Seared by Desire (4 page)

The leather clothing rested neatly on racks, breeches on one
side and shirts on the other. Reaching out to touch the material,
she reluctantly admitted that the dark brown material would blend
in more easily with the night than the gleaming silver of true
armour and so though it pained her, she reached for the smallest
shirt and breeches available. Alone as she was, she didn’t even
hesitate as she began stripping of her long skirt and flowing
shirt. Not only would they make her easier to spot, they might make
it harder for her to run.

Sara quickly stripped out of her clothes and donned the
pilfered uniform. The leather was rough against her skin, the
unusual feel of breeches instead of a skirt making her distinctly
uncomfortable. Shrugging off her discomfort, Sara moved forward,
unable to resist the draw of the swords hanging from the walls. It
would be unusual for a guard not to have a sword, she reasoned,
reaching for one of the hanging scabbards. Pulling the blade free
from its sheath, she quickly gained the measure of the sword, her
practised eyes seeing its every flaw and strength.

The balance of the blade wasn’t perfect, an element she would
have to compensate for in combat. Twirling the sword deftly in her
palm made the light glint off the steel, bringing the dull sword
edge to her attention. She frowned at the discovery, running the
tip of her finger very lightly against it. The sword wouldn’t cut
as well as she’d hoped. Placing it back in its sheath, she realised
that all the swords would likely be in a similar state of
disrepair. Fire elementals rarely used weapons like swords, bows or
clubs, preferring instead to char their enemies to a crisp from a
distance. The sword was only used as a last resort when their
energy levels were low. The sword’s moderate use was just one of
the reason’s she’d become a blacksmith, placing her faith in the
sturdy reliability of steel rather than her own non-existent
powers.

“
It’ll have to do,” she grumbled, slinging the blade over her
back within easy reach of her fingers.

Her attire now completely different to what she’d started
with, Sara began the final stage in her transformation, reaching
for a sturdy helmet. The soft ringlets that her hair naturally
curled into, easily gave her away, softening any hardness on her
face. With an entire castle that knew what she looked like, the
flaming curls would give her away in mere seconds. She tucked the
strands beneath the solid flat helmet, cursing throughout the
entire process as stray strands continually escaped her grasp.
Finally satisfied, she strode from the armoury towards her next
destination, the kitchen.

Sara quickly discovered the wisdom in her disguise as the
once empty halls began to fill with merry guests. She kept her head
down, avoiding the gazes of all the true guards. The last thing she
needed was for someone to recognise that she wasn’t one of them.
The kitchen was manic, shouts filling the air as the cook ordered
his crew around to meet the needs of the feasting castle
inhabitants. A small smile curved her lips as she slipped,
unnoticed, into the chaos. Her hands were light and nimble as she
began pilfering the essentials for her journey, slipping them into
her waiting satchel. She noted, with satisfaction, that other
guards were doing the same without a care for being
seen.

Even better, I don’t need to hide what I’m doing.

With the need of secrecy removed, she quickly stuffed her
satchel to capacity. Envisioning the unknown length of her journey,
she cursed her short sightedness for taking such a small
bag.

It’ll do for now,
she decided,
resolutely making her way out of the kitchen.
I can always get more along the way. I need to leave enough
room for money. I won’t get far without that.

She was so centred on her internal thoughts that the outside
world slipped away, coming back with a resounding crash as her body
collided with another’s, sending her sprawling to the
ground.

“
I’m sorry,” she murmured, taking care to deepen her voice.
“It won’t happen again.” She stood, turning away from the young
guard.

“
Wait!” he called. “You dropped your helmet when you
fell.”

Her hand rose to her head, patting lightly against her
exposed hair. She barely resisted the urge to groan aloud.
I’ll be okay if I get away now. He hasn’t seen my
face and my hair is messy enough after being under the helmet for
him to still think me a man.
“It doesn’t
matter,” she grunted, continuing on her way.

“
You can’t just leave your helmet,” he whipped in response.
“You’ll be punished.”

“
I don’t care.” She quickened her steps, hoping he would
simply leave her alone.

She should have known she wouldn’t be that lucky. The eager
young man ran after her, his long legs easily eating up the
distance she was trying so hard to put between them. He stopped
only when he stood directly in front of her, pressing the
twice-cursed helmet into her palm. Sara knew the exact moment
recognition set in, his eyes widened, his lips parted in shock and
his body temperature spiked.

“
You,” he gasped, stepping back, his wide brown eyes
flickering over her clothes. “What are you doing?”

Sara was silent, mentally debating her options.

The guard’s eyes continued wandering over her, taking in the
stuffed satchel, the large sword at her back, her clever attempt to
disguise herself, before reaching a conclusion. “You’re running
away.” Sara’s eyes snapped to meet his. “Why?”

“
Because I want to live,” she answered simply.

“
It’s an honour to die for our people. You’ll defeat our
enemies.”

“
If it’s such an honour, then you do it,” she
hissed.

“
There’s only one child of flame. I won’t let you
leave.”

“
Then we have a problem because I won’t let you stop me from
leaving.” Her hand was already at her sword, her fingers easily
wrapping around the hilt.
If I’m quick
enough, he’ll be unconscious in seconds.

“
You may be the child of flame but I doubt you can defeat us
all without wearing yourself out.” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion,
her hand pulling the sword loose from its sheath. “HELP!” he
bellowed, his voice surprisingly loud for a man so thin. “The child
of flame is escaping! HELP! HELP!”

“
Damn you,” she cursed, her plan to escape unnoticed going up
in flames with the pounding of feet against the stone floor. “Damn
you to hell.”

Her time was short, her powers untested, she couldn’t afford
to waste time fighting every single person in the castle and it was
inevitable that it would be all against one. Sheathing her blade,
Sara fled, running as fast as she could in the opposite direction.
Her heart thundered in her chest as the heavy sound of boots drew
closer.

What am I doing?
she cursed. Her
legs were taking her to the treasury instead of the exit, the last
stop on her planned escape route.
I can
always earn money once I’m free of this place. My swords are well
known. I’ll make more and sell them. Any good merchant will know
the high quality of the work means they’re Quicksilvers.
Even as the thought formed, another, more
important one made its presence known. Her time was too short to
craft swords, especially to the high quality Quicksilvers were
known for. Gold was all-important on this journey. She only had the
vaguest idea of where she was meant to go and no idea of either how
to get there or how much the journey would cost. She had to get to
the treasury.

She continued running though her heart almost stopped with
each corner she had to take. Around any corner people could be
waiting and everyone here was an enemy prepared to stop her and by
doing so seal her fate. As her anger mounted so did the temperature
within her.

Seraphina woke, purring contentedly at the thought of the
violence that was about to occur.
See,
she grumbled and the power
within Sara grew exponentially.
See them.
Feel their heat.

Her eyes felt as though they were melting from the extreme
heat but as quick as the pain had come, it was gone and then she
understood the meaning behind Seraphina’s cryptic words. She was
seeing everything differently, no longer in various shades of
colour but heat. She could see body heat, walls vanished beneath
her new sight, the threat of being caught unawares vanishing until
she saw them. It was too late for her body to stop and she skidded
around the corner into what, to her eyes, was an inferno but in
reality was a crowded hall filled with fire elementals. She turned;
ready to flee back the way she’d come, but a second approaching
inferno warned her of the futility of that act. She was
trapped.

Blinking, her eyesight returned to normal, allowing her to
finally make out Geoffrey's furious face. His dark eyes burned,
flames alight in the grey strands of his hair. His wrinkled face
was creased into the familiar expression of disgust he so often
directed at her.

“
What do you think you are doing Sara?”

“
I’m trying to escape so if you would be so kind as to move
aside so I can be on my way?”

His skin flushed an angry red. “Insolence!” he crowed. “I
should have you whipped.”

“
No, you’re trying to have me killed instead. I heard you
Elder Geoffrey. I know all about the prophecy of flame and I know
there’s a way for me escape it and I will do all in my power to
live.”

“
You are selfish.”

“
It’s my life, I have a right to be. Besides, what have the
fire elementals done for me to warrant me giving up my life for
them?”

“
We fed you. Sheltered you. Protected you.”

“
Shunned me. Loathed me. Trapped me,” Sara
corrected.

“
There is no reasoning with you.”

“
I won’t move on this point. I’m going to live.”

“
So be it.”

The first ball of fire thrown at her caught Sara by surprise
and she automatically lifted her hands in defence, hiding her face
from the worst of the damage. While normal fire couldn’t hurt a
fire elemental, fire from another of their kind could be deadly. As
more fire rained down on her, Sara waited for the pain to come, the
burning of her flesh to begin, but it never came. Their flames were
only making her stronger. Her hands fell to her sides and she stood
tall, increasingly confident in her own strength. They wanted the
child of flame? Then she would give it to them. Fire prickled along
her skin, spreading until she was covered from head to toe in a
searing flame.

“
Will you let me pass?” she asked, her tone cordial and all
the more menacing for it.

“
You know we won’t,” Geoffrey responded, fire falling from his
fingertips to form a line between her and them.

“
Then you brought this upon yourself.”

Geoffrey’s line of flame exploded to create a wall of fire
but Sara was unmoved by his demonstration of power. Walking right
up to the fiery wall, she ran her hand over its surface, feeling
her strength multiply. From behind the flame, she could see
Geoffrey’s awe struck expression, the look only deepening when she
walked straight through the fire. His flame stuck to her skin,
providing her with another layer of protection.

She walked straight through the crowd, parting it easily as
their inner flames jumped to join her leaving them weak and
powerless in her wake. Those whose fire didn’t succumb to the lure
she was subconsciously emitting were easily dealt with, the fire on
her skin, causing them to flinch back against the heat. Satisfied
with her display of power now that the way was cleared, Sara ran
again, letting the flames on her skin die down as she
fled.

The treasury quickly came into sight, the solid metal door
the only obstacle to her entry. She let the fire rise within her
again, her pace never slowing as she threw fire hot enough to melt
the metal at the doors. The flames spread from her palms, easily
creating a hole large enough for her to enter in the thick steel.
The treasury was piled high with gold, silver and rare jewels and
for a moment Sara was stunned by what she saw. Her swords were sold
for a high price to outsiders but she saw only a fraction of the
profit, she had never seen so much money in her entire life.
Shaking off her shock, she reached for the riches with her now cool
palms, throwing as much as she could into her already bulging
satchel. When the bag was full, she resorted to filling her pockets
until she was weighed down by the wealth she carried.

The pounding of feet warned her that her time had expired and
she ran from the room, determined to reach the exit now that she
had everything she needed. She frowned when she found that her path
was blocked again by more people and let the fire wash over her.
The rear was quickly blocked with more people and her frown turned
into a scowl.

They think to trap me again? Don’t they see that this won’t
work?

“
Sara?”

Abigail’s voice pulled her from the violent turn her thoughts
were taking and her heart began to pump wildly in her chest when
she saw her friend emerge from the crowd.