Soul Blaze (26 page)

“I won’t hurt them. But I want to know who I can trust
to be telling me the truth.”
He nodded.
“I’ll have a list made up. Now, I think I’d better depart
and let you two talk.”
He bowed and hurriedly left the hall.
“What do we do?” Phoenix asked, and I looked at him
surprised.
“What do you mean? I think it’s pretty obvious. This
will end inequality forever.”
He frowned at me.
“It could also destroy the world.”
“And removing everyone’s magic won’t do that
anyway?”
“I think it’s got a better chance of restoring the
balance.”
“So because you
think
so, we have to keep lying to our
public?”
We were staring at each other, almost stunned at how
opposed we were to the other’s solution.

“Everyone is entitled to what they're born with,” I
implored, trying to make him see reason. “I won’t keep
denying them that.”

“The laws that you have passed will protect the nonmagi.”
“Well obviously they’re not. Look at Nerra! Meric
continued to beat her despite the laws.”
“Then fix them! Make revisions. I know you can do it.”

“You’re missing the point,” I hissed. “This is the first
chance in two thousand years that we have to equalise the
world. Everyone will be granted the same rights as each
other. This is... this is
unheard
of. Who are we to give up
this opportunity?”

“Sky, listen to yourself. What will happen if we give
the non-magi back their magic? They're going to go on a
revenge spree. Anyone who treated them badly will be
targeted. Even without the balance of the world in
question, I think they’d do a pretty good job of destroying
society anyway.”

“You can’t know that,” I folded my arms. “We can
make sure that there are ramifications for those who seek
revenge.”

“It’s so much more complicated than that.”

“So we’ll just get rid of it all? Sweep the problem under
the rug and hope and pray that no one ever finds out what
we did?”

He stared at me for a few moments.
“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” he said
finally. “Come and find me when you’re reasonable.”
He began to walk off. I grabbed his arm and held on.

“Excuse me?” I asked quietly. “
I’m
being unreasonable?
You’re the one throwing away the non-magi’s chance of
becoming equals. You won’t even think about it twice.”

“I’ve made my choice,” Phoenix said, removing his arm
from my grasp. “Come and find me when you’ve rethought yours.”

I watched him stride off down the hall into the
darkened palace. I was so angry I couldn’t move. My
magic was bristling beneath my skin and thunder rolled
through the clouds outside.

The party was still in progress. The talking and laughter
drifted through the trees, and suddenly I just couldn’t
stand it anymore. Turning on my heel, I strode back out
the door. Larni was directing the palace servants and she
looked up as I neared.

“Sky-” She began, but I cut her off.
“The party’s over, tell everyone to go home.” I said
quietly. My throat was tight with anger.
“Are you sure?” she asked, her eyes huge.

Instead of answering, I continued walking through the
long grass. My feet carried me out of the palace gates and
into the city. I ignored the curious chatter of the people
who’d been milling around the entrance to the palace,
trying to catch a glimpse of the festivities.

Eventually I had the sense to cover myself in a glamour,
replacing my brown hair with blonde and tearing away
the long white sleeves of my gown. I was able to slip
between the crowds until I found myself standing on the
docks, watching the moonlight ripple on the black water. I
trotted down the steps until my slippers sank into the
pebbly sand on the beach, and then kicked my shoes off to
stand in the water.

There was a massive lightning storm further out to sea.
The Queen in me had done a mental check of the ships
already, making sure none of our trade vessels would be
out in it. Whilst every ship was accompanied by a mage,
there wasn’t much one could do against the fury of nature.
The royal fleet was slumbering further out in the harbour,
the masts reaching dangerously towards the tumultuous
sky. I could see the crew and their mages watching the
ships cautiously.

I sat in the water, not feeling it soak into my dress. The
waves surged around me, unnaturally calm within the
walls of the harbour. Suddenly I had the urge to see the
wild water, with waves the size of small buildings, to see
real power, untainted by human interference.

The world was spiralling out of control again, but this
time we had a choice. Did we remove magic from the
world completely, or did we grant it to everyone in the
hope that it would level out the mana usage.

I buried my head in my hands. I knew which power I
had been granted, and therefore my decision was swayed
in that direction, but at the same time, Phoenix had never
been friends with his servant at the Academy. He’d never
felt the sting of injustice as he watched his friend suffer
against the choices already decided for him, simply by
where and how he was born.

I had to make him see reason. My non-magi laws
weren’t working, and we had to start on our solution soon
or risk the world falling into chaos.

As though hearing this thought, a sudden crack of
thunder shook the city as a bolt of lightning lanced down
to one of the navy ships, striking the mast. I was on my
feet as the flames began to crackle.

Quickly, I tore the bottom half of my dress off, freeing
my legs. I left my slippers on the sand, knowing them to
be utterly useless. The glamour I’d cast on myself peeled
away as I ran towards the frantic crowd on the pier. The
ship was well ablaze now, and the mage assigned to it was
desperately trying to fight the flames, but I could already
see it was a losing battle. I reached them and grabbed a
hold of the captain.

“Is there anyone on the ship?” I asked sharply.
“No one,” he responded, not even looking down at me.
“I fear my ship’s a goner though.”
But I could sense someone on the ship. I darted onto
the burning boat just as he began to scream in terror.

I cast my magic around, searching for the stowaway.
There, the next deck down. I disappeared into the bowels
of the ship, and it took all of my willpower to force myself
into the smoky depths. I grabbed the boy just as the top
deck collapsed, covering us both in burning embers. I
could feel them stinging my bare skin and feet. With one
arm around his shoulders, I reached out with my free
hand and began the enchantment to control the fire, like
Jett had in my kitchen all those years ago. A small portion
of the fire began to shrink into the ball that was flowing
into my hand, but it wasn’t enough.

Getting nervous now, I glanced towards the side of the
ship, but quickly discarded the idea. The water would
drown us before it would let us swim to safety.

We backed against the side of the ship as the fire
advanced. I could feel the air growing hotter as I breathed
it in. Soon it would be too hot to inhale.

“Miss?” I looked down at the boy. He wasn’t much
older than Samlin. “I’m scared.”
“Me too, kiddo,” I told him, still searching for options.
“I’ll get us out, don’t worry.”

Suddenly, the ship pitched and groaned. We staggered
forward as cold water touched our feet. The ship was
sinking, broken in half by the fire-weakened wood. The
bow began to point upwards as the water rose to meet us,
filthy and murky. It looked a lot like certain death.

I was still holding the little fireball. I quickly threw it
up and behind me, blasting a small hole in the only part of
the ship that wasn’t on fire.

“Out!” I yelled to the kid, boosting him up towards it.
He scrabbled through the hole, probably getting a million
splinters but not caring. I saw hands grab him and then
reach for me just as a barrel came loose from its holding
and slammed into me. I hit the ground, hard, my ears
ringing. But I still heard the shriek of the strained ship, as
it slid beneath the cobalt waves, taking me with it.

~Chapter Twenty-Four~

Silence. After the roar of the flames, it was almost
peaceful. The cold water had made my burns go numb,
and when I opened my eyes, the darkness was so
comforting I almost accepted it.

I suddenly snapped to, struggling in the water. My
hand hit something hard, and with a jolt of despair, I
realised that I was still trapped in the bow of the ship as it
sank to the bottom of the harbour.

Fighting the urge to draw breath, I called my magelight
to hand. The little green ball illuminated everything
around me, and in the dim light, I saw the hole I’d blasted
in the hull. I swam for it desperately, wriggling through. I
kicked off of the ship as it disappeared deeper into the
harbour, and headed for the surface, my lungs tight.

My head broke the surface and I gasped in the midnight
air, the cold searing my lungs. It had begun to rain, the
drops running down my face, mixing with the salt water.

I swam back to the pier and accepted the help of those
reaching for me. A few cheered, but as I kept my head
down and moved away quickly, they realised I didn’t want
to hang around.

I was lucky that I was so filthy. The soot from the ship
fire had made me unrecognisable; even my dip in the
harbour hadn’t been able to dislodge it. No one would
recognise me as Queen. That suited me fine.

I hurried back to the palace where I discovered a
dilemma. The guards wouldn’t let a bedraggled stranger
enter, and nor did I want anyone to know what I’d been
up to.

I bit my lip, mulling it over. Eventually I decided to try
something new. I pulled a glamour around myself, but
mimicked my surroundings. Holding it in my mind, I
tentatively moved forward, and when no one stopped me,
darted through the guard entrance.

Keeping the glamour up was difficult, and I dropped it
as soon as I dared. I staggered, dizzy from the effort, but
managed to find the servant’s entrance to the palace,
which was dark and quiet. My engagement party had long
since ended. I felt a wrench in my stomach as I wondered
how Phoenix and I would face each other now.

I made it to the bathrooms without being seen, and
washed off the soot and harbour filth. The dress, I burned,
reflecting sadly on how excited I’d been when I first put it
on, to celebrate my engagement to Phoenix.

I was padding back to my room in a soft cotton shift,
my hair damp, when I heard a small ‘pst!’

I turned and saw Seff poking her head out from behind
a corner. Her eyes lit up when she saw me, and she looked
so genuinely happy to see me that I bent down to give her
a hug. She squeezed me tightly in her little arms.

“How are you?” I asked.

“I’m well, Your Majesty,” she dipped an awkward little
curtsy and almost tipped over. “I’m just on my way back
from the library.”

“What were you doing there?” I was surprised. What
would a palace serving girl want with a library?

“Master Ispin has been doing some research on my
family tree,” she told me. “I’m not sure why, but he tells
me it’s fascinating work.”

I was still holding her little hands in mine, and almost
without meaning to, I looked within her skin. It was just
like tilting your head a different way to see a cobweb; it
could only be seen at a certain angle. Somehow I knew
how to look without being taught.

There was a small glowing spark near her heart. Her
magic waiting to be ignited? I took a deep breath and let
her hands go. I didn’t want to make any rash decisions
before I’d had a chance to speak to Phoenix again.

“I better head off to bed now,” I said to Seff who had
been watching curiously, but not saying a word. “Keep out
of trouble, won’t you? And tell me if anyone bothers you.”

Another curtsy, and she was gone, a flurry of skirts
disappearing behind the corner. I continued to mine and
Phoenix’s bed chamber, and I was almost relieved to find
he wasn’t there. With an exhausted groan, I collapsed into
bed and fell asleep.

The next morning dawned too bright. The rain from
last night had washed everything clean and the palace
garden glittered with raindrops. The door opened just as I
sat up and Phoenix entered, still in his clothes from last
night. My heart twisted painfully as we looked at each
other, but then I remembered Seff’s magic and the
helplessness of the stowaway on the burning ship from the
night before. If he and those people in the crowd had been
mages, there would have been no need for me to interfere,
and nor would non-magi have to fear being caught
without a mage nearby.

“Good morning,” Phoenix said hesitantly, and sat in a
chair near our oversized fireplace. “Have you had time to
think?”

Instead of answering straight away, I climbed out of
bed and began to dress. The gown I picked was the same
hue as Rain’s magic, a dark navy blue. It wasn’t often I
wore colours that weren’t mine, but I enjoyed the change.
I laced up the bodice myself, pulling the long sleeves up
onto my shoulders. The wide skirts swept around my feet
as I turned to face my king.

“Have you?” I responded in a monotone.
“I wasn’t aware that I needed to. As I told you, I have
made my decision.”
The anger from last night lanced through my blood, but
I didn’t let it show on my face.
“You wish to purge Lotheria of magic,” I stated.
He nodded.
“I believe this to be our best chance of rebalancing the
world.”

I inclined my head slightly, acknowledging his
decision. Then I moved forwards and kissed him firmly.
He responded gently, though I could tell he was surprised.
I allowed myself four seconds of peace. Then I headed for
the door.

“I have work to do.” I said simply, and disappeared
through it.

I reached the throne room and rang the bell for one of
the servants as I sat in my designated throne. I averted my
eyes from Phoenix’s empty throne next to me.