Soul Blaze (9 page)

“Did he say when we leave?”
“In a few days after whoever we’re waiting on arrives,”
Dena said. “So you’ve got time to settle in.”
I nodded, and my stomach growled. Apparently it had
digested the beef broth. Rain heard.
“How about a shower and dinner?” she asked, and
nothing had ever sounded better to me in my life.

I found the bathrooms easily; the castle itself hadn’t
changed. As I stood under the jet of hot water, the grease
and grime of three weeks being washed down the drain, I
prodded my stomach, appalled by how skinny I’d gotten
during my time in the dungeons. Though I’d never been
overweight, I’d always had curves due to a raging appetite
and a love of food. Some of those curves had turned to
muscle during my time with the Academy previously, but
they’d softened during my year back in the human realm.
Now they were gone completely, and my ribs were
showing clearly under my skin. I thought of the food
down in the cafeteria and my stomach rumbled again. I
quickly rubbed some shampoo through my hair before
rinsing it and getting out. Out of habit, I drifted back to
my old room in my towel, but paused outside the door.

The room I’d stayed in when Iain and Netalia were
manipulating me into working for them had been a
different one closer to Iain’s office. As far as I knew, no
one had been into my room since my departure a year ago.
I took a deep breath and then pushed the door open.

It was exactly as I remembered. The bed was neatly
made and the fireplace was set, waiting for dancing flames
that would heat the entire room.

I lit the lamp that sat on my bedside table, and the
room was filled with a soft golden glow. I dumped the
clothes that I’d been wearing in a corner, never wanting to
wear them again. In the drawer of my dressing table I
found some of my old clothes, and I pulled on breeches, a
green shirt and brown boots. The clothes were loose but
they were clean. I sighed. I felt slightly at home again.

And within a few days, I’d hopefully have my magic
back. I clenched my fists and shut my eyes as longing
overtook me again. It was all I could do to resist the urge
to go down to the dungeons and take back my power from
Iain.

The others were waiting for me at our usual table. I ate
with them but didn’t talk; I had too many thoughts
whirling through my mind to even contemplate forming
an opinion on anything.

I managed a small bread roll and some cauliflower soup.
I leant back from the bowl, feeling as though my stomach
were fit to burst. It was only from the furtive looks that
my friends sent me that I gathered that what I’d eaten had
been extremely meagre.

“Are you alright?” Dena asked me as we split up to go to
bed.
“I’m ok,” I replied. “It’s just… a lot to take in. Did Jett
say when the people he was waiting on would arrive?”
She was already shaking her head before I’d finished
my sentence.

“Take your time and recover,” she told me. “Get some
rest tonight, ok? I think things are about to get a lot more
complicated.”

~Chapter Ten~

I crawled gratefully into bed, pulling the covers up to
my chin. I closed my eyes against the darkness of the room
but sleep eluded me.

I thought of Larni. I recognised her now as the girl
who’d brought me my breakfast the first day I’d been
back. I hadn’t seen her since, and Iain and Netalia had
seemed pretty upset that she’d seen me. Maybe she’d
joined Jett and the others? But why wasn’t she here now? I
missed my friend. I was growing tired of answerless
questions.

After another half an hour of tossing and turning I
realised that the window was shut tight. I pushed the
warm covers back and crawled over to it. It opened
reluctantly, screeching something awful, but as fresh night
air began to curl through it, I relaxed immediately. I
scooted back under the covers, and suddenly my eyelids
felt as heavy as rocks. I closed them obediently, and
within seconds, fell asleep.

I awoke to birdsong. I sat up just in time to receive a
small feathery bundle of shrieking happiness.

“Morrigan!” I said gleefully, cuddling him close. He
allowed me to for a few seconds before squirming free and
fluttering onto my shoulder, his favourite perch. He
preened some of my hair behind my ear, whistling slightly
as he did so. I giggled as it tickled slightly. “I’ve missed
you, my dear.”

He peeped as though he understood my words. I got
dressed with him on my shoulder, though he didn’t
appreciate being put in a shirt. He flew to my dressing
table then, and it was as I was grinning at him that I
realised my statue of Queen Fleur was gone.

I scowled. Just because I hadn’t occupied my room in a
year didn’t mean that I didn’t want my possessions.

Remembering what Dena had said about heading to the
capital in a few days, I began to pull clothes from my
drawers, folding them neatly and setting them on my bed
ready to be transported. Morrigan perched atop the pile
when I was done. I observed the clothes and my bird with
my hands on my hips.

“What do you reckon, Morri?” I asked him. “Are you
coming to the big city with me?”
He leapt from the clothes and flew to my shoulder.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” I said, laughing as he stuck his
beak in my ear.
We headed down the stairs together and into the
cafeteria.
“There’s a sight I’ve missed,” Dena said happily, seeing
Morri on my shoulder. “How are you, Morrigan?”

He cheeped loudly at her, though his claws didn’t
budge from my shoulder. Morri had a very short list of
people he would go to, and whilst he’d flown to Dena in
the past, he wasn’t going anywhere this time.

“Any word on the other people?” I asked as I sat down.
I was eager to know who we were waiting on.
“Nothing,” Theresa sighed. “We haven’t heard a thing.”
I could tell that the others were curious as well, but
apparently Jett had been keeping everyone in the dark.
“What do you want to do today?” Dena asked. “Do you
want to see Echo?”

I perked up as I remembered my horse. After we’d all
finished breakfast, we headed out to the stables. As we
passed students on the way, most of them greeted me. I
waved back to them, but as we emerged onto the grounds
I turned to Dena, confused.

“What’s up with all of our classmates?” I asked. “They
didn’t use to care about me.”
“Well, it’s been a while since anyone’s seen you,” Dena
said.

“Yeah, give it time, they’ll get bored with you again
soon,” Theresa said, laughing. I laughed too as Dena mock
punched her soul mate in the shoulder, but my laugh was
mirthless. I’d learnt early on with the red-head that it was
easier to go along with it.

“Besides, people don’t usually come back from being
banished,” Dena continued. “I mean, I gather that when
that happens, they stay that way.”

I allowed myself a small smile at that. I remembered
stating to Netalia that they weren’t going to be able to get
rid of me very easily.

Any thoughts of the two in the dungeons below the
castle fled my mind as we approached the field where our
horses spent the day. A bay mare broke away from the
herd and galloped towards me, her ears pricked forwards.

I hugged Echo when she reached me. Morri took off as
she snuffled my hair, as though checking me out.

“I’m fine,” I said, giggling as I removed her questing
teeth from my hair. “I didn’t bring you anything though,
I’m sorry.”

She nipped my shoulder gently, gazing at me with large
brown eyes.

“She wouldn’t let anyone else ride her,” Yasmin said,
stroking Echo’s neck. “So we took her with us when we
went on group rides. She’s been exercised enough.”

I was itching to go for a ride, but Dena wanted to go for
a walk to the water-hole instead so I reluctantly left Echo
in the field with abundant promises of treats and affection
later that evening. I walked with my group along the
forest path that would lead us to our swimming hole,
trailing behind the rest of them and letting their goodnatured chatting wash over me.

We reached the water-hole, the small waterfall
crashing into it as it always had. I approached the water
and stuck a finger in it, keeping a wary eye on my friends;
I didn’t trust them to not push me in.

The water was too cold for swimming, so instead we sat
beside it on the rock ledge in a circle. I let the others talk,
feeling unusually quiet. I watched Rain tease a bit of water
from the pool, wriggling her fingers in the air until the
water curled in on itself. I watched the ball drift
innocently towards Petre, who was completely oblivious.
Rain noticed me watching and grinned. I was returning
that grin when Petre turned suddenly and planted a kiss
directly onto her cheek. The water splashed onto the rocks
as she was taken by surprise. My grin turned to laughter.

“So you guys finally happened, huh?” I asked, splaying
out on the rock. “How long did it take?”
There was a slight pause and I suddenly thought that I’d
made a gross miscalculation.
“I’m not sure,” Rain said, looking at Petre. “I’ve lost
count.”
“Me too,” he replied, putting his arm around her waist.
“I don’t think it matters.”

I watched them together with a small smile, but my
thoughts were with Phoenix. I’d tried to kill him, tried to
murder the man I loved. I wondered if my friends knew
that. I couldn’t bring myself to tell them. I decided it was
better if they didn’t know.

Another shudder of cravings shook me. It left me weak
and trembling. I hated this. I hated being frail.

I looked around me. None of my friends had noticed. I
glanced down at my hands surreptitiously. My knuckles
were white, and small crescent cuts marked my palms. I
tucked my hands under my legs and addressed my next
question to the group as a whole.

“So,” I began, wondering if I should be asking. “Dustin
and Raven.”
“What about them?” Ispin asked, lying on his back and
looking up at the sky.
“Are they... together?”
“Yeah they are,” Theresa replied. “They have been for a
while now.”
“Ok,” I said, nodding. “I just wanted to clear that up.”
I’d missed out on so much.

I was cut off from any further questions as one of the
bushes closest to us on the path rustled. We all turned to
it.

“What was that?” Rain asked, craning her neck to see
around Petre.

“I dunno,” Ispin said. Yasmin was eyeing off some of his
bright orange hair which had grown since I’d last seen
him. “Hold on.”

He lit a bronze flame on one fingertip and sent it
drifting towards the bush. There was a squeak as it
reached the foliage, and without warning, a dozen mud
people were running at us.

The others jerked back, but I held out my hands to
them. They crowded around me, climbing onto my hands
and arms.

“What are they?” Theresa asked.

“They’re mud puppets that I created a few years back,” I
said. “Though they should be called mud people, because
they’re sentient.”

One, the chief of this little tribe judging by his leaf hat,
proudly showed me a little twig, a bug of some kind
speared on the end.

“Did you catch that all by yourself?” I asked him. He
smiled with his little pebble mouth. “Well done. I’m very
proud.”

The others clambered further up my arms, leaving mud
on my skin. They eagerly showed me little trinkets they’d
created, small vines knotted together in a certain way, a
shiny rock they’d collected, even a little net that could
catch the small, fresh-water shrimp in the creeks.

“You created these?” Theresa repeated.

“Yes. Don’t bother asking specifics because I don’t
know them. I was mimicking something that was shown
to me by someone, but he used coals in a fireplace.”

“Phoenix.” Theresa said, and no-one could miss the
derogatory note in her tone.

“Yes. Phoenix,” I shot back. The mud people gathered
in the crook of my elbow and I stood up with them
nestled there. “I’m going back to the castle.”

I stopped in my tracks as a bell tolled through the trees.
The mud people in my arms wriggled about.

“That’s strange,” Dena remarked, frowning through the
trees in the direction the sound had issued from. “They
don’t usually use the bell.”

“Are they calling us back in?” Yasmin asked, plaiting a
piece of Ispin’s hair. He was pink with embarrassment but
hadn’t dared to move since she’d started. “Or is it someone
else?”

“I think it’s the ‘someone’ we have in our midst,”
Theresa said, turning her pale eyes onto me. “Come on,
let’s head back.”

This time I led the way back. I set the mud people
down when the chief pointed to a small hillock off of the
path. I watched them scamper back off into the trees, my
heart drumming in my chest; had the people we were
waiting on arrived early? When I saw Jett standing at the
doors to the castle, I knew they had.

“If you’d come with me,” he said. “The rest of you can
carry on what you were doing.”

I looked over my shoulder, at Dena. She was biting her
lip and I was suddenly filled the urge to beckon her to
come with me. I wanted my best friend by my side when I
faced the unknown.

But Jett was already steering me away, so I left my
friends standing in the doorway and followed his lead. He
lead me down a corridor and then up a flight of stairs. I
recognised the way to Iain’s office.

“So are you in charge now, are you?” I asked him.
He smiled at me.

“In a way. You’ll see.”
He pushed open the office door without knocking. A
woman was seated in the chair in front of the desk, a child

on her lap. She stood when we entered, and I recognised
Petre’s mother.
“Hello,” she said, coming forwards to embrace me, the
child on her hip. “Surprised to see you again.”
“Matilda?” I asked in disbelief. This was who we’d been
waiting on? “What are you doing here?”
She looked to Jett.
“I’ll let you tell her.” he said to Matilda, as he sat down
behind the desk.
“I’m here to get your magic back for you,” she told me.
“And to introduce you to my daughter.”