She apologized rapidly.
I sighed, falling back against my blankets now that I was free of the person on my back. Despondently, I said, “But when will it end, Rachel? I want to go home. What about my farm? Sam can’t tend it forever. He’s got his own place!”
Luke responded, “We do not know yet. For now, we will stick with Frederick beginning your training down here. It is safe, so it works for now. But we do not know how long you must stay down here.”
“Great. This is gonna be boring.” I rolled over.
“Better than dead!” Luke’s hands moved to his hips.
James chimed in, “Besides, your grandma moved up there with your sister and cousin. We can help with your farm since we can go outside. It’ll be fine, trust me. We’ll do our best till we can sort this all out!”
I took a deep breath, trying to believe that it really would be alright. Luke went back upstairs to tend to his livery while Rachel left to go secure us some sort of meal. James remained with us, a little put off that he couldn’t go outside too, but he didn’t make a fuss.
Since we began to be bored, and at least I for one still felt pretty awkward about the whole elopement rumor, Frederick began to give me some sort of introductory magic lesson. I really thought that I was starting to get the hang of this, but before we were even midway through the lesson, I felt like an idiot. This whole magic thing was going to be a lot harder than I would ever have imagined.
But, I suppose it’s better than being dead, right?
Chapter Nine
F rederick had an interesting teaching style. He took his sweet time explaining concepts to me because he knew they would be difficult to understand. He definitely didn’t seem to be concerned about the amount of time spent on each subject, as all my old schoolteachers had been. They had grown angry if I took too long to spell a word or work an arithmetic problem, but Frederick was the most patient man in the world because we had all the time in the world. We had no idea when we would be able to leave the little basement underneath the livery, especially without fear that someone would capture us thinking that we had eloped. Or worse, Rhydin found us. Although I must admit, the elopement story seemed much scarier at this point.
The most important thing Frederick taught me was that the weight in my chest I’d been feeling since I woke up was actually my body acknowledging the new magic within me. I asked Frederick if he had a lump in his chest too, but he couldn’t tell because he’d never experienced being magic-less before. He’d possessed magic his entire life because he was a Royal. He was born with it, so there was no transition period. He said he was sure there’d come a day where I couldn’t feel the weight in my chest anymore because I’d be used to it. But, he said to never forget that having magic was a heavy burden we would have to carry for our entire lives.
“Now if you ever feel like you’re not in control of your magic, a spell has gone haywire or something, just remember to focus on that weight in your chest. That’s where your magic lives, and by focusing on that little area, it’ll return it to your control.” Frederick said, “There was once that one of my spells didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to. I was jealous of the aguamages in Auklia, so I tried to use my own magic to siphon water from the river by the castle. Being an aeromage, it’s completely impossible, but I was determined. Yet, instead of siphoning water, I ended up creating a little dust devil in the palace courtyard. Luckily, my father never found out!”
That was an interesting tidbit too. There were different “types” of people who could use magic. There were aguamages, who worked with water, aeromages, who worked with wind, and pyromages, who worked with fire. Then there was Rhydin. He was a sorcerer because he didn’t use magic based in nature. Dark magic, to be precise.
The Allyens on the other hand were a unique type of sorcerer who used a mix of wind and light magic. They were also different since it was a created magic physically passed down, rather than genetic. I wondered what Rounans were, or if they were merely considered Rounans rather than given a fancy name on top of that one.
Frederick also made the point that Rounan magic took no form, much unlike people of Gornish descent. It was totally different, like an invisible force. I was so curious to ask Sam what it felt like, or if he could show me. Yet, at the same time I still felt unnerved about it. It was surprising how uncomfortable it made me feel to think he may not want to be my friend anymore. I found myself growing sick to my stomach as Frederick’s lessons churned on. I wished I could just see Sam and get whatever would happen over with.
It was at that moment that I realized Frederick had stopped speaking. He was staring at me with those clear blue eyes of his as if he were a century old rather than barely twenty. He took a deep breath when he noticed I was looking back at him, rather than probably the ceiling previously. He looked down into his lap where his pale, wiry hands gripped each other loosely. He glanced upward slowly as he spoke. “How are you doing with all of this?”
I shrugged, the train of thought from our lesson coming back to me. “Oh, I think I’m getting it slowly but surely. The weight thing makes a lot of sense, although I still have a lot of-…”
“No, um…” Frederick shook his head, his expression genuinely curious. “I meant…emotionally, perhaps, is the best word?”
I swallowed the words that had been locked behind my teeth. There was literally no word that seemed right to say. I took a deep breath and said, “Well, uh…you could say I’ve been better.”
Frederick began to gnaw on his lip, wringing his hands out as if nervous. His voice was lighter than I’d ever heard. “Lina, did you know that I’ve met you before? Before a few weeks ago, that is?”
I blinked at him, totally shocked. “No? How? I’m sorry, I don’t remember that.”
The prince chuckled, “Oh, I didn’t expect you to, it was once for only a few minutes. I was thirteen, and you couldn’t have been much younger since we are so close in age. I was upset, as most teenagers are, and had resolved to run away from my father because of an occurrence I don’t remember now.
“I was traveling through Soläna on the way to the southern gate with no thoughts of looking back when I ran into a little girl. She was walking along the street but staying within sight of the mercantile. She was small for her age, and when she saw me, she immediately came to talk to me. I don’t remember everything we talked about anymore, but I had told her that I was tired of King Adam and wanted to move to a different kingdom. I didn’t call him my father because I figured she would understand better. And Lina, you gave me this wonderful expression, like you totally understood why I wanted to leave, but your words surprised even me. You said ‘Don’t worry! King Adam won’t be king forever! That’s what my papa says. He says someday Prince Frederick will be king, and then Lunaka will be happy again!’. Those words made my heart stop.”
He laughed before continuing. “Of course, right at that moment, your mother came out of the mercantile and called you to go home. You smiled at me and waved goodbye, but I didn’t even hear. It had never occurred to me that I could reverse my father’s doings. My father never likes to admit that I am the next king. I think part of him wants to hold on to his reign forever even though that’s impossible. But at that moment, I knew I had to go back to the castle. I couldn’t leave Lunaka without an heir, and that’s what I did.”
Silence filled the room when he finished. I was thinking hard, trying to remember this event in my memory but failed to do so. I shook my head and asked quietly, “How did you know it was me?”
Frederick smiled, the wires pulling taut to reveal his dimples. “I didn’t at first. I didn’t know until many years later when I first met the Owenses, and they told me everything about Rhydin and the Allyens. They took me by your farm one evening, and I saw you through the window. You were still small, but it was your eyes that did it. The strange brown color with speckles of gold in them. I knew you were that little girl who made me want to be king.”
My throa
t became tight, and I could feel my cheeks becoming flushed. I tried very hard to swallow before I spoke, but it hurt. “Um…Frederick…this doesn’t help the whole elopement thing.”
The prince blushed slightly. “Oh, I apologize, that’s not what I meant. I just wanted you to know why I consider you one of my few real friends. It is because you befriended me that day outside the mercantile without a clue as to who I was, and I will always remember that.” He smiled now, more comfortable. “I do sincerely apologize for this whole elopement scandal. I am sure it is because my father does not approve of whom I have chosen to be my wife. He is trying to ruin me and no doubt turn her against me. I just want you to know that the rumors do not change anything. I would still like to be your friend, and I am always here to help you. Quite literally since we are stuck down here.”
Instantly, I felt lighter, and I could breathe again. He already had a woman betrothed to him, and somehow that made it all better. I wondered if it was my old friend, Cassandra, who I’d seen him dancing with. It made me happy. I smiled at his joke of being trapped here, and I felt at ease that I had seemingly known him all this time. We were friends. Real friends, not just acquaintances out of necessity. Things were never as awkward between friends as they were between strangers, and for the first time, the elopement rumors seemed bearable.
I grinned at him. “Well, I would like to be your friend, too. I’m glad that I helped you even though I didn’t have a clue, just as you said.”
“You guys are so cuuuute!” Rachel’s voice came lilting down the stairs to the outside world.
“Rachel!” I shouted.
“Rachel, really, you know it’s just a ruse!” Frederick yelled at the same time.
The red-haired woman giggled, her arms laden with burlap bags full of different foods, the smells familiar from the Lunakan marketplace, but she wasn’t the only one to come through the door. A tall figure in a cloak came behind her, and I recognized the voice before he pulled the hood off.
“So Lina, havin’ fun with your new husband there?”
A huge grin had taken residence on Sam’s thin face, and his eyes were dancing with delight at how funny this seemed to be. Whatever relief Frederick had given me was immediately drowned. It was even worse when he said it, and I felt my face flood with heat.
Sam sat down at the little table in the center of the room as Rachel took to preparing our supper and spoke between laughs, “Well, when we were you planning on announcing your marriage to me, huh?”
“Sam?” I said tensely.
“What?” He chuckled softly behind his smirk.
“Shut it.”
Sam smiled at me, and it was unbearable. I squirmed under his gaze, and finally had to look away it was so uncomfortable. Embarrassment choked me like a death hold, but my mind spun as to why it was suddenly so overwhelming in front of Sam. With him here, all I wanted in life was to crawl under a rock and die.
Frederick seemed to sense the awkwardness and so cleared his throat. Although, what he had to say didn’t completely help the matter. He looked to Sam, “Before you become upset, she asked me specifically about it. She knows all about the Kidek now.”
Sam nodded quietly, his eyes dropping. He probably could have guessed that my curiosity would be piqued by the interaction at Grandma’s house. He folded his hard fingers carefully before looking up at me with the first genuine look I’d seen in his eyes since he appeared. His voice was rather quiet. “Are you afraid of me, Lina?”
Part of me scoffed. “I should be asking you that question!”
A light grin appeared but only for a second. “I’m serious, Lina. I’m not only a Rounan, but I’m the Kidek of all things. Many would love to see my head on a platter” – he paused for a second, swallowing hard – “And I lied to you about it. For years. Yet, I continued to wear this and put myself in danger, as well as you by association.” He gestured to his bandana: the amethyst border and navy sea littered with golden stars. “As Kidek, I swore to wear this to signal myself as leader. To most people, it’s just something I like to wear, but to any Rounan, it is a sign that I am their leader and the one to come to if they’re being persecuted. I have to wear it, every day. For my people.”
I took a breath, letting it sink in. It was still extremely strange, but parts of it were slowly making sense. Then, I did something that I hadn’t done since we were kids. I gently took his hand, hardened by years of driving the plow and harvesting. “You have no reason to apologize to me. You were trying to protect yourself, and I lied to you, too.” I looked him right in the eyes but mostly spoke to myself as I said, “I am not afraid of you.”
Sam smiled a real smile, half of his mouth pulling higher. “Good. Because I’m not afraid of you, either. It’s about time someone other than me was abnormal.”
At that moment, Rachel began to laugh her chiming giggle, and my hand released Sam’s. Her voice was full of sunshine. “Oh, you two will be fine! After all, the Allyen and the Kidek have an extremely long history together. It’s meant to be!” She added a secret wink just for me.
I quirked an eyebrow at her, and she got the message. I was going to be content in this moment even if it killed me! I could physically feel my body relax after so long. Sam was a stable person in my life again, and that was enough to make me feel better.
Suddenly, Luke walked down the stairs with a big box of leather in his hands. He eyeballed Sam and I sitting together, and his expression went slack. “So is the Kidek in on this now, too? How many people do we need on this expedition?”
Sam let out an exasperated sigh, “Does everybody know I’m the Kidek?”
We all nodded: Frederick, Rachel, James, Luke, and I. Sam groaned. It was pure comedy, and I found myself laughing with everyone else. Here I was, my life turned upside down, stuck in a hole under a livery with a tiny window to barely see the sun every day, and yet I could not stop laughing.
We all stayed up rather late that night, telling stories and getting to know one another a little more beyond duties and powers. I learned that Rachel and her brothers were from extreme northeastern Lunaka, which I had known but forgotten long ago. I learned that Frederick hated tomatoes and that Sam had been afraid of the dark up until a couple of years ago. James only had to sleep for three hours a night to feel totally rested, and Luke actually opened up a teensy bit, saying that if he wasn’t here helping the Allyen, he’d have to sit around and read books. Apparently, this was a task he hated.
Eventually, the Lamp Master came around and extinguished all of the lights in the town, and people began to leave. Luke went upstairs to his quarters above the livery while Rachel made herself comfortable on the opposite side of the little room. James posted himself by the door, fully awake and no doubt would be all night now that I knew his skill. Frederick crawled into his little cot, the foot of which touched mine.
Sam was messing with his cloak, pulling it tight about himself from what I could see in the weak candlelight. I walked over to him and reached high above my head to pull his hood over his bandana. He chuckled, “Do you want to see something?”
My brow furrowed, not understanding, until suddenly the one lit candle that had been sitting on the table magically floated over to us, perfectly level. I felt my heart beat faster in awe of it. The candle stopped over Sam’s outstretched hand, levitating a good six inches above it, still lit and flickering like normal.
It was then that I remembered Frederick saying that Rounan magic was completely unlike Gornish magic because it didn’t take any sort of form. It was hard to imagine what he was talking about then, but now it totally made sense. Sam smiled in the candlelight and told me to take the candle out of midair, which I slowly did, carefully.
“Sometime, you’ll have to show me something.” Sam grinned happily, before placing one foot on the stair. His expression mellowed out slightly then, and I felt myself blush as he stared at me. I told myself inwardly to stop it. This was not the time to be juggling a crush amongst everything else. Qu
ietly, Sam said, “If you ever need anything…anything at all, let me know.”
I nodded, and in an instant, Sam was out the door. The humidity of Early Summer crept down the stairs. I was left in the dark with nothing but the little flickering flame and burgeoning feelings that I desperately tried to smother.
Chapter Ten
T ime went by. Days, weeks, I wasn’t sure how much. The sun rose, and the sun set. I never saw either. I told time by the mines’ sputtering, rumbling to life every daybreak and choking to death every twilight. Each day, around lunchtime, I would go over to the tiny slit in the window and angle myself to stare straight up out of the basement, out of the canyon toward the overhead sun. Then Frederick would call me back to whatever lesson he was teaching, and the world outside would go on as it always did.
However, it was never completely forgotten. I always remembered that somewhere out there was my sister, Rosetta, and my cousin, Keera. Both of whom I was supposed to be taking care of right now. Somewhere out there was my farm, my parents’ beloved land. My goats. This time of year, I was usually slaving away out in the sun and heat, never resting for a moment. It seemed completely alien to be trapped in a cool basement during this season.
Normally, Lunaka was a wind tunnel, and so being in the still underground made me feel like I was suffocating. Every time someone opened the door, I’d rush over to feel the tiniest waft of air. I missed my wind and the smell of my land. Sam was tending to everything for me, which I appreciated yet envied.
Rachel and her brothers were never completely forgotten either, for they never let up on the secure process of entering and exiting the livery basement. Someone was always posted at the door, day and night. The only person from outside that we saw was Sam, who came by with supplies and a kind word every once in a while.
One thing that I could say for sure was that my magic was definitely improving. I became used to the weight in my chest, to the point sometimes I would forget it was there. The most apparent thing, however, was how I could now sense everyone around me. Now, I didn’t have to see Frederick in order to know that he was behind me. I could feel him, in some sort of weird way.
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