Soul Blaze (11 page)

“You cannot possibly know how to remove magic from
someone,” she said, her voice cruel. “That art was lost
when Queen Fleur died.”

“Except for you, of course,” Matilda said, almost kindly.
“Is that what you’re implying?”
Netalia didn’t respond. Matilda lifted her hand, grey
light dancing around her fingertips.
“This won’t hurt a bit.” She said sweetly to Iain.

My former Master clutched his head as her magic
swirled around him. His face was screwed up in agony. I
remembered the exhaustion of waking up without my
magic, and for a second almost pitied him.

Then I remembered my trial, and any hint of pity fled.

The grey magic was pulling back, a glittering cloud.
Tendrils of white were laced through it. It passed through
the bars of the cell and Iain collapsed. Netalia struggled to
her feet, trying to see him.

“Hold your hand out,” Matilda instructed me. I did so,
somewhat apprehensively. “This might tingle a bit.”

White fire tentatively wrapped around one of my
fingers. I gasped as it did so; it felt like a million pins and
needles. Apparently I passed whatever test it had been
conducting, as the fire shot up my arm. I felt like I’d been
plunged into cold water; my vision sharpened as I took a
sharp intake of breath. The fire disappeared right over my
heart. I could feel it in my veins, swirling, unsettled. I felt
powerful.

I felt alive.

“How did you do that?” Netalia was demanding.
I ignored her, curling my fingers into a fist. White
flames tinged with the green of my old magic lit on my

knuckles.

“We’ll be calling on you as we need information,”
Matilda told Netalia. “Until then, you can get used to your
cells.”

I led the way up the stairs, brimming with energy. I
rolled my shoulders back, trying to relieve some of the
tension.

“What now?” I asked Matilda.
“We report back to Jett,” she said. “And then we leave
for Castor.”
“Why the capital?” It was something I’d been
wondering for a while.
Matilda looked at me like I’d gone a little bit crazy.
“Because that’s where the palace is,” she explained.
“And that’s where your rule will be presiding from.”
I halted in my tracks.

“Um, no, no palaces please,” I said. Flames still gleamed
on my fingers; I couldn’t make them go away. “I’m having
a hard enough time adjusting to this whole ‘Queen’
business. I don’t need to be sitting in a big stone castle to
do it.”

Matilda almost smiled and gestured around us.
“A big stone castle such as your Academy?” she asked, a
hint of Petre’s dry humour in her tone.
I waved it away.
“You know what I mean. Besides, I haven’t told my
friends-”

“Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that
anymore,” Matilda said, and when I lifted my head to look
at her, she wasn’t looking at me.

I bit my lip as I noticed my friends waiting for us at the
top of the stairs. The flames on my fingers extinguished.

“And how long did you think you could keep this a
secret?” Dena asked, folding her arms. It was the sternest
I’d ever seen her.

“I wasn’t ready to tell you,” I admitted. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to leave you with this,” Matilda said, and
then scooped up Sky from Petre’s grasp. “Have fun.”
“Why wouldn’t you tell us?” Rain asked. “We’re your
friends. We want to be here for you.”
I lifted my shoulders and let them fall in a helpless
shrug.
“Sky, we just want-”

“Because it’s weird!” I shouted suddenly, cutting
Yasmin off, unable to keep it in. “Because I’m not a
Queen, or a monarch, or anyone really. I’m just Sky. I’m
twenty years old. I’m not ready to start living out of home
let alone
rule
a freakin’
country
. I want to start classes
again. I want to be worrying about last week’s homework.
I want to be... average.”

“As average as you can be in a magical word,” Dena
finished for me. She smiled, the ice melting from her eyes.
She held her arms out to me and I hugged her closely,
trying not to let her feel me shaking.

“So what now?” I mumbled into her shoulder.
“Now we head to the capital,” she said. “And we help
you become the best Queen you can be.”
I clutched her tighter for just a second. When I let her
go, my eyes were dry, and my fingers were steady.

“Well, I’ve got something new to play with,” I told my
group, and lifted my hand, the white fire alight on my
palm. “Want to go try it out?”

They did. We headed out of the double doors and
towards the forest behind the Academy, where Raven and
I had caught the rogue scout when they attacked us. We
were almost to the tree line when I heard a small shriek.

“Sammy!” the boy catapulted himself into my arms,
hugging me tightly. He’d put on few pounds since I’d
saved him from the Du’rangor, and his hair was
determinedly ashy-brown, the same as Petre’s and
Matilda’s. “How are you, young man?”

“I am good!” he told me, and then wriggled to get
down. I set him back on the grass. “Watch, Sky, watch!”

He squared his shoulders. Small grey flames ignited on
his finger tips and he shot them off in rapid succession.
They dissipated before they got too far but it was still
extremely impressive for a mageling.

“That’s amazing,” I told him. “Have you been
practicing?”
He nodded, grey eyes shining up at me.
“Mother’s been tutoring me,” he said, and then bounced
around. “Can I have a piggy-back? Please?”
“Samlin, you’re being a bother,” Petre said disdainfully.
“No he’s not,” I said, crouching down so he could jump
on my back. “Come on, Sammy, hope aboard.”

He leapt onto my back and screeched with laughter as I
took off running towards the forest, his light little body
bouncing with each step. I heard the others running to
keep up with me.

We reached the tree line and Sammy was dodging low
hanging branches, giggling madly the whole time. I passed
the fork in the path where Raven and I had cornered the
rogue scout and plunged further into the forest. I was just
running out of breath when we burst into a small clearing.
I felt Sammy slip off of my back to explore the area just as
the others emerged from the trees.

“Ok,” I said, having caught my breath. “Everyone
behind me.”

They clustered behind me, Petre catching up Sammy as
he tried to investigate what I was doing. I took my stance,
drew in a breath and then flung my hand towards the sky,
commanding all of the fire in my blood to obey.

A tongue of white flames burst above the trees. It easily
reached higher than any of the others could have possibly
produced, and whilst I could feel the power roiling inside
me, I couldn’t feel it weakening.

“Wow!” Sammy yelled from behind me.
I recalled the fire, this time drawing the flames around
me, encircling myself in the magic. It moved as I did, and I

could shoot off small spit fires as I wanted.

I heard a small commotion behind me, and withdrew
the magic back into my veins. I turned to look at my
group just as Ispin shrieked.

Mud people were clinging to him, climbing his clothes
determinedly. A few had already reached his shoulders
and were grasping ringlets of his bright orange hair.

I laughed, darting forwards.
“It’s ok, it’s ok,” I reassured him. He was eyeing them
off nervously. “It’s just your hair, they’re curious.”
I pried a mud person off of his shoulder, a small lock of
his hair coming with it.
“Sorry.”
I held the mud person carefully in my left hand and
reached for another.
“What are they doing?” Theresa asked. I handed her the
mud person and she took it gingerly.

I pulled another mud person off, and something in
Ispin’s hair caught my eye. I gave the mud person to
Theresa as the others crowded around.

A few strands of Ispin’s shocking red hair had been
plaited. I burst out laughing.

“They’re copying what they saw Yasmin do,” I told the
group, watching as Yasmin immediately went pink.
“They’re plaiting his hair.”

As Ispin and Yasmin blushed in unison, Sammy ran to
me, sparing the pair from any questioning.

“What are they?” he asked. Two mud people were
eyeing him off and he watched them apprehensively.
“Will they hurt me?”

“Not if you don’t hurt them,” I told him. “Sit down and
they’ll climb on you. They’re little mud people that live in
the forest.”

Sammy obediently sat on the ground, and two mud
people approached him. One was the chief of the little
tribe, his leaf hat still firmly in place. Sammy giggled as
they began to climb him, their tiny two fingered hands
clutching at his clothes.

“Sky,” he began, as the chief climbed on his head and
sat on his curls, apparently content to watch over the
scene from this new vantage point. “Why can you make
such big fire?”

I bit my lip. I didn’t know what to tell him. I didn’t
think he would understand if I told him the truth, but
something in me balked at lying to him.

“I’ve been practicing,” I said eventually, deciding that
this lie wasn’t too bad. “Just like you, Sammy.”

As he was distracted by the mud people again, his
question made me think of my situation again. I nibbled
my thumb; I needed to speak to my father.

“I’m going to head back now,” I told my friends. “Are
you coming with me?”

They were. I piggy-backed Sammy through the trees,
albeit at a walking pace this time. When we reached the
castle, I set him down on the stone.

“I’m going to see Jett,” I told the group. “I’ll be up
later.”

As I headed up the stairs, I realised that I hadn’t told
them Jett was my father. I sighed. Another surprise I got
to dump on them, as well as a whole lot of explanation.

“What can I do for you?”

My father was seated behind Iain’s desk. A lamp
glowed dimly, illuminating the stack of paperwork he’d
been distracted by when I walked in.
“I have some concerns,” I began.

He sighed and gestured to a flagon sitting near the edge
of the desk.
“What is it?”
“Mulled wine.”

I nodded and he poured me a cup. The wine was still
slightly warm, very smooth but rather heady. I took a long
draught, feeling the heat slide into my belly.

“Your concerns?” he asked.

“I want this Queen thing to be kept under wraps,” I
began. “And when we enter Castor, I want to enter as an
average student.”

“You can’t ask us to ignore who you are, Sky.”

“I can for a couple of days,” I replied smoothly, sipping
my wine. “I want to get to know the city as a citizen. Plus,
do you really think the public will accept me after a
thousand years?”

“They have to,” he said immediately. “With a display of
your powers and your eyes, no one can deny who you
are.”

“Even so, these are people who have gotten used to the
palace being empty. I’m going to assume there is a
governor of Castor.” Jett inclined his head slightly. “Acting
on Iain and Netalia’s word, I imagine.”

He sighed heavily.
“Yes. But now he will act on yours.”
“Have you told him?” I asked.
“Not yet.”
“Good. Keep it that way for the moment. Thank you for
the wine, by the way, it’s making this a lot easier.”
He eyed off the empty cup in my hand, obviously
regretting the move.

“Fine. You’ll enter the city as an average citizen,
though you’ll reside in the palace,” he held up his hand to
cut me off as I began to protest. “We have ways of getting
you in and out of there without anyone noticing.”

I nodded slowly.
“When do we leave?” I asked, setting my empty cup
back onto the desk.

“I was going to propose that we leave tomorrow,” Jett
said. “But the call is yours, especially now since you’ve
decided you don’t want to be crowned straight away.”

I tried to suppress a shudder.

“Also, the last person we’ve been waiting on has just
informed me that they’re settled in Castor; all the more
reason to head there as soon as possible.” Jett was saying. I
suddenly remembered that Matilda Lyon hadn’t been the
only one we’d been waiting on.

“Who is it?” I asked, but Jett just grinned at me.
“I think I’ll leave that for a surprise. Now, dinner is
being served down in the mess hall.”
My stomach growled as I leapt to my feet, eager for
food.
“Can your old Dad have a hug?” he asked, and I hugged
him tightly.
It still felt weird having a father after all of these years,
but it was Jett, and that felt right.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
~Chapter Twelve~

I was up before Morri could shriek me awake. I was
halfway through packing when there was a knock at the
door, and Dena pushed it open before I could call out.

“Almost ready?” she asked, and I nodded.

Someone had already saddled Echo, so I handed my
trunk to one of the Academy servants and mounted up. I
watched the rising sun hit the cold stone of the castle,
feeling as though I was leaving a little part of me behind.
This castle had been my home for a year, and I had just
been getting to know it again. Now I was leaving for
Castor, a city I’d only heard about.

And I was heading there to rule it.
I bit my lip, and Echo whickered nervously, apparently
sensing my distress. I scratched behind her ears to calm
her, wishing there was someone to comfort me.

The only person I wanted comfort from, however, was
leagues away, exiled to the North.

My thoughts were full of Phoenix as we left. I watched,
without really seeing, Dustin ride close to Raven and pick
up her hand, kissing her fingers before riding his gelding
to the front of the proceeding. Some of the students had
agreed to continue their education in the capital, whilst
some were staying at the Academy. I recognised Nero,
Raven’s soul mate, as well as some of Eleanora’s old
friends. I wondered idly if they’d tried to visit her as well.

The day was crisp, and I shivered despite my heavy
cloak and riding gloves. I stretched my neck as we reached
a fork in the road, trying to see Keyes, Larni’s home
village. But we were heading south, and so turned away
from the settlement. I thought I caught a glimpse of the
clock tower anyway.