Ice Burns (17 page)

“I’m disappointed, Apprentice,” he said. Master wasn't going to hit her, and Chandra thought about how she once felt struck when he used to tell her he was disappointed. Now, she just felt relief.

“You are both dismissed.”

Chandra didn’t hesitate and hurried out the door as rapidly as she could without running. She heard Deakon’s footsteps behind her. His grasshopper legs caught her long before she made it to the end of the hall. His hand jerked her to a halt.

Chandra narrowed her eyes. The fear in her changed to anger with a ready outlet. Her eyes were sparkling green slits as she looked up at the young man who gripped her arm. His face was too close to hers. It made her want to shove Deakon.

“Not so high on power now, are you?” he hissed at her. “You’re the same, stupid girl you’ve always been.”

Chandra attempted to jerk her arm away from him but he held on.

"You know that you don't have the power to be his apprentice, so why don't you give up?

Chandra bit down on various responses, none of which would make things any better for either of them. She wondered if he thought Master Dreys would let her walk away because she was certain that would never be the case.

His whole body shook with rage and frustration. If the hall hadn't been deserted, they would have gathered an audience by now. She doubted anyone would do more than cheer on Deakon and make no attempt to stop them.

She tugged again, but he didn't let go. Inside her, emotions welled up from fear, the change in Master Dreys, and the spot where her cheek continued to sting. Chandra knew she had to find a way to go, but also know that Master seemed to have no bounds on what he did to get what he wanted. Her thoughts tore through her, and she swung at Deakon, who ducked.

“Don’t you think if I could I would?” The dam inside her burst out the thought before she could control it. The words hung in the air and cooled tempers. Chandra's face fell, and her shoulders slumped. She knew she was in an impossible situation and couldn't deal with his hate right then. She felt hopeless and trapped.

Deakon didn’t respond. He stared at her for a long moment while she looked at the floor and wondered if the soil beneath would be willing to come through and pull her under.

Deakon released her and stalked off. Chandra stood for a moment and watched him go. She wished she hadn't spoken because she now felt exposed.

Idiot. What did you think would happen? Did you think he would just say, 'Okay, great. Let's be friends now and get you away from the estate so I can take your place'?

She returned to her room and went the water basin to splash water on her face. She lifted the rough, tiny towel down and dried her face. Chandra looked in the mirror.

Bloodshot eyes with wet, dark lashes and pale skin reflected back at her. Her eyebrows were dark relief on the lack of color in her skin other than the slight flush around her mouth and the dark red growing on her cheek. Her dark hair cloaked her oval face, and her lips drew a severe line that hid the bow shape. She didn’t recognize the frightened face.

She looked at herself and tried to force the false Chandra back into place. The effort of trying to lock away all the feelings caused her head to hurt. Chandra lifted her brush and flung it across the room.

“Now, now, none of that, Apprentice,” the familiar voice caused chills to run up and down her spine and fear to stop her heart for a moment. “I had come to see if we could work on you having better control of your magic and find you acting like the spoiled child you are instead.”

Chandra wondered if Master Dreys could smell her fear or hear it in her thoughts. She felt a feather-soft touch in her mind and knew Frostwhite was with her even though she knew he wasn't in the rafters above. Warmth wrapped around her as though Frostwhite shared his wings as an embrace to comfort and shield her. She let her anger cool and her fear, though not gone, was but a feather's weight compared to the mass that had threatened to crush her. She sent her friend a silent thank you.

Chandra realized Master Dreys had been speaking to her for a while.

“...have skill but no control. That must change, Apprentice.”

Chandra nodded at Master Dreys though she did lift her eyes. She knew a reminder of her fear waited in glittering black contempt.

“To do so, I’ve brought you something new that you need to get familiar with by tomorrow,” Master set something on the table before turning to walk out of her room.

Chandra didn't move from the spot she stood. She lifted her eyes.

On the table was a polished honey-colored wood box with a black latch that set across the ring without a lock to hold it closed. It looked as though it was a recently crafted item and the smell that came from it when she stepped closer confirmed that. Cedar and varnish tickled her nose in a way that wasn't unpleasant so much as it reeked of newness.

Innocuous as it was, Chandra did not want to touch it. Her mind created multiple scenarios of dark intent spewing forth from the box of pale wood and precise lines. Her stomach heaved, and she shook as she lifted her hand from her side to raise the latch and open the box. She didn’t know what she had expected to find in the small rectangular chest, but the truth was a surprise.

Inside the pale, rough-edged box was a knife. Or at least, that's what it appeared to be at first glance. Chandra's hand moved from the lid to the finely carved steel inside. It had twisted wire decoration and gemstones scattered like stars. Her hand froze above the magnificently crafted blade as she realized there was no handle. It was curved and looked like a well-made knife to about half-way along metalwork. Where the handle should be was instead a wickedly curved edge of worked steel. The knife, if one could even classify it that way, was an S-shape, but the bottom curve of the S was where the curved wire and gems met rear blade. The tip of the S was at a sharp point aimed toward the center of the shape, making it impossible for a person to put their hand around it to hold the blade. At best, with precise care, one could lift it with two slender fingers, but it didn't look as though even that would be possible with all of the metalwork. It looked to be weighty.

What do I do with this? How would a knife help me with control?

Chandra heard a rush of wings, and Frostwhite landed on the table beside the box that held the blade. He leaned in for a moment to study the object the let out a hiss that sent a shiver up the young woman’s spine. In her mind, she saw an image of black and red smoke rising from the blade and caught a smell of damp fear. The hawk was trying to tell her the blade was something more than it appeared. It was as though he could see evil in the metal. She looked at the great bird who met her eyes with a liquid silver gaze.

“What am I supposed to do?” Chandra whispered the question as afraid of it as she was the answer. Frostwhite launched himself up and landed on the window before looking back at her.

“I can’t,” Chandra whispered. Her chest went tight as she thought about stepping outside the estate and didn’t improve when she thought about Master’s hand crossing her cheek with enough force to cause her vision to go black for a moment.

Frostwhite ruffled his feathers before launching himself back into the room and up to the rafters. Chandra took it as a close to their conversation and sat down at the table to stare at the blade.

Mist and air fragrant with air blossoms woke Chandra. She could imagine the air vapors lifting and carrying the white flowers in; the scent was strong. It was as though she could taste the sweet buds on her tongue as much as she felt the soft sweetness tickle her nose. Despite gulping up the breeze like water to the deathly parched, Chandra felt a sense of irony at the beauty that wrapped around her. It was almost as though the world outside had to be more astonishing to hide the ugliness within the massive building.

In too short time, Master Dreys would arrive to conduct the next test of her abilities. The strange, handleless blade that sat in the wooden box on her table gave her no clue what awaited her but made her hair stand on end.

She paced circles around the table. Her hair had come loose while she slept and was a cascade of brown waves down her back. Shaking hands raked through her hair. She stopped moving and knotted the hair in her hands as though she was going to rip it out while she stared at the Master's toy.

She swallowed and released her hair. It took her a few minutes to find her brush since she hadn't recovered it after throwing it. Quick, hard strokes of the brush pulled any hint of curls from her dark locks as she pulled it into a tight braid and tied it back. She splashed water on her face and changed into a tunic and trousers.

She would have breakfast in the dining hall. Chandra felt that she should see the other students before her final test. If she were going to fail, at least it would be with a full stomach. It might also be an opportunity to find a way out of the estate. Maybe she could listen from outside the kitchen and see if anyone was leaving to get supplies or run errands. With half of a plan, her appetite came on with a roar. The apple perfume of the air had become spiced with the scent of cooked oats and fresh bread. She tugged her tunic into place and turned to the door. It opened just as she reached for the handle and she yelped.

A guard stepped in with a young boy behind him carrying a tray of food.

"You'll eat here. Master's orders," the guard spat the words at her more than spoke them.

"Oh? I wouldn't have guessed," she rolled her eyes at the guard and the young boy laughed. A smile lifted her lips as she turned to look at the servant boy who set down the tray and covered his mouth with both hands. His dark eyes smiled behind his hands, and Chandra winked at him. The guard said nothing but shot the lad a dirty look and turned on his heel. The boy uncovered his mouth and waved at Chandra before hurrying after the guard.

She looked out and saw that the guard was almost to the end of the hall, and the young boy ran. He was hard-pressed to keep up with the fast pace but somehow managed. She saw them round the corner together.

Chandra shut the door softly as though without the noise she could feel less finality from the action of closing her prison door. She eyed the tray, filled with bread, some spiced preserves, and a bowl of oats.

"Supplies must have come, or the meal would look more like snot," she mumbled. A shuddering sound echoed in the room, and Frostwhite made a soft
keek
.

She reached for the bread, but her sleeve caught on the handle of the tray and arched it away from her and into the box. The wooden container teetered on the edge of the table for a moment before overbalancing and falling to the floor.

When it hit, the box popped open, and the blade arched out to embed itself in the wooden floor. Chandra reached for it stopped. The light hit the multiple edges of the blade. Even the decorative wiring around the casing for the gemstones had sharp points that were invisible in the case. At the center, the one spot where she had assumed could be touched with two fingers, had razor-thin edges on the side previously nestled in the box. If a person were to reach down to pick up the blade from any position, their skin would meet an edge.

A shudder slid from her tailbone all the way up her spine to the roots of her hair. She couldn’t imagine why or how someone would create such an item. She smeared preserves on her bread and continued to look at the horrible object sticking out of her floor.

Obviously, I need to levitate it, but to what end? Target practice? Precision?

She continued to look at it, trying to figure out how well it would work if it were sent through the air like Deakon had sent the quill at her. A vision entered her mind.

Several blades like this one flying through arctic, snowflaked air. The sound that came off of them was a screech like a siren's fury. They moved with speed and remained true to embed themselves into a person's body who dropped to the ground, turning the snow red.

Chandra felt cold as the blood drained from her face and she looked up at Frostwhite. The hawk looked sadly down at her and lowered his beak to rest on his chest. It reminded Chandra of the child in the kitchens wrapping her arms around her tiny legs and resting her head on her chin as the other servant told her a story.

Chandra felt moisture catch on the edge of her lashes and shook her head.

"Someday, you need to tell me where you came from so I can understand it all," Chandra said. Her voice was more than a whisper but only just. She knew he had heard her, though.

She swallowed the bite of the bread, but it lodged in her throat. There was a cup of coffee on her tray that was, blissfully warm. She took a massive gulp to remove the bread and then slowed to drink it. Though it was barely warm, the smell of it and taste were comforting to her.

She considered trying to eat the oats but decided that she didn't want to choke on it like she had the bread. Chandra had only just set the cup on the tray when the door swung wide. Master Dreys entered with Deakon in his shadow. The young man’s gaze caught on her swollen cheek before dropping to the floor.

“I trust you are ready today, Chandra?” Master Dreys asked. She noted the lack of 'Apprentice' and understood the implied threat.

“I am as ready as I can be, Master.”

Chandra saw his head quirk to the side when he noticed the blade sticking up out of the floor. “Why did you throw the blade on the floor?”