The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (41 page)

“
Perhaps not,” Matthias mused. Then he shook his
head and placed a hand to his temple. “It would certainly have
saved a lot of pain if I had! Perhaps it was
not
one of my better
plans.”

“
I
could have done something more,” the princess said quietly. “I just
stood there watching you all fight the thing! And then I ran away.
It was only blind luck that I instinctively used my
power.”

“
Is
that why you seem so sombre?” Matthias asked.

“
I cannot keep relying on you all alone to defend
me!” She swallowed. “I froze when I saw the creature. I didn’t
know
what
to do. I am nothing but a lucky
coward
.”

“
Now
that’s
not true,” Matthias said reassuringly. “I think
you are one of the bravest people I have ever
known.”

She sniffed. “You are either lying or
concussed
.”

“
I’m
not lying. Though I may be concussed,” he smiled. “It takes courage
to do what you’re doing princess. You should not be so hard on
yourself for struggling to adapt to new circumstances. It takes
time.”

“
I thought you said the one thing we don’t
have
is time?” the
princess rebuffed. She sighed. “I would like to continue with my
lessons when your head is feeling better.”

“
Of
course,” Matthias replied.

“
I want to be prepared when we reach Crystal Ember.
I think I have resisted your lessons because I have been reluctant
to accept my situation. But the next time something like
that
thing
attacks me I want to be able to throw something of
my
own
making right back at it!”

Matthias placed a hand on her arm. “We will see what we can
do, eh?” he said. Then he stood up. “I’ll let you sleep,” he
advised.

“
There was one other thing,” the princess advised. Matthias
nodded for her to continue. “Just before I awoke to the chaos on
deck I had a dream.”

“
Another nightmare?” Matthias asked.

Josephine shook her head. “It wasn’t a nightmare
per se. I was floating in the sky, above Erithia. It was beautiful,
like nothing I’ve ever seen. The
stars
were all around me, glittering in the
dark. And then there was a figure standing in mid- air with me. I
think it was an Akari.”

Matthias sat down again next to her. “Go on,” he
prompted.

“
They just stared at me. But then as I went to speak to them I
was pulled away. I began falling and the stars span around me. And
then I heard a word. It was repeated a half dozen times before I
awoke in a fluster.”

“
What was the word?” Matthias asked with interest.

Josephine thought a moment. “Asternabai.”

“
Asternabai?” Matthias repeated, screwing his nose
up.

“
Yes, that is it. Over and over again.”

“
You
are sure it was Asternabai you heard?” Matthias asked.

Josephine nodded. “I am certain. Why, what does it
mean?”

Matthias shook his head. “There is a ‘celestial event’ known
as the Asternabai.”

“
Celestial event? What is
that?
” the princess asked.

“
The
stars above us are more than just fixed points of light in the
darkness. They move around the sky in many ways. A ‘celestial
event’ is when the stars change their positions to a way that has
some consequence or impact on our world. My people have spent
centuries trying to decipher them. They’ve named some of the known
movements according to their effects. The patterns tend to repeat
over time. Asternabai is the name of one of them. I remember it
from my studies.”

“
What did it mean?”

“
I
don’t know. It was a long time ago that I learned their names and
even then there were two thousand known patterns. The problem is
that my people still haven’t figured out what many of the patterns
do, if anything. The problem is trying to sort out cause and
effect.” The princess looked blankly at him. “Have I lost
you?”

“
About a minute or two ago,” she smiled. “But that is alright.
What I would like to know is why I was being told about one of
them.”

“
Oh
what I wouldn’t give to be in the Mahalian archives right about
now! Thousands of books and parchments and repositories of
information at my fingertips.”

“
I
thought wizards were supposed to be wise and all - knowing?”
Josephine grinned.

He tapped his head. “There’s only
so
much information I
can fit in here,” he rebuffed. “I’m not a walking
library!”

“
You
disappoint me. The more time I spend with you Matthias, the less
superior you seem.”

Matthias smirked back. “I never claimed to be superior.” He
shook his head. “You’re certain it was an Akari you saw in your
dream?”

“
As sure as I
can
be!” Josephine replied. “How many blue skinned
creatures can there be? Surely it can’t be a
coincidence.”

“
It
could
have just been a dream, I suppose,” Matthias said
doubtfully, and his eyes narrowed.

“
How could I have known the name ‘Asternabai’ if it
were just a dream of my own making? What I saw of the world wasn’t
like the drawings of the land you see in maps either. I
really
was
looking down on Erithia.”

Matthias nodded. “No, I suppose you are right.
People have been known to have visions like that before. Especially
people who have looked into seeing stones. They say that for one
unprepared to look into the stone, into the eyes of their gods, the
images can turn them
mad
. The effect of looking into it stays with them for the
rest of their lives. But then, you’ve never looked into a seeing
stone.” He shrugged and took a deep breath. “It could mean that the
gods are trying to talk to you directly somehow. It’s never been
written about before, but then there is a first time for
everything.”

“
But if there was an
Akari
in my dream then maybe it was them trying
to talk to me.”

“
The Akari are all
dead
,” Matthias replied.

“
I
thought you said they all vanished?” the princess asked.

“
That’s right,” Matthias nodded.

“
Well in
my
vocabulary vanished is
very
different to being dead, is it
not?”

Matthias nodded slowly. “I suppose. No - one was
ever known to have found their bodies. From all I have read it’s
like they’ve were…
torn
out of the world.”

“
Then if the Akari are still alive, then
they
might
be able to talk to me.”

Matthias shook his head. “You can’t be sure
of
any
of that.”

“
Then we need to find a way to
be
sure!” the princess said excitedly.
“Although… why would they start to speak with me now? After all the
time I spent struggling with the powers, why would they choose now
to speak with me?”

Matthias shrugged. “Perhaps we have awakened something within
you. In training you we might have opened a door in your mind that
you have kept firmly closed. Maybe if we keep training we might be
able to find out more.”

“
Then we had best work
quickly
,” said Josephine. “Because I do not want
to keep having bad dreams!”

Josephine and Matthias spent the next two days in constant
tuition, locked away in Josephine’s compartment. The first day they
managed to advance to a point where Josephine could control the
strange, sphere - like structures she had seen again. She seemed to
see more of them this time and pointed out that they sat on
everything and everyone as if they were made up of them. Using
instinct she reached out along a line of them and managed to pick
up the candle from her bedside table and suspend it in mid - air.
It fell to the floor a moment later and Matthias had to snuff it
out with his boot, but it had been enough of an advance to boost
her confidence. The next day she grasped her power much more
quickly. She was able to switch between seeing the structures and
seeing the world that lay beyond them, as if she were focussing
back and forth on them like distant objects. Holding on to the
sight of them for longer made it possible for her to begin
exploring what she could do with them. She and Matthias practiced
together, the wizard telling her how he saw his own power and how
he used it in different ways. For a time Josephine tried to
recreate the invisible wall that she had subconsciously made to
repel the flying demon before. It didn’t work and instead she sent
the door bursting off its hinges.

By the time
Providence
made the final leg of its journey she had managed
to discover another ability. Focussing on the lantern that hung on
a hook by her bed, she lit it using the power and then carried it
across the room, placing it onto the table beside
herself.

“
See? I
knew
I could do it this time!” she smiled and folded
her arms proudly.

Matthias nodded. “You were right. I’m impressed.
But can you
extinguish
the flame?” he grinned.

Josephine smiled. “Easy,” she said, and turned to
the lamp. She squinted at the wick, let her mind focus and then
stopped. “Alright, I haven’t a
clue
.”

Matthias laughed. “With your power, your guess is
as good as mine. But if
I
were going to try and extinguish the wick, I would be able
to pull threads of the earth power together until they formed bonds
that can create water.”

“
But how do you
know
what threads to put together?” Josephine
asked.

Matthias thought about it a moment. “You know
what, I don’t know. I just sort of…
know
. It was quite a while ago I learned all this, and
most of what I do is instinct now.”

“
Well, you’re a
fat
lot of good as a teacher!” Josephine retorted.
“I’ll find out myself, shall I?” She shook her head and focused at
the wick again. “I
wonder?
” She concentrated again and the lamp and the air around it
began to buzz with tiny, swirling balls. As she thought of what she
wanted to do, the air shimmered, and the balls began to grow green
and then a vibrant turquoise. She outstretched a hand, to help her
concentrate, and pointed at the glowing orbs, took them with her
mind and moved them on to the wick. There was a splutter, and then
the flame snuffed out, and a few droplets of water splashed onto
the table.

Josephine smiled. “I
did
it!” she exclaimed.

Matthias nodded happily. “That was great,” he
said, and nodded his head to the lamp. The flame reappeared with a
puff. “But don’t get
too
confident.”

Josephine slumped back on the bed, folded her arms, and
grumbled at him.

Providence
docked at the final harbour soon after Josephine
and Matthias had finished their training for the day. They bid
goodbye to the captain, alone now and ready to make his return
trip.

“
I half wonder if he knows who I really am,”
Josephine said. “He was bowing to me and
preening
away back there.”

“
I am just surprised Lady Eliza did not remain on
board with him, with all the
doe-eyes
she had been showing him,” Thadius
chuckled.

“
How
much did you pay him for that door you broke anyway?” Luccius
asked.

“
I
gave him three marks,” Matthias answered.

“
Three?
” Thadius exclaimed. “That’s enough for him to buy
a new
boat!
” He turned round, and the captain was still waving them
goodbye. “I’m not
surprised
how happy he is now!”

“
It was the least I could do for all the chaos he’d
been put through since we boarded. He
was
nearly killed after
all.”