The square is now descending into darkness. On each corner of the platform, lamps have been lit, but even in the lamplight, Falk doesn’t notice my approach until I am a few metres away. At first, he smiles. Perhaps he thinks I am trying to curry favour by showing my enthusiasm. But when I shout, “STOP!” his grin slides right off his face. At first, only a few people hear, so I raise my voice louder and shout again.
“STOP THIS MADNESS! STOP!”
This time, my cry echoes throughout the square and Falk’s expression turns to stone. Beside me, Reds move aside, jostling backwards so they can’t be associated with my outburst.
Falk’s voice rings out. “Seize her!”
Cadets scramble to drag me up onto the stage. The square falls silent. No one makes a sound. Apart from Jennyfer, who is sobbing quietly.
A pair of Silver Cadets grab me with grubby mulch-stained hands and pull me up beside Jennyfer. I ignore the crowd and look straight into Falk’s eyes, refusing to lower my gaze to the ground. I expect him to unleash a tirade of anger, to beat me to the ground, but instead he fixes a smile on his face and turns to his audience.
“Our friend Émi seems a little overexcited by all the action. She wants to take part. Shall we let her?”
The onlookers hesitate, but when the Cadets at the front start shouting yes, everyone follows suit. Falk reaches for his belt and withdraws a large knife with a curved metal blade.
“Ladies and gentleman,” he hollers, “our plans this evening have changed… it has come to my attention that Ms Kray’s wrongdoings are far more severe than we first thought. So our guest, Miss Fae, is going to help us rectify the situation.” Falk binds his greasy fingers around my arm. “She’s going to perform our execution.”
Six
At the word ‘execution’, a mixture of shouting and baying breaks out from the spectators at the front. Jennyfer releases a gut-wrenching howl and starts to buck against the stocks.
“Do you realise what you’ve done?” Falk spits viciously into my ear. “Your childish actions have caused this woman’s death.” He trails off and slides the knife into my hand, gripping my fingers tightly with his own so that I can’t turn the blade against him.
He pushes me closer to the stocks. I can feel his sickly breath on my neck. Jennyfer is now completely still, muttering under her breath. The raw flickering heat in my gut has spread to my throat and my skin feels like it's on fire. A searing pain starts to spread through my arms and into my fingertips. I turn and grab Falk’s free wrist with my loose hand. As my fingers dig into his skin I hear a sizzling sound and he cries out. He lets go of me and the knife clatters to the floor. I kick it away but tighten my grip.
“Witch! Sorcerer!” I step back as Falk shouts. He glares at me, rubbing at the angry welts on his wrist. “Magick! The girl knows magick!”
Without thinking, I lunge forwards. I plant my palms flat on his cheeks and press down. I can feel the sparks inside me; they are bursting to be set free. The smell of charred flesh fills the air. A deep throaty roar escapes from Falk’s lips as he mauls desperately at my hands, trying to pry them away. As he shouts, I release a high-pitched scream. I raise my arms, palms out, and an avalanche of bright white light bursts from my hands. The light pummels into his chest and hurls him to the edge of the platform.
My heart is thundering in my chest. I fix my gaze on the keys that are tied to Falk’s belt and reach out as though I’m trying to take hold of them. The keys wrench themselves free and fly straight into my hand. Something has taken over my body, every fibre is vibrating with a fierce simmering energy that demands to be heard.
“Do something! Summon the Council!” Falk glances around wildly.
I ignore his commands and the commotion breaking out in the crowd, running to release Jennyfer from the stocks. She looks at me, at my hands. She hesitates, then she clambers to her feet and races down the steps, disappearing into the darkness at the back of the square.
When I turn around, the entire population of the Red Quarter is staring at me in wide-eyed terror. Falk is still struggling to his feet. His cheeks have been branded with my palm prints. The once-cocky Silver and Green Cadets at the front of the crowd reach for their knives but they seem rooted to the spot, afraid to get any closer.
Behind me someone shouts, “Émi, here!” Nor. I turn and bolt from the stage in the same direction as Jennyfer. In the shadow of a run-down grain store at the back of the square, Nor is waiting for me. She seizes my arm and whips me around the corner, down a side-street, then another, then another, until I have no idea where we are. I expect to hear footsteps pounding the pavement behind us but no one follows.
Eventually, we arrive at Nor’s flat. She hurries me around the back and through the kitchen door, which she fastens closed behind us. I’m panting. My skin feels clammy.
“Mother of Mahg, Émi. You look like you’re going to faint. Quick, sit down.” Nor ushers me into a chair and forces a glass of water into my hand. Then, she throws her arms into the air. “What was that?”
I try to speak but my words have dried up. Nor tells me to breathe, take a moment. I listen to her gruff but soothing voice and drink my water and, slowly, the heat subsides. My body is returning to normal; my skin has cooled and my hands have stopped shaking. I look up. Nor is leaning on the worktop next to a small rusty sink that is stacked high with unwashed dishes. “Something you need to tell me?” she asks.
“You’re not afraid of me?”
“Should I be?”
I shake my head at her although, truthfully, I’m a little afraid myself.
“Well, then…”
I barely know how to explain. “It started the night they arrested Jennyfer. Just a few sparks. I was angry and they just… happened. Then yesterday at the cafe… but nothing like this. This was…”
“Magick,” Nor finishes for me, folding her arms in front of her stomach. “Magick is what it was.”
“How can it be? I didn’t do anything to summon it. It just…”
“Some people are gifted. The Council would have you believe it all comes from textbooks and studying and, sure, that’s true for spells and potions. But what you just did, that’s raw magick. Powerful magick.”
“How do you know?”
Nor sighs and wrings her hands together. “I’m older than that wall, Émi. I’ve seen things. The Council might think we’ve forgotten but there’s those of us who still remember what it was like.”
She has never spoken like this before, never uttered a single word that could be considered treacherous. Her eyes flicker. “It was different before the wall. I’ve never said this to you because it’s foolhardy. If we were overheard I’d be hauled up to those stocks quicker than a Cadet into a tavern, but I wouldn’t be surprised if your dear father was right. No, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to discover the Council had lied to us all this time. If the other Cities were still…” She waves her hand in the direction of the Eastern Wall. “Out there.”
“Why would they? Why would they want to trap us here?”
“Because they’re afraid, Émi. Afraid of Mahg, and afraid of magick. They didn’t care that it was only the few who misused it. They didn’t care that there was a whole world out there where magick did good, where people were kind to each other… happy. All they cared about was their wretched wall. Banishing magick made sure no one could destroy it.” As Nor finishes speaking she inhales as if she’s been running uphill. She plonks herself into a chair beside me.
“You sound like my father.”
“Well, as I said. Maybe he was right. Maybe we should all try and scale the wall.”
I look down at my fingers. “I might have to,” I say, “if they find me.”
Nor is watching me intently. “Émi, what you did back there – do you think you could do it again?”
I shake my head and tell her I wouldn’t know how. “I have no control over it. It just happens.”
Nor grabs my forearm and leans in close. “But
if you could… if you could use this power of yours… you could get us out.”
I’m struggling to keep up with what she’s saying.
“Émi, you could get us all out of here. The force of that – you could break down the wall. We could be free…”
I have never seen Nor so animated; her eyes are bright, dancing with possibility. But before I can tell her it’s impossible and that we don’t know what lies beyond the wall, the door begins to rattle. Nor jumps out of her chair and stands in front of me. Surely the Cadets can’t have found us so quickly?
“Who’s there?” she shouts.
From the other side of the door, I hear Tsam’s voice. “Émi, it’s me, let me in.”
Nor turns to me. “Who is it? You know them?”
When I tell her it’s a friend she unbolts the door but the second she notices Tsam’s gold sash, Nor grapples for a kitchen knife and points the blade at him.
Tsam raises his arms in surrender. “I’ve come to help Émi…”
“Nor, it’s alright, Tsam is Amin’s son.”
Slowly, she places the knife back on the counter. Then Tsam steps into the room and pulls me to him. His warmth sends a wave of calm from my head all the way to my toes and I sigh as he releases me. Now he’s here, I feel certain everything will be alright.
Nor is watching us. “How’d you find us?” she asks.
“I was worried so I followed Émi home from The Emerald,” Tsam says. “I saw what happened in the square. When Émi… I saw you run to the back of the platform and I followed you.”
Nor frowns and sucks in her cheeks, but doesn’t challenge him any further. “Anyone else follow us?”
Tsam shakes his head. “No, I was careful. Just me.”
“Well then,” she says. “What do we do now?”
Nor paces up and down her tiny kitchen. “When Hedge gets home, we’ll tell him about the magick, but I’m sure he saw it – everyone saw it! He’ll help us rally the Reds… the ones who still remember the old ways. There’s plenty of us, don’t you worry.”
She is rambling and Tsam is watching her carefully. The front door clicks and Nor stops pacing.
“Noreen? That you? You see it? Call me an old fool but it looked like Émi up there! The Cadets are…” The door between the kitchen and living room swings open to reveal Nor’s wiry husband, Hedge. When he sees us, the cigarette falls from his mouth. Nor scoops up the butt and stubs it into a sooty ashtray next to the sink.
Hedge points at me. “It was you, wasn’t it?” He turns to Nor. “What were you thinking? Bringing her here!”
Nor grabs her husband’s hand. “Hedge, listen. Émi’s going to help us.”
Hedge is fumbling in his pocket for another cigarette, glowering at Tsam’s gold sash. “What are you talking about? She has to go, Nor. She can’t be here.” When he finishes he turns to me and adds, “Sorry, Émi.”
“No, no, you don’t understand.” Nor speaks quickly. “Think about it. Émi has magick. Real magick.” Nor nods, waiting for Hedge to catch up with her.
Hedge stops looking for his cigarette and nods back at his wife. Understanding lights up his eyes. “If she…”
“Exactly! Émi’s the chance we’ve been waiting for. She can help us. She can help us destroy the wall, break free of the Council.”
Hedge slaps his thigh. “By The Four Cities, you’re right.” He turns to me. “Émi, you’ll do it? You’ll help us?”
They are both staring at me. I am utterly speechless. The powerful burning energy I felt in the square has subsided and I feel nothing other than normal.
“I want to, of course,” I begin to say.
Tsam interrupts me. “Sorry, Émi, but you can’t.”
Nor and Hedge start bombarding him with what do you mean and of course she can and it’s our only chance, we’ve waited years for this… But Tsam shakes his head. “You don’t understand.”
“And you do?” Nor asks, squaring up to him in the centre of the room.
“I do, yes.”
“Tsam?” I ask him. “What are you talking about?”
Tsam steps around Nor’s bulky frame and bobs down so he’s kneeling in front of me. “Émi, I need to tell you something about your powers, and about your past.”
I shake my head and almost laugh, because how could Tsam – the scholar from the Gold Quarter – possibly know anything about this? But the sober look on his face squashes the laugh before it’s even halfway up my throat.
“Perhaps we could all…” Tsam gestures towards the living room. He doesn’t wait for Nor and Hedge to agree before he leads me through. He tells us to stand by the window. The shutters are closed and the lamps above the fireplace paint flickering shadows on the walls. Now Tsam is the one pacing. He mutters something under his breath. Then he stops and begins to remove his shirt.
“Woah there, boy. What are you doing?” says Hedge, waving his hands in protest.
Tsam does’t respond, simply unties his gold sash and shrugs off his shirt to reveal a grey vest and a silvery tattoo on his left forearm. He drapes the sash and the shirt over the arm of Nor’s threadbare sofa and, as he does, I notice two large holes in the back of his vest. Tsam takes a small glass vial from his pocket, unscrews its cap and drinks down the contents in one big gulp. He smacks his lips, as if the taste is rancid, and scrapes his fingers through his hair.
“Émi,” he says, “my father was supposed to be here to help me explain this to you. I’m sorry if I’m doing it wrong.”
“Doing what? Tsam, what are you talking about?”
“The best way I can think of is to show you.” Before anyone can say another word, he lurches toward me as if someone has kicked the back of his knees. I move to help him but Nor holds on to me. Slowly, Tsam swivels on the spot, presenting his back to us.
That’s when I see it.
Beneath the holes in his vest, his skin writhes, undulating. As though there’s a hoard of wriggling insects beneath the surface of his skin.
Tsam turns back around to face us. The colour has drained from his face. He bends over to grip his knees, biting his lip so hard that it draws blood. A ripping, stretching, tearing sound echoes through the room and a wave of nausea washes over me – the sound is coming from the skin on Tsam’s back.
Nor’s hand flies up to her mouth and Hedge juts his arm protectively in front of her. Tsam looks up. His eyes flash a brilliant shade of silver. He releases a stifled groan, then stretches out his arms.
Nor whispers, “He can’t be…” Hedge’s arm falls away.
A pair of enormous shimmering wings are unfolding from Tsam’s back, growing larger and larger until they fill the entire room. Tsam shrugs his shoulders and the feathers flatten neatly into place. He looks taller, brighter, completely out of place. Nor and Hedge drop to their knees but I am unable to move. I am studying Tsam’s eyes, his arms. Those wings.
“You’re…”
Tsam gives a gentle ruffle of his feathers. His eyes are still silver.
“Émi,” he says at last.“Your father… He was right.”
Seven
“You’re a Watcher…” I breathe. Tsam dips his head in acknowledgement, and tucks his wings in close to his sides. “But, how?”
He doesn’t have chance to answer me because Nor and Hedge have gathered themselves and now are grasping his hands. “You’ve come to help us, we knew you would.” Their eyes are alight with hope.
Tsam gently helps them to their feet and directs them towards the sofa.
“I’m sorry,” he says, “I’m afraid it’s not that easy.” Tsam plants his hands on my shoulders. “Émi, we don’t have much time. We have to get you out of Nhatu. It was always the plan, but what happened in the square today… Well, it’s squeezed our timeline a little.”
“Plan?”
Again, Tsam drags a hand through his hair. “Nor is right, Émi. You have magick. But there’s a reason. This gift is no accident.”
“Tsam, tell me…”
“You know the history of The Four Cities. You know that Mahg tried to steal the Fire Stone?”
“Yes.”
“Seventeen years ago, he attacked Abilene. He tried, but failed to take the Stone. After that, the Elders summoned a sorcerer to divide it, to keep it safe…”
From the sofa, Hedge interjects, “We know all this…”
Tsam ignores him. “You know that each of The Four Cities was given a piece of the Stone?”
“Yes.”
“And you know that there was one more piece, a piece that was hidden…”
“Yes!” I’m beginning to get impatient now.
“Well, that piece was different from all the rest. To deceive Mahg, and make sure it was never found, the sorcerer moulded it into human form. Two humans, actually. Girls…” He pauses. “Sisters.”
Tsam looks at me as if I should understand by now, but I don’t. He takes my hand.
“You’re one of those sisters, Émi. My father brought you here when you were a baby. He left you on your parents’ doorstep and they took you in. But he stayed to watch over you. So did I.”
From the sofa, Nor mutters, “Oh my…”
Hedge releases a deep whistle.
I hear myself laugh. Surely, Tsam is mistaken. “Tsam, I don’t have a sister. My parents didn’t find me. They told me about the night I was born. There was a storm, they couldn’t get to the hospital, they…” I trail off. My thoughts are tripping over one another in the race to keep up. “They lied?” Even as the words leave my mouth, I know the answer.
Tsam is watching me. His eyes aren’t silver anymore; they’re blue again, but it’s a sparkling blue that reminds me of skies and water and peace. He blinks. The tips of his wings twitch.
Fire Lines Page 6