Divided (Book Five) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series)

by Humphrey - D'aigle, Rachel

  Meghan also could not help but think that Juliska’s story was much like her own. Joining the Svoda when she was just thirteen, finding out she was a Firemancerjust a short while later, and then being taken into apprenticeship by Juliska.

  “Sorry deary,” a woman spoke, interrupting her train of thought. “Closing up for the night.”

  “Oh, yeah. Sure, of course,” said Meghan. “I’ll just put these away and be on my way.”

  “Closing us down nearly every day. Good to see a student with such drive.”

  Meghan just smiled weakly and returned her books to the shelf. She collected her belongings and left the library, deep in thought as she walked toward home.

  Leaves were starting to turn on the maples and birches that dotted the island, in between the large blots of green pine trees. Hints of chill made her shiver. She was not looking forward to a long, cold winter on this island.

  She gasped, sucking in the chilled air, when someone came up behind her, calling her name unexpectedly.

  “Sorry,” said the voice of Ivan Crane. “Didn’t mean to startle you.” He sounded honestly apologetic.

  “It’s okay. Just feel a little jumpy lately.”

  He nodded as if this was somehow perfectly acceptable. “Listen,” he pulled her off to the side, so they were out of sight of any prying eyes. “You will probably run into him at some point, but you should know, Bird is here on the island.”

  “Really?” Somehow, this knowledge relieved some of her anxiety.

  “Yes, but that’s not all.” Ivan lowered his voice. “He’s stuck here. Security is tighter than I’ve ever seen it. He cannot get off the island without being caught. The Balaton, on orders from Banon Blackwell, have installed some kind of protective barrier over the island. Nothing living can get in or out without authorization.”

  “What can we do?” Meghan asked him worriedly.

  “Not much, I'm afraid,” he replied matter-of-factly. “Just keep an eye out for him. We’re his only protection here.”

  Meghan eyed Ivan suspiciously. “Why is it that you care all of a sudden?” she blurted out. But she got no answer, because as if he had been wished to the scene, Bird suddenly swooshed onto a nearby tree limb. He nodded toward Meghan and then Ivan.

  “I’m sorry you're stuck here,” mouthed Meghan.

  “The Balaton will be searching for anything out of the ordinary. Now that we are back on the island, our old magical tracking system is back up and running. Properly,” he added. “They can track any magic used, although, I'm not sure if he were to transform if that would raise any alarms. But I am going to look into it.”

  “Well, I’ll leave my window cracked open,” said Meghan. “If you ever need to crash, eat or whatever...” she wasn’t sure what Bird would need. But he nodded his beak as if saying thanks, and then flew away into the woods.

  “It is nearly curfew,” reminded Ivan, his tone more serious.

  “Right. Yeah, guess I’d better get going.”

  To her surprise and annoyance, Ivan walked alongside her.

  “So, how’s your search coming? For your mother’s treasure?” she asked him, seeing as he wasn’t going to leave her alone.

  Ivan let out an exasperated breath.

  “That good?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

  “Honestly, I was hoping that once we were here on the island, I would find something. Anything. Some clue as to what she meant by a treasure close to my heart. I went through all our old belongings… the Mochries put all my family’s old things into storage, in case I wanted them later. But I found nothing.”

  “That was nice of them to save all that stuff for you.”

  “Actually, yes it was. I never thought I’d want to go through any of it. There were pictures I had not seen since I was four. Oddly enough, seeing my mother's face, I thought for a strange moment that I was looking at…” he had turned to look at Meghan but stopped when interrupted by an announcement echoing through the air.

  “This is your thirty minute curfew warning.” The voice wavered then dissipated.

  Meghan, startled again, dropped her bag. When she bent over to pick it up, she felt the stinging prick of a thorn from her locket. A sudden inspiration hit. “Ivan, maybe your mother wasn't being metaphorical when she spoke of a treasure close to her heart.”

  He looked at her funny as if to say, what do you mean?

  “What if she meant something more literal? Like something she wore that would have been close to her heart. Like a necklace or locket. I just thought of it, because I wear a locket that belonged to my own mother.” She tapped her chest, “and it’s in front of my heart.”

  Ivan looked perplexed. “Um. I can’t believe I never thought of that. That’s actually a brilliant deduction,” he added with quiet appraisal. He then stopped and threw his hands up in the air.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “Now, I really can't believe I never thought of it. My dad, right after my mom died, I heard him tell the Balaton about a piece of jewelry that had been stolen from her. I don’t know if it was a necklace, but it’s definitely worth checking into.”

  “Well, to your credit, Ivan, you were just a little kid at the time. You can’t remember everything.”

  He shook his head as if chastising himself. “If you're right though, I'm one step closer, minus the issue of it being stolen of course. Um... thank you, Meghan,” he added in a tone that was trying overly hard to be nice. He proceeded to stand and stare at her, silently, as if suddenly nervous to speak.

  Meghan felt the skin on her face turn flush. She swallowed, her throat feeling extra long, saying, “One step at a time, I guess, Ivan.”

  Ivan then looked away and kept walking. They were nearly at the home of Juliska Blackwell, where Meghan now resided full time. She turned toward the walkway leading to a large porch, which wrapped around the house like a square, wooden skirt.

  “I suppose you're right,” Ivan agreed after a minute. “If anything, it’s definitely more than I had to go on a few minutes ago...”

  Meghan spun around. “What on earth is wrong with you today?”

  He appeared taken aback and unable to speak.

  “Being all nice and stuff. To me. To Bird. Like you suddenly care…” she shot back in a loud whisper.

  He just looked at her, no words coming out of his mouth.

  Meghan noticed Juliska standing on her bedroom balcony, waving down to them. She beamed upon seeing Meghan and Ivan talking.

  He nodded at Juliska and then looked back at Meghan. He set his jaw and then left without explanation.

  Meghan, frustrated, stomped up the stairs, across the porch and into the house, where Juliska was just stepping down the spiral staircase from upstairs.

  “Another long school day I see,” she noted upon seeing Meghan.

  “Yeah. Loads of schoolwork.”

  “Ivan helping you?” Juliska prodded.

  “Ivan? Um... no,” she answered, adding under her breath, “Just being his usual obnoxious self.”

  “Ah, well, I'm sure he would help if you needed it.”

  “Won't be asking,” insisted Meghan.

  Juliska shrugged. “And not to add to your work load, but I wanted to squeeze in a Firemancy lesson tonight, too. I won’t have any time over the next few days since we’re so busy prepping for the arrival of the next group.”

  “Okay. I’ll just go put all my stuff away.” Meghan really just wanted to hide all of her research on Juliska. Her hand shook a little as she grabbed the staircase banister.

  “Oh, we’ll have supper before the lesson,” Juliska added. “I’ll see you in the dining room.”

  Meghan let out a breath she'd unknowingly been holding in since walking into the house.

  Upon arriving into her room, Nona awakened from a nap and set into stretching and licking her paws. Meghan tussled the tuft of white hair on Nona’s head to say hello. The catawitch purred a content reply.

  “Going for dinner, you w
ant me to bring you back anything?” asked Meghan.

  Nona sleepily nodded no. “I’ve had my fill today.” She smacked her lips together, which then spread into a crafty grin.

  “I so don’t want to know any more,” laughed Meghan. “See you in a while. Doing a lesson after supper.” Nona just went happily back into napping mode.

  During dinner, which consisted of a hearty root vegetable stew and buttered ployes, Juliska again asked Meghan about school. “So what are we learning this week?”

  “Mostly a lot of history,” Meghan lied. Truth be told, she had been doing so much research on her own, she couldn’t even remember what they had been learning in school.

  “You’re distant tonight,” Juliska noted, catching Meghan off guard. “I hate this. I’m sorry, Meghan, I may be new at this parenting thing, but I can see something is bothering you.”

  Meghan crammed another bite of food into her mouth, motioning sorry, can’t speak.

  “Is it your brother again?” Juliska asked, her voice turning sour. “I’m sorry. I truly am, but your brother chose his own path. It cannot be helped now.”

  Meghan swallowed, her food clumping tightly in her throat, still not replying to Juliska.

  “And there! I’ve done it again. I was never much good with the whole sibling thing, and clearly even worse at parenting.”

  Meghan thought it odd that the subject of her siblings would come up, after she’d just read and written about them in her journal. But she moved beyond this and tried to act interested in the conversation, careful not to blurt out the words, I think you're my mother...

  “I’m sorry,” Meghan apologized. “It just feels a bit like starting over, again. New place. New people. Back to School. Firemancy, and yes, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about my brother, whatever he’s done.”

  Juliska nodded understandingly.

  “I didn’t know you had any siblings,” Meghan added, hoping Juliska would elaborate.

  “Yes. Four. A much younger brother and sister, and a much older brother and sister. Although not related by blood. I, very much like you, came into the lives of the Svoda as a young girl. When they found me and brought me to the island, I overheard that it had been over fifty years since a magical child had been discovered, as most magicals already lived here on the island. History tells of the time when the Svoda first came to the island, although, perhaps you have already learned this in class?”

  “Um, actually, I don't think we've covered this yet.”

  “Ah, good, I didn't want to bore you with repeat history lessons.”

  “No, not at all. I actually find it, um, interesting.” She spoke as if somehow embarrassed by wanting to learn history.

  Juliska let a short laugh slip out and then continued. “Where was I then... ah yes... after the Svoda first came here, they knew there were still magical stragglers out in the world. Many still in hiding, seeking a place like this to call home. They set up a tracing system to track down these magicals, and ask them to join us here. After awhile, the tracing system found fewer and fewer magical blips. And then years would pass with just the occasional blip, like when they found me.”

  “So they traced your magic? That's how they found you and brought you here?” asked Meghan.

  “Yes. I don't even remember using magic. For some reason, I don’t have any memories of my time before being rescued by the Svoda. I have always hoped that perhaps one day some of these memories would come back to me, but it’s as if they have been wiped clean out of my head.”

  Meghan shook her head in despondently. “That must be hard, not knowing where you came from.”

  “I can’t deny I don’t wonder about it, but I’ve put it behind me. The future is my life now,” Juliska spoke with certainty. Meghan wondered if she could do the same? Put her past behind her and move forward, living in acceptance of who she now was. A Firemancer , descended from a magical family that she knew nothing about.

  Meghan wanted to keep the conversation going. “So you lived with another family when you came here then?”

  “Yes, the Cobb family. Nice folk. Meant well. I didn’t fit into their mold. Let’s just say I liked to get into a little trouble.” Juliska winked.

  Meghan rolled her eyes in bemused response, wondering if she got her own trouble-making ways from Juliska? “Um, Cobb,” Meghan asked after a moment. “Do you mean like Amelia Cobb? I remember reading about her in the Jackal Lantern. She is the leader of the banished Svoda, right?” Meghan hoped she wasn’t pressing her luck asking this question.

  Juliska sighed. “One and the same. My eldest sister. Clearly, we did not see eye to eye.” Juliska voice sounded strained, as if struggling to maintain cordiality.

  “Did you remain friends with the rest of the Cobbs?”

  “It’s hard to explain, a very complicated story, but the short of it is, once I was deemed a Firemancer and started my apprenticeship, at sixteen, they were not really my family anymore.”

  “Oh, that’s a shame.”

  “Yes, but, one cannot choose one’s family, can we?” Juliska stood to leave as she was finished eating. “You know, I hate to, but let’s postpone your lesson for a few days. It seems like you’ve got more than enough school work already and I should probably get some more work done myself.”

  “Actually, yeah, I do have a lot to do,” agreed Meghan, afraid she had pushed too far for information.

  “Goodnight then,” Juliska spoke, their conversation abruptly ended.

  Meghan waited for her to leave and then darted up to her room. She knew this info about the Cobb family would not help her cause -of finding out if Juliska ever had any children- but it made her realize just how little she knew about the Svoda or Juliska Blackwell.

  Meghan walked over to her bed and fell exhaustively backwards, onto it. Too exhausted to do any schoolwork. She decided to snuggle up with Nona and sleep, planning to rise early the next morning to finish her assignments.

  She started dozing in minutes. A voice filtered into her mind and suddenly she was wide-awake. “Colin?” she asked hastily, instantly realizing the voice was not the voice she longed to hear, but rather of the boy named Colby. She did not try to speak to him again, since it appeared he did not notice she was eavesdropping.

  She listened intently though, as she was also curious to find out more about this boy, and who he was. The only word she heard clearly though, was Fazendiin. It was as if Colby was trying to block her, but had let his guard down for just a short moment. After hearing this one word his voice vanished.

  She sat up and grabbed her journal, writing down the name. Where had she heard it before? It sounded familiar. “Stupid brain!” she belittled. “If Colin were here…” she did not finish.

  Nona pawed her face gently. “Don’t do this to yourself, it will not help fix anything.”

  Meghan nudged Nona’s face under her chin and lay back down.

  Sleep came quickly. And so did morning.

  Meghan awoke to Nona tapping her face.

  “Go away,” Meghan grumbled.

  “It’s morning and you have schoolwork to finish.”

  Meghan gurgled a few choice words and then got up, dressed, and finished the assignments that needed to be turned in that day during school. She hastily went down to breakfast, which was served promptly at eight, which was followed by the start of school at nine.

  Meghan ate quickly, sucking down her juice, hoping to squeeze a few minutes in the library before classes started. Juliska paid no attention, as Pantin Hollee had joined them and they were discussing meetings for the day. Things were getting crazy as the last of the preparations were arranged for the next group’s return. Meghan had not been paying attention to their conversation, so when it seemed they were laughing at something and Juliska asked her a question, Meghan had to apologize and ask her to repeat it.

  “I was just wondering,” asked Juliska in a humorous tone, “if you've just so happened to have any useful visions, regarding the
upcoming arrival?”

  “Oh, sorry. No,” replied Meghan. Ever since her faked vision, about the field of pyres, Juliska often hoped that Meghan would have more timely visions regarding upcoming events.

  “Not to fret,” Juliska replied. “I think we have everything covered. Balaton to fight off any Scratchers, enchantments to hopefully shield us from the Grosvenor,” Juliska said, as if to stave off any concerns Meghan might have, when in truth, the arrival was the last thing on her mind.

  “Grosvenor,” Meghan suddenly whispered, dropping her spoon.

  “Sorry, what?” asked Juliska.

  “Oh, um sorry, nothing. Just remembered something I’d been trying to remember all night, for a school assignment.”

  “Well, glad to help jog your memory,” said Juliska. She wore a strange smile as she spoke.

  Meghan made her excuses and left.

  Two things were prominent in her thoughts as she scurried away.

  One: she remembered where the name Fazendiin came from. Jurekai Fazendiin was the creator of the Grosvenor. But what this had to do with the boy, Colby, she had no idea.

  And two: was it coincidence that Juliska, again, just so happened to bring up the very subject she was trying to think on? She swept the thought away, disavowing it as coincidence, and nothing more.

  She hastened toward the school, today Nona tagging alongside. Upon arrival, two Balaton popped out of nowhere, running toward a dust storm of kicking feet and swinging fists. It looked like a couple of school boys had gotten into a scuffle. In seconds, the boys were split apart.

  When the dust settled, Meghan looked on in shock. Jae Mochrie! In a fight!

  She tried to make eye contact with him but he pretended not to see her. His hair dangled in front of his face, hiding his eyes, but she saw what looked like a cut on his lip. She started to walk toward him but stopped when someone else jumped in front of him, glaring.

  “Don’t start, Darcy,” Jae spit out.

  She stood, arms folded, as if scolding him. “You need to be more careful, Jae.”

  “Whatever,” he replied hotly.

  Darcy grabbed him by the arm, which Jae yanked away.

  “Ah, c’mon, Jae. I was only pokin’ fun,” Darcy slung at him. He stopped, sighed, and Meghan watched as Jae’s scowl turned into a chilling grin. Darcy sauntered away and much to Meghan's surprise, Jae trotted along after her, away from the school.