Chapter 2! Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming please!
Kira's feet carried her through the massive arched hall of the palace at a run. A leather satchel was clutched in one hand as she slid around a corner, booted feet slipping on the gleaming oiled floor. She didn't fall, she never did. Y
ears of hard earned practice made sure of that as Kira continued her blistering sprint to the King's study.
The palace guards, dressed in red and gold uniforms and holding swords barred her way. Kira skidded to a stop and forced herself to draw several gasping breaths of dry air before attempting to speak, even after doing so her voice was soft and fragile.
"I need… To see… The King," She managed to choke out as she caught her breath. The guards exchanged a look of distaste, one of them stepped forward and gripped Kira by the arm as to lead her away. They obviously didn't trust the wind battered form asking permission to see the King. Being a spy didn't mean that Kira was exactly very well known, had she arrived on time before the daily change of guard, she might not have found herself in the peculiar situation that faced her.
"Come with me."
Kira felt a vice grip fold around her upper right arm and a line of fire surged through her veins without much warning. Orange flames flared away from her skin, striking out at the Soldiers arms with a vicious hiss.
"Ah!" The Soldier leapt back and drew his sword, his companion following suit.
"Wait, I didn't mean-"
The larger of the two guards, the one who had attempted to restrain Kira, lunged forward sword first. Kira side stepped and felt another roar of fire in her veins. The blood pounded in her ears as the vivid scarlet light lashed out from her hands to knock away the sweeping sword. In a fierce flash of blind rage Kira sent her attackers sprawling onto their backs as ferocious flames of orange magic swarmed around her, repelling their attacks.
For a horrifying moment Kira thought she might not be able to stop herself form killing them. It felt as if a rip-roaring flame had surged to life inside her and the sudden energy that flooded her made her feel invincible. She took one step closer to the nearest guard where he lay crippled on the stone floor. A stream of blue light edged with white swept across her path, the force of it was crushing as Kira was thrown mercilessly against the wall opposite the King.
King Jonathan stood in the archway of his Study, blue magic swirled around his hands. He wore an embroidered blue tunic over soft breeches and calf high boots. His dark hair was hanging over his forehead and his eyes were framed with deep lines, as if he hadn't slept much lately. The look on his handsome face was one of stone. His jaw was locked in what Kira suspected was anger, his eyes held a hint of shock, as well as displeasure.
Kira slid down the wall and slumped against the cold stone in defeat, the fire had died away suddenly, leaving her breathless and stunned. Her side let out a vicious burst of pain as someone knelt over her. A firm hand came to rest on her shoulder as she stared up into the face of the King. A cooling sensation crept into her suddenly exhausted limbs as the world faded to black before her eyes.
Numair stood at the King's side as they stared at the limp form lying before them. Clean white linen sheets were pulled around the frail looking girl as she slept. The palace infirmary was quiet as healers tended to the sick and the wounded. Duke Baird himself had seen to Kira once the King had brought the unconscious girl to the infirmary. The Chief of Tortall's healers had assured the King that Kira would be fine after a bit of rest, though she would need time to recover her strength. He'd then left the King and Numair to talk alone.
"What are you thinking, Jon?" Numair asked, breaking the long silence that had stretched between them.
"I'm thinking I made a mistake. Maybe I was wrong to let her live."
Numair had heard, or rather felt the raging burst of energy that had erupted in the palace. He could hardly believe the source had been Kira herself. He'd never noticed a magical gift in her before and now the sudden power that blazed around her was puzzling.
"I don't understand," Numair said calmly, he turned to look at his King.
The King was deep in though and his blue eyes were clouded and distant. "Kira is my cousin Roger's daughter."
Numair's eyes widened, "I don't believe it."
Jon smiled ruefully, "At first, neither did I, but there's no mistaking this magic. It's Roger's."
Numair sighed, "You're not going to…"
Jon shook his head, "I don't know. It's not something I'd want to do, but until her intentions are clear I can't say I won't." It was Jon's turn to sigh, he shifted his weight from foot to foot. "I took her magic away before. When she was first brought here, I made sure that no one would ever know who she really was, and I drained away everything but the smallest trickle of magic, leaving only just enough to keep her alive."
Numair swallowed, he could sense where this was going. He knew that Kira had rarely thought about having a magical Gift, but he wasn't sure he'd want to steal something so precious away from her.
"I want you to take her Gift away, again. Lock it away so she may never use it again."
"Jon, I don't think-"
Jon turned sharply to glare at Numair, "You don't have to think Numair, you just have to make sure that she'll never have the power to hurt anyone. She almost killed two guards today on accident, I don't want to find out how many people she can do away with on purpose." The King's voice was taut with anger and Numair nodded.
"Yes, Sire." Numair let his gaze drift back to the pale faced form of Kira. She looked thin and weary as she lay motionless. "I'll see what I can do when she's regained her strength."
"Thank you, Numair."
Numair nodded and turned to leave, he stopped in the doorway and turned to toss a glance over his shoulder at his King. "I hope you know you're wrong about her."
The King turned a pain glinted gaze on Numair, he smiled sadly at the mage, "I don't want to be right Numair, I just want my people to be safe, no matter what the cost."
Kira woke late in the night, just as the moon was rising above the horizon. Duke Baird smiled broadly at her as she sat up stiffly. "Glad to see you're awake."
Kira let out a snort of contempt, "I can't say I share your joy."
The Duke grinned and made his way gracefully to Kira's side to examine her. He'd dealt with a few broken ribs on her left side earlier that day, and he wanted to make sure that they were still straight. Kira complied wearily, thinking over the incident in her mind critically, only when he was done prodding at her side did she turn a horrified gaze on him.
"I-I didn't kill those guards, did I?"
"They're fine, just a little bruised." In truth, both guards had several broken bones and one of them had a mild concussion.
Kira rested her head in her hands in disbelief, "I have no idea what came over me… I didn't mean to, I just, I don't know…"
Baird smiled warmly and rested one hand on Kira's shoulder. "It's not your fault. You were threatened by the guards and you defended yourself as any one would have. You Gift however, played a significant role, or so I'm told."
Kira frowned, "Gift?"
"You didn't know? You have the Gift."
Kira stood abruptly and stared at her hands, then at the Duke. Her eyes held a fierce excitement. "How can you tell? I never knew before! When did this happen?"
Baird raised a hand to stop the slew of questions pouring from Kira's mouth. "The Gift is obvious enough, haven't you ever noticed it before?"
Kira shook her head, "Was I born with it?"
The Duke nodded and Kira returned to her perch on the end of the bed. She looked as if she was ready for flight in the windowless room.
"Why am I just finding out about this now?" Kira asked softly.
The Duke's gaze sparkled with an emotion Kira couldn't name, "That's not for me to answer."
Kira was left with more question than answers as Duke Baird left the room. He indicated clean clothes lying in an oak wood chair by her bedside and told her to eat a filling dinner. As for her health, she could regain her strength in her own quarters as long as she didn't over exert herself again.
Still mulling thoughts over in her mind, Kira pulled on clean breeches and a green tunic. Her belt was slung over the back of the chair and she fastened it around her waist and buckled leather with silver swiftly. Hastily she tugged on her boots and slipped from the room, remembering to close the door softly behind her. A familiar face was waiting for her as she headed for the Riders' mess.
Numair smiled his best fake smile at Kira, with his own Gift he could see the flare of orange fire that smoldered inside her. His heart sank, he was hoping that the King was wrong, and that there would be no need to extinguish any Gift that Kira might have suddenly picked up. After the King had filled Numair in on the whole story of Kira's Gift the mage had got to thinking. It was puzzling to him that after all the years he'd known Kira her dormant Gift would surge to life on one of the simplest occasions. She's delivered late maps and messages before, why would her Gift spring free of Jon's magic now?
The mage shoved away the thoughts that clouded his mind and called a friendly greeting to Kira. She returned the warm welcome and slipped to his side, eyes gleaming. "You're not going to believe this…"
Numair raised an eyebrow, "Let me guess, you've got a Gift?"
Kira looked surprised, "How'd you know? Did the Duke tell you?"
Numair shook his head and rolled his eyes, "It's astonishing, I thought you would've at least remembered that I myself am a mage."
"Oh, right!" Kira felt her ears burn hot with embarrassment, "I'm sorry, I'm still a little out of it from the healing."
Numair nodded his understanding and led Kira off to a quick meal in the mess hall. They found Daine there, and the three shared a relatively rushed meal before Kira excused herself.
"I'm exhausted, I'm going to turn in early. I guess I'll see you both tomorrow." In truth, Kira had no intentions of spending the night relaxing calmly in her room. She'd been thinking about the incident critically. Kira made sure that no one was about her chambers, Loraine was off doing her job as a maid and Kira assumed she'd speak to the maid soon enough. Satisfied that she was alone, Kira kicked the rug away from the front of the hearth and sat cross legged on the stone floor.
A steady draft of cool night air tousled her short hair as she sat in silence. The hearth remained unlit as Kira preferred it. Kira concentrated hard, she'd seen other people with the Gift mediate as they summoned there Gift. For a while as Kira concentrated on creating nothing more than a ball of magic, nothing happened.
"Not even a spark," She said reluctantly as she stared at her empty palms. The fire from the morning was gone, leaving Kira oddly hollow inside. She shrugged off her obvious disappointment and sluggishly got ready for bed. Kira fell asleep, thinking of the dream from the night before, that's impossible, it was just a dream!
But part of Kira knew that it was much more than that.
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