Ember (37 page)

I looked over at Jaden. Ikovos had joined him
now. Adzamaruha’s reply didn’t really answer my question in the
least, but I felt appreciative all the same. “Okay. Thank—” He eyed
me. My own eyes narrowed. “Ah . . . I mean . . .”

“You mean what you mean, Evangeline. You
can't—” He stopped mid-sentence. “Oh, my, that rhymes.”

My eyes widened in disbelievingly at him as
he jumped off and started towards the shack.

I just waved. “Bye, Adzamaruha.”

When I got back to the two boys, Ikovos
nodded towards the half-dancing man. We all started walking.

“What's he so excited about?”

My mouth opened. I looked back once. “Ah. . .
. I don't really know. I think he rhymed.”

Jaden's jaw clenched tightly. “I
really
hate that guy.”

Ikovos nodded his agreement, then looked at
me eyes narrowing. “Did you do something to your face? . . . You
look different.”

I blushed slightly, gazing down. “Oh, um . .
. Adzamaruha did this spell. It turned my lips pink.”

“Like the sheep?” he asked.

I laughed shortly and nodded, he smiled too.
“Yeah.”

Jaden grabbed the supply bag from my hand
then, drawing my attention. “You sure are awfully observant,
Vos.”

“You're one to talk,” replied Ikovos.

I looked at each as they spoke, trying to
figure out what they were talking about, but before I could they
started discussing other topics again. I dropped it.

By the time we had made it back to the lodge,
they had gotten into four disagreements on a range subjects. It was
strange, for some reason I had assumed their viewpoints were
similar. The walk to the cafeteria went much the same, even on into
lunch. That is until Holdan came to sit beside me. Ikovos and Jaden
were across the table. They both stopped their discussion
mid-sentence and eyed him.

“Hello, Evelyn,” beamed Holdan, grinning.

“Oh, hey,” I replied, smiling back at him.
“How are you today?” My eyes grazed Ikovos and Jaden as I said it.
They were practically scowling at him, I tried to ignore it.

“It's been alright. I haven't seen you in a
couple days.” His silver eyes turned to the other two boys. “Been
busy?”

I looked at them too, now. They still weren't
hiding much intensity. I made a face at both of them.

I mean . . . I knew for whatever reason that
Jaden wasn't very fond of Holdan, but he usually hid it better than
this, and what was wrong with Ikovos?

I nodded pleasantly to the black-haired boy,
or man rather, taking a drink of water. “I have.”

There was an awkward silence then. I took a
couple bites of food, then cleared my throat.

“Ikovos and Jaden were talking about some of
the new border-lines a bit ago. Maybe you could all share your
thoughts on that? . . .” That was my lame attempt at relational
bridge-building.

I don't think it worked. Jaden just kept
glaring at him, while Ikovos and Holdan both muttered uncomfortable
“no’s”. Holdan’s was delivered with a smile.

“Actually, Evelyn, I was coming to see if you
wanted to train after lunch.”

I straightened. “Oh. . . . I guess I
cou—”

“Not today,” started Jaden. “She's training
with me.”

“Takes priority,” added Ikovos.

I just kept quiet.

“O-kay . . . ,” drawled Holdan. Then he stood
up, lifting his plate. “I guess I'll see you later then,
Evelyn.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Let me know when you can. Maybe
tonight.”

I smiled. “I will. Thanks again for
offering.”

He grinned wide at me then, before nodding
coldly to both Ikovos and Jaden and walking off towards the
kitchen.

I looked back ahead with an obviously
questioning face and contemplated saying something. Ikovos held my
gaze for a moment, then turned down to his food, but when I looked
at Jaden he was staring at me intensely. It made me feel more like
I had been the one that had done something wrong. I decided to let
it go, allowing only one pointed remark.

“So are we really going to train after lunch,
or . . .”

Jaden's eyes narrowed at me. Apparently he
was offended that I assumed he would lie, no matter how
probable.

Ikovos looked at both of us and chuckled
slightly, raising a hand up to cover his mouth.

“Yeah. We're training,” said Jaden.

I smiled at that, happy that I would finally
be able to start . . . but then the corners of Jaden's mouth lifted
a little, and everything turned to a confusing ball of mush. My
eyes dropped to the table, widening, grin vanished. I forgot about
what had just happened with Holdan. And whatever it was that was
going on with Ikovos and Jaden . . . pretty much anything I'd been
worrying about. All were irrelevant compared to the idea of
training in a room alone with
him
in my present
condition.

Both the boys were eating, oblivious to my
panic. I looked over to Ikovos forcing a regular face. “Are, ah . .
. you gonna come, Ikovos?”

He lifted his eyes up to meet mine then
shrugged. “I don't know. It's up to you I suppose.”

I glanced over to Jaden. As soon as his
piercingly wondrous gaze hit me, I started to nod, turning back to
Ikovos. “You should come, I think. I mean—” I cleared my throat
“—since you already started teaching me before.”

He smiled at first . . . but then something
fell and his eyes shifted hesitantly to and from Jaden. I tried to
catch its meaning. When I looked over to the dark-haired boy he was
just staring of detachedly. It made my chest hurt. My eyes
darkened. . . .

A loud clap came behind me, one of the other
tables.

I shook out my head.
God, Evelyn. What the
heck is wrong with you today?

I stood up quickly, blinking. Ikovos and
Jaden eyed me.

“Do you guys mind if I go back a little bit
ahead of you? . . . I just need to do a couple things first.”

They looked curious, but didn't object.

“Yeah, sure,” said Jaden.

“Go ahead,” added Ikovos.

I smiled. “Thanks. . . . I'll see you in just
a bit then. . . . And thank you for going with me today.”

They both nodded. I turned around too quick
to give them a chance to respond.

My hand went up to my chest as I rushed
through the now familiar halls. I thought I'd had this under
control, but obviously I didn't. It was getting
worse.

You just need to clear your head, Evelyn,
get back to reality.
The idea came welcomingly. I immediately
ran with it and spent the walk back trying to think of good method
for doing just that. Unfortunately magic training would hardly be
helpful . . . hopefully they'd take a while to get here.

By the time I reached the study, I decided
all I needed was to find a good book to immerse myself into, an
emotional outlet of sorts. Back in Tiver I read story-books
constantly . . . this was all probably just some sort of
withdrawal.

I checked on Tanis first, he was still
asleep, then went over to the shelves to find a book. As I bent
down to read names, I noticed a rather large silver one. It
reminded me of the silver book Adzamaruha had given me.

“Oh.” I reached into my pocket and pulled it
out. The cover was smooth leather, emitting a soft glow I hadn't
noticed outside.

I touched it delicately, then opened to the
first page. No name. No author. No description. The pages were
thin, fragile.
They
also glowed silver.

I turned to the next carefully. This one
seemed to begin the actually story itself, though it had no
introduction of chapter numbering. Unconsciously, I turned my back
against the shelves and sat down. My eyes scanned across the words
intently. The script was beautiful, elegant. It spoke first of
humans, people, almost as if describing them, only with metaphors
and stories rather than any practical or scientific
explanations.

Ten pages in I realized I had never read
anything like this before. It was so adventurous and emotional, but
believable . . .
realistic.
I could relate so completely to
some of the stories, I had
seen
them play out in life. The
names I didn't recognize, of either places or people, still nothing
seemed false.

I had no clue whether this was history or
fiction.

After going on a while about humans, the
Meoden were mentioned, by name no less. This had me pouring through
even more avidly. Though I decided straight away that if anything
like what was in the last Meoden book I'd read came up I would stop
immediately.

Nothing did. It spoke of their cruelties in a
detached, inexplicit, manner. Named as evil and nothing more than
what it was. Before long another species was mentioned, mysterious
and uncommon, but opposite to the Meoden, creatures of light. They
were called the Gaeln.

As soon as I read the word something clicked
in the back of my mind, an image, light fighting dark, swirling
colors. I looked up from the book to the red flame on the table.
The
painting
! The one I'd seen in the room down the hall the
other night. . . .

My eyes narrowed. I looked down at the book,
then back up.

After carefully marking my spot and tucking
the book back in my pocket, I single-mindedly headed for the
door.

My heart jumped when I opened it. Jaden was
standing there, hand up as if preparing to knock.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

I was thinking about explaining, until I
looked up to his face, it, taken in with the posture and tone . . .
I couldn't really remember where it was that I
was
going.

I fumbled. “I, um . . . no. I mean, yes . . .
I was going to see if you were coming soon.”

He nodded, a little dubious, but didn't
respond. After a while he made a look with his eyes to my arm
blocking the doorway. I moved back.

“Oh. Sorry.”

He walked by briskly. Ikovos was behind him,
but my gaze was still following the former.

“Did we take too long?” asked Ikovos.

I looked back to him quickly. “Wha? Oh . . .
no, perfect tim—” I stopped. There was an expression on his face I
couldn't pin, gentle but pained, questioning. “What is it?” I asked
him, narrowing my eyes.

He looked a bit surprised, like he hadn't
planned on me noticing something was up. A moment of silence
passed, then he straightened up, glanced back at Jaden, and eyed
me. “Why is it that you had to come back early again?”

Now
I
was the one taken off guard. I
swallowed slowly and thought about formulating a good excuse. Only,
I didn't really want to lie to Ikovos. . . .

“I just needed some time to clear my head,” I
said, shrugging, but looking up as if for approval.

He nodded understandingly, and I smiled,
relieved. But then he took in a breath and looked down at me hard
with his striking, blue eyes. This was intimidating Ikovos, who
always managed to take me by surprise. “You know you can talk to me
about anything, right?”

My brow darkened.

“You guys just gonna stand by the door all
day?”

Our eyes held for a moment longer. Then
Ikovos looked forward to Jaden, smiling. “Anyone ever tell you that
you have a patience problem?”

He walked by me and my lids closed
firmly.

This is getting complicated.

I shut the door wistfully then walked back to
the boys as they continued their discussion.

“I can't relate to patient people,” snorted
Jaden. He was sitting in the same chair as last night. Ikovos was
on the couch.

“
I'm
a patient person,” said Ikovos,
almost defensively.

I sat on the empty side of the sofa, farthest
from Jaden.

“Not when it really matters.”

Ikovos’s eyes narrowed at him quizzically. I
had to agree, the statement didn't make much sense.

“What about you, Evelyn?” asked Ikovos.

They both got quiet. My hands fidgeted
nervously, but I really tried to think of the actual answer.

“I think . . . only when I'm scared.” I
looked up. “—am I patient, that is. I guess because I'd rather
things went slower, so I was more prepared if they turned bad.”

They looked at me, though not with the
dubious or condescending faces I had expected, something else.

“I'm over-thinking it, aren't I?” I said,
smiling slightly.

Both seemed to clear. Jaden turned down to
the table, eyes hard. The other shook his head.

“No,” said Ikovos. “It's amazing that you're
that aware of yourself. . . .” It got quiet for a moment, then he
added. “It'll be helpful as you're learning magic.”

I lifted. This reminded me of when Ikovos was
first teaching me about magic. He’d said that it had to do with
knowing yourself well enough to realize that you already had the
ability . . . almost a surety in yourself. My eyes shifted to the
fire.
No wonder Ikovos and Jaden are exceptional at magic:
they're both confident as heck, most definitely in themselves,
often broaching cockiness.

Me on the other hand . . . this could be
tricky.

*

The prediction proved true. Over the next, I
don't even know how long, Jaden attempted to teach me some spells.
Well, not attempt, he taught perfectly,
I
just wasn't
getting it.

Ikovos helped him a little bit, but for the
most part kept quiet, content to simply watch. Jaden was fairly
mellow too. I wished I could say the same for myself. I was so
nervous that I was practically shaking. For some reason, whenever I
was learning something new, I felt like I should already be able to
do them at least
well
. It was a stupid trait, and
unfortunately made actually learning a lot harder.

“Just relax,” said Jaden in the midst of me
attempting a spell. “You're doing fine.”

I pulled my hand glumly into my lap. “I
haven't
done
anything.”