Ember (5 page)

No response. Just eyes.

Bad idea, Evelyn.
I cleared my throat.
“Did you light that fire? I mean, I saw what you did last night and
I was just wondering what it was, or how, you know, you did it. . .
.”
Oh God, that definitely didn't make any sense.

Jaden smiled. Not a friendly smile, more of
an amused one. “Yeah, it was me, both times, and it was magic.”

I waited for further explanation. None came,
but he kept his gaze.

“So, how does it work? How did you learn it?”
I asked.

He shrugged and rocked back. “Thoran taught
me . . . when I came here. I had a knack for it, been using it ever
since.”

So you can be trained. This is getting
interesting. “
Can everyone do it? I mean, is it very common?” I
asked.

“Not at all. It's a rare ability, some say a
natural one.”

“But you don't.”

He looked at the coffee pot, then back at me.
“I'd compare it to any virtue: honesty, diligence . . . love.
Nothing comes naturally.”

Makes sense enough.
“So when did you
start learning it?” I asked, then crossed my arms in front of me on
the counter.

“Young. When I was just a boy.”

“How old are you now?”

He looked at me, then placed his palms down
on the counter and leaned forward until he was over me.

I looked up and gulped.

“Why do you want to know?”

His eyes didn't move. Neither did mine. We
were both locked in position, not a flinch . . . okay, maybe I was
shrinking a little bit.

His eyes narrowed.

“Jaden?!” called a voice from the
doorway.

My gaze broke and I tilted my head around the
menacing boy to look towards the voice. It was Ikovos.

“I knew it,” he said, walking forward. “I
knew they would put you in charge of her, I just knew it.” He
waved. “Hi, Eve.”

I cleared my throat and waved back.

Jaden blew out some air then turned to
Ikovos, back against the counter. “Good morning to you too,
Ikovos.”

“Oh, come on Jaden, you can't think this is
fair,” said Ikovos. He sat down on the stool next to me.

Jaden shrugged and set out three mugs. “It is
what it is, I couldn't care less either way.”

Ikovos’s brow furrowed. “Well, you're in a
lovely mood this morning.”

Jaden smiled wickedly, then went over to the
stove.

I got the feeling that these two knew each
other better than they showed.

Ikovos turned to me. “So, how'd you sleep
last night? Anything exciting happen?”

Besides everything?
“Nothing to crazy.
And I slept well . . . that study is beautiful.”

“Oh, Master Cornelius’s? Yeah, he's got some
great books in there.”

Jaden poured coffee into each of the mugs and
pushed the sugar tray closer. I dumped milk and sweetener in mine,
so did Ikovos. Jaden drank it black.

“We really should be heading out, Vos,” said
Jaden, he took a gulp of coffee then nodded to me. “Can you find
your way back?”

Umm, no.

“I'll take her,” said Ikovos. “I have to go
back that way.”

“
Right
,” said Jaden, he dropped his
cup in the sink and went to the door. “Just make sure not to get
lost. Meet me by the back door.”

I was about to say thanks for the coffee, but
before I could, he was gone. I pressed my lips together and did a
mental wave.
Goodbye.

“He didn't give you any trouble, did he?”
asked Ikovos.

“I looked at him and shook my head. “No, he
was fine . . . I don't think he liked babysitting though.”

Ikovos laughed. “Trust me, you made his
morning.” He stood up and held out his hand. “Now, my lady, may I
show you to your quarters?”

I laughed. He did too, then he helped me off
the stool and we headed for the study, coffee still held firmly in
my hand.

*

Ikovos had dropped me off a couple minutes
ago and I was now on the couch, contemplating what to do next.
Before he left he promised again that I would be staying. After all
the sneaking around this morning I wasn't so sure.

I discovered that he and Jaden were off to
finish the scouting begun by Cornelius and Thoran before they found
me. I felt a little guilty over the fact but couldn't think of
anything to do about it.

I sunk deeper into the couch.

Before me sat the task of deciding what to do
next, not something I'm good at, especially when all the options
are so exciting. Sort of like being at the bakery counter trying to
figure out which pastry you want.

Ikovos had said I could read any of the books
on the shelves, and that I was welcome to the shower. The book
reading would've grabbed me immediately, only it meant more
decision making and I had no idea where to start. Since I hadn't
bathed in a couple days and I was still kind of icky from the lake,
the shower held a practical appeal.

All the contemplating ending up being
null-in-void. I couldn't stop staring at the red flame.

Magic. Real Magic.

I moved my hand closer and felt the heat
pulsing out of it. The first time I'd heard of magic I became
obsessed with it, it and everything I could learn about it. I read
story after story, listened to anything anyone could tell me. My
family told me I was silly. . . I was younger then, and when I got
older I pushed down any thoughts of it.

And now I come to find it's real?

I supposed I should be calmly contemplating
this fact, maybe even trying to deny it. In books the main
character gets whisked away from their lives to some grand
adventure, all the while complaining of a desire to have an
ordinary life.

I always wondered if I would be the same . .
. now I knew the answer.

A swell of excitement rose in my stomach. I
jumped off the couch and started pacing around, trying to keep from
jumping up and down, or screaming, or crying. I probably looked
silly, but I didn't care, I'd waited for something like this to
happen my entire life.

Determination set in inside me. I knew now
that Ikovos was right. There was no way I was walking away now.

“Okay, Evelyn, calm down,” I said to myself.
“Let's try the shower thing.”

*

Thirty minutes later I was clean, dressed,
and shaking out my wet hair. I was in desperate need of a comb and
a hair-tie, but couldn't have cared less. Right now what I wanted
to do was read.

I picked out a tome with a violet cover and
plopped unto the couch.

What seemed like minutes later I heard a
knock at the door. I looked down and realized that I had read
through seventy pages. I closed the book and ran to open the
door.

It was Ikovos.

He held his finger in the air. “I've got an
idea.” Then walked in, closing the door behind him. “Oh, but first
I brought you something to eat.”

He opened up a bag that held two croissants
and a few strips of cheese. He set them on the coffee table and
dropped into the couch. I did the same. I don’t know what it was,
but I felt comfortable around him, like I'd known him forever . . .
maybe because that's how he treated me.

He grabbed one of the croissants and bit off
half. “Right now, Cornelius is out at a meeting. When he gets back
he'll probably be taking you home.”

I nodded and pulled a flaky layer off the
pastry.

Ikovos started again. “So here's the
plan.”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

We both craned our heads to the door. It
opened an inch, then Cornelius stepped in. He looked a little
disheveled. His hair was matted and he had dark lines under his
eyes . . . probably both were my fault.

“Ikovos?” He shook his head. “I should have
known better than to have Jaden handle it. You two are
intolerable.”

I perceived this as a negative response, but
when I looked over at Ikovos there was a wide grin on his face.

Cornelius rolled his eyes, then turned to me
and smiled. “Did you have a good night? I trust that you were well
treated by everyone.”

I nodded repeatedly. “Yes, very well.”

“Good, good. . . .” He looked uncomfortable.
“Well, if you have everything we should be getting you back
home.”

My heart sank. I knew this was coming, but I
still didn't want to hear it. I bit down on my lip.

Cornelius frowned. “There really is nothing
to be done, my dear. Thoran is adamant.”

I nodded. It was silly to have gotten my
hopes up, what was I doing here anyways?

“Ikovos, would you go get two horses saddled
for us,” said Cornelius.

Ikovos looked like he might object, but then
smiled and walked towards the door. When he got behind Cornelius he
turned around and started mouthing something.

I watched intently for a few seconds until he
vanished. I figured he was relaying his plan to me, there was one
problem, I couldn’t read lips for the life of me. I'd wanted to
tell him, but couldn't with Cornelius watching.

Come on, Evelyn. Suck it up.
I
resigned myself to the inevitable and stood up smiling.

“Thank you, Cornelius, for letting me stay
here . . . I really enjoyed it.”

He looked a little sad. “Of course, my dear.
It was my pleasure.”

Soon we were outside waiting for Ikovos. Wind
blew heavily through the trees. The sky was white. No sun, but my
internal clock told me it was near noon.

My thoughts soon drifted to home. I tried to
understand what was so bad about it.

“Cornelius?” I asked, not sure what I was
doing. “What do you live for?”

He looked a little stunned, then answered.
“For a long time I didn't know . . . then I found out about the
Meoden and the things they did,
horrible
things. . . .” His
eyes turned up to the sky. “Something in me just knew that I was
supposed to stop them.”

I looked out at the forest and thought on his
words.

A twig snapped off a tree above me. I watched
absently as a bird hopped about the branch, then flew off into the
sky.

Wait a minute. What am I doing?

“Cornelius.” I said, my voice firm.

He looked at me.

“Give me one chance.”

Again I surprised him. “But—”

“Look, I'm not usually this direct. In fact I
never am. I understand I don't really know what you guys do here,
but I
do
know it's important . . . and I want to help.”

He looked at me hard for a moment. “You know,
you remind me of myself when I was younger.” His face softened and
he held up a finger. “You get one chance,
one
. And that's
it.”

I yelped and jumped on the spot. “Thank you,
thank you, thank you!” I threw my arms around him, then went bright
red and backed off.

“Sorry.”

He laughed. “You know what? I completely
understand.”

I beamed a while, unable to keep a straight
face. I couldn't believe I'd said, what I did, later I'd probably
have a panic attack, but it didn't matter, I was happy now.

Cornelius dropped his face in his hands.
“Thoran is going to kill me when he finds out.” He looked up “Wait
a minute. He doesn't
really
need to find out right
away.”

“He doesn't?” I asked.

“No.” He began pacing. “If we can take a few
weeks to train you, get you caught up on the history and schematics
of our operation, maybe even teach you some of the language. Well,
you could become a valuable asset, which I think might make Thoran
a bit more . . . agreeable about the situation.”

My stomach lurched with excitement.
“Training! Really?”

“Oh, yes, but we'll need someone to do it,
someone good.” He tapped on his lip. “I won't be able to. If I'm
not around that often, Thoran will surely notice. The next best
artisan is Ikovos. He also knows plenty of the language and
history.”

“Artisan?”

“Oh, um . . . a magic user.”

My jaw dropped. “Ikovos can use magic?! He
didn't tell me that. Does he control fire like Jaden?”

Cornelius shook his head quickly. “Oh, no,
no, no. Ikovos is a defense artisan. He uses healing and protecting
magics, disabling ones at times, but never anything like
Jaden's.”

I cocked my head. “So what is Jaden?”

“Well, among other things—” he chuckled
“—
he's
an offense artisan. They use fire, like you saw, to
attack enemies or enchant weapons. Thoran's offensive too, but it
is a rarer ability, only a few here have the makings of it. At any
rate, you will be learning defense with Ikovos.”

There's no way he just said what I think he
did.

“Wait a minute. I'm going to learn to use
magic?”

I watched his head go up and down, but it
wasn't quite computing.

“Well . . . “ He sucked in some air. “That's
not completely accurate. You see most aren't even able to use it.
You'll get the chance to though, it would certainly be a plus with
Thoran, we have almost as few defense artisans as offense.”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'd
gone from thinking magic was a myth, to seeing it for myself, then
finally to finding out it was real in less than a day.

And now I am going to learn it?
Stars
danced in my eyes. I had to lean against the fence to keep from
falling over.

“Whoa, what's wrong with her?”

My vision cleared and I saw Ikovos holding
the reigns of two horses. One was black and one was brown. They
were lean, sleek, and looked like they could get anywhere fast.

I released the fence and glared at Ikovos.
“Why didn't you tell me you could use magic?!”

A smile spread wide across his face, and he
leaned back on his heels. “Well, I guess I just didn't think to
bring it up.”

Cornelius rolled his eyes and held out his
hand. “Reigns please.”

The smile vanished. “Oh,
come on
,
Cornelius, the least you could do is let her stay a couple of days
to rest up. I mean she obviously doesn't want to go home yet. You
know just because Thoran says something, doesn't mean it’s right .
. . this just isn't fair.”