(Alice's POV)
Unease bit at us the entire trek home. Something was wrong, and our imagination filled in the gaps for us. The emperor had discovered us and has dispatched his strongest armies to vanquish the magic wielders in his realms. Or, the emperor has discovered my mother and has added her power to his arsenal, tearing her soul from her body and shoving into a corner of his mind. Neither seemed particularly likely, but paranoia grips even the most sure of insurgents.
Slowly the gods-forsaken snow retreated back, and we could build our first true fire in weeks. Jack collected the firewood, and I had to struggled not to incinerate the entire forest with a snap of my fingers.
Try it without the finger snapping. Jack suggested.
Why? I asked.
I've been working on a theory, that magic flows through your being, and can be controlled through simple thought. The finger pointing may be a crutch to help your mind focus. He explained. I glanced at the timber and willed it to spring to life. It remained steadily unlit, but a part of me flared. I reached within myself and found a pulsing veil, I pushed through it and magic flowed through me begging to be released. I looked at the logs and begged them to burn, and they obliged. The fire roared, and I turned back to face Jack.
Oho, cut-throat and educated, you're turning out to be quite a catch mr. Sentan. I said.
I've also been thinking. If I were to publicly come out as Jonathan Ternac, the rebel sympathizers might rally and the armies could swell. He said. I heard the unspoken words in there You could too.
What about your family? I asked, hoping to deter him from suggesting that I do the same.
I'll save them, and they can live happy and free in a country that isn't governed by a tyrant and a murderer.
Watch it Jack, you're already a murderer. Comes with the job.
He chuckled to himself.
Alright miss Springhaven, you win this round. He glanced up at the sky It's getting late. We have a big day of walking without direction hoping that we're going the right way tomorrow.
Yeah, can't miss that. Goodnight.
Goodnight.
I curled up beside him, savoring his closeness, and closed my eyes utterly unprepared for another night of facing my dead.
Darkness still shrouded the landscape as a panic-stricken Jack shook me awake, only hours before we would take the final steps into Vellhaven. Tears dotted his cheeks which only served as a break from his pale features whiter than the moon. I sleepily looked up at him, and tensed ready to spring into action. I threw myself to my feet faster than I thought possible and conjured a ball of fire in my palm, ready to tear apart whatever frightened Jack that badly.
Sensing no danger in the infinite darkness, I turned to look at Jack still sitting on the ground next to where I had been moments ago. I opened my mind to his, and felt his panic and fear, mingled with relief that couldn't quite overwhelm the terror still gripping his mind.
He fought against himself, trying to keep what he had seen from shining through to me, but I still caught a few images. The Emperor grinning fiercely standing over a red mound. A dark black blade that seemed wholly unnatural, with red liquid dripping onto a crystalline floor. His father kicking the mound so that it rolled over and a pale lifeless face gazed up at the sky it couldn't see. It was the face of a woman who looked aged, then that of a girl not yet an adult, then my own. My immobile eyes pierced through my soul, and I looked down again at Jack.
Tremors rocked through him, and I wanted to help but couldn't will myself to move. He shakily stood, and then tore into the forest inhumanly fast. I gazed down at where I had been sleeping moments before, slumber now seemed impossible. I sat down and stared at the ebbing embers of our fire, deep within myself I felt a familiar tug as I usually do whenever I use magic. I looked around but the world remained calm, it wasn't me doing the magic.
Jack returned a few moments later with two wooden staffs each perfectly carved. He tossed it to me, and I noticed that each end were fitted with a molded iron cap. Jack had one exactly the same. He twirled his a few times with practiced precision and looked at me a cool calm in his eyes, tears still visible on his cheeks.
Ignoring our usual method of communication he spoke aloud. "If we are going to fight the emperor that means we need to be able to fight. You have a staff with iron on the ends so that it hurts when you get hit, but it isn't fatal. Now the first thing you need to know is when you are in a fight it may be tempting to stare at your opponents eyes, don't, you need to focus right here." He pointed at the center of his chest. "You'll be able to see all motions of the arms and legs, if they have a weapon focus on the arm wielding it. Now, I want you to strike me." He twirled his staff a few times more and crouched down, his staff aimed right at my chest.
En Garde He thought.
I gripped the bottom of my staff like a sword, and brought it over my head. It was heavier than I thought. I brought it down right where Jack was, but faster than an arrow he darted behind me and a jarring pain in my shoulder told me that his staff had found home.
"Hold the center of your staff, holding it like that makes you too slow, also I've been thinking about how occasionally we can move faster than normal people, and I think that it's the magic in our blood. Let the magic flow through you but don't release it and we'll see what happens. Remember hold it like this." He held out his staff with his hands about a foot apart in the center.
I reached into the pulsating center of my being, and broke through the veil. Magic burned my veins but I didn't release it. It begged and screamed but I held onto it, and the world snapped into sharper focus. I glanced over at Jack, he had no idea what was coming.
I looked my staff over and balanced the weight in my hands, oak nice and supple. Where did I know that from? I pushed the thought aside and swung the staff striking an invisible enemy, my hands and the staff moved as one of their own accord. I glanced one final time at Jack's eyes, and dared him to dance.
I struck like a tiger, the iron point of my staff flying directly towards his chest so fast he only had time to parry, before I spun around and the other end was aimed at his skull. He caught it and tried to jab me, I dodged with the speed and elegance of the wind a smile biting at the corners of my mouth.
He took a step back, then another, only able to resist my fatal dance and could do nothing to stop it. Sweat fell down my brow, and threatened to fall into my eyes. It was time to stop playing with him. I feinted to the right, and pulled his legs out from under him. He fell onto the dirt, and I lightly tapped his chest with the butt of my staff.
"Consider yourself struck." I said aloud. He just looked at me shocked.
"How the… What in the… What?" He sputtered.
I took my tunic and lazily wiped it across my brow, the magic was melting away and I was returning to normal.
"My dad thought that as princess I should be able to handle myself, so he taught me about basic weapons and the magic only helped."
"But… but that sweep, it is only taught to assassins in Rak's fort down in the southern kingdom. I trained with him for a few months and I have never seen anyone use it. Where did you learn it?"
"I don't know it just came naturally. You were prepared to defend your left flank so I feinted to the right. You let your guard down completely on your left opening me up to cut from from below. On the ground you had no chance to-"
"-to stop me." He finished for me. "That was the same speech Rak gave me when he first taught me the move, I remember it word for word. Hold on I want to try something. Attack me again."
I punched through the veil and felt the familiar tense confidence flood through me. I looked over my opponent, and he smiled fiercely at me showing a lot of teeth. He took his staff and held it horizontally, somehow knowing what he was doing I held my staff vertically.
"Challenger" He began. "By shritka's honor may we have a fair and equal battle."
"And by Personi's light may your blade strike free and true." I said.
"I knew it!" He yelled. "You cheater you're using my memories to fight against me! That was the sacred battle greeting performed only in front of the ruler of the Southern Kingdom."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that I was doing it. It felt like instinct. Either way, are you feeling better?" I asked.
"Yeah, now that I know you can defend yourself I feel a bit more comfortable. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I always just used magic, weapons are heavy especially when you don't have a home for nine years."
"Alright well we better get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow, or later today." He said looking up at the sky. We curled up on the ground dried sweat still clinging to our hair and clothes and allowed the agony of sleep to take us, the feeling of unease stronger than ever before.
(Elidra's POV)
I grudgingly glanced at the soldiers armed to the tooth walking in groups around the streets of Somnium the capital of the western Kingdom. Whispers that didn't dare to speak up spoke of rebellion in the other kingdoms, and since Vellhaven was only ever afraid of Spera the Emperor sent his troops here.
They came like bandits, pillaging and murdering anyone who dared speak to or about them. My mother spoke to me on the street about what life was back in the time of Spera, as I was too young to remember and a soldier had her hanging in the square in front of the ruined citadel that once housed the royal family of Spera, long since dead. Or so I had thought until a single phrase worked its way through the alleys and bars: Aliendra is alive and she is fighting the Emperor.
Our queen still lived and fought to save us. We would be free of the tyrants rule and we could govern ourselves. I was only 14, but knew that this was our only shot for freedom. The soldiers looked in my direction with a greedy hunger and I knew what was on their minds, so I sauntered over to them and obliged. Three of them, all willing to depart their posts to have their way with a child. Hah, I stopped being a child when I watched them tear my mother from her rope, and saw her fall to the cobblestones.
They removed their aged tunics and threw their weapons to the side, pleasure across each of their faces. With them suitably unarmed, I drew a dagger from within my skirts and slit the throats of two of the men before the third could react, and I had the dagger buried in his spine before he could reach his sword.
I looked up at the red moon, and smiled. The chimes of bells boomed across the city and the nation of Spera roared. The revolution had begun.
Author's note- This entire chapter was a dream that I had last night. I apologize for not updating as much as I should have, but I haven't gotten as much time as I hoped this week. It's thanksgiving here and I spent most of it with my family and friends.