky, and Wei-Song wondered again if he was well enough to be out or if he had in fact given too much of himself to Lis.
‘It seems so, although it isn’t exactly clear what has caused them to cease. She talked of a phoenix, and then they were gone.’
‘A phoenix?’ he asked, turning back to her.
She struggled to make eye contact now that the dark circles were so deep around his eyes. ‘Should you be resting?’
‘I have rested enough,’ he murmured. ‘Tell me about the phoenix.’
‘I don’t know that I can. She hasn’t been clear. I don’t know if it is a good thing or bad, if it is real or imagined, or what it might have to do with Lis.’
‘She found him,’ he said softly, looking out over the ocean.
‘Is that a good thing? Or might he hurt her?’
Yang shook his head. ‘He wouldn’t.’
‘Yet he has, so many times. He has nearly killed her twice, and both times you were there to save her. This time, we are here, and we don’t know where she is or what she might be facing. We might really lose her this time.’
He turned and smiled at her before wrapping his arms around her. Despite her surprise, a calming effect washed over her. Then he slipped in her arms and she was holding him up.
‘Why do you always try to make everything better?’ she whispered as she lowered him to the ground.
‘I’m a healer,’ he murmured, resting his head on her shoulder. ‘I’ll be ok,’ he said as she slowly pushed her energy through him.
‘Just rest,’ she said, holding him tight and hoping he would allow her to help him as much as he helped everyone else. Lis might need them yet.
Chapter 14
Chonglin paced along the walkway by the pond. He shouldn’t have let the priestess go alone, but she had been so sure she was the only one who could bring the prince back to them. He had disappeared with the rumours that the princess was still alive, and Chonglin had known then the prince wasn’t quite as dedicated to their cause as he had claimed to be. But they had coerced him from the beginning. The prince had been sure there was a way to work with the princess, that they were to work together, and now Chonglin was sure that they were.
The priestess had not returned, and he wondered if she would return to the Sacred Isle and her sisters if she failed at the task she had set herself. She should have gone with them in the first place; it was better that the priestesses were well away from the situation. He worried more than she did that they risked being discovered, but then he thought there were more who knew that secret than he realised, or even than the priestesses realised themselves.
There was much the woman hadn’t told him, and he probably didn’t need to know what she did or with whom as long as it didn’t interfere with what they wanted. The only important factor was making sure the magic was in control of the Empire. However that looked.
There was no one left on the island outside of officials and soldiers, and they didn’t want to seek out any of them. Not yet. Not until he knew what the prince was doing. But there was no one to ask. Now would have been the time to be in league with the Hidden, so he could send someone in to discover the truth. There weren’t even any servants left to glean information from.
He thumped his fist down on the railing. All those years of planning, of hiding from his own people, and they were no closer to what had been foreseen.
Despite their strength in facing the soldiers, somehow the prince and princess had ended the fight while fighting each other.
He still wasn’t quite sure what had happened. The magic was still thick in the air, yet they had dragged the half-dead prince away from the fight in the hope of fighting again. And they’d thought he had managed to kill the princess.
But now he knew that hadn’t been the case at all. Somehow, she had survived what he had nearly not. Chonglin’s ears had rung for days after, and despite all that, the prince was chasing after her, wanting to be reassured that she was still alive.
Chonglin had thought the priestess had found a way to keep the prince on their side, but when it came to the hidden princess, there was too much there. He wondered if things had been done according to tradition, had she had been chosen as a girl, would the prince still have had the same idea of her? Was it that he saw her as a man saw a woman rather than as a prince saw a hidden princess?
Whatever it was, she was the reason he had developed magic, and it should have been enough to make him hate her. Chonglin waved over the nearest man. ‘Any word of the high priestess?’
He shook his head.
‘Take some men, go carefully, and find her. Check the temple and the prison. And if you can find anything on our prince or his princess, that would be useful too.’
The man bowed his head and called to some others, who walked quickly out through the black gate. Chonglin looked up at the great wall surrounding the Palace Isle. He smiled as he watched a distant soldier walk along the top of it. They had managed to hide in the one place they could never be found, where they could not be seen. They were at the centre of magic in the Empire, when the Empire had tried so hard to stamp it out.
He wondered for a moment whether they could win this, with or without the prince, whether magic could take control of the Empire so completely. As a boy, his parents had longed for peace and the ways of old to return, but he knew it would never happen that way. They would never meet their true potential under the shadow of an Empire willing to destroy its own people for their differences.
The Magics of Rei-Een Box Set Page 62
