Page 11

SILIA

The next five days fly by in a flash. The days seem to quicken at a pace faster than time is willing to allow. The endless training sessions and constant worry for Diana have officially caught up to me. I’ve never felt more exhausted, my bones more fragile, or my brain so fried. All the long nights have paid off though—my smoke clouds no longer shoot out in wispy strands, but are now concentrated, circular bubbles that can cover an entire body. My flames are still unpredictable in size, but can now appear exactly in the place I want them to.

All this improvement does not come without its consequences, though. My brain feels like a puddle of goop sloshing around in my skull, and I don’t know if I could keep up with another full week of training. I’ll be grateful for the slight break while we travel to Daqet this week. It feels like Lars has crammed at least three months’ worth of training into five days, not relenting even for a moment.

Most of my training sessions were spent with him alone. He told me that Rein and my father were formulating plans for us in the meantime. Having alone time with Lars was not as awkward as I had anticipated. Whenever he annoyed me to my breaking point, all it took was one quick jest from him, and my annoyance melted away.

Long nights have been spent between my room and his, staying up until the early hours of the morning, talking about anything and everything. I learned he doesn’t like apples, his first favorite color is green, and that his father’s name was Harland. Learning his favorite color stood out to me the most, because I’ve never seen him in anything but black and brown. Only on special occasions did he don his cape with hints of green. The drapes in his room are a deep green, and the extra towels in his bathroom have the same color palette, but to the public eye, you would think he despises the color.

I never worked up the courage to ask him about the dream I had. On the rare occasion I do dream, it becomes a distant memory come morning, but this one, I could recite in every detail. The shining, almost glistening silver of his hair, the marble handle atop his father’s cane…the distant realization in his eyes when he had turned to me. It feels almost too personal to confront him with this dream. I don’t want to ruin things with Lars just when they are going so well.

Dragging myself out of my thoughts, I lazily pin my hair to one side of my scalp and swoop it all to the opposite shoulder. My father has called an audience with us, most likely to discuss our plans. Since today is the day we leave for Daqet, I’ve made enough progress in my training to allow the brief pause, but not nearly enough to defend all three of us.

Maybe if we get into a sticky situation, I’ll be able to see what powers Lars truly has. He’s shown a few things, like the conjuration of dining plates, the mind speaking, and the disappearance of our clothing, but nothing else that I can use truly narrow down what gift he holds.

Once we get back from Daqet, I’ll have to research what it means for Lars and I to be Fated. For now, I need to find Diana. She is the top priority, above everything else.

The palace feels like a ghost town without her laughter drifting through the halls or the mud tracks leading through the front door from the farm grounds. My breath begins to quicken and shallow all at the same time whenever I think of Diana. Is she truly being cared for? Is she trying to write back to our father? Has she even seen his letter?

Before I spiral, I clear my throat and look at myself in the mirror one last time.

“I will protect her. No harm will come to her.” I breathe out my daily affirmations.

“She is safe ,” Lars’s voice echoes in my head.

“ Yes ,” I echo back to my own thoughts. And if she’s not safe, I don’t care who comes between myself and Diana. I will burn the entire realm down to have her back home.

“You have one hour until I expect you to begin your travel.” Father leans back on his throne and crosses one leg over the other. He looks more and more disheveled each time I see him.

The once-jovial image I had of him is slowly fading out of my memory and being replaced with the man sitting in front of me.

I’m standing in between Lars and Rein as Father gives us our instructions. Without Father noticing, Lars folds his hands behind his back and slowly slips one of his hands onto the back of my leather corset.

I figured it would be a waste of a perfectly good wardrobe to wear a dress on our journey. Since we’re not taking a carriage, my dress would be covered in mud and various pieces of nature by the time we arrived at Daqet. I’d like to keep my fancy dresses just the way they are, thank you very much.

Instead, I’m wearing my usual training regalia consisting of brown leather trousers, a white, flowy tunic, and a leather corset lined with slots for my daggers. I feel Lars’s fingers trail up and down my lower back until he carefully takes one of the dangling strings that lace up my corset, then twirls it in his fingers. I notice he does that a lot, fidgeting. I wonder if he is nervous. The other day at breakfast, he was doing the same thing with my dress under the table.

As if I said my thoughts aloud, I hear a soft whisper in my mind. “ No, Little Flame, I am not nervous. I do, however, intend to keep you close.”

My cheeks flush slightly, and I spot Lars’s mouth twitching up in a half-smirk out of the corner of my eye. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing him in my thoughts, or his gold cloud circling the black smoke of my mind.

“Silia?” Rein whispers down to me, giving me a little nudge with his elbow.

I look up to him in confusion as he darts his eyes between me and my father. Shit, he must have said something.

“Yes, Father? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

I reach over behind my back and give Lars a quick pinch on the thigh. He doesn’t even flinch. Instead, images and memories of us together flash in my mind for a moment before they vanish, and I stare blankly at my father. I pinch him harder this time.

“You and Captain Survale will stay outside of Erebus’ palace, and you will not step one foot past his entryway. Do I make myself clear?”

“But Father, I need to get to Diana. I need to see if she is okay!”

I move my hands in front of my body, palms up, pleading. I need to see her. I need to look into her eyes and make sure she’s safe and unharmed.

Selfishly, I need my mother’s eyes to stare back and reassure me everything will be all right.

“No, Silia. I will not lose another daughter to this vile man!” Father surges up from his throne and points an aggressive finger at me, sealing my fate with this gesture.

No one challenges the king, not even his own daughter. His voice booms through the throne room and echoes out into the hallway. I instinctively stagger back in shock, but quickly regain my balance and change my expression to one of submission. Now is not the time to dispute him.

I fall into a low bow and avert my gaze to the ground. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

Father does not chastise me for using his title this time. I don’t think he has any fight left in him, by the looks of it. Understanding and frustration flow through my veins, and I get the sense Lars is the reason for them.

“It’s okay, Silia. We will find a way to see her.” Rein subtly leans over and whispers to me.

I can’t help but notice the we attached to that statement. I know he’s the captain, and he has his duties to the king, but what’s his motive for laying eyes on her?

“I must retire. I am not feeling well.” Father rests back on his throne, and with a clap of his hands, two of his aides rush out of the door to the right of the room and help him onto his feet. Without another word or glance our way, he exits the room.

I guess that’s our cue to leave.