Frost Arch (15 page)

“I wasn’t always like this.” Noah said, still not looking at me.

I kept very still and silent.

“A glass of wine with dinner, or for celebrations.” He continued as though I was not there, “Please do not judge me for tonight.”

I licked my dry lips anxiously, “Of course not, sir.” I mumbled, “It’s not my place.”

Noah stood straight and pondered for a moment, “Would you please dispose of these bottles, Avalon Redding?” He asked. A perfect gentleman, my heart fluttered. I enjoyed the way my name rolled from his tongue so easily.

I hurried forwards and collected all the bottles into my arms. As I picked them up, the back of my hand lightly brushed against Noah’s forearm. He jumped slightly.

“I’m sorry.” I mumbled.

“You’re burning up.” He seemed genuinely concerned.

I remembered that Noah Forsythe was not aware of my Power, nor had he seen me light any fires. The only time I had performed my Power near him was when I heated his bath on that first day. Perhaps he had not thought to question why he had hot water waiting for him.

“It’s nothing.” I said stepping back, my arms laden with empty bottles.

He frowned at me and put the back of his hand to my forehead, “A normal Mage would be dead if they had a temperature that high. Maybe you can get that healer kid to-”

“Jack,” I corrected, my legs beginning to shake violently, “he has better things to do. Besides, I’ve always been like this, sir.”

Noah dropped his hand. He seemed aware that I was shaking for the bottles were clinking jerkily in my arms. After a moment he seemed to understand, “Oh but of course.” He smiled crookedly, “The bath …”

“Yes, sir.”

From this close proximity I could smell the wine on his breath strongly, though it was not repugnant. It was sweet and warm and made me feel dizzy. I also noticed how tall he was; at least over six foot. He positively towered over my five foot four inches. My eyes were level with his wide chest.

“A Fire-Mage, I’m guessing?” He said as a smile played his lips.

I nodded nervously, keeping my eyes averted from his face.

“Or an angel?” He smirked, and I felt my face turn redder.

Hadn’t Jack and Camryn warned me not to find myself alone in a room with Noah Forsythe? Wasn’t this the one thing they seemed afraid of? But what was there to fear; this perfect gentleman? Even when he was intoxicated he was perfectly polite. They must have the wrong impression about him. Or maybe they had him confused with someone else. That must be it, wild rumours circulating staff.

Noah nodded to himself and turned to look out of the window.

“Can you please try and be discreet when you are disposing of the bottles?” He asked, his back to me.

“Yes, sir.” I gave a small bow, which I thought he may have seen by the reflection in the glass, and I turned to leave.

“Oh, and Avalon,” Noah said turning to face me at the same moment I paused to listen, “You apologise too much.”

I hid my smile, “Sorry, sir.”

I hurried from the room and snuck into the kitchens. They were almost completely empty now apart from a few stragglers. No one paid me any attention as I put them in the garbage along with the rest of the day’s rubbish.

As usual, at the end of the day when all my jobs were done, the Forsythe family was long asleep I would sneak into the stables. Sometimes Jack and Camryn would accompany me at this late hour but tonight neither of them was here. At first Camryn had been reluctant to let me enter the stables alone, but it seemed the Pegasi had taken a liking to me and Hawthorne, and brushed their noses up against me as I walked past. I walked through the stable intent on the last stall. I hadn’t managed to get away and see Hawthorne the last two days because I had been working harder what with another member of the Forsythe family in the manor. So of an evening I was so tired I had just collapsed into my bed and passed out. I felt bad that I hadn’t been able to say hello, but I knew Camryn had been keeping him company and feeding him. I stopped at the last stall and looked in on Hawthorne who was curled up in a corner with a large, furry grey blanket across him. He was gently snoring, his body rising up and down with each breath.

I narrowed my eyes and after a moment or two, I gasped. It was not a furry grey blanket as I had originally thought. Hawthorne was bigger still! He was a large mass of fur huddled in the corner.

I opened the stall door and stepped inside quietly so I wouldn’t wake him up, but of course the hinges creaked loudly and his ears and head pricked up instantly.

Hawthorne’s shining blue eyes beamed at me as he realised I had finally come to visit. His tail wagged excitedly. I was amazed that he had grown even bigger. He had far surpassed the size of any normal fox, dog, or canine for that matter. His wings were bigger still, yet, as usual, nowhere near big enough.

Hawthorne stood and I gasped. He was lean and muscular, with powerful looking legs and a strong chest. He sauntered towards me, much more elegantly than any time before. His head came up to my waist, and he could lick my elbow easily.

“Hawthorne.” I whispered, “I thought you’d stopped growing.”

His large eyes appraised me, his stare always too intelligent. His coat was still a dull grey. I sighed.

“I missed you too.” I scratched behind his ears. The new height was strange and he didn’t seem like a baby any more. Just over three weeks ago he had been a pup; playful and clumsy. Before me stood a large and rather frightening creature. I supposed that anyone who saw Hawthorne and didn’t know him would think of him that way at least.

I sat with Hawthorne in the stall for a long while. He lay beside me and rested his head in my lap, soon falling asleep, his coat white and fluffy now. I rested my back on the wall and fell deep into thought. I didn’t even notice when my thoughts soon became dreams. Strange dreams too.

I was riding on the back of a large winged creature. We were at a great height, but I wasn’t scared. I trusted the creature. We were flying towards a great mountain, high in the clouds. My sister was there, Helena. She was crying for help. But why was she here? She was supposed to be safe at home in Mortlock. I felt a pang of sadness as I dreamt about my family. The next thing I knew the creature I was riding was hurt, and we were falling towards the ground, fast. I could hear someone calling my name from a distance. Before I splattered across the ground I woke with a start.

“Avalon!” Someone was shaking me.

“What? Who?” I mumbled wiping the sleep from my eyes as daylight streamed in through the windows. Strange. My room wasn’t usually this bright in the morning. Nor did I have this many windows in my little room. What was that smell? With a lurch I realised I had fallen asleep in the stables. I was aware that I was curled in a ball on the floor using Hawthorne’s side as a pillow. He was quite comfy. I sat up abruptly looking around wildly. Camryn was in front of me, her eyes wide and panicked.

“Are you okay?” I asked worried.

“Me?” She blurted out, “I’ve spent the entire morning looking for you with Jack!” She seemed very angry.

“I’m sorry, I … wait … the entire morning?” I jumped up and Hawthorne whined moodily.

“Yes! Jack went to wake you up this morning. But you never responded, so he kept knocking. He was worried so he let himself in and found you weren’t there. He then came and woke me up and we went looking for you.”

I looked outside the window and the sun was rather high in the sky.

“Well wasn’t it obvious this was the second place to look?” I said brushing the straw from my uniform.

Camryn flinched, “Well we thought maybe-” She stopped and took a deep breath, changing her mind, “Look, it doesn’t matter. The point is you need to hurry up and get to work before Charles finds out you haven’t lit any of the fires yet!”

I cursed angrily, thanked Camryn for waking me up and rushed from the stables. I heard Hawthorne whine behind me. I was sorry to leave. I had been so comfortable with him.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur as I ran from room to room, thankfully not seeing any one important along the way. I bumped into a few people on staff that I didn’t know very well at all, but they ignored me. I dodged around maids cleaning, and carrying handfuls of linen from rooms, and they gave me strange looks. By the time I had lit every fire I was panting and sweating with a stitch in my side.

My stomach grumbling angrily I headed back down the stairs to get some lunch and try and find Jack to apologise.

I ate but didn’t know where Jack was. He wasn’t in his room, or anywhere else in the manor otherwise I would have run into him when I lit all the fires. I went and asked Camryn where he had gone, but she hadn’t seen him since this morning when they had split up and gone looking for me. I thought perhaps Jack had gone into the city on an errand for Charles.

When I was walking back from the stables, my boots crunching against the snow, I thought I heard a definite crackle of twigs in the nearby trees.

I squinted at the trees but couldn’t see anything in their thick mass. I was about to start walking again when more cracking came from the trees as though heavy boots were treading upon the twig strew floor. I spun around my hand outstretched, ready to defend myself if a wild animal were to attack. A nice burst of flame would scare anyone away.

Holding my breath, the footsteps got louder and louder, crunching against the bracken. A dark figure emerged from the trees and shook itself off.

“Jack?” I edged closer.

Jack smiled at me and came into proper view as I let my hands drop to my sides, relieved.

“I thought you were going to attack me!” I exclaimed, punching him in the arm when he got closer.

“Speak for yourself. Were you about to light me on fire?” He asked with a grin.

I pursed my lips, “Maybe. What were you doing in there?”

“Well I was originally on my way to the stables to see if Camryn had found you in there-”

“She did.” I confirmed.

“But then I saw something … someone in the trees.” Jack scowled.

My eyes widened, “And you went looking for them?” I jabbed him in the kidney as punishment and he winced, “They could have been dangerous!”

“Too right.” Jack said rubbing his side, “But he ran away pretty fast when he realised he’d been spotted.”

“The other week … we were walking to the stables…” I said slowly remembering the previous week.

“Yeah, I thought I saw someone then too.” Jack nodded, “But I wasn’t sure until today. Someone’s been standing in the trees, watching, or waiting for something.”

“Or someone.” I added.

Jack began walking with me towards the stables now. We were silent for a while, thinking.

“Why did you follow them? You must have been on it for a while.” I said breaking the silence.

“I followed whoever it was for about an hour, they really didn’t want to be seen or caught. I followed because, well, I didn’t know where you were at the time, and suddenly a suspicious character turns up in the grounds … I wasn’t about to let them get away.” Jack scowled.

“But they were in the trees last week too.” I reminded him.

Jack sighed, “Oh well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. You’re fine. So are you going to tell me why you were in the stables when you were supposed to be working?”

I flinched, “I visited Hawthorne last night. I was so tired I fell asleep in his stall. Quite comfy actually.”

“I’ll give it a try some time.” Jack rolled his eyes, then added, “By the way, you have straw in your hair.”

I jabbed him in the side again before picking at my hair and trying to keep it flat. I thought it was best to tell Jack what I had seen in the grounds over a week ago.

“Jack,” I began cautiously, “I … well I’m not sure, but I think I saw someone on the grounds that first day you saw someone in the trees”

Jack raised his eyebrows, “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I was worried. I think, well, it looked like that boy from the marketplace. Seth Swaggart. It was from a distance, but he looked so skinny standing there, and he was dressed in all black.” I shivered but I was not cold.

Comprehension dawned on Jack’s face, “You know … the person I chased fit that profile. He was wearing a long black cloak. I’m sure that probably bulked him up a bit.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions.” I didn’t want to face the truth.

“But it fits.” Jack complained, “Why on earth is he lingering around the Forsythe manor?”

“To finish me off?” I said sarcastically, though somewhere deep down it made sense.

Jack eyed me warily, “But that’s ridiculous. You’re just a girl, just a-a-”

“Nobody?” I offered.

“Well, no.” He flushed pink, “But this is bad news anyway.”

“Why? I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. We’re being paranoid.” Oh god I hoped we were.

“Well … it’s not really a good sign when Seth Swaggart starts following you.” Jack admitted. We had stopped outside the stables and were talking in hushed voices now.

“Care to elaborate?” I pressed.

“Well, I suppose you could call it … a-a death omen.” Jack said slowly and seriously, “Think about it. On that first day you were in Frost Arch, we think Swaggart tried to curse you, but I stopped him-”