Soul Blaze (10 page)

The chubby one-year-old in her lap gurgled something
in my general direction. Her hair was golden, like
Sammy’s, and her eyes had already turned storm-grey, like
Petre’s.

“Hello.” I said uncertainly. I wasn’t so good with kids,
having been an only child with no cousins.
“Would you like to hold her?” Matilda asked, and
before I could protest, plonked Sky down in my arms.

I clutched her the best I could, eventually settling her
on my hip, mimicking the way Matilda had been holding
her. We stared at each other, Sky to Sky. Then her little
eyes filled up with tears as she realised she was being held
by a stranger.

“Yeah, me too, kid.” I murmured to her.
“What was that?”
“She’s adorable,” I said, louder. Matilda beamed. “She’s
got your eyes.”
I now realised that Matilda’s eyes were the same grey as
all of her children’s. Comprehension dawned on me.
“You’re a mage.” I said, feeling stupid.

“Yes I am,” she replied, removing her daughter from
her my grasp. I tried not to look too relieved. “That’s how
I’m going to get your magic back from Iain. Netalia has
been magic-less since you overpowered her.”

Back to business. I sat in the chair beside her.

“You’ve already been to see them?” I asked. It wasn’t
the first question that had sprung to mind, but I was trying
to formulate the others in a way that wouldn’t offend
anyone.

“I’ve assessed the situation, yes. When Netalia tried to
remove your magic and you blasted her, they managed to
collect it. Traditionally, the woman has always been the
holder of the magic, but Netalia was a little unstable after
being set alight, so they turned to Iain.”

“The woman has always been the holder of the magic?”
I repeated, confused. “But I know plenty of male mages,
your son one of them.”

Matilda glanced at Jett. He nodded slightly.
“What do you know of Queen Fleur?” Matilda asked me
hesitantly.

“I know that she was in a war,” I said. “Against her own
soul mate. Apart from that, I don’t really know all that
much. Actually, I had a statue of her when I was here.
Someone took it though.”

“Well...” Jett said, fiddling in a drawer near him.
“Here.”

He set a little statue on the desk. I pulled it towards me
to inspect it. At first glance, I thought it was my statue,
but then I noticed twin sword on her back and a tiny bird
perched on her left shoulder. Her hair still fell down her
back, and a circlet was still present, yet her features were
undefined.

“Why did someone make a statue of me?” I asked,
befuddled. I picked it up. “This is a tad creepy.”
“That’s not you, Sky. We took the statue to restore it.”
Jett said, watching me closely.

“That’s Queen Fleur, without the vandalism,” Matilda
said. “Obviously you’ve noticed the similarities.” She
bounced Sky in her lap. “You’re the next Queen.”

For a moment I didn’t do anything at all. I couldn’t
move, so I sat there staring at Queen Fleur in my hands.
Suddenly Morrigan flew in through the open window,
alighting easily on my left shoulder as though helping
them prove their point. Sky giggled and clapped her hands
at the sight of him.

“What are... what does this... what?” I managed to
stutter.
My father came around the side of the desk and took
the statue from me. His large hands enveloped mine.

“Iain and Netalia knew,” he said. “That’s why they
banished you. And the mages who tried to kidnap you
from Ar Cena, they knew as well.”

“How long have you known?” I asked in a monotone. I
felt like I was drifting outside my body, like it wasn’t
really me asking the question.

“Around about the time you brought that statue back.
That coupled with the colour of your eyes and the way
Phoenix was avoiding you gave me some pretty big hints.
Then when you picked the twin swords and Morrigan
came along,” he tickled the bird under the chin. To my
surprise, Morri let him. “It was pretty obvious. I tried to
get you to hide it anyway. I wanted you there for as long
as possible.”

“Stop stop stop,” I held my hands out and shook my
head. “Too much. Start from the beginning. My eyes?”

“The Queen always has green eyes. We’re not too sure
why, but the first Queen had them, so it’s possible her
reincarnations inherited them.” Matilda said. “There have
been a few mages that have come through here with those
eyes, but only two have been reincarnations. Fleur, and
now you.”

I opened my mouth to question further, but Jett
stopped me.
“How about we get through the bulk of your questions
now,” he said. “And go over the finer points later?”
I closed my mouth and nodded.
“Phoenix avoiding me?” Guilt flushed under my skin as
I said his name.
Matilda and Jett exchanged glances.

“I thought we’d get to him,” Matilda said, and my heart
plummeted. “Sky, as you can probably guess, if you’re the
next Queen, then-”

“- he’s the next King,” I finished. I suddenly
remembered the history lesson from a few years ago.
Queen Fleur and her soul mate, King Morgan, had been
fighting a war against each other. I wiped suddenly sweaty
palms on my breeches. “So, what, does this mean Phoenix
and I are going to be fighting a war against each other?”

I’d been half-joking, but then I saw the look on Jett’s
face.

“We hope it’s not going to come to that,” he said, and I
felt sick. “The Ancients tried to take care of that with a
curse. They cursed the King and Queen to fall in love, so
that they could make peace and co-exist. So far, it has not
worked. The reincarnation cycle has not been broken, and
here you sit in front of us.”

“So I’m
cursed
to fall in love with Phoenix,” I spat,
suddenly angry. “Since when was this all planned out for
me? Was anyone ever going to tell me?”

“We thought it best to keep you in the dark, so that if
you were questioned at any time, you really would have
no idea what was going on,” Jett said, trying to placate me.
“When they banished you anyway, we honestly didn’t
know what was going to happen.”

“So what did happen? My magic came back all on its
own.”

“Your magic manifested,” Matilda replied. Sky was
looking upset in her lap and I suddenly felt awful for
losing my temper. “Left to its own devices... well... we
didn’t want to risk that. We were working on a plan to
bring you back ourselves, but the rogue mages forced our
hand.”

“And then you handed me over to Iain and Netalia.” I
crossed my arms and legs.

“I only had time to create a quick portal. I’d come from
the castle, so that path offered the least amount of
resistance. I took it; I couldn’t exactly wait around to
carefully construct a new one,” Jett said. “But even so, I
want you to know that leaving you was the hardest thing
I’ve ever done. I wouldn’t have done it if it could have
been avoided.”

I bit back responses, feeling them too private to reveal
in front of Matilda. He
had
left me, when I was still a
child, before I could remember. I remembered Mum
telling me that when I’d ventured the dangerous question
of who my father was.

“So as to Phoenix avoiding you,” he said, trying to get
back on track. “He knew of the legends. He’d already
guessed who he was before he came to the Academy; it’s
why he begged Iain and Netalia to take him in. Aloysius
was preparing to crown and train him.”

I couldn’t imagine Phoenix begging anyone for
anything. If he’d known who he was, why was he trying
to run from it?

“And now they’ve exiled him back,” I said, my eyes on
the floor in front of me. “But I saw him not that long ago.”

“Iain and Netalia lured him back with the promise of
seeing you again. He thought it was a trick but came
anyway. When he saw you and realised what they were
training you to do, he came and found me. After tipping
me off with all of the information he could, he then left
for Orthandrell again. Iain and Netalia still have a lot of
loyal followers, and he was very aware that his being in
the state was a danger to his life.”

He’d known that Jett was going to overthrow the two
elders. But he couldn’t have known how long it would
take him. From now on, I’d entertain myself with the
thought that he didn’t know how I was going to be
treated.

“My swords.” I said through gritted teeth, prompting
the next explanation. I couldn’t bear to hear anymore
about Phoenix.

“Both of your previous incarnations favoured them as
their primary weapon,” Matilda said, bouncing Sky on her
lap; the child had been looking sullen and bored. “And
Morrigan has always been present. Perhaps he’s a
reincarnation too.”

The bird peeped shrilly as though he understood.
When Sky burbled and reached for him though, he
ducked under my ponytail, safely out of harm’s way... or
in this case, Sky’s reach.

“So that’s why you didn’t want Netalia to see me with
him,” I said to Jett, comprehension dawning. “And she
chucked such a fit about the swords... as though it would
change who I was if I didn’t use them!”

“She was panicking; they’d only had to deal with this a
few times before. All of the other times, either banishing
them or restricting certain items had worked... of course,
she wasn’t to know that whilst they may have been
reincarnations, the country was never in dire enough need
of a monarch. Their magic never manifested. None of the
ones they banished would’ve become King or Queen.”

“And now?” my mouth was dry. “What’s changed now?
What’s happened?”

“Iain and Netalia happened,” Matilda said, a frown
marring her delicate eyebrows. “They neglected their
duties to the country and its people. They crowned
themselves rulers of the land but had no interest in
maintaining it.”

That couldn’t be all, but I was reeling from too much
information already. I stood abruptly, Morri squeaking as I
almost unsettled him.

“I need to go,” I told the three of them. “I’ll be with my
friends.”
“Are you alright?” Jett asked worriedly.

“I’m fine,” just found out I was the newest monarch of a
stricken country, but I’m fine. “Just need to let it all sink
in.”

“I’ll come to collect you near dinnertime,” Matilda said.
“I’ll try to regain your magic from Iain then.”

I nodded, and then clenched my fists as the need for
power consumed me again. I fought it down, and forced
myself to leave the office. My friends were waiting for me.

“What did they say?” Dena asked, concern in her voice.
I forced myself to look at her.
“Nothing important.” I heard myself say.
~Chapter Eleven~

I stood in the shower, everything Jett and Matilda had
told me rolling through my head. The water was scalding,
but it felt like it was scouring me clean. Morri had taken
his usual perch atop the shower stall.

“You’d better not be the reincarnation of some prince
or something,” I told him sternly. “You’ve seen me naked
way too many times.”

He tilted his head to one side. I sighed and sat down on
the cold tiles, not feeling the abrupt change in
temperature.

I was the new monarch. Apparently. All I had were
green eyes and a bird to prove it though. And the man I
loved was King.

I clutched my head. If I thought being reintroduced to
this world was too much, then this was way out of my
league.

“Sky?” I heard Dena call. I saw her boots under the stall
door. “Petre’s mother is looking for you.”
“I’ll be out in a minute.” Biggest lie ever.

She hesitated for a moment and then walked out of the
bathroom. I dragged myself back to my feet and stood
under the water rebelliously for a few more minutes.

When I emerged from the bathroom, my damp hair
preventing Morri from riding on my shoulder, forcing him
to sit on my head instead, Matilda was waiting for me
outside my door. She was by herself this time.

“Where’s Sky?” I asked.
“With her brothers,” she replied. “Petre is rather taken
with her.”

We trotted down the stairs, and it was only when we
started heading for the dungeons that my heart began to
beat faster.

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to do this?” I
asked Matilda, trying not to sound like I was doubting her.

She came to a halt, halfway down the stairs. We were
only inches apart, our features illuminated by the
flickering torches in their brackets.

“Sky. I’m the last surviving member of a sisterhood that
has been around since Queen Fleur died. She had her
doubts about Iain and Netalia, so she brought together a
group of women to carry on her legacy. My mother was a
sister, and she passed her knowledge on to me. If you
hadn’t become Queen, I would’ve passed my secrets onto
my daughter,” Matilda looked at me in the half-light. “I
regret not being able to do anything before this, but
without someone to fight for – you - there was no point.”

“But why didn’t you do something when I arrived with
Petre a few years ago?”

“I had no idea who you were; Jett only tipped me off
when he brought you back. As for the repairs needed in
Abdoor, my pregnancy weakened me, and I wasn’t able to
practise magic the entire time I was carrying Sky. I also
didn’t want to risk losing her; I had no daughters, only
sons, and wouldn’t have been able to pass my knowledge
down as needed if you hadn’t come along.”

She continued down the stairs, and I followed. More
information to take in. It had never occurred to me when
I was visiting Petre’s family that his mother was the mage
out of all of them.

I hurried down the stairs to keep up with her. Though I
wasn’t looking forward to the two monsters in the cells
below me, I did want my magic back.

“Who are you?” Iain demanded, standing with his arms
folded in his cell. Netalia was determinedly ignoring both
of us.

“My name is Matilda Lyon,” Petre’s mother said,
folding her hands neatly in front of her. “You have
something that isn’t yours, and I’m here to remove it from
you.”

Netalia barked out a harsh laugh, and we turned to look
at her.