Chapter 16 A Mother Always Knows
A Mother Always Knows
Ember wrung her hands as she steadied her breathing, tapping her foot on the plush grass beside the Rukr pitch.
As prepared as Killian thought she was for tryouts, she couldn’t help but think she would never be as ready as she needed to be.
Students milled around in the stadium seating, most there to hang out with friends rather than watch the tryouts no doubt, but that fact did nothing to curb the anxiety pooling in her stomach.
“You made it!” Fen shouted, as he walked over to the bench, leaning his board against it to sit beside Ember. “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Ember breathed, as she scanned the stadium for the umpteenth time.
Veda and Oryn had just arrived and were currently strapping into the boards to warm up.
Veda flew around the pitch effortlessly, like she had been born with wings.
Her body bent with ease against the wind, a fluidity that Ember thought had to be a trick of the light.
She looked just as graceful in the air as she did walking through the corridors of Heksheim, and something about that made Ember’s blood begin to boil.
She flew like she knew a secret no one else did, and Ember couldn’t help but feel like not knowing was a liability.
Oryn was like a bomb, set to ignite at the slightest wrong move.
He barreled around the pitch with speed and stealth like Ember had never seen, shoving past anyone who even seemed to stand in his way.
Ember shuddered as she shook her head, focusing on putting her gloves on and not running out of the stadium, back to the safety of her bedroom.
“Don’t stress about them,” Fen said with a small smile, as he pulled on his gloves. “They’re all bark and hardly any bite. You’ll blow Veda out of the water.”
“Of course she will.” Killian smiled as he waltzed over, board slung over his shoulder. “She was trained by yours truly, of course.” He shot her a roguish grin and a wink, and Ember felt her cheeks flush as she rolled her eyes.
“Are you forgetting about me?” Fen said, as he scoffed.
Ember laughed as she patted his shoulder, standing up to strap into her board.
“You’re going to do great, Starshine,” Killian said, pulling on his gloves. “Just focus on what you’re doing and don’t worry about anyone else. Veda will try to get in your head. Don’t let her.”
“Easier said than done,” Ember sighed, as she shook her head. “She has a tendency to get in my head whether I like it or not.”
Killian walked over to her, brushing a stray hair out of her eyes, and straightened her shoulder pad. Ember felt goosebumps run down her arms as his fingers brushed her skin, her breath catching in her throat as she swallowed dryly.
“Ignore her,” he said softly. “You are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
Ember nodded and took a shaky breath when Fen cleared his throat.
“Shall we get in the air, or are you not done making googly eyes at each other?”
Ember felt her cheeks flush as Killian shoved Fen in the shoulder, making him stumble.
“So gross,” Fen mumbled, as he rubbed his shoulder and walked toward his board, strapping in and taking off into the air.
“After you, Starshine.” Killian smiled as he gestured toward the field.
Ember took a breath and nodded, then took off into the sky.
The students in the stand grew smaller as Ember rose higher, and she felt the weight on her chest slowly lighten as the air grew thinner.
There was something otherworldly about being in the air—something about the way the magic crackled like electricity around her, humming and buzzing as it brushed against her exposed arms. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before lowering the nose of her board so she was with the rest of the students trying out and made her way to the center of the pitch.
There were four Rukr teams at Heksheim, and four subsequent team captains helping to run tryouts. Professor Bjorn ran the program, so he oversaw naming the teams, much to the other professors’ dismay.
The Kelpies, captained by Flynn Maguire. The Griffins, captained by Kady O’Neill. The Redcaps, captained by Fagan Doyle, and the Wyverns, captained by Killian. Ember wasn’t partial to any one team, but she’d be lying if she said she wouldn’t be more comfortable with Killian and Fen.
Professor Bjorn waved his arm in an upward motion, and all four captains met in the middle above the field.
“Each captain will run a set of drills they have prepared,” Professor Bjorn announced from below, his boisterous voice echoing off the bleacher surrounding the pitch.
“You will complete one set of drills in full before moving on. We will go for an hour or two.” Professor Bjorn looked at the watch on his burly wrist and nodded to himself. “Captains, you may begin!”
Each student trying out had been given an arm band with team colors on it to split them into groups.
Ember’s was maroon and silver—the fact that those were the colors Killian and Fen were also wearing did not miss her.
She flew to her group, hovering just slightly behind the sea of students, and patiently waited on instructions from the captain—Killian.
She ran the drills as instructed, trying desperately to ignore the way his arms flexed as he gave direction and the way his jersey sleeves hugged his biceps. She couldn’t help but notice how much faster everyone seemed. She shook the thought away and adjusted the caman strapped to her back.
Focus.
After a few more drills with Killian, and then a handful with the other three captains, Ember slowed to a stop to catch her breath, and Fen flew up next to her, nudging her in the arm.
“Doin’ alright?” he asked, as he balanced beside her.
“For now, anyway.” She nodded with a sigh. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to compete with any of them.”
“You’re not,” he replied with a shrug, “not really anyway. Worry about competing with the best version of yourself, and the rest will work itself out. That’s what Da’ always says.”
Ember smiled. “You’re a good friend, Fen.”
Fen wrinkled his nose, his face dropping. “Just because you don’t live with me anymore doesn’t make me any less your brother.”
Ember felt her chest clench as she tried to force a smile.
“Lothbrok, let’s go!” Flynn shouted from the center of the pitch.
Ember gave Fen a small nod and took off toward the center of the field where the rest of the students were waiting.
“We’re going to run a little scrimmage.” Flynn grinned, flashing his crooked teeth at the group. “Vargr and Doyle’s groups against my and O’neill’s. First team to score ten points wins. Any questions?”
Everyone shook their heads, and Flynn gave a quick nod. Ember positioned herself in between the pitch and the center of the field, fiddling with her gloves as she tightened them. To her surprise, Veda flew toward her, hovering just a few feet from her on the right.
“There’s still time to give up, you know.” She smirked as she brushed her hair over her shoulder. “It would be a shame if there were an accident after you’ve spent all this time preparing.”
Ember rolled her eyes as she shifted her weight on her board. “Shove off, Ellingboe,” she hissed, clenching her fists by her side.
“Scared, Lothbrok?” Veda grinned, almost manically.
“You’ll find that fear isn’t in my vocabulary,” Ember replied.
“Perhaps,” Veda shrugged, “but it’s in your eyes. Not even those pretty contacts can hide that.”
Ember felt her stomach drop and mouth go bone dry. Her fingers ached as she clenched her fists, trying to steady her breathing. Her eyes cut through the crowded pitch as she searched for Fen and Killian, just a glance to steady her.
How could Veda know? And if she knew, who else did?
Before she had a chance to think any further, Professor Bjorn blew his whistle, and everyone took off.
Ember shook her head, trying to ignore the dread pooling in her stomach, and raced toward the Brazul, caman in hand.
The wind whipped her braid back and forth, her breath catching as she sucked cold air into her lungs.
She sped through the sea of students, trying desperately to keep her mind off her secret that felt like she was losing control of.
It only took a few seconds of distraction to flip everything upside down.
With her eyes searching the crowd of players for Fen, she missed the Brazul coming straight for her.
Instead of using her caman to hit it, she made a sharp left turn, knocking her almost completely off balance, swinging her caman just a hair too late.
Instead of hitting the glowing flame buzzing past her head, she hit something solid.
A screech sounded through the air, and Ember felt her blood run cold as her eyes widened.
Veda very well could have had steam coming out of her ears, and Ember wouldn’t have been surprised. Blood trickled down her chin from her lip, and a bright red imprint from her caman was already beginning to turn purple across her cheek.
For feck’s sake.
“I…I…” Ember stammered above the howling wind, but she couldn’t make the rest of the words come out.
Veda’s eyes cut into her like daggers, and Ember was frozen in place, hovering in the air.
Professor Bjorn’s whistle blew, cutting through the air like a foghorn, and Ember quickly turned and sped down to the safety of the grass.
Every eye was on her as she landed, most looking at her in horror, but she caught Fen and Killian grinning out of the corner of her eye.
Veda unstrapped from her board across the way by her brother, her eyes never leaving Ember.
“That will conclude tryouts for today,” Professor Bjorn said, as he cleared his throat.
“I think we’ve seen all we needed to see for the day.
Please leave any camans or gloves you borrowed on the sidelines for collection.
The list for teams will be posted at the end of the week. Have great weekend!”