IGNITE (The Heir Chronicles Book 1)

by Shretima Bahadur

  And I trust it.

  "I've never told this to anyone . . . and you also can't tell anyone . . ."

  After I am finished, he looks shocked, his face blank.

  When he stays silent for a little more than necessary, I shake him lightly and he comes out of his daze.

  "You're . . . Wow," are the only words which leave his mouth.

  "That's it? Two words?" I shout.

  "What do you want me to say? Huh? That I'm . . ." He searches for the correct word, but can't find them.

  "I . . . You're the only person who knows this, and please don't tell anyone else. Promise me," I say.

  "Okay."

  ___

  I return back to my room, feeling light. As if a heavy weight which I didn't even know existed has been lifted off my chest.

  As soon as I am back in my hallway, I see Adrian pacing outside my door.

  I walk up to him silently and tap him on the shoulder. He jumps a little but then seems relieved that it's me.

  "Don't you people ever sleep?" I ask him, taking his hand and leading him away from the door.

  "What do you mean?" He asks.

  "Well . . . I was just wandering, and I ran into Drake a few moments ago." I decide to not tell him the rendezvous to the dark world with Drake.

  "Oh," there is a strange deflation in his tone but I think that I only imagined it so I keep walking with him.

  "So, how are you keeping up?" He asks.

  I don't know why, but that sentence sends me over the edge.

  "Why does everyone asks me this question? I mean what to you want to hear? Huh? That I'm fine? Well guess what, I'm not. But I have to say that because I can't say that I'm a wreck. That I can't even breathe I am so buried in my grief that I can hardly come up to the surface. How do you think I feel after the death of the person I . . . I loved the most? How?" The last part is almost a whisper as my voice cracks and all the tears which I tried to hold back come gushing out.

  "I'm . . . sorry," his voice drips of uncertainty and he tries to wipe my tears but I slap his hand away.

  "I . . . just . . . I'm pretty shaken up. Maybe we can talk later?" I suggest, wiping my tears and straightening up.

  How should I tell him that it's more than the death of my father? That I'm worried that he or Drake or Altin or Mirella would get hurt because of me. That I'm hiding something from him which can destroy the peace and harmony of his country. That I'm scared that I will become the version of me who I saw in the vision which Nadora saw me. How?

  He walks me to my door and after "goodnight" and a bow, he leaves.

  I walk in and suddenly feel so tired and drained that I can barely stand and fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow.

  CHAPTER-31

  I wake up to warm sunlight filtering through the light cotton curtains.

  "Wake up," Mirella says, and for a minute, I am confused to hear my own voice telling me to get up.

  "No . . ." I whine as she rips off the sheets.

  "You have to. It's almost nine. You have to leave at nine-fifteen," she says and I sit up straight.

  Don't get me wrong, I do love sleeping till late but what I don't like is being 'fashionably late' so I hop off the bed and run straight into the bathroom.

  Mirella dresses me up in a peach-coloured gown with an empire waist and capped sleeves and curls my hair into an intricate braid.

  I am still in awe of her ability to hold herself composed in the midst of chaos. She is the real princess material. I was always the tough one, but she was the composed one, although I, instead of Leo or Mirella was supposed to ascend to the throne.

  "You're done," she says. I get up and she squeezes my shoulder and I give her a thankful smile.

  This morning, when I woke up, the first thing which came to my mind was that I have to apologise to Adrian for the way I shouted at him in the midst of the hallway. Of anything he, of all persons did not deserve to be scolded or held responsible for what happened.

  I take a deep breath and walk down the stairs and into the hallway leading to the front doors.

  Mirella will travel with the rest of the maids to which I had raised objections but she waved them away and agreed to do so.

  I open the glass double-doors and walk silently to the coach waiting for me merely a few metres away.

  "Good morning," Yashid says, looking gloomy. Guess the stay here has been depressing for all of us.

  I walk over to my seat. Well, not my seat. We can sit anywhere we want, and I have chose a secluded spot where I can sit by myself and mourn the loss of my dad.

  Well, now I don't cry, but still, I keep thinking what if things could've been different. What if we'd found someone else.

  What if.

  I have just settled down when Altin appears beside me and plops down with a thump!

  I look over at him. His eyes are heavy from exhaustion, though still glinting as though he is planning on some mischief. His eyes are red from lack of sleep. The reason I don't know.

  "Hi," he says.

  "Good morning," I reply and we sit in silence until the coach pulls out of the palace.

  ___

  Soon after he leaves, I rest my head by the window and watch the scenery outside pass by in a blur. I remember this place. I came here when I was a kid.

  Before I can think of anything else, a memory hits me. I remember when I was still in the darkened world and Nadora approached me, Drake threatened her and she said, "Oh, dear, maybe what I saw in your mind was true."

  What did she mean by that?

  I have no time to mull over my thoughts as Adrian enters the coach to do his mandatory rounds and his eyes immediately find mine and he makes his way over to me.

  I find it to be made easier for me to apologise to him for last night.

  "I'm sorry," we both say together to each other as soon as Adrian reaches me and we both try to muffle our laughs but it keeps on coming out in form of weird noises.

  He take place beside me and turns to me. "Why are you apologising to me?" We both once more ask together and this time, we don't try to muffle our laughs.

  "I'll answer first," I say, trying to stop this weird coincidence.

  "Okay," he says, still laughing.

  "I wanted to apologise to you for last night. When I went to sleep, I figured it wasn’t your fault. Whatever happened was . . . " I falter, trying to find my words.

  "Nobody's fault," he completes for me and I nod.

  "Okay, now you," I say and he takes in a deep breath.

  "I too, thought about the way you reacted, and how stupid it was of me to ask you what I did. I mean, shouldn't I have known what your immediate answer would be. And really, I'm not upset with you at all. I would've been worried of you hadn't reacted that way," he says and I breathe a sigh of relief.

  "So, what's the next step?" I ask him.

  "I don't know—" A guard approaches us and he stops mid-sentence. The guard gestures for him to come alone.

  He rises and goes to the guard. The walk in muffled tones, heads together, the guard explaining something using his hands.

  When Adrian returns, his expression is somewhat between surprise and bashfulness.

  "What was that all about?" I ask, nodding towards the guard, who has resumed his post.

  "It's weird. The Iréan royal family will join us for the Sky Lighting ceremony." His face scrunches up in concentration for I don't know what.

  The Sky Lighting ceremony is celebrated when a lunar eclipse and a meteor shower occur on the same night. It hasn't happened in centuries, or so the people tell me. Although, I was born on the night when a full moon and a meteor shower occurred together.

  "Open the prophecy," Adrian says and for a second, I stop for a second, contemplating what he just said, and upon processing what he said, I open the Prophecy and place it on my lap.

  As expected, words, etched in golden appear on its pages and Adrian looks over my shoulder to read what is written.

  W
hen a million starts fall from the sky,

  The chosen will realise the lie.

  When the dark overwhelms the light,

  The power reaches its might.

  "When is the Moon Lighting ceremony?" I ask, frozen at my seat.

  "Day after tomorrow," Adrian says, utterly confused.

  "She's going to come for us. Day after tomorrow," I say.

  CHAPTER-32

  A number of possibilities and risks pass through my mind, making horrifying images appear in my mind.

  "How come you can be so certain that—" I place my hand over his mouth, preventing him from speaking anymore as I just noticed one of the nobles, Aana approaching us.

  "Mhmmhuff," his voice comes in words which I think no one can understand.

  "Your majesty," She curtsies and looks up at Adrian with such admiration that I have a hard time controlling my laugh, but somehow, I do. He hits my foot with his own and then I realise that my hand is still clasped over his mouth. I hastily remove it and Adrian straightens up, walking away with Aana, turning around to tell me that he'll catch up with later.

  You're gonna have to, I think, but reply with a nod.

  I sit back and close my eyes, thinking of possible ways to defeat Nadora, or at least protect everyone.

  I stand up and find Drake, sitting with Rafelia. Again.

  I roll my eyes as she laughs at something that he just said which even he seems to think is not funny and touches his arm. All in a very flirty way.

  Gross.

  "Ahem!" I clear my throat and she springs away from him as if she just touched fire. And I can seriously make that happen, no kidding.

  "I think we have a problem," I say and settle down between them, wiggling to make space for myself.

  "So, here's what is happening," I say and they both lean forward in concern.

  ____

  "She's brilliant," Drake says after listening the whole discovery.

  "What?" I ask.

  He doesn't reply.

  "What do you mean?" I ask him.

  "She's picked a perfect day to execute her plan," he says, but I still can't understand what he's saying.

  "Uh," he drapes his arm over his face in fake-exhaustion. "Okay, so, listen to me carefully. On the night of the Moon-Lightning ceremony, the magical powers are at their peak. This means that you can use your powers that night very strongly." I nod.

  "There will certainly be a lot of people," I add.

  "Yep." He nods and I slump in my seat.

  "What are we gonna do?" I ask him.

  "We're gonna . . . fight, or die," he adds the last part with a careless smirk.

  This time, I hit him in the chest. Hard.

  "Ow!"

  "This is serious, Drake. Don't joke it off. People are going to die if we don't do anything," I say.

  "Okay, wait a minute, we?" He asks, looking at me with a smirk on his face.

  "Yeah, you, Adrian, Mirella and me. All of us. We have to find a way to protect ourselves. Protect others. Do you want what happened to your father happen to anyone else—" I clasp my hand over my mouth as soon as the words leave me.

  "What?" Rafelia says, Adrian, Altin and Yashid appearing out of thin air. Great.

  "Thanks a lot, big mouth," Drake gets up and leaves, a scowl on his face.

  "Drake! Wait!" I shout after him and run behind him, tailing him, with the others following me.

  Suddenly, a pain shoots through my head. "Aaah!" I say and collapse then and there.

  "Fena! Fena! What happened?" Altin says, confused.

  My vision gets blurry either I am fainting or I am crying. Former is more likely than the latter.

  I can vaguely make out Drake running back and one of the boys carrying me back to my room on the coach.

  And yes, there are private rooms for the nobles in the coach.

  I ball my fingers into a fist to stop them from shaking from the pain.

  "Fena! Fena!" The voices seem to come from the surface when I am drowning in the water, and, after a while, they stop.

  I am in the middle of a battleground. People are fighting with swords on horsebacks. There is blood everywhere my eyes go.

  There is one thing which catches my attention.

  Drake is fighting with Adrian.

  They are both nose-to-nose as they try to block each other's hits. I shout at them to stop but they seem to be unable to hear me.

  I see myself standing at a little distance from them, deflecting a hit which came from just beside me.

  I see the other-me shouting at them to stop. Drake tells her—me to run, but, me being me I don't.

  I don't understand why they would be fighting. Also why would Drake tell me to run from them.

  "She's a liar, Drake. She destroyed me," Adrian shoots the other-me a disgusted look. His face is harder than I have ever seen.

  "No, no, Adrian. No, it—it wasn't my fault. I had—" The other-me pleads but he shoots a look and it alone silences me.

  A voice at the back of my head says, "The truth is like clay, easily moulded into what the people want to hear."

  I open my eyes and look frantically around myself. I'm in my room. We can work with that.

  I notice that all of my friends and other people are gathered around me. I notice the blood oozing out of Adrian's wrist.

  He notices me looking at his arm and tells me, "You have a firm grip."

  "What—" I clear my throat as my voice comes out a little squeaky. "What happened?"

  "You fainted."

  "I . . . saw something," I say.

  "What?" Adrian asks.

  Just as I am about to speak, Drake cuts in. "How about we bandage your wrist first, Adrian. Then we'll listen to whatever she has to say," He says, shooting me a glance which I can't interpret.

  Was it concern, anger, or fear?

  "Yeah, and let's let Fena also rest a little. She looks a little pale," Yashid chirps in and I have a nagging suspicion that he knows something he isn't supposed to.

  When everyone leaves, and only Drake is left, I walk up to him. "You know what I saw," I say.

  "Yeah, and that is why I did not want Adrian to know about it."

  "Why?"

  "Because we have enough on our plate for now as it is. I don't want to add fighting off my best friend to my long to-do list." With that, he turns an leaves, closing the door with a "get some rest."

  CHAPTER-33

  I stare at the door but in the end, lie down on my bed. I have a long journey ahead.

  ____

  "Open the door, Fena!" Drake's voice comes from behind the door and I get up and open it.

  God, I hope he’s not here for more training sessions. I’m pretty sure I’ve learned all that I need to know in the previous twenty sessions.

  My hair has become a bird's nest and I am pretty sure I have a pillow imprint on my face.

  "What?" I say, yawning.

  "We've reached. Get cleaned up." With that, he turns around and leaves.

  I roll my eyes and go to the bathroom to wash my face.

  As soon as the water makes contact with my skin, it burns where it touched my skin. I immediately retract my hand and examine the burn. It's already healed a little but some of it is still visible. It is different than the ones created by fire. Before I can draw any more conclusions, it heals and is replaced my fresh skin.

  This is the second time this has happened to me this week.

  I open the tap again and, still testing the waters, I place a finger under the water and it is normal. Just like last time.

  I wash my face and tidy up my hair and walk out.

  There, a huge mansion awaits me. It is white-coloured and has an arched entryway. From where I am standing, I can see that the mansion is surrounded on all sides by a garden. The garden contains all the flowers which I know and many more which I don't even recognise.

  The grass is green and well-trimmed and it sinks a little into the ground with each step, coating my feet with mi
st drops.

  I brush some of my hair back with the back of my hand as a gust of wind blows past me.

  "What a waste," Yashid says, appearing out of nowhere.

  "Hello to you too," I say and keep walking.

  "So, how are you?" He asks.

  "What?"

  "I asked how is your health?" He clarifies.

  "I'm fine. Thanks for asking," I say.

  "Well, you are our only hope at remaining alive, it kinda makes you the most important person out here," he shrugs and gives his patented careless smirk.

  "Well—" before I can say anything else, Camilla approaches and Yashid leaves.

  "Hi!" She chirps.

  "Hey," I reply, looking over my shoulder to find Drake.

  No one.

  " . . . I mean, I was wondering where. . ." Camilla blabs on about something but I am too busy looking for Drake. I doubt he will even agree to help me after I blew his secret.

  "Fena! Are you even listening to me?" Camilla stands in front of me, hands on her hips.

  "Uh, sorry. I've been . . . distracted," I reply, really feeling apologetic.

  "Well, no problem, we've almost arrived at the entry so you can go to your room and rest." She says and I nod.

  We walk the rest of the flower-strewn path talking about the most unimportant things in the world. What hairstyles do we like (which I know nothing about), what kind of dress suits us the most (again, clueless) and at last, we reach the giant double doors which lead to the foyer. Adrian is already inside which leads me to think that Drake too, might be with him, explaining all about his father.

  A maid appears at my side as soon as I enter the foyer to lead me to my room. As soon as she shows me my room, she is replaced by Mirella.

  I walk up to her to give her a hug. She is dressed in a maid's clothes, as per our plan, but I feel guilty knowing that while I enjoy all the luxuries of being a noble, she is stuck doing all the works that the maids do.

  She has done her makeup with such perfection that no one can recognise her as my sister, let alone my twin.

  "So, how has your training been?" She asks.

  "Not good," I say thinking about the few training sessions Drake and I had in the cave.