4. Four
The next morning, I find a box outside my bedroom door. There”s a small card attached with my name on it, but when I open the white card, there”s nothing written inside. I bring the parcel inside my room, slip the beautiful pink ribbon off, and find a new outfit inside – fitted trousers, a long-sleeve shirt, and a pair of leather boots. This all-black ensemble has Atlas written all over it.
”I, for one, think you would look exceptional in black.”
Once I get dressed, tie the boots, and braid the sides of my hair up into a ponytail, I take a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and can”t help but smile. Atlas was right. I do look exceptional in black.
The clock in my bedroom chimes and I hustle down the steps expecting everyone to be waiting for me at the table for breakfast like the previous morning. However, when I make it to the lowest level of the rowhouse, no one is at the table except for Nyx. He takes a long sip of his orange juice before noticing me standing at the foot of the staircase.
”Good morning, Kitarni.” He wipes his mouth with his napkin, looking me up and down. ”Nice outfit.”
”Thank you. I found it outside my bedroom door this morning. You wouldn”t happen to know who left it, would you?”
A knowing smile snakes across his face, but he doesn”t answer my question. Instead, he beckons me forward to sit where a second plate is waiting. ”Atlas and Eris left earlier and Finn is just about to leave to open his apothecary shop for the day, but he wanted to make sure you ate before your first day of school.”
As if on cue, Finn trots down the steps behind me and pats my shoulder. ”You”re going to do great today,” he reassures me like a father would his child. ”I can”t wait to hear all about it tonight.”
”Will you all be here for dinner?” I didn”t realize how much I would miss having meals with them, but now that we”re back in Tronovia, everyone is resettling into their normal routines, so I”m not sure when we”ll all be together again.
”Of course.” Finn smiles and bobs his head, grabbing his keys off a hook near the front door. Until this moment, I hadn”t noticed that rack before. There are six hooks and above each one is a tiny gold nameplate marking whose keys go where. Staring at it for another moment, I question why there are six hooks and not five. Only five people live here, so who could that sixth ring be for? Then it hits me that it”s probably there for Ronan, since he crashes here from time to time.
Fixing his collar before slipping his leather bag over his shoulder and across his chest, Finn makes his way back toward me and places his hands on both of my shoulders. ”Don”t let anyone push you around. Remember, you have more power than most wielders in this city.”
I dip my head in understanding. There”s something about Finn that exudes peace and tranquility. Part of me wishes he was my escort. He”d definitely ease my nerves, but I trust Nyx to ensure I”m kept safe, if we run into any angry Tronovians who want me dead.
”I”ve got to go.” Finn releases me. ”Eris is probably wondering where I am, but I wanted to make sure you had something to eat.”
I glance at the omelet with chives scattered on top and smile. ”Thank you, Finn.”
”My pleasure.” He makes his way toward the front door. Without turning to look at his younger brother, he says, ”Take care of her, Nyx,” before slipping out the door and locking it.
”Eat up, Kitarni,” Nyx issues with a mouthful. ”We”ll have to be leaving soon.”
I take my place at the dining table, pick up my fork and cut off a piece of the fluffy yellow omelet and toss it into my mouth. It practically melts on my tongue. Cheese oozes from the inside and the buttery flavor of the outer layer spurs me to gobble the unexpected, but appreciated, breakfast down quickly. Finishing two pieces of crispy bacon and downing my cup of orange juice, I feel like I”m ready to conquer whatever the day throws my way, even if my pants are a little snugger than they were moments ago.
Nyx wipes his mouth with his napkin, pushes his chair back and stands up. ”You ready, Kitarni?”
”I”m not sure.”
”You nervous?”
”About school?” I shake my head and wipe my mouth. ”No, I”m used to tutors.”
He scoots his chair under the table, grabs both of our empty dishes, and takes them to the kitchen. ”But you are nervous about something,” he says from the other room.
”I”m not entirely sure the other students won”t try using their magic against me,” I admit and look up at the swinging door as he reenters.
Nyx stares at me for a few seconds, a seriousness washing over his face. ”They won”t.”
I stand and make my way toward the front door, knowing it”s time to go. ”How can you be so sure? I”m the heir to the Midorian throne. I”m their enemy –”
”First of all,” he grabs his keys and opens the door for me to walk through first, ”despite what you may believe or what you”ve been told, we aren”t taught to hate Midorians. No one will care who you are, with all due respect.”
”Tronovians don”t hate Midorians?” I ask once he locks the front door, and we hop into the awaiting carriage that”s assigned to take me wherever I want to go in the city.
”I didn”t say that.” He shakes his head and reclines against the cushioned seat. ”I said, we aren”t taught to hate Midorians. There are some who despise your people, because they”ve lived through the Great War, when your father turned his back on our king. We”ve sent countless missives requesting an audience with your father, even inviting him to come here to discuss a truce, but none of our letters reaped a response and our peace talks have been unsuccessful.”
I take a moment to glance out my window, taking in the beautiful sights I”d already seen yesterday. I start recognizing some of the shops and restaurants and make mental note of my immediate surroundings just in case I ever need to find my way home on my own.
But what Nyx just revealed about the Tronovian”s attempts to contact my father sours my stomach. Surely my father hasn”t denied them the opportunity to make peace or at bare minimum, allowed them the chance to speak to him?
”What”s the second thing?” I ask, attempting to distract myself from the disheartening thought that my father might be an accessory to unrest between our nations.
”What?” His puzzled gaze meets mine.
”You said, first of all, implying there”s a secondary reason the Tronovian fire wielders won”t attempt to kill me.”
”Oh!” He flashes an impish smile. ”Secondly, they wouldn”t dare try anything sinister with me by your side.”
I chuckle and roll my eyes. ”Because you”ll kick their asses if they so much as breathe in my direction?”
”Because I won”t stop you from kicking their asses if they so much as breathe in your direction.”
I can”t help but laugh at that. Me being able to kick someone”s ass is ludicrous. The Tronovians won”t touch me because of Nyx. We both know it. Even if I do possess Celestial magic, there might be a few students who might want to press their luck, but with the six-foot-four brother behind me, they won”t stand a chance.
”So, do you know who my instructors will be?” I change the subject, stretching my legs out in front of me.
Nyx shakes his head and shrugs. ”No idea. I was never interested in school to be honest. Mostly because my magic is different from everyone else”s.”
”You weren”t interested in learning about the history of Dalerin or the politics of the six kingdoms?” As much as I hated Master Kaius, I enjoyed school. History was of particular interest to me, but I”m beginning to wonder how much of what I was taught was based on truth.
Nyx waves a hand up and down his chest with a scoff. ”Kitarni, look at me. Do I look like the type of guy who is interested in history or politics?”
Fair point. ”Ok, so if not history or politics, then what are you interested in?”
”Women mostly.” He grins. ”But the desire to be more powerful than my brothers gets me up in the morning.”
He reaches into his chest pocket, pulls out a tiny silver case and opens it. There are a bunch of wooden toothpicks inside. Scooping one between his thumb and index finger, he seals the box and puts it back in its place before sliding the pick between his lips.
”Why do you chew on those?” I point at the tiny stick.
”I”m trying to quit smoking,” he says, maneuvering the toothpick to the corner of his mouth with his tongue.
I glance up at his ear on the shorn part of his head and see a reefer tucked. Before I can say anything, he huffs, ” I know, I know. I didn”t say I quit smoking. I said, I”m trying to quit.”
”I didn”t say anything,” I hold my hands up in surrender.
”I can see it in your eyes, Kitarni.” He rolls his shoulders back and cracks his neck side-to-side. ”If I manage to kick the habit, neither one of my brothers will stand a chance at hand-to-hand combat against me since I”ll be able to breathe better.”
”Competitive, I see.”
”You have no idea. You”ll get there one day, too. You”ll realize the magic you possess is rare, coveted, and powerful, and you”ll work your ass off to be the best you can be because you have to be. You”re an anomaly. We”re treated differently.”
”How are anomalies treated differently?”
He leans forward, rooting his elbows on top of his knees. ”Elementals are seen as ordinary, expendable. Anomalies are deemed as saviors, a step below Celestials. There is a lot of pressure to protect your countrymen and serve the crown. We go above and beyond and sacrifice more than a typical wielder would.”
He pauses and glances out his window, but I can sense there”s more he wants to say, so I keep quiet and wait. ”When I was in school,” he starts, still staring outside, ”my professors had never seen a power like mine before. Other than training me in hand-to-hand combat and forcing me to sit through boring lectures on subjects varying from the history of Dalerin to the economic systems of each kingdom, my lessons consisted of nothing more than pain. They wanted to see how far I could be pushed, how much pain I could endure, how many times my bones could break and mend themselves.”
I can”t help the horrified gasp that escapes me, but Nyx is so zoned into his past memories that he doesn”t react.
”Every magic wielder in Tronovia is ecstatic the moment they discover they have powers. They can”t wait to go to school and begin to unlock more of their affinity. The day I discovered my magic was when I fell out of a tree outside my parents” house and broke my arm in two places. My mother sprinted to scoop me into her arms as I screamed in agony, but by the time we made it inside, my arm had already mended.”
”That”s not possible,” my mother had whispered in awe.
”My father came out from his office to see what my mother was crying about, and when she explained to him how I had fallen from the tree, that my arm had been severely broken moments ago, and now it was firmly back in place, my father didn”t look scared or worried. Pride beamed in his eyes when he said, ”He”s a magic wielder.””
Nyx reclines in his seat, stroking his fingers through his hair and finally locks eyes with me. ”I thought that day was the best day of my life. I had magic. And not just any magic. I was invincible. Even though I could still feel pain, my body always repaired itself. Didn”t matter if it was the smallest scratch on my knee, a broken arm, or a burn – I healed and never scarred. But the day I started school, I realized being the first wielder recorded with magic like mine only meant that no one would understand me. No one would be able to properly guide me or give me tips on how to become more powerful. I don”t have a Transcendent state. This is it.” He motions up and down his torso. ”This is all I have. I still don”t know if, or how, I can die, and believe me, many have tried to find out.”
”Nyx,” I finally speak when he”s been silent for several seconds. ”I”m sorry that happened to you…”
Our carriage hits a bump in the street and jostles us around inside. I plant one hand on my seat cushion and the other on the wall to my right to brace myself, but Nyx doesn”t seem to feel any disturbance. There”s a ferocity in his eyes that causes my heart to skip a beat. ”I didn”t give a shit about school because no one in that school gave a shit about me.” He reaches out and snatches my hand in his and squeezes. ”No matter what they say in there, remember who you are and don”t let them treat you like an experiment because they are afraid of you.”
”Do you think that”s what they”ll do to me?” I ask and I genuinely want him to tell me the truth. Part of me wants to be prepared for whatever these professors might throw my way, but the other part of me, the fearful and hesitant side, wants to hit the top of the buggy ceiling and tell the driver to go back to the Harland House.
”They will push you to your limits,” Nyx says without hesitation. ”Don”t let it cost you your humanity.”
I don”t have time to ask for further explanation or to see if he would be willing to share more about his school days, because the driver cuts a hard left and we pull through a large archway with the words, Magikos Grammata, etched into the cream-colored stone.
”Welcome to Magikos Grammata, Kitarni,” Nyx says with a dark hesitancy in his gaze.
I remember passing by the School of Magic when I first arrived in Tronovia and thinking then it was nothing short of impressive. Today, we don”t pass by it; we enter through the arched gateway and make our way across the cobblestone courtyard where our carriage eases to a stop. Reluctantly, Nyx slips out of the buggy and extends his hand to help me out. When my feet hit the smooth stone, something deep within me hums. There”s an ancientness to this place that I haven”t felt anywhere else – well, I take that back – I have felt it before, at the ruins of the ancient Bavan temple where I had my first run-in with Vesper and her minions.
I crouch down, not caring that someone might see me and think I”m insane, and put my palms flat against the ground. Like a warm shock ricocheting through my body, I immediately sense the familiar presence.
”Kitarni?” Nyx”s voice is laced with concern. ”What are you doing?”
”Was Enver Sol ever here?” I ignore his question, and slowly drag my fingertips across the stones one by one.
”Maybe? I don”t know. I didn”t pay attention to any of my history lessons, remember?”
”Why can I sense you?” I mumble, as if Enver Sol can possibly answer my question. Obviously, we share some kind of connection through our magic, but I still don”t understand how that”s possible. How can I sense him? Sense where his feet have trodden years ago? I glance up at the school”s entrance as if somewhere inside I will get the answers I need, and I hope my hunch is right.
Magikos Grammata”s architecture doesn”t fit the rest of Tronovia. It”s reminiscent of the old world with its alabaster columns, arched stone doorways, and bright mosaic tile on the walls and ceilings lining the breezeways around the courtyard. As my eyes slide from one side of the immaculate landscaped grounds to the other side, there”s something that catches my attention and quite frankly, surprises me.
”Where are the guards?” I ask Nyx as I stand up.
He flashes me a curious look but then, as if something clicks in his mind, says, ”Guards aren”t needed. Crime in Tronovia is very low and honestly, no one is ballsy enough to attack a school filled with magic wielders.”
He makes a valid point.
Nyx beckons me forward with a hand, ”You ready, Kitarni?”
I nod and walk with him toward a large, dark wooden door. As he reaches for the black iron handle to push the door open, I curl my fingers around his forearm and say, ”Wait.”
”Is something wrong?”
”I don”t want you putting yourself through this, if you can”t handle it. I know your uncle wants you to watch over me, but if this is going to stir up bad memories and depress you, then stay outside and wait for me.” By the confused look on his face, no one has ever put his emotional needs before their own and it shows. ”I”ve lied to your uncle before to cover your ass and I will do it again, if I must.”
He slips his hand on top of mine and pats it three times. ”And let you have all the fun without me?” He clicks his teeth. ”Where you go, I go. Uncle”s orders or not, you will never be unprotected.”
”As long as you”re sure you can handle this.”
He flashes a wicked smile. ”I”m not a student here anymore and because of uncle”s orders, they can”t kick me off school grounds. I think it”s time I raised a little hell, don”t you?”
”Whatever you do, don”t tell me about it, so I can deny you had any involvement,” I snort. ”I”m not the best liar.”
Suddenly, memories of sitting in the hot springs at Hotel Zulmara with Atlas flood my mind.
”You”re a terrible liar, Princess.”
It feels like it happened so long ago. My heartbeat quickens thinking of him planting his hands on either side of the pavement behind me, leaning close, his lips hovering just above my own. Watching the droplets of water streak down his scarred chest and sculpted arms, wishing I could run my fingers through his soaked hair just to see what he”d do in response.
When he left the dinner table last night, he didn”t come back. At least, I never heard him come back and if he did, he left before I woke up. How strange it is to go from foe to friend, and yet, still want more.
”Kitarni?”
”Yes?” I glance up at him.
”Are your hands glowing?”
I lift my hands and they are indeed glowing.
He gently tucks his fingers under my chin to turn me to face him. ”Your eyes are gold, too.”
”I”m not sure why it happens.”
”I suppose we should wait to go inside until you stop.”
”Why?” I ask when he retracts his hand from my face. ”You think the others would be afraid of me?”
”It”s against school policy to use magic outside of an instructed classroom. Believe me, I was reminded many times.”
”But your magic doesn”t harm anyone,” I reiterate.
When he doesn”t say anything, my blood begins to boil. How many times had Nyx been attacked in school because others wanted to see his magic in action? How many injuries did he have to heal from because no one treated him kindly? Why did no one help him? He was a child. A child excited to have magic. A child willing to serve his king and country as an anomaly, bearing the weight of a kingdom on his little shoulders. How much of Nyx”s pain is unseen? Can his power mend a broken soul? A shattered heart?
I glare at the large door in front of us, the door that would open my eyes to a new world of magic and elemental affinities, and the thought of marching into the office of whoever is in charge and threatening to burn every inch of their skin for failing to help Nyx all those years ago rages deep within my soul.
How many scars would Nyx actually have on his body, if he could mend his wounds, but not erase the trace of injury?
Nyx slides his thumb across my cheek and it”s only then I notice that I”m crying. ”It”s alright, Kitarni,” he whispers.
”It”s not alright, Nyx.” I shake my head. ”You were a child. They should have protected you.”
He nods in agreement. ”They should have, but people often fall short when they”re afraid.”
”I”m sorry, Nyx.” I bury my face in his chest, wrapping my arms around his torso and squeeze as tightly as I dare. I release a deep breath when he drapes his arms over me. ”Give me a name and I”ll make sure they suffer.”
He laughs and the rumble in his chest echoes in my ear. ”I appreciate the offer, but my brothers and I dealt with the professors and students that gave me the most trouble. They aren”t here anymore. Even the Headmistress is new.”
I don”t move or respond. I”m grateful Nyx won”t be interacting with those who bullied him through his school years, but the thought of Atlas and Finn possibly using their magic against other students to protect their youngest brother fills my heart with a dull ache. I don”t have a sibling. I never had someone willing to go to battle with me against those who attempted to harm me, but then again, I had no idea that the ones lying to me, and holding an invisible knife to my throat, were the ones I trusted and loved most.
Nyx pulls away first. ”We should go inside. We wouldn”t want to be late on your first day, would we?” The twinkle of mischief is back in his eyes, and it gives me the boost of confidence I need to agree to walk through that door.
I bob my head, straighten my outfit, and throw my braided ponytail over my shoulder so it dangles along my spine. ”I”m ready.”