Soul Fire (7 page)

I kept touching my face as I descended the stairs. My
skin was as smooth as it had been before Eleanora’s whip.
When I reached the bottom of the steps, my classmates
were filing out of the doors. Dena and the others saw me
coming down the stairs and waited for me to catch up.

“What about it?” I asked, trying to reign in all kinds of
sarcastic responses.
“It’s healed!”
“Well I hope it’s an improvement on before,” I said, and
then, eager to get off of the topic, “Where are we headed
now?”
“Riding lessons,” Dena said, still examining my eye
suspiciously. “Should be interesting.”
It was. The sun was burning down, and the stables were
even hotter. We spent the first half an hour in there,
learning how to take care of the tack and our horses. After
polishing leather for what felt like half of my life, aching
with muscles I didn’t know I had, we were allowed to lead
our horses to the paddock beside the stables, and mount.
I managed to get my left foot in the stirrup, but I was
too short to hoist myself off of the ground. After a few
seconds of struggling, our teacher, Professor Alena, gave
me a leg up, and I sat up proudly in the saddle. To my
dismay, I realised that I’d been the last one to achieve this,
and everyone was having a laugh at my struggle.
Everyone except Phoenix, who stared blankly ahead. I
pulled a face at him when he turned away, and then
immediately felt childish.
Once we’d managed to get lined up, Professor Alena
began to instruct us in how to communicate with our
horses. When we began to negotiate a course made out of
old barrels at a walking pace, I noticed everyone else had
to dig their heels in to convince their steed to move. Echo
seemed more than eager to move off, and I adjusted my
weight as I needed to. We manoeuvred the course with
the most ease out of everyone and I was feeling a little
better about myself when we were told to dismount. I did
so, not very gracefully, my legs almost buckling when
they hit the ground. The sun was beginning to set, but
even so, we groomed our horses and cleaned the tack and
then limped back to the Academy for dinner.
Classes didn’t really end when dinner did. My
classmates set off to the practice hall to redo their lesson
with Professor Yu, and Eleanora and I were assigned to
the kitchens.
“Wash these,” the red faced head cook told us, pointing
us towards a staggering stack of dirty dishes. “Clean
enough so you can see your reflections. I’ll be the judge of
whether they’re clean or not. No magic.”
She bustled off to yell at someone else, and Eleanora
and I set to cleaning the dishes, avoiding looking at each
other. After an hour, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Do you really think yourself above them?” I asked her
quietly, beginning to dry the plate she handed me.
“It is how we’ve lived,” she repeated. “For thousands of
years.”
I didn’t try to speak to her again. I knew it was
pointless.

“Sky!” I glanced around and saw Dena poking her head
out of her room. She waggled a cloth covered parcel. “I’ve
got food!”

I grinned and closed my door. After a gruelling two
hour detention in the kitchen, I was starving.
We spread the cloth out over the floor of her room,
which was a carbon copy of mine. Rather than sit at the
table, we sprawled out on the rug. Dena lit the fire and we
chewed pensively on cheese and bread rolls.
“How was detention?” she asked, tearing a bread roll in
half.
“Boring. I tried to reason with Eleanora again but she
just ignored me.”
“It’s understandable,” Dena said, and I glared. She
sighed. “Sky, if they really have lived this way for
thousands of years, they’re not going to change their
minds overnight.”
I sighed heavily, picking a bit of cheese apart.
“Where’s Theresa?” I asked finally.
“Asleep. She didn’t much feel like staying up.”
I began to build something out of the cheese.
“What’s it like having a soul mate?” I asked quietly.
“It’s fantastic! Have you ever had a really good friend
that seemed to know everything you were thinking?”
“No.”
“Well it’s like that. We never fight,” she leant back on
her hands. “It’s great. It really is.”
My heart sank and the cheese structure in front of me
crumbled. Dena noticed my expression.
“He was worried about you today.”
“Yeah, for a split second. Then he just went back to
normal.”
Dena didn’t reply, and we sat together in silence until I
left, unable to take the silence any longer.

The next morning, instead of sitting with Dena and the
others, I put my tray down in front of Phoenix and sat
down.

“Hi, hey, hello,” I said, beginning to eat. “Remember
me? I’m your soul mate.”
He observed me for a few moments and then went back
to eating.
“Of course I remember who you are.”
We ate in uncomfortable silence for a few moments.
“Look, have I done something wrong?” I asked him.
“No.”
“So why don’t you talk to me then? You’ve hardly
spoken a dozen words to me!”
He continued eating. Just when I thought he wasn’t
going to reply at all, he said:
“I don’t make friends very easily.”
“So why don’t you even try?” I asked, giving up all
pretence of being interested in my food. “You’re giving off
a pretty bad vibe.”
“Leave me alone, Sky.”
That stung. To my surprise, tears burnt in my eyes, and
I stood up hastily, lest he spot them.
“Fine. Wish granted.”
The next week passed with little change. Phoenix still
ignored me, Eleanora remained cold and Larni still refused
to let me speak to Netalia or Iain on her behalf.
I continued getting fitter and my magical skills
continued to be honed. It was a relief when Iain
announced that this weekend we’d be allowed into Keyes.
“You’ll ride into town and spend the day exploring the
local culture. Of course, you’re welcome to stay here if
you wish.”
Many of the Lotherian mages were doing just that,
having been to Castor and Keyes many times throughout
their lives. Dena and the others were planning to go,
however, and I eagerly tagged along with them.
On the morning of the trip, I woke up earlier than
usual, doing my routine sit ups and push ups. Larni
brought me my uniform but left before I could even say
‘good morning’. As it was, I made my way to the stables
with a shadow hanging over my head; I missed Larni’s
companionship.
We set off just before midday. I rode next to Yasmin,
chatting about our life back in the human realm.
“I left behind my dad and younger sister,” she told me
sadly. “I wonder if they know what happened to us.”
I thought of my mother who was now all alone in our
house. The shadow above me became a rain cloud and we
rode in silence for the rest of the trip.
The landscape was beautiful. Green pastures were
bordered by thick, lush forests and a clear stream burbled
along next to the road. As we neared Keyes, I noticed that
it was quite a bit bigger than I originally had thought. We
hitched our horses and set off on foot into town. I reached
into the pocket of my breeches to make sure that the little
money bag Jett had handed me was still in there; despite
the lesson yesterday, I tended to bounce around a lot.
“Where to first?” Dena asked, excitement gleaming in
her bright blue eyes.
“Fancy a drink?” Petre asked, nodding towards a
building that was obviously some kind of pub or tavern.
Inside we found that it was packed with other students,
the smoky interior contrasting badly with the clear blue
skies outside. Petre insisted on buying us all drinks, and
we sat at a table outside, sipping the sweet lemonade.
“Has everyone finished that assignment for Watt?”
Ispin asked, and everyone launched into complaints about
the large amount of homework she’d been setting us.
I sipped lemonade from my tankard, looking around
the village, still in disbelief that a place like this actually
existed.
A main street ran through the village, paved with
cobblestones. Neat little houses with thatched roofs
stretched back further than I could see, a clock tower
presiding over it all. A few chickens were being chased by
a little boy and his younger sister.
“Sky?”
“Huh?” I turned back and noticed them all looking at
me.
“I said, ‘what are you looking at?’” Petre repeated.
“Just everything,” I said, looking around again. “I can’t
believe I’m here, sometimes. It’s a bit of a culture shock.”
“This is only Keyes,” Rain said, leaning forwards
eagerly. “Wait until you see Castor, and Riverdoor, and
Thurin.”
”We’ve got a lot to see in three years then,” Theresa
said.
“Why only three years?” Ispin asked, confused.
“Because then we finish our education,” Yasmin said
slowly.
“But you don’t go home,” Petre said.
“We don’t?” I asked.
“No. You stay here for the rest of your lives.”
I felt like I’d drunk molten lead instead of lemonade.
“So you’re saying we can never go back?” Dena asked
quietly.
“That’s right,” Rain said, watching us closely.
I lifted the tankard to my face even though it was
empty. As much as I loved it here, could I really stay in
this realm forever? Never seeing my mother again?
“How about we go shopping?” Rain asked, eager to
cheer us up, for Dena, Theresa and Yasmin were looking
upset as well.
We agreed and headed to the market district, and then
set about poking about all of the little stalls. I got lost in a
book stall, and when I looked up, realised they’d left.
I hurried out onto the street, searching for their
coloured tunics, but I couldn’t spy them in the crowd of
people. Dejected, I shoved my hands in my pockets and
drifted along with the villagers. I was just about to head
back to the horses when I spied a little statue standing on
a table full of antique devices.
“Afternoon, miss,” the man at the stall said brightly as I
approached. “Anything I can help with?”
“Uh,” I pointed at the statue sitting on a dusty pedestal.
“I was just wondering who that is.”
The statue was of a beautiful woman, dressed in a long,
sweeping gown. I bent closer, and noticed she was
wearing a circlet around her forehead.
“That would be Queen Fleur,” the stall owner came
over to stand with me, adjusting his glasses on his nose.
“Queen of the Second Age.”
“She’s beautiful,” I said reverently. “Why does she look
so sad?”
“I’m not too sure to be honest,” he said. “The Second
Age was long before my time.”
I picked the statue up, brushing a bit of dust off of her
face with my thumb.
“Is there a current Queen?” I asked.
“No, miss. No need for one. The country is at peace.”
I ended up buying the statue from him, drawn to the
beautiful woman and her sad, mysterious gaze. I headed
back to the horses and found the others there waiting for
me.
“I lost you,” I told them, cradling my statue in its
hessian bag. “I looked everywhere.”
“Sorry!” Dena hurried over to me and gave me a hug. “I
think we lost you in the bookstore.”
“What’ve you got?” Yasmin asked, spying the bundle in
my arms.
I untied the top of the bag and showed them the statue
on her plinth.
“That’s Queen Fleur,” Ispin said, examining it. “The last
Queen.”
We rode back to the Academy just as the sun began to
set. We ate in the mess hall as usual and afterwards I
headed back up to my room. I arranged my statue on top
of my dresser, where the morning light would catch it. I
had just begun to pull on my pyjamas when there was a
knock on the door.
“Come in,” I called warily. Larni never knocked.
The door opened and Jett entered. I quickly pulled my
other leg through my pyjama pants.
“Evening,” he said brightly, looking around. “Dena was
telling me that you’re having some trouble with Phoenix.”
“Oh right, well, yeah I am, I suppose,” I sat heavily on
my bed. “I think you made a mistake with the soul
ceremony.”
Jett laughed, pulling out a chair at my table and sitting
down.
“Your soul hasn’t made a mistake, Sky; it knows well
where the other half of it is. Just remember that he’s
different; he’s from-“
“The Shayde Mountains, yeah I know.”
“You’ve been learning your geography; I’m impressed.
That’ll come in handy in your next Magical History. But
listen; about Phoenix... just keep trying. This is very new
to him.”
“I doubt he can top me. I’m from another world.”
“That is true,” Jett said, dark eyes twinkling. “But
anyway, just remember to-“
He broke off mid sentence, staring at something to my
right. I turned and saw that he had seen my statue.
“Where did you get that?” he asked quietly.
“In the village,” I replied, crawling over to it and
picking it up. “It’s Queen-“
“Fleur, yes I know,” any warmth in Jett’s eyes or voice
had vanished. “Look… forget what I said about Phoenix.
See you in class tomorrow.”
He was gone before I had time to put the statue back
down. As I crawled under the covers and pulled them up
my chin, I wondered why my statue had rattled him so
bad he’d forgotten tomorrow was Sunday.

On Monday, my first class of the day was indeed
Magical History. We filed in, yawning widely and many of
the students were carrying thermoses; autumn was rolling
in and the air was notably colder.

“This morning’s lesson will be dealing with the
relationship between Lotheria and the other countries of
the world,” Jett began. “Now, trading between Surac and
Lotheria of late has been strained...”

Jett’s voice droned off as my eyelids began to droop.
Dena nudged me and I straightened up, blinking blearily.
Jett was writing something on the board and as I squinted
to see what it was, I realised that he’d written the words
‘Monarch’ and ‘Fleur’.

A few blinks later revealed that he’d been teaching us
about the previous Kings and Queens. I scrabbled around
to copy down what was on the board.

“So, in three thousand years of magical civilization,
there have only been two kings and queens, with no
biological link between them whatsoever. There are no
records of the first king and queen, but it has only been
one thousand years since the last monarchs.”