by C. Elizabeth
It was dinnertime before Nathanael finally knocked on our door, not to mention an instant relief. I threw myself at him. “How are you?”
Laughing, he put me on my feet. “I’m good.”
“How did it go? Did you talk to your dad?”
The small smile that was on his face slowly faded and his body stiffened. “Mm-hm,” he managed.
The air shifted immediately, giving a warning not to push it, but of course, I did, trying to make light of it. “It must have gone well, since you’re still with us.” Oops! It would have been wise to pay attention to the warning.
A snarl filled the front entryway as he yanked his hands from mine. “You think that’s funny?” he hollered, throwing me a look that was nothing short of outrage. His voice got louder. “I told you he wouldn’t do anything there! He would wait to kill me in front of Mora!”
“Nathanael!” The tears were instant.
Sighing, he looked up behind me. It was obvious others were present. He put his hands up palm forward. “I’m sorry. It was a trying day today. I apologize.” Then he focused on me by kissing my hand.
“I’m sorry," he said once more. "It was just the way you said it, like it was a joke.”
I stuttered, “I didn’t...mean it...like that.”
His finger caressed my cheek. “I know. It went better than I anticipated. He seemed happy I knew about her, though he continued to insist Mora left on her own accord because she couldn’t stand the fact we were part Pyre.”
His features were disheartened as he added, “And he insisted she never once tried to see us, nor did he threaten to kill me.”
“I don’t believe that!” I blurted.
What he actually believed, I couldn’t tell.
Continuing with a smile, he added, “He enlightened me to the fact that he didn’t tell us about Mora and her donum because as we were growing up, he could see the donum we received from him were incredibly powerful. There was no need for us to know, constantly being reminded our mother didn’t want us...”
It was something I couldn’t believe, but then again, Mr. Braxton had given them a fairly normal childhood. Outside the training and some not so nice tasks, he did seem to love his sons. I saw it in him the first time we met.
“Now he wants us to study and train to strengthen any new donums we may possess.”
“Do you believe what he says about your mom? That she never tried to contact you?”
He shrugged, not willing, at that point anyway, to reveal what he was thinking.
~ * ~
Nathanael was invited for dinner and during it, told everyone what had transpired, including a part he conveniently left out when we were alone: how often his dad wanted him home to train with his brothers, pretty much leaving little, if no time, to train with me.
It upset me. I wasn’t a fighter to begin with, and Nathanael had trained his whole life. I was the one who needed the help. Shutting away my feelings, I asked simple questions. “How are we going to learn to fight together if we don’t train together?”
“I’ll have some time with you, Saydi. This is something I have to do.” Whether I misinterpreted it or not, it seemed very cold the way he said it, not to mention it felt like he was looking forward to it.
Dad shoveled a fork full of food into his mouth. “Nathanael’s right, Saydi. Besides, he’ll be able to inform us of any new discoveries.”
“We have a couple of hours tonight. Let’s get some training in now,” Nathanael suggested, simply humoring me.
Everyone took his side, turning my already alone feeling into a complete abandonment issue. It was maddening. I shoved away from the table, grabbed my plate and packed it in the dishwasher. “No thanks, it’s too cold out. I’m going to my room.” Departing, I didn’t even look at them.
Nathanael was in the hall doorway by the time I got there. His eyes were narrowed and with a not so loving tone, said, “Saydi, we only have limited time. Don’t be like this.”
My so-called control disappeared and I flared, “Whose fault is that? What? Am I supposed to do it at your convenience?”
The green/blue in his eyes turned almost black. “Can I speak with you privately...outside?” It really wasn’t a question.
Grabbing my jacket, he shoved it at me, then briskly escorted me out the back door by my arm. He spun to face me, but not before he blocked his emotions. “Why are you being like that?” he seethed, throwing his hand out toward the house.
“Because between your work, and now your training, I’m never going to see you!”
His breathing got heavier with each inhale and exhale. “Oh! Well of course it would be about you!” he fired.
Discharging a nasty look, I threw back, “And just what is that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what it means! I’m playing both sides of the fence to be with you and all you care about is how it’s affecting you!”
“That’s not true!”
It was calm, a dangerous calm. “Oh, isn’t it?” Then came the storm. “Not once did you ask how I felt about having to teach my brothers! Not once have you asked how I felt about having to train my brothers to eventually fight me and quite possibly to the death!” Putting his face an inch away from mine, he added, “Not once!”
What a bunch of crap! After all, I had tried to talk to him a couple of times. “You never want to talk about it and if I do bring it up, it makes you mad!”
“All you care about is ‘when is Saydi going to get what she wants’?”.
That comment had my blood boiling. “Fine! Then I won’t want you. Get out!”
He gestured out toward the yard. “No! We have to train!”
Our eyes locked in a furious hold, neither willing to back down.
Thirty-seven
A distinct creak and groan from a solid mass came from behind me. It resisted the rising water that lay underneath it, then it snapped as it let go, shattering into a million pieces. Nathanael threw his arms up over his face and bent down while small shards of ice pelted against his body.
Gasping I took a step forward. “Are you all...?”
Slowly he pulled his head up; there was a very menacing half grin on his face, but there was also a definite twinkle in his eyes. He gradually brought himself back up to the upright position, never taking his green/blues off me.
“Are you okay? What was that?” I asked.
The grin slowly receded, while he eyed me. “I’m okay,” he said slowly. “How did you do that?”
“I didn’t do it.”
He nodded. “Yes, you did.”
Why was he picking a fight again? “No, I didn’t! You saw my hands. Nothing moved.”
With a jerk, his arms were in the air and the sound of water whooshed up from behind me. Our eyes stayed locked, then the Pue snaked quickly through the trees and houses. The pink floating mine monster moved stealthily as it picked up speed.
My mind was secure on the target—Nathanael.
The Pue encircled the water, twisting it up then it veered around me and went straight for him.
In one quick rotation of his hands, the water let go and plunged down, soaking the ground all around him. The Pue latched onto my hands for the first time that night, awaiting a command.
Our heavy breath tumbled on the air while we took in exactly what happened.
Nathanael disappeared. I whirled around to see his hand above the embers of the fire. Within a second, a spark flew up. He grabbed it and wheeled around.
No! Don’t throw fire at me, I haven’t learned much! My mind screamed.
Pulling his arm back, he rolled his fist over his head, and opening his fingers he discharged the spark at me...then stopped. The spark danced on the palm of his hand.
“Make it a flame,” he said.
Relief filled my lungs and though the annoyance still lingered, I wanted to show off what André taught me. I stepped closer and gently blew from a few feet away.
Nathanael cupped his hand over the spark. “No
Saydi, use your wind.”
Was he nuts? “I haven’t done that yet!”
The smile on his face encouraged me. “You can do it. Concentrate. Gauge the difference between the air you hold in your hand and your breath. Make the calculation.”
My comet tail rippled on the end of my hands, while I attempted to decipher the amount required without lighting the whole back yard and Nathanael on fire. Chewing on my lower lip, I looked to him.
He nodded once confidently.
With a small tap of my finger, a pinhead size drop of the Pue rolled over to his hand and grazed his palm, igniting the spark into a small flame. I jumped up and squealed, then quickly got control of myself.
He laughed. “Well done! Now make it bigger.”
It was exciting. It thrilled me being able to do it. Repeating my actions with a baseball-sized Pue, the flame grew to the size of a basketball hovering over his hand. “Good, now make it smaller.”
Shaking my head hard. “I don’t know how to yet. We’ve only done making it bigger.”
“What makes fire smaller?” he asked.
Shrugging. “I don’t know, less wood, less air.”
“Think, Saydi.”
“I don’t know!”
He glanced over to the pool.
“That would put it out.” I shook my head at his silliness.
He rolled his eyes. “Think. How many forest fires start because someone didn’t use enough water.”
“Ohh!” I smiled big. He shook his head at my daftness.
It was back to figuring out size versus amounts, looking from the pool to the fire, and back again. Then with the estimate firmly in my head, a half cup of water was commanded to leave the pool and when I turned...Nathanael shook his head. I slammed my hands to my side and the water splashed to the ground.
“Well, how much then?”
Not one word came from him. He waited.
Nathanael was being so patient with me while he held the world on his shoulders. And there I was, acting like a big baby, throwing my mini-temper tantrums.
I tried again, but only used a quarter cup, and when I turned around he was smiling. With a flip of my finger, the water rolled through the air and landed on the fire. It smoked and sputtered until it shriveled to the size of a baseball.
I grinned.
“Good,” he said proudly. “Now stop me from spreading it, but also stop what is here from burning my clothes.”
“Huh?”
“When we are in battle, we’ll be faced with fire that will spread quickly, but also with many of our allies unaware the fire is on them because they are concentrating on another battle. That means you have to stop it from spreading and protect the ones that may be unaware they’re stepping into it.”
“I don’t like this, Nathanael. I’ll burn you,” I worried.
“No, you won’t.” He laughed.
In the hope he would forget what he wanted me to do, I asked, “Why do you have your emotions guarded so I can’t feel you?”
“You should too. I’ve blocked yours from me as well.”
Wrinkling my nose at the disconnected feeling it gave me, I persisted. “Why, though?”
A smile went clear across his face—he knew what I was doing. “You have to learn to do this with your own donum and master it. Then and only then will we be able to bring our emotions into it. Besides, it’s much too dangerous.”
It was confusing. “Again, I ask why?”
“Because, our emotions will result in one or both of us losing concentration and that’s not something we can afford, not to mention it would be a death waiting to happen. So until those too are mastered, we need to be guarded from one another.”
I continued with my hundred questions, thinking it was working. “How do we master those?”
There was a suspicious amount of patience on his part. “We learn to feel each other’s battle moves by the way our hearts are beating, the quickness or slowness of our breath. Through that, we’ll be able to read what the other is going to do next. Basically, we need to strip away the actual feelings, forcing us to focus on the physical results of those feelings.” He grinned.
“Oh. I think...”
The flame erupted... It was an ambush that panicked me, then with a long deep breath it all slowed completely down. The whole yard came into view in the back of my mind. Nathanael was my focus. At my command, the Pue dove into the pool, folding droplets of water into its flow, then it pressed forward, maneuvering between Nathanael and the fire. Each time the flame reached for him, it sizzled, causing it to retreat—a solid shield of water was his protection. At the same time, small wisps of air from the water-carrying wind penetrated the fireball’s middle, rotating in a circle. The fire fed on it and the flame continuously turned inward on itself, unable to spread.
It was so exciting, it came out in a gush. “It’s the Pue! Nathanael, the Pue does all three! It feeds the fire, it shields the fire and it stops it from spreading! The water diminishes it! Nathanael, I did it!”
Clenching his fist, he doused the fire and ran his fingers through his hair. He spoke like he was somewhere else. “Yes. You’ve done very well.”
Moving toward him, I questioned, “Nathanael?”
His eyes cleared and he smiled a really big smile. “Do you know what you just did?” Taking two huge strides he took hold of my hands and kissed me hard.
When he released I had to take a deep breath. “Whoa! No...what did I just...do?”
Scooping me up, he twirled me in the air. “You did that all with your mind. Your eyes were on me the whole time and your arms didn’t move. Your wind wasn’t attached to anything...Saydi, you can do it with your mind!”
The excitement burst through the seams for both of us; it meant if I could focus that well, the Pyre wouldn’t know when I was going to do something. He placed me back on the ground and I covered my mouth while tears ran down my face. “We have a secret weapon.”
Kissing my lips gently, he agreed, “Yes we do.”
He turned around and with a wave of his hand, the water jumped into the fire pit, putting it out. “Now we have two things to tell your parents,” he declared, taking my hand.
“Two things?”
“I have an invitation to extend to you and your family. Come on.”
“An invitation?”
“Mm-hm,” he mumbled, holding the door open for me.
Everyone was gathered in the living room when Nathanael cleared his throat. “First of all, Saydi did wonderfully! We learned she can command the wind and water with just her mind.” He beamed at me.
“We saw. That’s amazing, honey! Lots to work on now.” Dad was proud.
“That’s wonderful, honey,” Mom said.
Nathanael put his guard down on his emotions. It was like opening the door to a tornado. His heart was rushing with pride, making me want to cry the good kind of tears.
Then it tensed inside him. “Secondly, I have an invitation to extend to you all.” He glanced at Mora and said harshly, “Even to you.”
That little exchange indicated, at least to me, that he was leaning more toward his father’s side of the story...it made my heart hurt.
He quickly took a peek at my chest, then my eyes. Slowly he began again, focusing on the rest of them. “Father would like you to join us in our Christmas celebration. It’s along the same lines as a ball, very fancy, minus the dancing.”
We gasped and almost choked.
“Nathanael, that’s not a good idea,” Pearle stated.
“I knew you would say that. I can assure you it’s not a trap. The whole town will be there and father feels the same as you. He doesn’t want it out there any more than you do, because in his warped way...” He darted his eyes around the room. “If it becomes common knowledge, it would mean less Spirit Lights for him.”
He smiled a tight one. “See, he’s staying consistent. It’s all about him.”
Dad got to his feet. “Tell your father we thank him for
the invitation. We’ll consider it and get back to him.”
Everyone gasped again.
Mom freaked. “John!”
“It’s all right, Adina, it isn’t a trap, I was already privy to this information and it is exactly as Nathanael has said...a party.”
Nathanael looked as baffled as me. “How did you know it was coming?” he asked.
There was a crooked smile on Dad’s face. “That, son, is for the elders to know.”
“So basically, mind my own business.” Nathanael got it.
Dad pointed at him. “Bingo!”
Thirty-eight
Angie, Becky, Norma and I spent a good part of the next couple of days figuring out what we were going to wear to the Braxtons’ Christmas party. They all found something. I didn’t. Dad and the rest decided it would be best to attend, to show good faith, even though that wouldn’t get them too far with that bunch. Regardless, I was going, it was too important to Nathanael—he didn’t push it, but I could tell.
The Christmas spirit was in the air and everyone was bouncing about the party, including me and my girls. It was our day to make our Christmas lists, something we always did together at lunch time on the second to last day of school before Christmas break.
We all met at our normal table with pens and paper in hand, but somehow the situation deviated from the original plan in a completely different direction, because Angie and Becky seemed to be off in their own little worlds, not really into what we were supposed to be doing.
“Do you guys know what we want for Christmas?” I asked.
No response. Norma was staring at them, too.
“Hello!” My outburst didn’t even phase them.
Then Angie casually looked at me. “Saydi, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
She leaned in closer and whispered, “Has Nathanael said anything about how Job is feeling about me?”
It was a puzzling question she posed. “No, why?”