~Chapter Twenty~
The fight with Eleanora had been my last burst of energy; the next few days passed in a blur. I felt like I was underwater for a lot of it; someone would talk to me and I would only hear mumbling. I slept a lot and barely ate, which worried Larni to no end; she’d seen how much I could eat. I hardly saw Phoenix, and I felt guilty remembering the trip, though when I laid down to go to sleep, I allowed myself a few guilty moments, remembering the feel of his lips on mine, his hand on my neck, the feel of his chest under my hand. During those moments, I wished he was here next to me so that we could talk and kiss and laugh as freely as we had on the trip into the mountains.
When Netalia called an emergency meeting with all of the mages and staff, my heart seemed to shrivel up and become a pebble in my chest.
This is it, I thought as I dragged my feet to the Main Hall along with the rest of my classmates. Now I get banished.
Suddenly the Academy seemed like the most wonderful place on the planet. As though sensing it was about to be taken from me, my magic sang in my veins, heightening every sense. By the time we stepped through the doors to the Hall, I was about ready to try my luck with sailing to another country if it meant I could stay in this realm.
We settled on chairs that had been laid out in rows and waited for Iain to speak.
“I trust that you’ve been working hard on your studies,” Iain began. He looked strangely untidy, as though he’d been up all night. “Unfortunately, this meeting is not one of good faith or wishes. It has come to our attention that the Academy will be under attack soon.”
“What?” I said in disbelief. Cries echoed throughout the hall. Way to stir up the general populace, Iain, I thought bitterly. “Attacked by whom?” I asked Dena, who shook her head, eyes wide.
“A group of mages from the North-”
“I knew it,” Petre growled on my left, and I ignored him.
“- have made their demands clear. I tell you this so that you will be on alert. In the meantime,” he made eye contact with Phoenix, who was sitting close to the front. “If you could come with me.”
I stood up when Phoenix did.
“Sky, sit down,” Dena said worriedly, tugging at my shirt.
“If Phoenix goes, I go,” I told her and began to shuffle along our row. People murmured to each other as I passed, but I ignored them and caught up with Phoenix just as he was about to exit with Netalia and Iain.
“Sky, what are you doing?” he asked in surprise.
“I’m coming with you. You’re my soul mate,” I reminded him.
“She can come,” Netalia said. “Over here.”
They took us up a flight of stairs to an office that I assumed was Iain’s. Inside was surprisingly bare except for the usual furnishings of an office, a sword in its sheath leaning against the desk and a glass bar on the wall behind the desk, filled with green pebbles. As I watched, a few of them shivered like they were contemplating moving, but the bar stayed perfectly level.
“Phoenix, the mages who made the demands are from Orthandrell,” Iain said, not wasting any time. “They had one demand.”
“What was it?” Phoenix asked, and I was the only one who saw his hand shaking.
“They want us to hand over a student.”
“Which student?” Phoenix asked, but I already knew the answer.
“You,” Iain said, just as I interrupted.
“No, not happening,” I snapped, stepping up to Phoenix’s side. “You’re not thinking of answering the demand?”
“Of course not,” Iain said, his brow furrowing as he looked at me. “When Phoenix came to this Academy he entered our service of protection. We have no intentions of answering the demand.”
Netalia fidgeted, like she wanted to say something, but Iain glanced at her and she stayed silent.
“Well, what happens then?” I asked. Phoenix seemed to be struggling with something.
“They’ve made it clear that they’ll come to the Academy and take him by force.”
“Over my dead body,” I hissed furiously. “Why him, why Phoenix?”
“Because it’s my father,” Phoenix muttered. “Isn’t it?”
Iain nodded as Netalia said, “yes.”
“Your last foster father,” I breathed. “The letters...”
“He stopped sending them because he gave up. He’s coming to take me back to the Mountains.”
“Aloysius is an extremely powerful mage,” Iain said, leaning against the desk and crossing his arms. “We’ve had dealings with him in the past.”
“What does he want?” I asked, looking from Phoenix to Iain and back again. “What is so terrible-”
“He wants the magical realm to be for those only of magical blood,” Phoenix interrupted, meeting my eyes for the first time. “He believes that humans should never have been brought here.”
“That’s why you left,” I whispered. “That’s why you came here.”
“Yes. I didn’t agree with him.”
“Obviously,” I said, smiling just a little, and he smiled back.
“But I can’t let the Academy be attacked because of me,” Phoenix said, looking to Iain and Netalia again. “I’ll go to him.”
“No!” I protested, gripping his arm. “Phoenix, you can’t-”
“I can,” he replied, peeling my fingers from his arm, something warning me in the depths of his eyes. I released him and stepped back. “Iain, it’s my choice.”
“No,” Netalia broke in. “When we took you into the Academy we promised you protection from him and your kind. We will honour that agreement.”
“Phoenix,” I pleaded and he looked at me. “Please.”
He looked at me for a long while, and then finally relented.
“I’m sorry,” was all he said.
“We’ll deal with this,” Iain said, standing up straight. “We’ve already sent word to Gowar and Abdoor; they will be on alert but I have a feeling Aloysius will be prepared for them.”
“He’ll sail around the coast,” Netalia filled in for me.
“And so, the mages from those states will be joining us here,” Iain looked out the window as though expecting them already. “This castle was built to hold many more though; we welcome them.”
So you send for mages from other states, but you won’t help the people when they call for help or instruct them to help the impoverished, I thought angrily.
“What about our friends?” I asked, gesturing to the door. “The other students?”
“They can fight if they wish,” Iain said, holding my gaze. I shuddered and looked away; it had felt too much like someone reading my mind. “But we won’t ask them to.”
“They will anyway,” I said, knowing how indignant Theresa or Yasmin would be if they missed out on a confrontation of any kind.
“We must head back downstairs,” Netalia said. “Please return to your rooms.”
They left, leaving us alone in Iain’s office. Against my better judgement I flew to Phoenix and buried my face in his shoulder. He held me tightly, resting his chin on my hair.
“It isn’t fair,” I mumbled into his shirt, gripping bunches of it between my fingers. “I’ve only just gotten to know you-”
“This isn’t going to be the end, Sky. It can’t be.” I lifted my face and met his gaze, then ran my fingers through his hair.
“Your hair is a lot longer than when we first came here,” I said quietly, tucking a few strands of it behind his ear. He watched me carefully, and when I was done, I met his gaze.
It suddenly struck me how very close we were standing together. Our noses were almost touching, and if I reached up on my tippy toes-
“You’ll be the death of me,” he said, stepping back. “Sky, we have to be careful.”
“I know,” I said, my heart pounding. We’d been so close.
“But why you, Phoenix? I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but are you the only mage in your village? Aren’t there others that he could... tutor?”
“Of course,” he said, turning away from me and running his fingers through his hair. “But for some reason he fixated on me. That’s why I left the village and came here; he was never going to leave me alone.”
“So now he comes here,” I muttered, looking out of the window.
“Sky, you can’t fight them. He’ll bring a few of his friends with him, and they’re prepared to do whatever it takes to take me back to the Mountains.”
“I’ll be beside you every second of that day,” I said sternly. “Just try to get rid of me.”