Chapter 24
“ W hat the hell was that?”
I couldn’t help myself. That was the first time Father had ever heard me curse. “How did he find out who he’s paired with to throw that round so perfectly? And what did he do to get to Spencer’s opponent?”
I started pacing the room. Father poured drinks for all of us. Amyra took my glass and waited until I slow down to offer it to me.
“I found Juniper, and she said she would investigate and make sure a priestess comes here to speak to us. Her initial guess is that someone was wielding magic of some type, but she wanted to confirm.” Ivy offered.
“And that look he gave me once his match started. His opponent should have knocked him off his feet. I can’t believe that. He’s trying to become a crowd favorite so that the city turns on me when I don’t choose him.” I reached for my forehead, rubbing it in confusion and frustration.
“Lyla, please, if you’re going to fret, at least keep your hands away from your hair. We don’t have time to fix that.” Amyra offered. “Could you sit and maybe drink some of this?”
I nodded and sat, taking the glass. I didn’t want to drink anything and risk nausea, but the glass would give my hands a job to do to keep them from my hair .
A knock sounded, and Ethan checked. “Juniper, please, come in. We are hopeful you can shed some light.”
I turned to her, but she had a grim look. I would not like what I’m about to hear.
“I can. Before I do, I need to check, Lyla. You are so new with your powers, we normally don’t recommend such emotionally charged situations at this stage. Are you holding it together? One of my priestesses can help you with maintaining your control if you need it.”
A moment of relief hit me, and I nodded gratefully. “I’ll need that for this next round. If Egan gets into that ring, I don’t care if it’s Frederick or Spencer. I don’t think I’ll keep the panic down.”
Juniper nodded, pulled out a small square of paper and a pen, wrote the request down, and the letter disappeared. I could never tire of seeing such an act. The novelty helped to cool my temper, too.
“Emberly will be here soon. Now, for what I found out. I got confirmation that he was using powers to throw Spencer’s fight.
Nothing happened in Egan’s fight, and they also ignored Frederick’s fight.
But one priestess confirms that she sensed power surging the moment that Spencer started getting hit.
We got a priestess in with him at the medical bay to help speed up with healing. ”
“Wait, some of you can heal?” Amyra wondered out loud.
Juniper looked amused. “Yes. If you gain powers, you could be a healer as well. It’s part of mastering your connection with water.”
Juniper turned her attention back to me. She moved a chair directly in front of me and sat so we were eye to eye. “Lyla, please, look at me.”
I lifted my head to look into her eyes. She reached for my chin and held my head still while she moved around. “The natural light in this room is a bit too dark. Does anyone have light?”
Father carried a candle over and lit the wick .
She held it up to my face. “Your eyes, they’re red,“ Juniper nearly whispered, mostly in awe.
“I told you that Mother told me that all the time. What does that matter?”
“Your eyes are swirling with red right now. They have been since Spencer’s sparring. If I didn’t know better, I’d have guessed that they were red, not brown.” Amyra leaned in to look and nodded.
“What does that mean?” I suddenly felt very uncomfortable with everyone looking at me.
“Have you ever had an affinity for fire, or find yourself fascinated with fire?” Juniper dodged my question. I hated when she did that.
“I’ve found meditation is easier when staring into a fire, but doesn’t everyone? Please tell me what’s wrong. I can’t take much more.”
At that moment, a knock sounded on the door. Ethan checked again and allowed the Priestess to enter.
“Oh good, Emberly is here.” Juniper said, letting go of my face and turning to her. “Her eyes turned red when she’s upset.”
Emberly takes a quick inhale, her eyes widening for a moment, before composing herself.
I recognized her as the Priestess who seemed to make decisions at their arrival.
The candlelight danced off the green sparkles of her eyes, and I realized she shared powers with Spencer.
My heart skipped a beat, thinking about him.
“Princess, please do what you can to keep him out of your thoughts for the moment.” Emberly gave me a knowing look.
My jaw dropped, and I gasped. “I, h- how did you know?”
Emberly looked at Juniper, who shrugs. She turned back to me. “Seeing souls is just the initial onset for those of us with green eyes. Those who harness the energy can read minds, and some can even control minds.”
“Is that what Egan did? Did he control Spencer’s mind? Or that soldier’s?”
“We can’t say. He shouldn’t have that ability, but he shouldn’t have any abilities at all. He’s an abomination, and we are working to understand what’s happening.” Emberly sighed.
“Now, please, let me work with you so that I can help you control your emotions. The last thing you need is to start a fire or throw rocks when you see Spencer again.”
I nodded. “OK, what do I do to control these emotions?”
“You’ll need to let me into your mind, and I will walk you through calming techniques in real time as you need them.”
I nodded again, not sure how to start that, but accepting instruction all the same.
‘ Can you hear me? ’
My eyes widened, and I responded verbally, “Yes.”
‘ OK, good. Can you respond mentally? '
I thought the word ‘ yes .’
Emberly nodded. “Good, we can communicate this way. I will connect only enough to read your emotions during the next round, and I will receive your thoughts only if you intend to send them, as you just did. So, you will have some thoughts held private still.”
I took a deep breath. “How much longer do we have?”
“Just a few minutes,” Father replied.
“OK, can we regroup after, in Father’s office? Spencer included, if he’s able to leave the medical bay. We need to get more information about what is going on with Egan’s network.”
Everyone nodded. Juniper added, “He’s going to leave the bay now, so hopefully he’s not squaring off against Egan if he makes it to the next round.”
The signal to return to seats sounded. I sent everyone else out so that we could go through the planned grand entrance again.