I sincerely apologise for the lateness of this chapter. It was mainly due to school work and other commitments, though I'm more on top of everything now, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Yelena
"Yelena, take this. It's the closest replacement for your antidote I could think of." Irys said as she handed me a vile filled with a thick pink liquid.
"My antidote was white, not pink." I sounded like a petulant child. All these people wanted to do was help me, and all Valek wanted to do was poison me and hurt me. But for some reason, all I wanted in the world was to go running back into his arms. His hands, the very same ones that had poisoned me, hurt me, wounded me, and yet, they were the safest thing I knew.
"White?" Irys said in confusion. "I've never heard of an antidote being white. It's a general rule that antidotes and either pink or red in colour. That makes them easier to identify."
My mind was too clouded to think properly. "Maybe he just added some fox-root to bleach it so I wouldn't be able to find my antidote if I tried."
Irys frowned. "Fox root? How on earth do you know about that? Only trained botanists and certain clans have that knowledge."
"How far have we travelled?" I asked, avoiding Irys' question, as the answer was unknown to me. Perhaps I had read it in one of Valek's poison books. I scrounged through my backpack and pulled out a bread roll Irys had just bought me. I attacked it, tearing off a piece of lukewarm bread. It was only after I smelt the inviting, comforting smell that I realised I hadn't eaten for hours. The scent reminded me of Rand, and the bread in my mouth suddenly tasted like old glue.
"We've made rather good progress for the 3 hours that we've been travelling." Irys replied, just before her eyes went vacant.
I swallowed the sticky mouthful of bread. "…Irys?" I said, and stood up slowly.
Her eyes seemed to snap back into focus. "And Valek hasn't found us… yet."
"I thought you couldn't track him? Isn't he immune to magic?"
"He is immune, correct. But that also means he creates a dead space in the magic atmosphere, which would take years to sift through. But, a trained magician can pick up this interference, if they know where to look." Irys replied. "And he certainly isn't in our immediate area. I believe he's still at the castle."
This fact didn't give me the reassurance that Irys intended, in fact, it made me uneasy. Even worse, I had no idea why I was so on edge.
"How much further until we arrive in Sitia?" I mumble. I had figured that once we were inside Sitian borders, and the further in we went, the harder it would be for Valek to track and capture us.
"Not too long." Iris replied, as she glanced out the window of the enclosed carriage that we were travelling in.
I sighed and sat down. Iris turned back to me.
"We may as well start your magic training; we have nothing better to do." She motioned for me to stand again. I obeyed her gesture.
"Fire is the most basic skill. It may take a while to learn, but it is a base talent. Once you master it, then other skills that you will learn will make more sense." With a tiny motion of her hand, a candle appeared on the table in front of us. Another subtle flick of her wrist, and it was alight.
"We'll begin with manipulating the flame." She said.
"Manipulating?" I repeated, curiously.
"Yes. Concentrate on the flame, and will it to lean to the left. Hold it there for as long as you can."
I glanced wearily at the flame. People can actually control fire? I thought, confused.
"Yes, they can." Iris said, smiling. "Give it a go, Yelena."
I concentrated on the flame and willed it to lean to the left. Iris gasped and the flame leant to the left, perfectly straight.
"I did it!" I said, triumphantly. I was shocked at how easy it was.
"No, you didn't." Iris sounded bemused, and slightly irritated.
I looked at her questioningly. She returned my gaze with a measured look.
"I was the one who lit it, Yelena."
Yes, I know it's short, but I felt that i needed to post something. The next chapter will be back to Valek's POV, so it will be much longer :) Please review, thankyou :D
