Soul Blaze (12 page)

The great-road to the capital was large and well-used.
Ruts in the road marked out where wagons had struggled
through mud and clay in the winter. There were some
places where the forest pressed in close, and I noticed Jett
glancing about warily.
“What is it?” I asked him as I drew closer.

“There have been reports of bandits along here of late,”
he responded, and I suddenly caught a glimpse of the long
sword he’d hidden beneath his cloak.

“I doubt they’d attack mages,” I said. “And there are a
few of us.”
“True,” he admitted, but still scanned the tree line
anxiously.

I looked ahead to Raven, and saw her strange crossbowstaff hybrid strapped to her back. I suddenly felt naked
without my twin swords. I lit a ball of greenish-white fire
in my palm and immediately felt better.

The trip to Castor took several days. Inns were frequent
along the great-road, and when they saw that we were
students, they scurried about to prepare rooms for us and
take care of our horses. The rooms were comfortable and
warm, the food hearty. We tipped well, and made sure to
remember our courtesies.

When the city wall came into view, I stopped Echo
atop a rise, my heart in my throat.

A great stone wall encircled the capital, but beyond
that I could see rooves and towers poking above it. Smoke
from chimneys darkened the air, and though I could smell
the sea, I couldn’t see it.

“The palace,” Jett pointed out. I could just see the spires
of a large building on the eastern side of the city. “Where
the City Governor lives at the moment. He thinks he’s
hosting some students from the Academy during their
time in the city.”

“Well that’s technically correct.” I said, my heart in my
throat.
Jett smiled.
“We’ll head there first, and then you’re free to
explore.”

We continued on through the great gates of the wall,
the men guarding it waving us through with a bored
expression. As we entered the city, I suddenly became
very glad that I was seeing it for the first time on
horseback.

People were milling about amongst horses, carts,
children and market stalls. There had been rain recently,
and the cobblestones beneath Echo’s hooves were muddy
and treacherous. I watched some children wind their way
through the thong, bare feet slapping against the filthy
ground.

“Street urchins,” Ispin murmured, riding next to me.
“Keep an eye on your purse.”
“You’ve been here before?”

“Many times,” he replied, tucking a wayward curl
behind his ear. I hid a smile as I saw a section of his hair
was still plaited. “My Father usually had business here in
the city.”

We continued along the large street, vendors calling
out to us in a bid to make us dismount and peruse their
wares. I noticed the street growing cleaner and wider as
we rode towards the palace. Guards dressed in black stood
on the corner of alleyways, muttering to themselves as
they watched us pass.

“Let me guess,” I said quietly to Ispin. “The Governor’s
Guards.”

“Yes.” He glanced at me, apparently having heard the
worried tone in my voice. “They’ll be under your
command soon, Sky. Don’t worry.”

But as I saw the way the guards watched us, the little
ball of nervous tension in my stomach didn’t go away. It
got worse.

The palace gates loomed ahead of us. The portcullis was
down, though beyond it we could see a beautiful terrace
and a lush garden. Jett rode ahead, talking quietly to the
guards at the gatehouse. I saw a few people glancing at us
curiously, before looking away. I was suddenly glad so
many of my friends and classmates had come with me. It
would look like so much like a class trip that no one
would guess that I was a new monarch coming to rule.

A rattling drew my attention back to the portcullis. It
was being raised to allow us through. I urged Echo
through the gate, watching the spikes that were now
overhead. As I rode along the terrace I heard them lower
the portcullis behind the last of us, cutting us off from the
rest of the city.

We dismounted, and our horses were lead away by
stable hands.
“Masters and mistresses,” a page was saying. “Governor
Ryman wishes to see you right away.”

“We’ve been riding for several days,” Jett replied,
frowning. “I’m sure the Governor would prefer us to be
presentable first.”

“This way, if you would.” The page strode off.
“Is everything alright?” I asked my father.

“The Governor is being demanding,” he heaved a sigh.
“He was like this last time I met him. I was hoping he’d be
a bit more amiable now, but I can see that hope was
futile.”

We followed the page through a small door, not the
main ones that lead onto the terrace. Guards were posted
around it however, leaving me to deduce that the doors
were used from time to time.

The door the page led us through took us into a small
hallway, lined with plush maroon carpet and simple wall
hangings.

“Visitor’s entrance, I’m guessing,” Dena said, sidling up
to me. “Are we not worthy of the main entrance?”

“Guests are brought through here,” the page called
back, apparently hearing us. “The main entrance is for the
Governor.”

I wrinkled my nose. I’d been hoping to get along with
this Governor, but so far it wasn’t looking good.

The palace was a veritable maze, and soon I was glad
that we had a guide. I trailed behind the group, looking
about at all of the decorations and paintings. Queen Fleur
was in most of them. It unnerved me to see her eyes, my
eyes, looking so sad. While I was here incognito, I wanted
to read up on her history. I was determined to avoid her
mistakes.

“Here we are,” the page indicated a heavy door inlaid
with mother of pearl. “I’m to leave you now.” He bowed
low and trotted off.

Jett knocked once, and a loud voice boomed from
behind the door.
“Enter!”
Jett glanced at me for a second, and then pushed the
door open.

We filed into a large office. Our boots sunk into the
plush carpet, and I tucked my sweaty hands behind my
back.

A large oak desk took centre place, and behind resided
the largest man I’ve ever seen. Governor Ryman had
obviously enjoyed his high status over the last couple of
years. He stood at the sight of us, and I could tell that he
would only just come level with my nose. His eyes were
small and dark, a muddy brown at best guess. He shook
Jett’s hand, not meeting his eyes.

“Who’ve you brought for me?” he asked Jett.

“Allow me to introduce my daughter, Sky,” Jett said.
We’d decided that I would be introduced first so that the
Governor would forget about me by the time the
introductions were over. “Sky, Governor Ryman.”
I bowed as I’d been taught. Ryman sniffed.

“Got the green eyes, have you?” he asked.
I nodded stiffly. Jett saved me from answering.
“She has the green eyes, yes. Nothing has come of it
though.”
“Yet,” Ryman had already turned his piggy eyes onto
Ispin. “You look familiar, boy.”

“I believe you’ve met my father before, sir,” Ispin said
formally, and I was surprised at the lack of warmth in my
friend’s tone. As long as I’d known him, I’d never known
Ispin to dislike someone. “Lord Emmel, from Gowar. I’m
his son.”

“Yes, yes, I know Emmel,” Ryman waved it away. “Tell
him to get his tax reports in on time, would you? Bloody
nuisance.”

I saw Yasmin clutch at Ispin’s wrist as he twitched. The
movement caught Ryman’s eye.
“You’re a beauty,” he said to Yasmin, who struggled to
keep her face straight. “Your name?”
“Yasmin. I’m from the human realm.”
Ryman snorted.
“Still carting them in, are they? Grief, you think they
would’ve learnt by now.”

He made his way through the group, managing to insult
every single one of us. I was shaking by the time he bid us
our leave.

The heavy door closed behind us. We all stood silent
for a few seconds as we waited to be shown to our rooms.
“Sky,” Ispin said after a little while.
“Yeah?”
“Can you please be Queen now?”
I let out a snort of laughter.

“I’ll admit, I’m very tempted to accept my crown now,
but something tells me Ryman isn’t going to make that
easy.”
Got the greeneyes, have you?
“Trust me though,
the man makes enemies too easily. He needs to be gone.”

“I should’ve warned you,” Jett said gloomily. “I’m sorry
for that.”
I patted his arm, but refrained from answering as I saw
our servants coming to collect us.
“Master Jett, would you and your daughter come with
us?”

“Oh yes,” Jett said, smiling for the first time since
entering the palace. “We’re going to meet our informer.
Well, you are.”

“What about you?” I asked as we were led along the
hall.
“I’ll meet you for dinner,” he flashed another grin.
“Dinner? But it’s early still.”
“I trust you’ll be spending a lot of time with this
person,” he said.

He clapped me on the shoulder and peeled off down
another hallway. I followed the woman in front of me
somewhat anxiously. My heart was thrumming by the
time we reached a room on the far side of the palace.

“Thank you,” I murmured to the woman. She curtsied
and bustled off. I took a deep breath, and pushed the door
open.

I caught a glimpse of high windows and long curtains
before I noticed the person standing in the middle of the
room. My heart leapt.

It was my mother.
~Chapter Thirteen~
We stared at each other for a long while without
speaking.
“I think I left the laundry door unlocked,” she said, and
we burst into laughter.
I ran to her and hugged her tightly.
“It’s so good to see you here, Mum,” I said into her
shoulder. “But what
are
you doing here?”

“Your father brought me back,” she said, pinching my
cheek and looking into my eyes. “Have you been eating
properly?”

I pushed her hand away.

“Of course. Dad brought you back?”
“After you went missing again, I thought I was going to
go mad,” she said softly. “You were taken straight from
your bed, but the police couldn’t find any trace of them
leaving the house. I took to sleeping in your room, in case
you came back. About a week after you disappeared for
the second time, I woke in the middle of the night to find
someone in the room. Before I could shout out or
anything, he gave me my memories back.”

My mouth fell open.
“So you… you remember? Everything?”
“Everything,” she confirmed. “And some new things,
Your Majesty.”
It was the first time anyone had called me that.
“Don’t,” I said, flinching. “Do not call me that. I won’t
hear it.”
“Not even from own mother?”
“Especially not from my mother.”
We were standing in the magnificent room, her hands
clamped around mine.

“Are you… I mean… do you have-?”
“I do not have my magic,” she said. “When Iain and
Netalia banished me, they took it. Jett said there’s no hope
of getting it back. They too, are magic-less now.”

I gnawed on my lip, feeling slightly guilty. The reason
neither Iain nor Netalia didn’t have a drop of magic was
because I’d confiscated it all. Well, to be more specific,
Matilda had. This meant I had some of my mother’s magic
amalgamated into my own. I twisted my fingers,
wondering if there was a way to give it back. Mum put her
hand over mine, extinguishing the small flame I’d
conjured.

“I don’t want my magic back, Rose,” she said sternly.
“What I went through when they took it… I don’t want to
go through that ever again.”

I found myself nodding. I remembered too well the
withdrawal symptoms after Iain and Netalia had taken my
magic the second time. My mother had gone through it as
soon as she had been returned to the human realm. But
there had been no end to hers. I wondered if she still felt it
sometimes.

“So, you haven’t seen Dad in eighteen years, and you’re
standing around talking to me?” I said, smiling slightly.

Mum squeezed my hand softly before letting go.
“Twenty years, actually. Your father never knew about
you until you told him at the end of your first year at the
Academy. He never stayed with us.”

“You said he did, though.”
“I lied,” she heaved a sigh. “I needed to be able to tell
you something, Rose. You were asking about him a lot.”
I thought back to the last time my mother had told me
that he’d left us. I’d been starting high school.
“You kept that lie for a long time,” I said eventually.
“Would you have kept it going forever?”
“Yes,” she replied, meeting my eyes. “It was best. For
both of us.”
“If you say so.”

“As for standing here talking to you, it’s important that
you remember your father and I have been separated for
years. He may not be the man I fell in love with
anymore.”

To the people of this realm, I was their monarch. To my
friends, a hero. To my Mum, a child.
That was ok though. I think I needed a bit of
mothering.

“I’ll certainly spend time with him. He is my soul mate
after all,” she grinned heartily at me, and I groaned as I
knew what was coming. “So… your soul mate, my
daughter.”

“Yes?” I asked in a monotone.
She looked at me with understanding in her eyes.
“Did he break your heart?”
“What? No. If anything, I broke his. I left him behind.”
“Well, you were banished.”
“That too.”
More pointed looks. I concerned myself with the
chandelier above us.
“Did you sleep with him?” she asked finally.
“What?!” I squeaked, stepping back. “No! I did not,
thank you!”
“Would you tell me if you did?”
It was a trap.
“Mum, that’s so gross. Yuck.
Yuck.
She eyed me off.
“I’ve never been more convinced that you’re still a
virgin.”
I suddenly wondered if my father could remove certain
memories, because this would certainly be one of them.
She opened her mouth, presumably to continue the
topic. I pointed threateningly.
“Possibly the only time I’ll pull rank on you as your
monarch,” I told her. “No more on this subject.”
She curtsied mockingly and I immediately felt bad.

“On the issue of your royal-ness,” she said, sitting on a
sofa and beckoning for me to join her. “I’ve been informed
that you don’t want the crown.”