Soul Blaze (23 page)

“But enough of all this,” I could see Eleanora standing
awkwardly behind the men, dressed plainly in boots,
trousers and a tunic. To my relief she’d brought her bow.
“I’d like to introduce to you your newest member of
guard.”

All the guards eyed her off silently, but she ignored
them and headed to me. When she reached my side she
turned and faced them haughtily.

“Eleanora will prove her abilities to join the guard. I
want to make it clear that she isn’t getting any favours
from me.”

I saw the corner of Eleanora’s mouth twitch.
“Can ye shoot?” One of the guards called to her.
“Better than any of you.” She replied at once.
This caused more muttering to stir through their ranks.
“Prove it!” One of them called finally.

Eleanora smirked, an expression I’d once hated, but
now I found I was quite enjoying her smugness. I, too, was
eager to find out how well she could shoot.

I led the guards and Eleanora to the shooting range. As
Eleanora prepared herself, Griffin sidled up to me.
“Can she really shoot?”

“It was her chosen weapon at the Academy,” I replied
steadily. “And if my suspicions are correct, she’s only
gotten better.”

She was beginning at the two hundred metre range.
Carefully, with the entire guard watching and judging her,
she fit and arrow to the string, sighted down its length,
and fired.

None of us needed to trudge down to the target to see
that the arrow had obviously hit the centre. I allowed
myself a small smile.

“Too easy,” Eleanora called. “What else?”

The guards made her move to the next range, three
hundred metres, and then four hundred and fifteen. Each
time she effortlessly fired, hit the centre and then turned
back to the guards as if to say ‘what now?’

Next, they brought forward the straw dummies they
used for target practice, much like the ones Jett would
have us use back at the Academy. However, these seemed
to be made of tougher material, and I felt anxiety bite at
the back of my throat. Eleanora would have a tough time
getting an arrow to lodge in one of these.

She was assessing the situation, her expression
unreadable. I saw her carefully feel along her bow, and
then nudge out a small piece of wood with her finger.

I was right! She’d made a bow with two nocking
points… could she really fire two arrows at the same time?

The guards were whispering amongst themselves,
straining to see what she was doing. She confirmed their
suspicions as she drew two arrows from her quiver and fit
them to the string.

She fired quicker than anyone could follow. One arrow
lodged directly where the mannequin’s heart would be,
while the other impaled the throat. Even from where I
stood, I could see the razor sharp point protruding out the
other side.

I looked to Griffin. He was nodding without realising it,
his eyes fixed on the blonde. I recognised the look in his
eyes. He wanted her.

And not just for his guards.

The realisation came with a bit of a jolt, and I shook
myself from my reverie. They would be a good match.
Eleanora deserved to be happy.

“What are your thoughts?” I asked him, wrestling down
a hot feeling in my chest.
“She’s an excellent archer. She will fit in well.”
Eleanora was walking back to us, suspecting that her
testing was over.
“Congratulations,” Griffin said as she met us. “We’d
love to have you aboard.”

She nodded, trying not to look too pleased. The other
guards were shuffling over to introduce themselves. She
met my eyes and nodded slowly. I smiled back at her as
she began to show the other archers her bow. I turned to
Griffin.

“I’ll be heading back in now,” I told him. “Though I do
think this has been quite a success, wouldn’t you say?”

“It’s still rather early to make that assessment, but yes, I
do think Eleanora has what it takes to fit in. I’ll keep you
posted on her progress.”

“Do that,” I responded, nodding.

I walked slowly back towards the palace, savouring the
warm weather and my solitude. Morri swooped down
from the stormy skies to alight on my bare shoulder and
began to preen a loose bit of hair back behind my ear.

“I’ve missed you lately,” I told him, heading down a
path that would take me to one of the gardens with a
stream. “Remember when we were merely student and
bird?”

He peeped and then sighed a little bird sigh. I stroked
his glossy black feathers absentmindedly as we emerged in
a small garden, with rocks set about in a semi circle near
the small creek, which burbled along from origins
unknown. I sat on one of the rocks, enjoying the smell of
the wet dirt and foliage. I tugged off my formal slippers
and wriggled my toes through the thick grass as Morri set
about tugging the jewelled pins from my hair until it all
fell loose. I watched the bird shove all of the pins into his
maw, then, with a muffled goodbye peep, take off and fly
unsteadily over the trees.

“Maybe he has a lady friend to impress.” Someone said,
and I almost fell off of my rock as Phoenix stepped
through the plants. He sat on the rock next to me with a
sigh.

“How was court?” I asked.
“Exhausting,” he replied, his eyes closed. “But you will
enjoy it.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there today.”
“What were you doing again?”

I quickly told him about Eleanora’s appointment to the
city guard. He looked down in shame as I mentioned her
name.

“There’s something I haven’t told you about her,” he
mumbled finally, when I finished. “Something that I’m so
ashamed of, but I think you need to know.”

“Phoenix,” I said, and he looked up. “I know you took
her magic.”
He exhaled heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Dena and the others told you?”
“Of course they did,” I replied. “I think you need to
speak with Eleanora about this.”
“I will. And you need to tell Dustin that his soul mate is
in the city.”
“I think I’ll leave that decision to Eleanora. She’s had a
rough time lately.”
I saw regret cloud his eyes again.
“If I could give it back,” he whispered. “I’d do it in a
heartbeat.”

“I know you would,” I said, covering his hand with
mine. “But you can’t change the past. And by putting
these laws in motion to protect the non-magi, she and all
of the others will be better off. But Phoenix,” he looked up
at me. “You need to talk to her. You need to apologize
from the bottom of your heart and put yourself at her
disposal. You need to get on your knees and beg for her
forgiveness, because what you did,” I took a shaky breath.
“What you did, was an abomination.”

He nodded, clasping my hands in his.

“I will. You’re absolutely right.” He leant over and
kissed me tenderly. “What would I do without you?” he
whispered against my lips.

“Probably live a happy, stress free life,” I said, grinning.
He laughed, taken aback.
“I highly doubt it,” he responded. “And actually, I’ve
been doing some thinking about that lately.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, still smiling but slightly
confused.

He was silent for a few moments, the only sound in the
small garden being the burbling of the stream and the
wind rustling the leaves on the trees around us. He was
still holding my hand tightly, and so I felt him begin to
tremble.

“Phoenix?”

He took a deep breath and then slid to the ground, to
one knee. Still holding my hand, he slid his other one into
his pocket and withdrew a small velvet box. I’d gone
numb, expecting him to burst out laughing any second and
present me with a toffee or chocolate or something else
he’d find funny.

But he didn’t laugh, or smile, or give me anything that
would indicate that he was joking around. Instead, he held
the little box in his free hand and looked up at me.

“Sky. My Queen. The love of my life. You are so full of
fire and light that no one else can compare to you. You are
the fire in my soul. And I’m hoping that you’ll do me the
honour of becoming my wife.”

He let go of my hand and opened the box slowly. The
ring was a band of embroidered silver with a single
diamond perched neatly in the middle. It was the most
elegant piece of jewellery I’d ever seen.

“Yes,” I whispered. “Of course.”

He slid the ring onto my shaking finger and then kissed
me passionately just as the first rumble of thunder rolled
through the clouds overhead.

~Chapter Twenty-Two~

Phoenix and I spent the next month happily engaged.
We had taken to sleeping in the same chamber, and every
time my father pouted about it I waved my engagement
ring in his general direction.

The people of Castor and the rest of Lotheria were
overjoyed. Their King and Queen were going to be
married. I, more than anyone else, had felt their sigh of
relief.

This time there would not be a war.

Whilst an exact date for the wedding hadn't been set,
that hadn't stopped my mother and Yasmin from furiously
planning it. Rain had rolled her eyes along with me every
time they came up with a new plan, and Dena and Theresa
found the whole thing hilarious.

Dustin had congratulated me cordially before sweeping
me into a big hug, Ispin had been so excited that he’d
almost bowled Dustin over in his efforts to hug me, and
Petre had formally threatened Phoenix with
disembowelment if he so much as looked at another
woman, before sweeping away to tell my mother and
Yasmin that their choice of decorations were ‘ghastly’.

A few days after the month anniversary of our
engagement, I was sitting in the shade watching the boys
spar in the practice arena. Sammy sat next to me, one hand
clutching the fabric of my dress. We laughed as Dustin
floored Petre using his sceptre, but my mind was on
something else.

“Samlin,” I said to the mageling sitting beside me.
“When I was leaving your estate, you mentioned
lightning.” I looked down at him, meeting his curious
little gaze. “Why did you mention lightning?”

“Because you have it in your veins,” he replied simply.
“It’s there with your magic, almost the same, but
different.”

“I have lightning in my veins?”
“Yes.”
He was so sure, so certain, that I didn’t think for even a
second that he was making it up.
“Do you know what happened when the old Governor
made me fight to prove that I was the Queen?”
“You called lightning down from the clouds and blew
the other man up.”
Any other time I would’ve laughed at his literal
explanation.
“I did. Is that what you meant?”
“The lightning recognised you as its own. It wanted to
help.”
I was becoming more confused by the second.
“Can you see it?” I asked. “The lightning in my skin?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “Like I can see that your eyes are
green and your hair is brown. There are little sparks all
inside you.”

The art of magic testing was beyond me. I knew that
children born in Lotheria were tested when they reached
the age of four, but that was where my knowledge ended.
Was that what Sammy was doing? Was he going to grow
up to be a magic tester?

Struck by sudden inspiration, I looked at Phoenix, who
was sparring with Ispin.
“What do you see in the King?” I asked quietly.
Sammy focussed on Phoenix for a few moments, his
little features drawn and stark.

“Darkness,” he said finally, and shuddered. My heart
began to flutter in my chest. “There is something in his
veins... it’s not magic, but it pulls at the light. It’s
darkness.”

I looked at Phoenix again. Could this darkness be what
made it possible for him to steal Eleanora’s magic? If so,
what did that mean? Would it manifest?

Would he do it again?

“Come play with us, Your Majesty!” Ispin yelled from
the dirt, having just been knocked down by Phoenix. The
good hearted fellow was having a laugh instead of being
annoyed that he’d just been ground into the floor by his
monarch.

I laughed but waved away the invitation. I was feeling
warm and lazy, sitting in the shade with Samlin. We had a
pitcher of lemonade between us and some sugar biscuits,
most of which had been demolished. As I watched
Phoenix and the others, a golden feeling spread itself over
my skin; I was finally content. I had the man I loved, a
group of friends that meant the world to me, and I’d
caught my parents sneaking back in from the city just the
other night. They’d been out having dinner together and
reminiscing about their time at the Academy.

But at the same time, there was a little seed of worry. I
was engaged to Phoenix, and so sure that I loved him, but
at the same time I remembered what Jett and Matilda had
told me. We were cursed to fall in love. So was our
engagement the result of a three thousand year curse, or
our genuine love for each other?

Every day I worry about the former.

That evening, Phoenix and I dined with the members
of our council. This week marked the first week that my
non-magi laws went into effect. For the past month, I’d
been plagued with nobles and landlords complaining
about losing their staff. Scores of them had filtered into
the throne room when we held court, to say their piece
and plead their case. I’d said the same thing to every single
one of them.

“Slavery is dead.”

When the palace servants had received their first
weekly wages, they hadn’t known what to do with them.
Eventually one of them came up with the idea of ordering
a large casket of mulled wine, and thus one of the biggest
parties this palace had ever seen began. All over the city,
similar celebrations had been held, and the city guard had
been kept busy.

That night was the first time that I’d been unsure that I
had done the right thing.

The morning after, I assisted with the cleanup and
healing, as several riots had broken out. I discovered later
that most of the instigators were nobles, stung with losing
their slaves. I’d rounded up those responsible and had
them tossed into the prisons reserved for the roughest
types of criminals. I wanted to show that no one was
untouchable, no matter their status or monetary value.
Lord Meric had been shut into a Coffin Cell when I’d
heard that he had led the rioters. He was still in there.