Soul Fire (9 page)

I woke the next morning, feeling light headed but not
too bad, considering. I remembered the night before and
groaned at the memory of Eleanora and Phoenix at the
bottom of the stairs. I found the memory of saying
goodnight to Dustin very interesting too. I realised that I
had quite enjoyed the Knight Ball, and it would be
interesting to see the aftermath.

I hauled myself from my bed and found more clothes in
my dresser. I dressed in brown breeches and a baggy green
shirt, enjoying the looseness of the shirt after the tight
school shirts. I rolled up my sleeves, pulled my boots on
and pulled my hair into a ponytail, determined to have
today off. After marching downstairs to find Jett, I found
the castle completely empty and realised everyone had the
day off anyway. I met Dena on the stairs going back up to
my room.

“How you holding up?” She asked with a grin.
I smiled back.
“Not too bad, considering how much I drank.” I replied.
She laughed.
“A few of us are heading down to a water hole that

Rain knows about,” she said, and I perked up my ears. “It’s
a nice enough day for swimming, do you want to come?”
I grinned widely at her.
“Of course,” I said eagerly. “Where should I meet you?”
We arranged to meet at the bottom of the stairs and I
barrelled back up to my room. I grabbed my bath towel
and changed into soft cotton shorts and singlet, then
almost fell down the stairs trying to run down them too
fast. Dena laughed when she saw how excited I was and
grabbed my arm.
We both ran out of the double doors, through the
grounds, and into the forest. We followed a trail a short
way, soon hearing shrieking and the splashing of water.
We came across a clear pool with a small waterfall
crashing into it, and several of our classmates paddling
around. Someone had found a rope and tied it to an
overhanging tree. People were swinging themselves into
the water, sometimes doubling up. I dropped my towel
next to Dena’s and we ran to the rock ledge that
surrounded the pool. There was no way of easing
ourselves into the cool water, so I grabbed Dena’s arm and
jumped. The water was cold, cold enough to make us gasp.
“Sky!” Dena yelled indignantly.
I laughed and swam away from her on my back,
splashing her. She raced after me and leapt on me, pushing
me under. We wrestled for a bit and then swam to the
sides and heaved ourselves out onto the warm stone. We
lay on our towels laughing as we watched Petre and Rain
swing out on the rope and fall into the water.
I was feeling a little lonely as I watched everyone with
their soul mates, and was therefore relieved when Theresa
pulled at my arm, asking me to swing on the rope with
her. I did so, and found that swinging on a rope into water
is more fun than it looks. After half a dozen of swings with
Theresa, I took to jumping in again.
As I balanced on the edge about to jump in, arms
picked me up from behind, and threw me in. I broke the
surface to see Dustin standing on the edge, roaring with
laughter at my expression.
“Jump in, you coward!” I yelled to him, grinning at
him.
“Nope, too cold for me!” He called back.
It was an invitation I couldn’t resist. I climbed out of
the pool and went running after him, wrapping my arms
around his torso and getting him all wet.
“Aw, c’mon, Sky, this isn’t fair.” He complained, albeit
grinning at me as he tried not-so-much to pry my arms
from him.
I sighed.
“Alright.” I let him go, only to shove him into the water
that I’d manoeuvred him next to.
He yelled when he hit the water, and then splashed me.
Everyone on the shore shrieked as the water hit them, and
Yasmin went running after him for getting her wet. Petre
picked her up and threw her in and she plunged into the
water for the first time, having been sun baking on the
rocks. I grabbed Petre from behind and, catching him off
guard, managed to shove him in. Rain then pushed me in,
Dena pushing her in.
All of us eventually ended up in the water, splashing
each other and screaming. Dustin put me on his shoulders
and jumped in with me, starting a round of shoulder wars.
Dustin and I won before everyone else gave up.
It was a new experience for me, having Dustin around.
Every time he touched me, whether it was to push me into
the water or pick me up, I felt exactly where his hand had
made contact with my skin, usually coinciding with a
barrage of butterflies in my stomach.
As everyone sunned themselves on the rocks, Dustin
and I climbed perilously up the waterfall, finding a ledge
that over looked the water hole.
“You miss him, don’t you?” He said quietly.
“How can I miss someone who doesn’t like me?” I
replied heavily. “Do you miss… her?”
He nodded and silence fell between us.
“It’s such a beautiful view from up here,” I said, looking
around at the sunlit forest, the water sparkling below us
and bubbling past us.
“I would have to agree,” he said softly, but when I
turned to look at him, he wasn’t looking at the view at all,
but at me instead.
He leant in to kiss me again, and I responded shyly, the
butterflies going crazy. We would’ve stayed up there for
hours, if I hadn’t heard Dena say in surprise below us:
“Phoenix!”
I broke away from Dustin and crawled to the edge of
the waterfall, peering over. My heart did this funny
wobble as I saw him emerge from the forest, only wearing
shorts with a towel slung over his shoulders.
“Can I join you?” I heard him ask Dena, who nodded
mutely.
I climbed quickly down the waterfall again, sending an
apologetic look to Dustin, who just nodded, his eyes
expressionless. As I walked towards Dena and the others,
Phoenix looked up at me, and to my disbelief made eye
contact with me.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hi,” I replied automatically, too stunned to say
anything else.
He dropped his towel on the ground and set off for the
water before anyone could say anything else. As he
jumped in, I turned to Dena and was met with the most
gormless expression I’d ever seen on her face.
“What?” I asked.
Yasmin and Theresa also wore the same stunned
expression. I turned and watched Phoenix climb out of the
water as a new game of shoulder-wars began.
“Wow.” I managed to say hoarsely.
“Tell me about it.” They chorused back.
His upper body was extremely muscular, and whilst
that was what the other girls were admiring, I was looking
at the assortment of scars across his body.
Turns out Petre was correct when he said Phoenix had
led a hard life.
We watched Phoenix swim out to Dustin and Ispin,
who accepted him into their game immediately. Petre was
on the rope, watching Phoenix with distrust. Theresa
motioned for Rain to come to us and she climbed out of
the pool.
“What?” She panted.
I turned her around to face the pool, just as Phoenix
climbed onto a rock ledge to jump on Ispin. Rain’s jaw
dropped.
“I know,” I said laughing, “I had no idea!”
Even more surprising than Phoenix’s physique was his
attitude. He was laughing and smiling, which lit his face
up and made him even more handsome than before. It was
as though an enormous weight had been lifted from his
shoulders.
Petre approached us looking like thunder, but before he
could say anything, Rain pushed him in. This resulted in
all of us trying to wrestle each other off, and I managed to
be the last one standing.
“Ha!” I yelled triumphantly.
Arms picked me up from behind again, and the person
holding me jumped off the ledge. We both hit the water
and surfaced at the same time, Phoenix grinning at me and
my heart wobbled again.
“Sky,” he said. “Do you want to have dinner with me
tonight? I feel bad about the last time you tried to eat with
me.”
I opened my mouth to accept (and to ask if I was
dreaming) but was interrupted by the one voice I didn’t
want to hear.
“Phoenix!” Someone yelled, and we all turned to the
forest path to see Eleanora standing on it, hands on her
hips.
“Phoenix, weren’t we supposed to be having lunch?”
“Oh,” I heard him say. “Sorry, I was…”
“I don’t care what you were doing,” She yelled.
Everyone turned to stare at her. “You stood me up!”
“Ellie, I was just—,”
“Having fun,” I continued for him, still in the water
next to him. I tried to ignore all the smart comments my
mind was throwing up about him having a nickname for
her.
“Let it go, Eleanora,” I continued. “Get in the water
yourself, have some fun.”
Everyone waited to see what she’d say, and I swear the
water got colder.
“No.” She said finally.
“No?”
“No,” she repeated. “C’mon, Phoenix, we’re leaving.”
He didn’t say anything as he heaved himself out of the
water and wrapped his towel around himself again. I
turned away to find everyone else looking at me. I just
sighed and shook my head at them.
After that, the afternoon lost something; a friendship
that could’ve been made, a truce that could’ve been had.
Even Dustin seemed to understand that his soul mate had
ruined the afternoon. We splashed around in the water for
a while, trying to recapture some of the earlier fun, but
not even shoulder wars could bring back the joy of a few
hours ago. When Yasmin and Rain began to complain
about being sunburnt, we eventually headed back to the
castle. It was dark when we got back, and I headed up to
my room, getting changed back into my breeches and shirt
before heading down for dinner. I scowled as I was
changing, the pink glow of my skin itching and irritating.
I hated sunburn, and no matter how many times I swore
to myself that I would never let myself get sunburnt again,
I always forgot and ended up getting burnt worse than last
time.
I headed back down to the mess hall, where we ate
twice as much as normal; swimming always made me
hungrier than normal exercise. Judging from how much
everyone else ate too, I think it was safe to assume that
they operated in the same way I did. We ate in silence,
exhausted after spending the day swimming.
Dustin accompanied me back to my room, holding my
hand. We didn’t speak about the afternoon, instead
choosing to discuss our classes. He kissed me goodnight at
my door just as Larni came up the stairs. She waited for
Dustin to leave before breaking into an enormous grin.
I grinned back sheepishly and we entered my room
together.
“He seems nice,” she said slyly and we both giggled.
“He took me to the Knight Ball,” I confessed. “Thank
you for the dress.”
“My pleasure,” she said happily. “It didn’t take me very
long to stitch it-“
“Hold on, you made that dress?”
She nodded eagerly.
“By my own hands.”
“Larni,” I was swimming in disbelief. “It was
gorgeous.
I
have to do something for you, to pay you back.”
“No,” she said firmly. “It was enough to see you so
happy. You’ve been quite miserable these past few days.”
I didn’t know what to say to her, so I just handed my
washing to her and she left.
Despite what she’d said, I still felt awful knowing about
her situation. We had yet to discuss her new found
abilities, and I knew she was avoiding the topic.

Before classes started the next morning, I headed down
the stairs, not to the mess hall, but to try and find Jetts’s
office. It was only when I reached the flagstones at the
foot of the stairs that I realised I had no idea where I was
going.

I wandered for a little bit, having a look at the
tapestries that lined the walls. I was just examining one
that seemed to be depicting a great battle when I was
stopped by a snappy voice I knew too well.

“Good morning, Sky,” I turned to face Professor Watt.
“Heading to the mess hall?”
“Actually, I was trying to find Jett’s office.”
One of her eyebrows shot into her steel hair. The other
eye narrowed at me behind her pince-nez.
“You mean Professor Jettais.”
“Oh, yeah. Him.”
She eyed me off for a moment as though deciding if she
was going to tell me or not. Eventually she sighed and
folded her arms, her long cloak fluttering about her
person.
“Down the hall, first left and then the door on your
right.”
“Thank you!”
I trotted off down the hall, not stopping even when she
called after me again.
“I need that paper on Surac’s economics, Sky! It was
due last week!”
“Ok!”
I continued around the corner, noticing just how
familiar that sounded. Before I could place it, I’d found a
door with a little gold plate on it, which read ‘Professor
Jettais’. I knocked and then waited.
“Come in,” the muffled call came from the other side.
I pushed open the door to find Jett sitting at his desk.
“Getting today’s lesson organized,” he explained, hastily
scribbling what looked like a signature on the top paper of
a pile. “How can I help, Sky?”
I closed the door behind me, and leant against it.
“It’s about Larni... my, uh, servant,” I started, deciding
that now wouldn’t be the best time to bring up my qualms
about her social status again. Instead, I focussed on the
issue at hand. “She says her parents had her tested for
magic when she was four, and she didn’t have a drop.”
Jett laced his fingers together and rested his chin on
them, not taking his eyes off of me. I took this as
permission to continue.
“But, the other day, after my, uh,” I coughed.
“Altercation, with Eleanora-“
“The one that ended with you almost blinded by a fire
whip?”
“... Yes. That one. Anyway, I headed back to my room
to try to clean it. But Larni was there and she... well. She
healed it.”
I fell silent. Jett continued watching me closely. The
clock on the wall ticked off the seconds passing between
us.
“I think it would be best if you didn’t take this any
higher, Sky,” he said finally.
“What?” I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. “But, Jett,
this means that Larni is a mage! She needs to be educated;
she can have a better life now.”
“I repeat what I said,” he replied, standing up and
gathering his stuff together. “Please don’t take this to Iain
or Netalia, Sky, for your own good.”
He swept past me, out of the room. I stood, frozen to
the spot, staring at where he had been. For my own good?
What the hell did he mean by that?
After a few more seconds of mulling over what he’d
said, I left the room. I made it to the mess hall and was
eating breakfast with everyone else when Jett appeared in
the doorway. Everyone fell quiet as they noticed him.
“If you’d all come with me,” he said loudly. “I think
you’re going to enjoy this morning’s lesson.”
We finished our breakfast quickly and followed him
willingly. Out of all of our professors, Jett was the
youngest and therefore everyone’s favourite teacher.
He took us to a section of the Academy no one had seen
before. When he pushed open the door and let us into the
room beyond, I wasn’t the only one who gasped.
On the walls of the hall hung swords and shields and
every weapon imaginable.
“Oh that’s a good idea, Jett,” I heard Petre mutter. “Give
Sky access to something sharp.”
I assumed he was talking the incident with the blunt
practice arrow and scowled at him, but he didn’t notice.
“Line up.” Jett called.
One by one, we were handed practice swords and
began to learn drills. The sword I’d been given was heavy,
and I broke into a sweat during the slow practice. The
lesson lasted longer than normal, and the sun was high in
the sky when Jett ordered us to stop.
“Now for the fun bit. Everyone gets to choose which
weapon they’d like to specialise in. Don’t worry; you can
always change your mind later.”
Everyone began to mill about the hall, choosing their
weapons. I saw Eleanora pick up a beautiful bow,
examining it reverently.
“Jett,” I called. “What are those?”
I pointed to a pair of twin thin swords. They looked
lighter than the practice sword I’d been given.
Jett lifted them down and handed both to me. They
were both in their scabbards.
“They’re worn on the back like this,” he said, hoisting
them onto his back. “And then they’re drawn like this.”
In a lightning fast movement, he grasped the hilts of
both of the swords and drew them, crossing them in front
of him.
“Wow,” I said. “Can I try?”
He hesitated just long enough for me to wonder if he
was going to hand them over, but then removed them
from his back and gave them to me.
As soon as I settled them onto my back, I knew these
were going to be my choice weapons. It took me three
goes to get the swords clear of their scabbards when I
drew them, but I eventually managed to draw them, albeit
not with the same clean movement that Jett had; it would
take me a while to get used to them. I whipped one
experimentally through the air, marvelling at the speed
and weight.
“So, you just chose those yourself?” Jett asked.
“Of course,” I said, squinting along one of the blades.
“Did you see anyone else choose them for me?”
“I mean, have you read about them? Seen them before?”
I didn’t answer until I’d managed to get the swords
back into their scabbards without stabbing myself in the
back.
“No. I saw them on the wall and thought they looked
cool,” I fixed him with a stare, raising my eyebrow. “Is
something wrong?”
“Of course not,” he said too quickly. “It’s free choice
after all.”
I looked around and saw Dena with a broadsword going
through some of the drills we’d just been taught. Dustin
had picked up an enormous scythe that was taller than
him, and was showing Petre and Ispin how sharp it was by
slicing bits of his tunic. He looked up as though sensing
my gaze and winked. I blushed furiously as Jett grinned at
me.
“Don’t say anything,” I said warningly.
“I’ll say nothing,” he reassured me.
We spent the rest of the lesson practicing with our
weapons. I was slowly getting used to the twin swords,
their balanced weight and the feel of the hilts in my
hands. My left hand let me down a little though; as I was
right handed, I tended to not use the left as much and it
was hindering me quite a bit. In fact, the only time
someone could break my blocks was by targeting the
sword held in my left hand.
“Ouch!” I cried before I could stop myself, dropping my
left sword.
“Sky? Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Dena dropped her
broadsword with a clatter, rushing to my side.
“It’s alright,” I said, clutching my wrist. “It’s just my
stupid hand is too weak to take any hits.”
The lesson was almost over when the doors to the hall
opened and Netalia strode through them. She talked
quickly and quietly to Jett, whose brow furrowed with
worry. She was just leaving as her eyes flicked to me, and
her steps slowed as her eyes widened.
“Jett,” she said, and they began speaking quickly again,
although I sensed it was about a different topic.
“Where did you get those?” she asked me furiously a
short time later.
Assuming she was talking about my swords, I said,
“Off of the wall where everyone else got their weapons
from.”
“You’ll pick another weapon immediately,” she said,
breathing heavily, her eyes wide.
“But I like these!” I protested.
“No matter! Those are not to be used!”
Silence fell across the room as Netalia and I stood and
faced each other.
“Alright,” I said finally. “Fine by me.”
I ended up with a standard sword like the ones we’d
been practicing with. I couldn’t hide my disappointment
as Jett hung the twin swords back up.
Everyone left, talking quietly about the lesson. I was
almost out of the doors when Jett called to me.
“Sky?”
I turned back.
“I can teach you, if you want,” he said. “With the twin
swords. It has to be our little secret though.”
“Ok,” I said immediately, and something like defeat
flickered in his eyes. “But why did Netalia get so uptight
about me using them?”
He just shook his head as he went to lift them down.
“Jett, tell me-“
“Don’t ask that of me!” he snapped and I stepped back
in surprise; Jett never got angry with us, not even when
Ispin accidentally set one of the desks on fire. “Please, Sky,
I just can’t...”
“Alright,” I said, taken aback by his reaction. “Our
secret.”
As he began to teach me drills and starting positions
with the swords, I couldn’t help but feel like everyone in
this castle knew something about me that I didn’t.
That week flew by, with Larni hardly speaking to me. I
hadn’t mentioned that I’d been to see Jett about her
abilities, but somehow she’d found out. It seemed
impossible to keep secrets in this place.
As luck would have it, the next weekend was one
where we were allowed to visit the village, if we so
wished. Larni was also excited, because she was allowed to
go and visit her family. I saw my opportunity
immediately.
Jett had said not to go any higher, to Iain or Netalia.
But if I could convince Larni’s parents to get her tested
again,
they
could appeal to the Masters of the Academy to
let her in.
“And my brother, Niko, he gets into so much trouble,”
Larni giggled as she made my bed, me watching from atop
my table. “He’s three now, but he’s very high
maintenance.”
“Aren’t all three year olds?” I asked. Personally, being
an only child, I’d never had much experience with them.
“I suppose you’re right,” she said, humming to herself as
she smoothed down the duvet.
“So where in the village do you live?” I asked her
nonchalantly, examining my fingernails.
“Just beside the clock tower,” she said absently. “Father
would have re-thatched the roof, so it’ll look the nicest
out of all of the surrounding houses.” She smiled proudly.
So, on that Sunday, Larni set off early in the morning
for the village. I watched her from my window, high up in
the dormitory tower. She carried a basket on her arm, her
brown hair pulled up into the neat bun that all of the
servants tied their hair into. When she disappeared from
sight, I hauled myself out of bed and got dressed in a loose
green shirt, with long sleeves, that I tucked into breeches,
pulling on my boots. I left my hair down for once,
enjoying the lack of tugging on my scalp. I met the others
in the mess hall, but none of them were heading to the
village, which was very convenient. I waved goodbye to
them as they headed to the water hole for the day.
I saddled Echo and set off on the road to Keyes, the
warm wind pushing my hair away from my face. I let
Echo walk the whole way, in no rush to get to the village
at all. The sun burnt overhead, but it wasn’t hot enough to
make me regret riding slowly. I was glad that I’d worn
long sleeves though; I tended to burn if I so much looked
at the sun.
Keyes slowly came into view, and I hitched Echo at the
same post as last time. I checked my money pouch to
make sure it was still attached to my belt, and then set off,
searching for the house near the clock tower with the
freshly thatched roof.
The village was busy under the high sun. The market
stalls were set out again, and villagers bustled around me,
haggling to get the best prices for merchandise. I spotted
Chef from the kitchens amongst the crowd, buying the
food for the Academy.
At least, I thought, the Academy supports the local
village.
That of course reminded me of the paper I was yet to
hand up to Watt, but I deemed Larni’s future and
wellbeing a lot more important than economics in another
country.
The clock tower was easy enough to find, even as it
chimed off the hour. I stood at the base of it, looking up at
the enormous clock face above me.
“’S’cuse me!”
I jumped out of the way as a small boy tore past me, in
pursuit of a very fat chicken. I watched as he caught the
hen up in his arms, though the fowl was almost as big as
he was. He fixed me with large brown eyes that seemed
very familiar as the chicken glared at me, clearly blaming
me for its capture.
“Niko, right?” I asked, taking a chance.
It paid off when he nodded, beginning to carry the
chicken back to a house behind the clock tower.
“I’m Sky,” I said, following him. “I’m a friend of your
sister’s.”
“I know,” he told me promptly. “She’s here.”
We rounded the corner to find a small cottage with a
beautiful golden roof of straw. We climbed the worn
wooden steps to the front patio, and then Niko led me
straight through the front door, still carrying the chicken.
I followed him awkwardly.
“Mum!” Niko said loudly, and a woman emerged from
one of the other rooms.
“Oh good, you caught it,” she said to him, wringing her
hands on cloth. “And who might you be?” she asked me.
“I’m Sky, Larni’s-“
“Larni’s mistress, yes, I know,” she told me, her eyes
crinkling with happiness. “She’s quite happy with you,
you know. She was always worried that she was going to
get one of the local mages, and the way they treat some of
their servants is hardly fair.”
“Is Larni here?” I asked, glancing around.
“No, she just left to go to the market in the town
square. You should be able to catch her, actually.”
“Uh, I actually wanted to talk to you about her,” I said,
shuffling from foot to foot. Larni’s mother gestured to a
chair at the table, and I sat, twisting my fingers in my lap.
She sat opposite me, the mirth in her eyes gone.
“Is everything alright?” she asked me, concerned.
“Definitely,” I told her. “Larni’s great, but...”
“But?”
I sighed heavily.
“You had her tested for magic when she was four,
didn’t you?” I asked, wanting to confirm what Larni had
told me, just in case she was lying. Larni’s mother nodded.
“We did yes. Niko is going to be tested next year. The
Tester said he didn’t find an ounce of magic in her.”
“He was wrong,” I blurted, unable to hold it in
anymore. “Larni is a mage.”
We looked at each other across the table, the silence
weighing heavily between us. It was promptly broken as
Niko dropped the chicken, which made a bid for freedom
by rushing the door.