“Blade and Jinx, and they did fight the wyvern too,” Karena answered. “Jinx isn’t a sorceress. She’s only a witch, so she’s limited in what she can do. Blade’s affinity is with metal, particularly when it’s hot. The wyvern’s hide was so thick that tasers and other attacks were useless. We did everything we could to help each other and to try to kill it.”
“How did you kill it then?” Isabel asked, her eyes big and scared.
Ever stubborn in his opinions, her dad said, “I still think they could’ve done more.”
Dismissing his comment, Karena gave them a brief summary of how she had killed the juvenile wyvern. She purposefully left out the part about jumping onto the wyvern, and how it had flown into the air with her on its back. The last thing she needed was for her parents to get mad at her for being reckless. They were already emotional as it was.
“That’s my little fighter,” her dad said. “You took down a wyvern.”
Karena rolled her eyes, while Hadrian laughed.
“You’re up and about, and that’s what counts,” her mom said. It seemed like the reality that she was okay after the wyvern attack was sinking in, because her mom appeared calmer.
Though Karena knew she was stirring the waters too much, she still dared to ask, “How is Asher?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” her dad promptly said, and they agreed with him.
Karena looked at their faces and the hate that stole their warmth. It sneaked around the corners of their mouths and eyes, and tightened their jaws. Not only that, it caused their shoulders to tense up, and their backs to hunch over. It concerned her. She didn’t want to look the same way they did. Hate was ugly.
With a wag of his finger at her, Troy said, “You need to get out of that team.”
“Who knows what could happen next,” Hailey said, Troy’s wife.
“The situation was out of everyone’s control. It was only day one with them. I’ll be fine with them,” Karena said. Weariness settled inside of her, not from her healing wounds, but from their attitudes.
Her dad’s face brightened. “I should put in a complaint letter. They shouldn’t have acts of goodwill anymore at your work place,” her father said.
“Enough, dad. This isn’t about your brother. This was my choice, and my life isn’t in danger from them. It was endangered by that wyvern, which was beyond all of us as a team to kill,” Karena said, reaching her breaking point with all of them.
Her father melted with grief. She knew she had hit him where it hurt most, but there was no other way to make him back down and not cause a huge uproar. He was passionate about casting the Fires in a bad light. Because of his anger from the past, he had started and provoked fights with Fires, and put into jail multiple times in the years following his brother’s death. Mom had nearly left their marriage due to his problems, which he still struggled to control. Karena missed her uncle too, but it wasn’t like they could go back in time to change things.
Luckily, the discussion digressed to lighter subjects. The hospital staff brought food in for her and everyone to eat. Healers returned to check on her and remove the bandages. She was released that evening, but due to her family insisting on taking her home themselves, she couldn’t escape them to see if Asher was there in the hospital or if he had been released prior.
At home, after having taken a long, cold bath with the radio next to her playing orchestra music, she sat in her pajamas by her window and looked out into the backyard. Rose was saying goodnight to her rose garden, and patting each of them as though they were children. Karena shook her head. Earths were a bit crazy at times. Though Rose couldn’t animate plants, like what Hadrian could do, Rose could hear them talking amongst themselves and could reply back, and feel the soil for nutrients or a lack of nutrients. Hadrian sometimes rearranged the rose bushes by uprooting them and having them trade places to annoy her, and get her mixed up as to which rose bush she was communicating with.
It had been a long day. Karena was still tired, but the healers had done a good job. She could function, and her wounds had pink scar tissue over them.
“Karena?” she heard through her door.
“Come in,” she said.
Hadrian hopped in. “Prince Charming is on the doorstep. I think he would serenade you if he could, but his voice would probably sound like an aroused cat at midnight.”
“I don’t want to see Tristan.”
“No, the other one, Asher, the one you refuse to admit you like.”
Karena glared at him. He shrugged.
“Hey, it’s your business as to why you’re on Asher’s team when you swore you hated his guts. I’m not reading into it or anything, but it looks fishy to me.”
“Tell him to go away,” she said, even though she didn’t want to send him away. She wanted to maintain an air of disinterest towards Asher, a front that probably wasn’t going to convince Hadrian, but she could try.
Hadrian left, but then returned. “He refuses to leave. Can I sic the plants on him?” he asked.
“No, don’t do that or else we’ll have to get the entire Fire Prevention and Rescue Department out here.”
Karena got up, padded down the stairs, and walked to the front door. Before she opened it, she took a few breaths to calm her nerves. When she was composed, she stepped onto the porch, and closed the door behind her. Asher had her back to her, but turned around upon hearing her.
“Hi,” she greeted, feeling awkward. Should she be angry at him? Upset? Annoyed? She figured a poker face and an indifferent attitude would do for the moment.
Asher was still pale, but obviously on the mend if he was standing.
“You made a fast recovery today,” Karena noted.
“Yes, I was lucky by all means. I’m not completely well, but I should be by tomorrow. I was worried about you, and came to inquire if you needed anything. I apologize for not being able to help you fight off the wyvern more. I wish I could’ve,” he said. He pressed his palms together just below his chest, a sign she interpreted as having to do with feeling guilty.
“You shouldn’t blame yourself. You couldn’t do anything. Besides, you put yourself in front of me, and saved me from the venom. I wouldn’t have stood a chance against the venom. So I thank you for that. I’m just glad you’re in good health again. I wanted to see how you were doing in the hospital, but my family and friends wouldn’t leave my bedside for even a second,” Karena said, and then silently berated herself. She had said too much. She shouldn’t have implied that she had been worried about him.
“Mine were the same way. Jinx and Blade are doing okay, though they’re still shaken up.”
Karena nodded.
“I brought something for you, as a get-well sort of present,” Asher said, becoming nervous. The sudden vulnerability in his eyes and the worried tilt to his eyebrows drove her crazy. Her heart pulsed, and she bit down on her lower lip.
He pulled out a slim, rectangular package from the inside of his jacket. He offered it to her. She wanted to grab his hand, and reel him in, but somehow managed to take the box without doing so.
“I know how jewelry is scarce on this side of town,” Asher added.
Karena knew all too well why that was. The Fires had a monopoly on all metals and gems in Archelm City. Even a hundred miles away, they had considerable ownership and influence over such trade. All jewelry and metalwares had to be shopped for far outside of Archelm City.
She opened the lid. Inside lay a necklace. The delicate, multilayered chain dripped with several crystal pendants. It was expertly crafted. Its beauty left her awestruck.
“This isn’t a get-well present, and you know it,” she said, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I—, um—.”
“But I’ll accept it nevertheless. I like it a lot. Thank you.”
He nodded several times very fast.
“It’s a bit warm for you to be wearing a jacket, isn’t it?” Karena said in an attempt to give him the hint that it felt like a sum
mer’s day at around nine o’clock at night in early spring.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, and the temperature lowered back to normal. “The necklace is another way for me to say that I appreciate what you did today, and I’m glad you’re on the team, even if it’s for only two weeks, and that I hope you’ll continue to get better. It’s also because I apologize for deceiving you on your birthday. But I’m not asking you to reconsider your decision about me, I’m only saying that I value who you are and that I’m sorry.”
Karena paused to think about what he had said. “Thank you for explaining why you are giving me such a beautiful present. I like it when people are straightforward with me,” she replied.
“Everyone deserves to have an answer, rather than vagueness. Have a good night, Karena. Will I see you at work tomorrow?”
“Yes. I will have recovered enough by then to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Asher sweetly smiled, and walked down the porch steps. She watched him stroll with a slight sway to his shoulders to his big, black truck parked by the sidewalk. His stride was long and powerful. He was much bigger than most guys from the Water and Earth district. He made someone such as Hadrian look like a younger brother to him, even though they were both muscular and of the same age. Before Asher had a chance to look back and notice that she was studying him, and consequently conclude that his physique more than appealed to her, Karena disappeared inside.
Inside, she pressed her back against the front door, the necklace box in her hands. She heard the couch squeak from the living room. She peeked around the corner and spotted Hadrian by the window.
“You’re just as bad as my parents,” Karena said, stepping in, her free hand on her hip.
Hadrian acted surprised. “Me? I’m not doing anything. I’m looking at the plants,” he said.
“Yeah, and wondering how to make a poisonous one hitchhike with Asher as a souvenir.”
His eyes went from the window to her, guilty as can be. “I didn’t do it, but I was thinking about it. What did he give you?” he asked.
“A necklace.”
“Oh. So it’s that kind of how-are-you-doing visit?”
“No, it’s not. It wasn’t awkward, and he didn’t want anything in return. He’s not a Tristan where he’s waiting to be invited in or for me to agree to something. He gave it to me as an apology for deceiving me and also as a token of appreciation.”
Karena showed Hadrian the necklace.
“Those aren’t crystals, Karena. Those are moon diamonds.”
“What?!”
“Take it out of the box,” Hadrian said, and called for Rose, who came over from her reading nook at the back of the house. A white rose was tucked into her hair above her right ear.
Karena held up the necklace. Now she could see that there was a bluish and purplish tinge inside of the stones. Upon catching some of the light in the room, the diamonds shot out a few rays of heavenly purple and blue light.
“Those are gorgeous,” Rose breathed, her green eyes fixated on them. “Where did you get those? Every person in the Water district is going to be envious of you.”
“Asher gave her those,” Hadrian said.
Rose gasped, but recomposed herself. “I won’t tell anyone,” Rose said, and took the necklace from Karena to hold. “But be careful because people will get suspicious as to where you got them from. Moon diamonds are extremely rare, and few have been seen, except on Fires or Airs. And you don’t have just one of them, there’s five in total here on this necklace. That’s an expensive present he gave you.”
Rose held the necklace to the stained glass lamp in the room, and the light played through the diamonds like a soft light show. The rarity of her necklace blew her mind away. Asher obviously felt very strongly about her. Yet oddly enough, she didn’t feel pressured to like him. Rather, she was at peace and knew something was sparking between her and Asher, something more precious than the necklace before her, and that was love. Though in infancy, she couldn’t deny what she felt around him.
Chapter 14
When morning came the next day, Karena struggled to lift her eyelids. She placed a hand on her clock to silence its ringing. Its worn, and oddly bent hands pointed to both the five and twelve on its tarnished and dented face.
Karena looked at the clock, and debated whether or not to go to work. She still felt bruised and tired from the previous day. Normally, she would’ve slept in, and not shown up. Captain Valmar would’ve understood. But there was Asher. She wanted to see Asher again. It kept her from closing her eyes again to sleep, and rest her aching muscles, particularly those in her shoulders. It was strange to think and become aware of the fact that she prized her time with Asher. She didn’t want to admit why, not even to herself.
Despite it all, Karena heaved herself out of bed and changed into come clothes. After eating breakfast, she got in her car. The rain clouds that had hurried in last night seemed to have changed their mind and were leaving. It was destined to be a warm, sunny day later on.
At a busy intersection that a traffic officer manned, she waited her turn. As she sat there, she realized that she was thinking about Asher and the work day ahead. She shook her head to clear her mind, but it was only temporary relief.
When she cleared the intersection, she drove through the city that was waking up. Coffee shops bustled as people dragged themselves in, and after they had their morning fix, they hurried out. City workers turned off the street lamps, swept up the sidewalks, and tended to the strips of vegetation by the roads and in-between stores. They worked alongside shop owners who were doing the same in front and around their stores.
It was a morning like any other. She spotted a small group of people dressed in rugged attire on a corner. Judging from their wild hair, muddy boots, and long cloaks, it was a safe bet that they had come from the wilder parts of the Sundarin Nation. They were looking around with dazed expressions. This was probably their first visit to Archelm City and they weren’t accustomed to a dense, urban environment. She wondered what shocked them the most, the steampowered vehicles or the sheer number of people living in the city.
When Karena arrived at work, she went to her locker and changed into her uniform, wincing occasionally as she did so. Her waist was a little tender. It was only when she had finished that she noticed the quietness in the locker room. All of the women she would expect to be in there were present. No one was missing. Normally, the Airs were like hyenas with their laughter, and the Earths like giggling fools. The Fires talked loudly, while the Waters babbled together.
Finding it eerie, Karena went to leave for the Warren room. In the sitting area of the locker room, Amarine twirled her curly hair with her fingers. Karena stopped to say good morning to her.
“I didn’t think you would come into work today,” Amarine said, looking up at her, expressionless.
Feeling nervous, and not knowing why, Karena replied, “I almost didn’t. I’m quite sore.”
“Everyone heard about what happened.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Amarine stood up and drew close to whisper, “Everyone on both sides of the feud know that you saved Asher, Blade, and Jinx. And how you didn’t run when you could’ve.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I had.”
“Not everyone would feel that way, myself included. You should’ve ditched them. Why didn’t you? How can you side with them?”
“I’m not siding with them. We’re all human beings. When siblings fight, they still care about each other. So why should this be any different? It doesn’t mean that we get along or that we like each other, but when things get tough, we should be there for each other. If we don’t protect each other, then who will be there to protect us when the cards are stacked against us?”
This stumped Amarine. Amarine sat down, and ignored her. Annoyed, Karena strode out of the locker room. Before she could cut across the center of the Warren room, Tristan pounced and jumped in front of her.
“I need to talk to you,” he said, and motioned to the armchairs and couches on the western side of the large room.
Grudgingly, Karena followed him over. Amarine had irritated her enough already. However, if she didn’t talk to Tristan now, he might try to come over after work to do so, and she didn’t want that. Tristan sat down, but when she refused to do so herself, he got back up again to stand.
With his head held high, Tristan said, “Yesterday was unacceptable. I filed multiple complaints from myself and everyone I know to Captain Valmar about what happened. A woman such as yourself shouldn’t be in an opposing team where you’re outnumbered three to one. And of all things, you’re in Asher’s team. He’s a Chaos elemental.”
Her hands clenched into fists. She seethed, “A woman such as myself? Did I just hear you correctly? A man such as yourself shouldn’t try to control my life, what I do, or what goes on at my workplace. You have overstepped your boundaries with me, Tristan. It was my choice to be in Asher’s team as a temporary act of goodwill. And I will not explain why I wanted this.”
With a disturbing glint in his eyes, Tristan said, “Clearly, you’re not thinking straight. You’ve been dealing with too much work and stress. Captain Valmar has been given the ultimatum that if he doesn’t switch you out, or put me into Asher’s team for the duration of your time there, that a complaint will be filed to the Council.”
“If you think you can scare Captain Valmar, then you’re wrong. He’s faced far worse than you trying to throw a tantrum. When he refused to create two separate offices, one solely for the Fires and Airs, and another for the Waters and Earths, he faced untold criticism and violent backlash.”
“I’m always up for a challenge, especially when it comes to protecting the person I love.”
“Get your fantasies out of your head when it comes to us. We went on a date, a single date, and nothing more. I called it off. And I’m not overworked or stressed. You like to form your own ideas about me, as though you’re writing a play in your head or something. I don’t agree to it, and I won’t participate or concede to it. You have no idea who I actually am. I’m not some fragile flower that has to be put in a glass jar to protect.”
Veins of Ice Page 14