Ember (40 page)

Jaden played it flawlessly, looking at the
other boy as if it was the most preposterous thing he'd ever
heard.

Ikovos paid no attention, gazing off and
shaking his head wistfully. “I'm glad too, for a while I thought he
was gonna give in and help you do the spell himself.”

My eyes darted over to Jaden. He scoffed,
retaining the skeptical glare.

“When have I ever done that?” His voice was
incredulous.

Ikovos looked back at him with a coy smirk.
“Never. But this is different.”

Jaden's jaw clenched.

My brows furrowed in confusion.

“Anyways,” declared Ikovos. “We're going to
the pool now to celebrate. You have to come with.”

Jaden shrugged. “Fine.”

Ikovos narrowed his eyes at him, then turned
to me. “Okay. I'll go tell the Masters and meet you by the gate in
say . . . half an hour?”

I yawned, feeling my hair again and nodded.
“Yeah. That's fine.”

He grinned. “Good. See you then.”

I nodded again and he was off.

Once he had disappeared through the doorway,
I looked over to Jaden. “So we're just saying that you weren't
there?”

The boy raised an eyebrow at me. “Looks like
it.”

My chest fell dejectedly, he made it sound so
easy.

Suddenly he rose from his seat, tipping my
face up with a finger. “You just worry about finding something to
wear.”

I gulped as he walked off, but the words had
distracted me from the delivery.

Ack! He’s right. We’re going swimming! What
on earth am I going to wear?

I started to gather up my books to put away
on the shelves.

Thirty minutes suddenly felt like too short a
time to be ready in. . . .

*

“Here I
goooo!
” As soon as the young
boy landed, bright water splashed up into the air.

I clapped happily.

We were at the glowing pool now, though . . .
it didn't really glow at all at the moment. It wasn't very pink
either. Ikovos told me it was because of the sun.

I looked up. Made sense, it was strikingly
vivid today. The water trickling down along the rock wall into the
pool was still beautiful, but it hardly compared to what I had seen
before.

“My turn!” shouted another boy, before
jumping over the cliff.

This time water splashed up onto the ledge
where I and some of the other boys were sitting.

“Hey, watch it!” yelled Jacob. Others joined
in the complaints.

I just laughed. The place was so lively.
Trevor and Nathan had gone a
little
overboard with inviting
other people, though I'm sure that, per Ikovos’s request, they’d
also held back.

There were about fifteen boys altogether.
Most of them were young. Ikovos, Jaden, Derrith, and another boy I
hadn't met, were the only older ones here. The last was playing in
the pool, as was Ikovos. Derrith hadn't gotten in the water once
thus far. Instead he sat on the high ledge with a pile of books,
reading.

Jaden was sitting over on a rock at the
opposite side of the pool, periodically watching the boys jump in.
I guess he wasn't planning on swimming, because he had a shirt and
longer pants still on . . .

Thank goodness.

“Alright,” said Nathan excitedly beside me.
He moved back till he was about ten feet away from the edge. “This
will be the best, jump, ever!!!” He ran and leapt as he said it,
springing into a double front-flip before hitting the water.

My breath held worriedly for a second, but
when his head came up I cheered excitedly.

He beamed, then one of the other boys in the
pool dunked him under.

They could be being a little less rough in
there. . . .

“Aren't you coming in?” asked Ikovos from the
water. Then he hoisted his body onto the ledge by his arms. His
wet, disheveled, hair and dripping skin reminded me of our walk in
the rain . . . the look really suited him.

I watched for too long without responding.
“I, ah . . .” Then looked ahead. “I'm just warming up. I will in a
minute.”

He smiled, standing up. “Come on, it's not
that cold—” he pointed behind me “—besides, I think some of the
boys are conspiring to push you in.”

I followed his finger to see Trevor and two
others whispering in a small circle. My brow furrowed, then I
looked back at him and nodded.

He smirked before going to stand in the
jumping line.

My eyes turned down.

I hadn't been completely honest about the
whole “staying out to warm up” thing. The truth was that I wasn’t
really big on the whole swimsuit thing. In Tiver it had kept me
from the lake trips many times. It didn't really make much sense I
guess . . . the other girls
loved
wearing them. It was
always greatly fussed over to find or make the perfect swimsuit
before summer.

I lifted my robe back a bit to examine mine.
It really was beautiful. Sophie had made it for along with the
other clothes. It was a deep, jade-turquoise in color with bluer
trimmings here and there. Fitting, but incredible modest, almost
like a mini dress, starting at the top with a curved neck and
ending above my knees in a lacey material.

It would have gotten a lot of praise in
Tiver.

I sucked in a breath and looked ahead
purposefully.
Alright, Evelyn, stop being a weirdo. No one's
paying that much attention to you anyways. Just get on with
it.

I nodded once, dutifully, then stood up and
went over to the wall to set my robe down. After that I got into
the line to wait for my turn to jump.

“You getting in now, Evelyn?” asked Lucas,
one of Nathan’s younger friends, behind me.

I nodded. “Ah . . . yeah.” Then smiled.

He looked pleased, but Trevor and his small
group frowned substantially.

“Wanna jump in together?”

I laughed. “Sure.”

We did. The water was cool and refreshing,
wonderful under the hot sun. We all swam like this for a while,
playing different games or just taking turns jumping in. When they
were trying to think up a new one, I mentioned to one of the boys
something we used to do in Tiver when I was young. You could either
do it alone or with a partner. You would stand out on a ledge and
put on a small act, before falling into the water in a way that
related to the story. He seemed enamored with the idea and forced
me to share it with the others.

It wasn’t long till they were playing it
repeatedly.

I sat in the pool and watched as they put on
the short plays. Most often they would display a Meoden being
defeated by one of the Masters in the order, and then falling to a
watery death, sometimes from a sword to the gut, others a fire
spell. I laughed and clapped merrily for each. Nathan's were my
favorite as he would act
ridiculously
animated, completely
entering into the role.

Ikovos never did it, watching instead beside
me at the edge, commenting every so often.

I glanced at Jaden a couple times, but he was
just lounging contentedly on the rock. He seemed a bit dubious of
the game I'd taught . . . I couldn't tell if he was happy to be
here or not. . . .

After another hour of role-playing, Derrith
called all the boys together to head home for dinner. It had gotten
quite a bit darker. The pool was beginning to glow now, it was
absolutely wonderful, especially being in it. It didn't take a long
time to round up all the boys. They moved out sopping wet and
talking about how much fun it had been while waving goodbye to me
and Ikovos.

“Bye, Evelyn,” shouted Trevor last.

I raised a hand. “Bye!”

“You're good with kids, you know that?” came
Ikovos voice calmly beside me.

I looked to him. We were the only ones left
in the water. His hair had begun to dry out a bit, but his blue
eyes against the pink glow around us were startling.

I raised a surprised brow. “Really? . . .
I've always thought the opposite. . . .”

He sunk a little deeper. “That's because you
always assume the worst about yourself.”

He said it so matter-of-factly. I raised a
finger to argue, but he dipped his head back under the water before
I could.

When he came back up he shook out his hair,
running a hand through it. “So, do you want to stay here a bit
longer, or are you ready to go back?”

I looked at the pink wall behind him and the
glowing sky above. “It really is beautiful at this time of
day.”

He shrugged before I could think up my
answer. “Okay, let’s not leave yet.”

I smiled and everything went quiet.

“By the way, thank you for today, Ikovos . .
. it was a lot of fun.”

He brightened then chucked my arm. “No
problem. You deserved it. You worked hard.”

I smiled again, then my eyes moved past him
to Jaden. It was inevitable that every time I thought about magic,
I thought about
him
. Silly . . . Ikovos could use magic too.
He was lying on his back, I think he might have been asleep. I
couldn't see his face from here.

Ikovos followed my gaze, which had probably
lasted to long, then looked back with a wicked smirk. “Wanna try
something fun?”

My eyes widened, suddenly nervous. “Huh?”

He tossed his head back. “With Jaden.”

I settled. “Oh . . . what do you mean?”

He got closer checking back once at the other
boy. “Don't you think it's about time he got in the water?”

I looked over at Jaden. “. . . I don't think
he wants to.”

“
Exactly
,” said Ikovos, smiling.

He then relayed a plan to get the currently
dry boy
into
the water. I would have liked to object, but
with all he had done today I felt indebted.

With a wink and a nod he jumped out of the
pool towards the woods.

I looked back ahead dejectedly, then waded
through the water towards Jaden. My part in this was purely
distraction . . . It might not have been the best role considering
I was hardly adept at holding the boy's attention . . . or, at
least, he never makes it seem like it . . .

“You guys about ready?” questioned Jaden,
shocking me out of my contemplation.

I guess he wasn't asleep.

He sat up, leaning back on his arms, then
looked around. “Did Ikovos leave?”

“Ah . . . yeah. He'll be back though . . . I
think . . . I don't know.” We hadn't discussed that.
Ugh, this
was a bad idea.

Jaden raised a disbelieving brow, looking
towards the trees. “That's awfully reckless of him.”

Huh?
“How so?” I asked confusedly.

Jaden looked at me, mouth tilting into a thin
diagonal line. I would have called the face condescending . . .
except there was a trace of tenderness to it . . . pity?

“That was an interesting game you taught,” he
said, tossing his head up and ignoring my question completely. I
sighed as he continued. “Can't really picture you doing it
though.”

I looked back, blushing slightly. “Yeah. I
used to . . . I guess I'd be too chicken now.”

His smile kept, but for a moment there was
silence.

“Well, are you ready to go, or . . . ?”

Ack, I forgot about the prank.
“Ah . .
. no!”

His eyebrows lifted and I cleared my throat.
“I mean, not yet. In a bit.”

“Okay,” he drawled, eyeing me
skeptically.

I was going to kill Ikovos for making me do
this.

Suddenly Jaden stood up.

“Where are you going?” I asked panicking.
This wouldn't work if he moved.

“Nowhere,” he answered.

Oh good.

But then he pulled his shirt over his head
and dropped it on the rock.

I gulped, ignoring the sudden tightening of
my stomach. “You're swimming?”

He nodded. Off went the shoes.

“But . . . but I thought you didn't want
to.”

“I didn't,” he said, then walked to the edge
and dived into the pool.

Wha? How is that supposed to make any
sense?!?

I dropped my hands dejectedly into the
water.

Now Ikovos is going to be mad at me, I knew
this was a bad plan.

“He got in?”

That was Ikovos. He walked up to the rock
Jaden had been sitting on. I looked over to him and shrugged
apologetically.

Jaden came up then, narrowing at the other
boy.”Weren't you gone?”

Ikovos rolled his eyes at himself. “I should
have known . . .” Then dropped into the pool.

Jaden looked over at me questioningly.

I just went red and shrugged.

~ ~ ~

WE SWAM a while longer, but, despite the
beauty of the pool, I asked to leave after not too long.

Right now . . . with certain things . . . it
just felt smart.

I shivered as we started into the woods.
“It's f-f-fr-freezing.”

Both boys were walking beside me with their
dry clothes over their arms, not looking the least bit chilly. I
hugged my shawl around me.

“Here,” said Jaden. Then he reached down to
grab a stick, lighting one side with a rich, red, fire.

My eyes brightened . . .
I'll never get
used to people just doing stuff like that.

“Hold your hands up to it,” he commanded,
lifting it close to me.

I did. It felt good, but my breaths still
shuttered.

“Why don't you try it, Evelyn,” suggested
Ikovos. He looked at Jaden. “Doesn't it make you feel warmer.”

Jaden shrugged. “I guess so, you could
try.”

I looked at each, then down at my shaking
hand. The woods around us were pitch dark. I had only been here
once when it was this late, there was something so mystical about
it.

“O-k-k-kay,” I said, shivering again. Then I
lifted my hand out in front of me. As soon as the fingers stretched
out a large, violet, flame burst up. Bright, but a little
uncontrolled.

“Jeez,” said Ikovos. His eyes were wide.