Chapter 10 #2
A dark-haired woman launches herself at the stranger right in front of me as soon as we clear the doorway. But I seem to be the only one surprised by the sudden movement. He catches her, and there is such devotion and love in their eyes that my throat closes up.
I turn away. Colorful rugs, curtains, and pillows give the large entryway the cozy feel of a home, rather than the military structure it appears to be from the outside.
“Do you like it?” The woman walks up to me. “You should have seen it when I got here…” She shakes her head in playful exasperation. The man steps behind her, wrapping his arms around her like he can’t stand to be separated even for a moment.
She tilts her head back and smiles up at him. “I think men confuse cold with intimidating.” Her grin widens, and it takes a moment before her gaze comes back to me.
“By the gods, where are my manners?” she says, pushing away from her partner. “Living with those grumbly men sanded them down, it seems.” She beams at me. “I’m Lyla. Have you had breakfast yet?”
I shake my head.
“Well then, into the kitchen, all of you.” She makes shooing motions like we are a flock of chickens and not three armed warriors, one even a dragon.
The warm kitchen is alive with chatter that stops as soon as I step through the door.
A big wooden table occupies most of the space, and the scent of something delicious baking in the oven permeates the air.
Fresh herbs in pots line the windowsills, and the countertop and cabinets are well-used, but clean, and were built for someone taller than Lyla’s petite form.
“Don’t let them intimidate you. They are harmless and sweet beneath all that bluster,” Lyla whispers while passing me, shrugging at the disapproving look of her partner.
I grin. I like her.
Three men sit around the table, their eyes carefully taking my measure, and at least one of them finds me lacking, if his cold expression is anything to go by. I grin at the vase of wildflowers on a delicate tablecloth, which seems so at odds with the gruff warriors sitting around it.
If their icy silence is meant to intimidate, I’m happy to disappoint. I nod at them and take the seat Lyla directs me to without hesitation.
She grins at me and then at her partner, who shakes his head at her.
The silence stretches on.
Lyla places her hands on her hips and glares at the men.
“Really? You’re not going to introduce yourselves to our guest?” she chastises. “Haven’t I taught you better than that?” The men look apologetic, which is funny since she looks tiny next to their massive forms and probably doesn’t reach past their shoulders once they stand.
“I’m Tynan. Welcome to my humble home,” the man I met in the mist says, while mockingly arching an eyebrow at Lyla.
“Really? You, too?” She shakes her head and then looks at Lorcan.
“We already know each other,” he tells her, winking at me. The rest of the men introduce themselves one after another, but apart from Ice—the one with the cold expression—and that one of them is Tynan’s brother, I promptly forget their names.
And who cares? I’m only here for my answers.
I poke around in the food on my plate and eat a few bites for Lyla’s sake, but I’m not hungry. I’m anxious to get to the real reason I’m here.
Finally, everyone finishes eating.
“Can we come to the answers part of my visit?” I ask.
“Hmm… I like that idea.” Lorcan grins at me. “I’ll just need your blood, then.”
Apart from Tynan, there are questioning glances all around.
I snatch Lorcan’s glass, dumping the last bit of water into the vase on the table, and draw my dagger. There is an instant tension in the air, but I ignore it. I nick a vein at my wrist and let my blood trickle into his glass. Then I hand it back to him.
“Here you go.” I bring the wound to my mouth, the coppery taste flooding my mouth. The bleeding quickly subsides with pressure.
He looks disapprovingly at the glass.
“Takes away all the fun,” he grumbles, but empties it without batting an eye and licks my blood off his lips afterward. He hums.
“Magic wielder, lots of power, a surprising amount of fire, definitely Margret’s granddaughter, a very vicious undertone I wouldn’t have guessed but like, and such a promising future.” He grins at me.
“You can see my future, too?” I ask, and he throws his head back and laughs. “No, that is my conclusion after all I know about you, your family, and your family’s ties, Tamara Summer Blackstone.” The dragon purrs. “And the fact that you are here, of course.”
Lyla claps her hands in joy. “Can we keep her now?” She turns to Tynan.
“Um, I’m not here to stay,” I answer before he has the chance to.
“But where else would you go?” Tynan’s brother asks, his name is something with a K… I’m sure of it.
“Back.” I shrug.
“But—”
“Kian.” Tynan shakes his head at his brother, solving the name mystery.
I turn back to Lorcan.
“I still want more information,” I tell him, and he nods.
“What they now call cursed was once the most coveted gift of them all, an elemental power unlike the others—magic. Your element is magic.” He grins when my mouth drops open.
“You can form it, wield it, or snuff it out. Like every other gifted element, it can’t harm you directly unless you are depleted or permit it.
It might feel uncomfortable at times if you aren’t shielding properly, but it won’t cause lasting harm. ”
“So, essentially, gifted can’t harm me with their magic?”
“No, that is not what I said. It’s more nuanced than that. Psychic gifts like healing or emotion-bending, for instance, influence you directly. They won’t work on you unless you have depleted your gift or permit it. With time, you will even be able to let someone heal you as long—”
“I already can,” I interrupt him, and everyone gapes at me.
“What?” Tynan asks.
“I already managed that. I can be healed as long as I keep my curse … my gift in check.”
“I told you she has control.” Lorcan smirks at Tynan.
“Well, you can probably guess where I’m going with this.
Elemental magic doesn’t necessarily influence you directly.
So if a water wielder floods a room, you will still drown, if an air wielder solidifies air, he can still trap you …
unless you take control over their magic …
but that is rather advanced. At first, you should learn to shield, which addresses most elemental magic thrown at you. ”
“You mean like a lightning wielder trying to grill me,” I say dryly.
“Exactly,” he beams. “I bet your gift is quite strong since it runs in your family for generations.” I gape at him.
“It does?”
“She said she would write it all down for you,” he grumbles.
“Who would write what down for me?” Now I’m confused.
“Your grandmother. She was a magic wielder as well, a very skilled one, and a very strong and capable woman on top. She pretended to be giftless all her life and covered up her markings to go unnoticed. Only her husband knew about it. Well, and us.” He looks at Tynan.
Suddenly, my grandmother’s quirks make a lot more sense.
“And you are sure she left me something?”
Tynan and Lorcan nod.
“She came to me when you were a child. Only months before her death,” Tynan says. “And I promised to help you hone your gift once it started showing.” He smiles up at Lyla, who hands out steaming apple cake, revealing the source of the heavenly smell.
“She made plans to keep you safe and change the future for the better. That is why I tried contacting you, but you ran.”
“Wait, what?” I smile my thanks at Lyla, but my head spins trying to make sense of all of it. “When did you…? That was you in the library?”
“Yes, that was me. I did not anticipate that you would recognize gift signatures already or that you would feel threatened by me.”
“You crept up on me in the dark.” I quirk my brow at him. “While I sat alone in a drafty library with no one around.”
Lyla slaps his arm. “You did not.”
“Well, I knew you were there regularly.” He shrugs, then winces, looking at Lyla even though she hadn’t said a word.
“Could you use your voices, so all of us know what is going on?” one of the men asks.
“Oh, she is probably ripping him a new one for stalking women in dark libraries.” Kian snickers.
“Tynan, you creep.” The still nameless man shakes his head in mock disappointment.
“You see, the mist makes everyone a little woo-woo. I think you are better off staying close to me.” Lorcan gives me a wide grin.
“So you want me to believe you are normal?” I ask.
“Oh, Lorcan is alright,” Tynan says, his staring contest obviously over. “For a dragon.”
The whole table erupts in laughter while the dragon flips him off. They remind me of my brothers and me, and I can’t help but like them.
“Why did you think I would stay?” I finally ask Kian.
“Because they all do.”
I look around the table for clarification.
“Magic gifted come here to be safe,” Lyla says.
“All here are cursed… I mean, magic gifted?”
“No.” She smiles at me. “But most of the people living here are not … tolerated in the realm. We do our best to find and help them escape the king’s persecution. And if they come with their families, they are welcome, too.”
I swallow. A society where cursed ones live openly and are safe sounds like a dream, and I contemplate for a moment if staying isn’t an option.
But leaving my family behind? Without telling them where I’m going?
Somehow, I don’t think Tynan would be okay with me informing the commanding general of Belarra about their whereabouts. Would Dar even let me go and live with his enemies?
But the thought of meeting others like me … of cursed children—magic gifted—growing up without fear. I love the idea, and something deep within me yearns for it.
“That sounds wonderful,” I whisper, and the realization that I’ll never have that settles like lead in my chest.
“We hoped you would say that.” Tynan smiles at me like he can sense my turmoil. “With your future position, you could change everything.”
I look around the table and swallow at the hope in their eyes.
“What … what do you mean? I’m just one woman, just a single skyrider.”
“You are not just a skyrider.” Lorcan scoffs. “You are a Phoenix rider, you are the general’s sister, and our future queen.”
“How do you know about that?” The heaviness spreads to my gut.
“We told you there were plans in place, a path laid out for you,” the dragon says.
“By whom?”
“Your grandmother, among others,” Tynan throws in.
I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry. How can I be a part of something so big without knowing? How is this supposed to play out? Do they expect me to simply go along with everything they planned?
My first impulse is to tell them a resounding fuck you. How dare anyone plan my life for me? But on the other hand, here are six strangers who know my darkest secret, and they accept me without question, with nothing but hope and curiosity in their eyes.
I could learn from them, be myself without secrets. I’d make a difference, but…
“I don’t want to marry Frederick. I don’t want to be a queen…” My turmoiled thoughts wash around Solaris’s calm ones. I cling to his steady, calming presence, drawing strength from him. “But how can I say no?”
“You don’t have to make a decision right now,” Solaris soothes me. “We can get out of here if you want?”
“I … would you give me a minute?” I jump up.
“Of course,” Lyla says, her eyes narrowing at Tynan when he opens his mouth. “I can show you the way to the garden or a quiet room, if you prefer that.”
“Actually … the quickest way to the roof would be more like it,” I tell her. She nods and leads the way like nothing about my request is odd.