Wildfire: Book Two of the Everealm Series

by J. D. Wright

  “Not exactly. You see, the two kingdoms have been fighting with each other, on and off, for almost ten years now. When the wall was built, it seemed they would finally be at peace. But instead, they just moved their troops north and south, to the ends of the wall. Their fighting in the north is what caused the destruction of Windermere, the home of the pixies. I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose, but it happened nonetheless. And in the midst of it all, neither kingdom could be bothered to stop and assess the damage they’d caused.”

  The pixie on his shoulder began to make noises that sounded like little squeals and squeaks. Bree had no idea what he was saying, but Cyrus seemed to understand.

  “You speak pixie?” Bree asked.

  “Not very well,” he replied. “However, I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Hawley, here, so I am learning. He is the ruler of the pixies.”

  “I wasn’t aware the pixies had a ruler,” Rowan said, moving closer to Bree to avoid the pixies. They seemed to be uninterested in her at the moment.

  “They do. It is always the oldest living pixie, if I’m understanding correctly. All of the other pixies just follow their leader and do what he says. When they lost their homes, they needed a safe place to go. Father agreed to allow them to stay, for a short time.”

  “I’m not very familiar with pixies. What are they, exactly?” Sidonie spoke up, for the first time since they entered.

  “That’s understandable,” Cyrus said. “Pixies have kept to themselves for quite some time now. Ever since the fae decided to hide away in Anestas. The pixies had once aided the fairies. They had burrows all over the realm at one time, according to historical texts. However, after parting with the fae, they began to die off. The remaining pixies live in Windermere. Or at least they did until now.”

  “What will happen to them? Now that they have no homes?”

  “Well, we were just discussing this, actually. If you’ll follow me, we’ll go into the solar before we continue our conversation. This room is rather occupied at the moment…”

  “Finally,” Rowan muttered and practically ran from the room.

  They left the king in the hall while Cyrus led them to a room across from it. Guards waited outside the door. Nick was inside, sitting in a chair across from Celeste. They both stood when everyone entered and greeted them. Nick pulled Rowan into a tight hug and greeted his fellow knights. Then everyone found a seat in the large room filled with plush benches and chairs. A handful of servants entered, carrying trays of teas, biscuits, pastries, and dried meats, which Dagan accepted, happily. Alone in his room in Elmber, he decided to use his time to practice magic from a book he found in Cassandra’s shop. He was rather drained of energy today and could use a boost. He would probably have to cast a terra circle in the next day or so, to regain his full energy. However, food would suffice until then.

  After accepting a cup of tea, Cyrus began the tale of how he came to find the pixies. Rowan found some of the story hard to believe, but it was intriguing, nonetheless. Apparently, Cyrus had visited Carneath as he did on occasion, to see King Carneath, a longtime friend. While visiting, he learned of the fighting happening in Windermere and left to attempt to stop it before the pixies could be harmed. When he arrived, he discovered the pixies, hiding in the forest as their burrows in the hills had been burned and crushed by military cavalry. Staying in the forest was dangerous for the pixies, however, as the animals would surely hunt them down. Therefore, he had invited the pixies to come to Vale and secured a large carriage to carry them in.

  “Hawley is ill, I’m afraid. That is why the pixies are behaving so terribly,” Cyrus said.

  “Perhaps, he is just getting older,” Sidonie said, frowning. “The poor thing looks ready to keel over at any moment.”

  “While it’s true, age can certainly make one ill, pixies live to be twice the age of humans, usually,” Cicilly said. “Hawley isn’t old enough to die from age yet. They usually live longer than fairies, even.”

  “Too bad we don’t have one,” Dagan said, quietly, which drew curious eyes from around the room.

  “What do you mean?” Cyrus asked, taking a bite of his pastry filled with apricot jam.

  “I just mean it’s too bad we don’t have a fairy, to heal him and calm those beasts down.”

  Cyrus considered Dagan’s words as he sipped his tea. Then he sat the cup down, ran a hand over his short auburn beard, and sighed.

  “Perhaps, a fairy could heal Hawley.” He shook his head and frowned. “But we’d never be able to get close enough to Anestas to ask them. It’s too bad we don’t know one, personally.”

  Rowan felt Bree’s eyes darting over to him.

  “Rowan, you said you’ve met a fairy. In the library, at the winter ball, you mentioned meeting a fairy.”

  Rowan’s cheeks began to turn pink when she mentioned the library. It was their first time being intimate with each other since they had been separated, and the reunion had been heated. He shoved the memory aside now, however, because everyone in the room had their eyes on him. Meeting a fairy was a rare occurrence. He cleared his throat and sat up in his chair.

  “Yes. I rescued a fairy, once, from a band of thieves outside of Taten. They had her locked in a birdcage and wearing some sort of collar that allowed her to change forms, but she couldn’t escape. I know I shouldn’t have interfered, but I couldn’t stand to see the way they were treating her. So I waited until they fell asleep. Then I took the cage and returned her to Anestas.”

  “Do you remember her name? Perhaps, we can go to her. Ask her to return the favor, to save someone else. Or something else, since I guess the pixies aren’t human.” Bree was hopeful that this could work. She still had the tiny baby pixie in her arms, who was sleeping, soundly. The thought of them suffering at the hand of selfish kings and queens was appalling.

  “I don’t know about that. She never told me her name. Actually, she never said a word. She just pointed to Anestas on the map and I took her there. She made me stop outside of the valley. I never actually went in.”

  “But you could, though? Go to Anestas and speak with the fairies? Ask them to help?” Celeste asked.

  Rowan sat back in his chair and thought it over for a moment. He could go there, but there was no guarantee that they would even listen to him, or let him get close enough to speak to them. It was well known that the fairies set traps around their valley and laid a curse on anyone who dared to enter. On the other hand, if they didn’t want to entertain his request, perhaps they would at least show him mercy since he did save one of them. It couldn’t hurt to try.

  “I guess I could. Or at least, I could attempt to. I can’t say if they will listen to me, however, but I could try.”

  “How soon could you go?” Cyrus asked. “The snow should be finished before nightfall.”

  “I could leave in the morning. It’s just over a day’s ride from here if I cut through the forest instead of passing through Elmber. It wouldn’t take very long, traveling without a carriage.”

  “Marvelous!” Cyrus exclaimed. “Ah, speaking of magic healers. Leitis, my friend, please do come in and join us!”

  Sidonie turned to see an older man, standing in the doorway. He was wearing robes similar to Dagan’s, except his were dark purple, instead of blue. She could see streaks of gray in his brown hair and short beard when he got closer to them. He took a seat next to Cicilly. Bree had told her about Leitis during their time in the carriage. His father had been the royal wizard of Vale for many years, until his passing. Then Leitis took over, just before Cyrus was born. Cyrus was the oldest of King Thadine’s three children.

  Cicilly introduced the wizard to each of them, however, when she presented Sidonie, and he got a good look at her, he stiffened up. Sidonie began to blush because he was staring at her so intently that she thought his gaze would burn a hole through her head. Dagan noticed Leitis’ reaction to Sidonie and tried to interfere. Leitis obviously knew something was different
about her. Dagan expected him to be able to sense her magic, but the reaction from Vale’s wizard wasn’t promising, thus far.

  “Leitis, my queen tells me that you are a master at predicting the weather,” Dagan said, casually, trying to draw attention from Sid. “Have you made any predictions about this spring? Will it be similar to last year, perhaps?” Come on, old man. Look at me, not her!

  Mentioning the weather seemed to do the trick. Leitis looked over at Dagan and replied. Sidonie shifted in her chair, feeling rather uncomfortable. She glanced over at Dagan, who was on the edge of his seat, trying to keep the wizard’s attention while they discussed his predictions for spring and summer. Seriously? Is he really trying to distract the wizard with talk of the weather?

  Their conversations continued a while longer. Occasionally, Leitis would glance over to Sidonie, with sharp eyes, lingering for a moment, then moving on to someone else. When Dagan’s eyes met hers, she looked miserable, practically begging to be saved from this situation. Once a servant came in to alert everyone that supper was being served, the group dispersed, leaving Dagan and Sidonie alone.

  “Are you alright?” Dagan sat down beside her and took her hand in his. He completely forgot about their argument. It seemed ridiculous to linger on it just now.

  “I think so. What was that?” Her voice was shaky.

  “I honestly don’t know. I figured he might sense your magic, but…”

  “That wasn’t it. It was as if he had seen a ghost. Almost like I was familiar.”

  “You are familiar,” Leitis said as he came back into the room.

  Dagan instinctively stood and moved between the wizard and Sidonie. Leitis just stood there and smiled.

  “So you have found your mate, then?” he asked. But it wasn’t really a question. Dagan was learning that his connection to Sidonie was obvious to anyone with magical sensibilities.

  “I have,” Dagan replied, standing firm.

  “Well, congratulations, young man. Most wizards go their entire lives trying to find theirs. You’re lucky to have done so at such a young age. You shall have many years together.”

  Dagan was confused at the sudden change in Leitis’ demeanor. Just a short time before, he was staring Sidonie down like she was haunting him. Now he was congratulating them.

  “Thank you,” Dagan said, cautiously.

  Sidonie stood up, behind him, moving to the side so she could see Leitis.

  “You said I was familiar. Have we met before?” she asked.

  Leitis waved the thought away. “No, no, nothing of the sort. I just recognized you, is all. You look just like your mother, you know. When she was your age.”

  Sidonie could barely breathe.

  “Did you know her mother?” Dagan asked.

  “Personally? No. My father, however, did know Anassa. Very well, from what I gather. He wrote about her in his journals and kept portraits of her in his study.”

  Dagan and Sidonie were dumbfounded, unable to speak. Leitis laughed.

  “Follow me,” he said, then turned and left the room.

  “Sid… I don’t think I can move.”

  “Should we trust him?”

  Dagan looked over his shoulder at her. “Do we really have a choice? He obviously knows a lot more about her than we do. If we want answers…”

  She nodded then followed him into the hallway, where they found Leitis speaking with a Vale guard. The guard handed him a folded piece of parchment, bowed his head, and walked away. The wizard read the letter to himself, then handed it to Dagan.

  “Looks like you made it here just in time to leave again.”

  “What do you mean?” Sidonie asked, looking over Dagan’s shoulder to read.

  “It’s the summit. It’s happening in Taten, two days from now,” Dagan said and sighed as he handed the parchment back to Leitis.

  “That means our time will be cut short. Better get started then, aye?”

  They followed him down the hallway and halfway across the castle until he stopped in front of a large statue of an eagle and whispered something. Suddenly the statue began to slide to the left, revealing a stone archway behind it.

  Once inside, it was as if they had stepped into a magical hideaway within the castle. The floors were made of marble and the space was very open, reaching three floors up to the ceiling, which was enchanted to look like a midnight sky with twinkling stars. There was a large curved staircase on one side of the room. Looking up, Dagan could see the next floor above looked to be a library as the walls around the room were lined with books. The floor above that revealed a loft with a bed and other furniture.

  Dagan could hear Sidonie behind him, in awe of the wizard’s lair. It was quite the sight to Dagan as well, who was used to his grandfather’s smaller, and much less extravagant, space.

  “Come, come. Sit by the fire. I will fetch the journals.” Leitis took the staircase up to the second level and began to rummage through the shelves lined with books.

  Sidonie spun around in the middle of the room, completely beside herself in amazement. She had never seen anything like this before. Slowly she wandered over to the hearth, running her hands over the smooth stone by the fire. There were urns lining the mantle. Each one had a different colored jewel embedded into the side. Dagan noticed her studying the urns. He walked up and stood beside her.

  “I know this isn’t a good time, but I think we should talk about what happened…”

  Sidonie didn’t reply. She had almost forgotten that she was angry with him. Almost.

  “Sid, you can’t avoid it forever.”

  “I can try.” She turned away just as Leitis returned with a large stack of leather journals, bound with twine. He sat them down on a small table and took one from the top. This one was larger than the rest, with an emblem on the front of a tree on fire, embossed in silver. He untied the strap holding it closed and flipped it open.

  Sidonie nearly fainted at the sight of her mother, drawn onto the first page. The portrait was up close, showing only her head and neck. Anassa looked happy, smiling up from the drawing. Sid could feel her eyes beginning to tear up. She hadn’t seen her mother’s face since she was ten years old. Even then, her mother had never looked so youthful, so happy. Ever since Sidonie was born, her mother had been ill. It was strange for her to think of a time that her mother may have been young and healthy. She had simply never witnessed it, herself.

  Dagan didn’t need to ask. The expression on Sid’s face confirmed that the woman in the drawing was certainly her mother, Anassa. He had never seen a portrait of the queen and was a bit surprised to see how beautiful she was. From the stories he had heard and read, he always envisioned her to look like an old wench. Her reputation as an evil sorceress had survived time much better than any reputation of her beauty.

  Leitis watched Sidonie’s reaction as she turned away and stared into the fire. He gave Dagan a puzzled look.

  “Exactly, how much does she know about her mother?” he said.

  “Until a few months ago, she had no idea her mother even had magic, nor that she did. Her magic was somehow triggered when we met. I can’t really explain it…”

  “Oh. I think I can. You see, my father had a special relationship with Anassa. He was very much in love with her, before she… turned away from her family.” It was the only way he could think to describe what happened without upsetting Sidonie. “After the Shadow War, most everyone thought Anassa had died. Killed in the battle she had started, was the tale. But my father knew better. When he found her, she had been injured but was very much alive. The problem, however, was that she had no memory of who she was or what she had done. Whatever happened to her, it erased her memory and sealed her magic.”

  “So why did she disappear? Why didn’t she just start over, in a new life?” Dagan asked. Sid turned back around, curious about the story Leitis was telling.

  “Well, she did start over, you see. But she couldn’t live out
in the open. The entire realm knew who she was and what she had been involved in. The people she hurt would never have let her live in peace. So my father helped her to hide away, in the forest with the Sabras. He made her believe that magic could kill her and she should do everything she could to avoid anyone with magic. Her magic was sealed. She couldn’t use it. But it was still there, in her blood. That is why she lived so secluded, in the wilderness. But it didn’t always go according to plan. She left the forest twice, and both times she laid with a man and conceived a child. The first time, she had your sister. The second time, she had you.” He smiled at her, but she was still frowning.

  “And that’s why we hunted down anyone with magic,” Sidonie added. “The reason we lived in fear, wasn’t to protect Adelphie and me. It was to protect her.”

  “Yes, and that is likely why your magic did not develop, early in life. You lived far enough away from any magic so that it could not trigger yours.”

  “So when I met Dagan, my magic somehow… I don’t know… recognized his magic? Is that what happened?”

  “I can only speculate, but I believe so. My father mentions in his journals that he was continuously afraid for one of Anassa’s children to inherit her powers. Magic senses magic. If someone came close enough to the Sabras and detected your or your sister’s magic, they could discover your mother wasn’t really dead.”

  “Did she even want children?” Sidonie blurted without thinking.

  “That I do not know. According to the journals, your mother met your sister’s father in a neighboring village and only spent one night with him. She returned the next day. With your father, however, she was gone for months before she returned, which was only after my father tracked her down. I know it may sound harsh, but he couldn’t allow her to be found, for her safety. And she definitely shouldn’t have been sailing while pregnant.”

  “Sailing? Where was she going? Did she take my sister with her?”

  “No. She left her behind.”

  “She left her? Just abandoned her?” The memories she had of her mother were beginning to fade. The woman she was hearing about was nothing like she remembered.