Soul Fire (28 page)

I, Rose Evermore of the human realm, Sky of this
realm, had killed another being. I would never be the
same person again.
After Larni had splinted my wrist better than I could’ve
done it myself and managed to make me go to bed, I lay
awake, staring at the ceiling. I wondered what his name
was, how old he was, where he was from. Was he from
the human realm or was he born here? What made him
turn to the rogues?
Had he deserved to die?
I rolled over onto my side, the window breathing fresh
air onto me. My hair ruffled in the breeze, and I closed my
eyes as Morri landed on the pillow next to me.
When it came down to it, if he hadn’t died, I would’ve.
I now understood the meaning of survival of the fittest.
The next morning dawned bright and unacceptably
cheery. I headed to the infirmary before the mess hall to
check on Phoenix. Jett, who was still sitting with him, said
that he’d be fine in another couple of hours.
It was in the mess hall that I noticed something
different about the place. We hadn’t lost any students or
staff, but the mages who had come to help us had lost
some of their own. They planned to leave as soon as they
could travel again to grieve in their own cities.
When Iain and Netalia came to us at the end of the
meal, I really thought they were just going to say
something about the rogues. So I headed to the Main Hall
with the other students, completely unsuspecting. When
we got there, Professor Watt took me aside, but didn’t say
a word. I looked at her, wondering why I’d been singled
out, but she refused to meet my gaze.
“After these few days of grief, I regret to tell you that
they are not yet over,” Iain said, locking his hands behind
his back. “One of the students here has broken our most
sacred of rules.”
Fire shot up my spine and for the first time since
meeting the rogues in the forest, I was wide awake.
Iain motioned something to Professor Watt, who
pushed me forwards, though not roughly. I stumbled into
the aisle between the rows of chairs.
“Sky, you have broken the rules by falling in love with
your soul mate,” Netalia said, and I couldn’t help but
notice something like triumph in her silver eyes. “For this,
you are banished.”
“What?” I asked, just as the other students began to
protest loudly.
It was only when two of the city mages took me by my
upper arms to drag me from the hall that I grasped what
was happening.
“Let me go!” I told the mages, wrestling against their
grip furiously.
“Where’s your proof?” Theresa shouted at them from
where she was standing.
“Yesterday we allowed her and Phoenix to be cornered
on the upper levels. We saw with our own eyes the kiss
that should never have taken place.”
“You were there?” I asked quietly, and the mages who
held me froze in place. “You watched him get taken
away?”
“Yes,” Netalia said, and now I was sure that she was
loving this. “And now we have the proof we needed.”
“No, enough!” I shouted, my voice echoing through the
hall. I wrenched free of the mages. “The real criminals in
this hall stand before us!”
Everyone looked to Iain and Netalia, who suddenly
looked very uncomfortable.
“I lied, Netalia,” I told her. Everyone had gone quiet,
listening to me. “I lied when I said our trip to Riverdoor
was enjoyable,” I began to walk up the middle of the aisle
towards them. “The city was in ruin, in despair. They
were being hunted by a Du’rangor; Petre’s brother Samlin
was taken by it! They were cut off from their sister city,
they needed mages, they needed help, but when they
turned to you, their leaders, they got nothing!” My voice
rose to a shout and Netalia flinched as though I’d
physically hit her. I wish I had. “How long were you going
to stand by while your people suffered?”
“Stop!” Netalia screeched, but I was too far gone.
“NO! I’ve kept quiet for so long, but hey, the damage is
done,” I laughed hysterically. “What else can you
possibly
do to me? Huh? What else are you going to inflict upon
me? I’m sorry that I’m different. I’m sorry I broke the
rules. I’m sorry for being the mage that wouldn’t abide by
your
rule. But since when is it your decision to say who
stays and who goes? You get rid of me, fine, that’s cool,
but don’t think for a second, that I am done here. This
isn’t the last you’ll see of me, I know it. And you know it
too, don’t you?”
Netalia was white, her finger shaking as she pointed at
me. She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her
off.
“No, I’m sick of hearing you ‘decree’ things,” I
mimicked her hand movements as I said ‘decree’. “I’m
tired of hearing you declare things. Who died and made
you rulers of the world?”
“Queen Fleur,” Iain boomed suddenly, and I was so
shocked that I stopped talking. “On her death, we were
charged with keeping the country running.”
“That was a thousand years ago,” I protested. “There’s
no way that could possibly be true.”
“It is,” Netalia said. “We’ve kept this country in order
since the Second Queen died.”
“Not very well,” I snorted, and a few students smirked,
especially Petre. He was white and shaking with anger as
he stood and marched to my side.
“My father called for your aid,” he said quietly. “I
thought my little brother dead. He very nearly was. And
now you banish his saviour? She’s saved all of us over and
over again, proved her worth time and time again. My
little brother will grow up to be a mage and I hope for his
sake that you are not in charge when he comes here. I
hope your bigotry is long gone before my brother steps
foot through those doors.”
“She saved me as well,” Yasmin told her, coming to
stand on my other side. “Destroying a dam that the
Orthandrellians had built and cut off the water supply to
Abdoor. It was an illegal dam; you should’ve dealt with it
before we had to. As a result I almost died and I would’ve
if it hadn’t been for Sky.”
Tears were beginning to collect in my eyes now as I
heard their defence of me. But from the look on Netalia’s
face, she was becoming more and more fond of the idea of
banishing me. I was the problem, I was the catalyst, and
this would all go away, would all be forgotten if I wasn’t
here.
“That being said,” she started slowly. “The fact is that
we rule this Academy. Not the students. Not the staff.
Especially not you, Sky.” There was pure hatred in her
glance at me. I made sure it was returned. “We decide
how things are run in this country, and I will certainly not
have my mind changed by a silly little chit who thinks she
knows what love is!”
“So you think I don’t know what love is?” I asked
quietly. I might have her here. “But you’re banishing me
for it?”
The other students were murmuring to themselves.
Netalia looked like she was realising that she might have
just lost this argument.
“Enough,” Iain said, his deep voice calming down any
conversation amongst the students and mages. “We’ve
decided. Take her outside,” he said to the mages who stood
behind me.
The students were on their feet now, shouting at their
Master and Second Master. I didn’t let the older mages
grab me again. Instead I walked, my heart banging in my
chest. I felt like I was walking to my own execution.
Everyone followed us out the front doors, onto the
grounds which were sunny and bright. The breeze lifted
my hair and dried the unfallen tears in my eyes as Morri
descended upon me, shrieking his disappointment. He
landed on my arm for the last time, and I noticed that his
arrival had greatly unsettled Iain who was right behind
me.
“Goodbye, Morrigan,” I said, the tears beginning to
flow. He flew off and I looked up to my bedroom window,
to see with a painful twist of my heart, saw Larni staring
out of it, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
Her scarf. I’d forgotten to give her the red scarf. Maybe
they’d let me back inside for one last time. One last time
to see my room and hug Larni goodbye. But one look at
Netalia told me that she was going to do whatever was in
her power to make my farewell miserable.
“NO!”
Everyone looked towards Jett, who had come to stand
in the doorway. The look on his face was utter disbelief.
“You would do to her what you would do to Lena?”
Iain’s face darkened.
“I am aware, Jettais, of your past mistakes, but it does
not excuse another for repeating them.”
Jett fell silent, but the look of anger on his face did not
subside. His eyes didn’t leave mine.
“Sky, you have two minutes to say goodbye to
everyone. Except one.” Iain was firm.
I bowed my head and felt the tears welling up. After all
I’d been through, I couldn’t even say goodbye to the one I
loved. I would never see him again, and I would have no
memory of him.
Many pairs of arms encircled me. I cried into all of
them, as they cried into me. Dena, Theresa, Yasmin, Rain,
Petre, Ispin, Dustin, even Raven was there. Others I didn’t
know also joined the hug. We stood together for what felt
like a few minutes, but before I realised that it had been
two minutes, Jett was pulling me away.
“Wait,” I whispered, struggling away from him for a
second. “Dena.”
She came to me, and hugged me one last time. I took
advantage of the hug to whisper in her ear.
“Rose,” I hissed quietly. “Rose Evermore.”
A final squeeze and she stepped away, nodding slightly.
My ticket to coming back here, to knowing all wasn’t lost.
It felt fitting, as though one of my last acts in the mage
world was disregarding the rules, for the last time.
Jett put his hand on my shoulder and steered me away.
Everyone followed.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Sky,” he said quietly.
I ignored him; there was something more pressing on
my mind, something I needed to know before the end. I’d
been suspecting for awhile, but I hadn’t let myself
consciously think it.
“Jett!” My voice was hushed; I knew I couldn’t let the
others overhear what I was about to say, no matter how
badly I wanted it to be true. “Jett, you know her name,
don’t you? Lena’s human name, what is it?!”
We stopped in front of Iain, Netalia standing just
behind me. I turned away from the look of savage triumph
on her face, instead looking at the crowd who’d gathered
in the doors. I could see Dena standing next to the others,
tears streaming down her face. Just when I thought Jett
wasn’t going to speak, he lifted his head and spoke one
word.
“Christina.”
“Sky, you have broken the rules of our world and will
be likewise punished. I call on the power as Master of this
Academy-”
“Christina!” my chubby little legs carried me along, and
the name fell from my mouth again. “Christina!”
“There’s my beautiful little Rose,” strong arms scooped
me up and I giggled with delight. “But you don’t call me
that, sweetheart. You call me Mum.”
“Mum,”I repeated dutifully. “Mum.”
“To banish you hence-”
Suddenly everything was clear. I looked up at Jett,
seeing him as though for the first time, all of the little
similarities. I opened my mouth to tell him. It seemed too
fantastic to be true, but he’d confirmed it with her name. I
had one word to say, just one, that would fix everything.
“From this Academy and the continent of Lotheria.”
There was a bright flash of light. I heard my name
being called by someone in the distance. He sounded
upset.
“Phoenix.” I murmured, and then I was gone.

The soft sunlight woke me. I was tucked into my bed,
the covers warm and familiar. My wrist hurt, and when I
lifted it, I saw a splint. Why did I have a splint? I couldn’t
remember, but my wrist was too painful to probe any
further.

I could hear Mum in the kitchen downstairs.
I groaned, staring up at the ceiling. I longed for the day
when I would be different, when I could get out of Ar
Cena, break the cycle of this lazy little town.
But it wouldn’t be today.
About the Author

Aprille Legacy is a twenty something who lives in
Adelaide, South Australia. Soul Fire is her first selfpublished novel, with two more in the trilogy to follow
and most likely countless others.

Every generation, seven sons are born to the regent
of the First Demesne, each of those seven sons fated
to rule one of the seven demesnes. This generation,
there are no septuplets. There are no sons.

Forbidden by her father to ever heal again, Iminique
Demascus nonetheless saves the newborn princess from a
nameless evil. Born into a realm where the poor foment
rebellion and the rich revile her as weak, the child is
unwanted by both her parents and the people. Iminique
becomes her sole protector, forced to ally herself with the
wizard who tried to murder them both, a wizard who casts
spells that should be impossible.

The distant scream echoed through the palace corridors,
cutting across a ballroom bathed in the glimmer of a
thousand candles and the men and women in brilliant
jeweled tones swarming across it. For an instant they froze, a
vibrant slice of time suspended, then the scream stopped and
they resumed their twirling and laughing, their tittering,
toasting, and boasting, pretending they didn’t care what that
scream meant.