Thanks to all my awesome reviewers!! You guys are great!!
Lady Arianne Of Ambers Valley: Yay repeat reviewing! You're awesome! I love cliffhangers, but I'm not the best at writing them sometimes. So when I wrote that one, I gave myself a mental high five!! I'm glad someone picked up on that!! Thanks!! :)
Opal-169: Thank you for reviewing! I'm sorry I couldn't send you the sneak peek in reply to your answers to the questions. You deserved it! Thanks for the guesses! Some of that is along the line of what I was thinking so nice job! Here's your update! Thanks for reviewing! :)
focid 360: Yeah, I plan to describe them in the next couple of chapters. I couldn't remember what the Bazhir were supposed to look like exactly, so I had to ask for help on that one. Thanks for the help on the cactus/cacti thing. I know I learned it in school but I couldn't remember. My teachers would be disappointed! Thanks! :)
noname: I promise you I will write another chapter. In fact, here it is!! Your review made me so happy! I plan to be an author someday ("but always remember a backup plan just in case!" Yes mom.) So yay that you told me I could be an author someday. Hee hee...I'm always writing. Thanks for reviewing!! You're awesome!! Sticker cookies for you!!
Disclaimer: Honestly, it's not that hard. If you know it, it's not mine. If you don't, it is. Got it?
Chapter Four: My colors
Because I know who's voice that is. No Bazhir I know has an accent like that. The person comes from the shadows just as a Bazhir man takes out a knife and throws it at the prince's head, who is in the middle of the women. I squeeze my eyes closed and wait for the impact.
It all happens so fast, that I'm not even sure what happens at first. The Bazhir man throws a knife with surprising accuracy. It spirals towards the prince's head and I seem to watch it in slow motion.
The prince looks up just as the knife is six inches away from his face. I will never forget the expression on his face when he sees it. Boredom. He was actually bored by the attempt on his life!
Just as it is about to strike his face, he moves. I see it, just barely as his fingers twitch and green light floods out of them. I watch in shocked fascination and he spells the dagger (knife thinger) in midst of flight and it lands harmlessly, knife point first, into the ground.
Then, after all of that, is when the first of the women begins screaming at the top of her lungs.
I resist the urge to roll my at that and turn back to the mysterious stranger in the shadows. Only to find him gone. I turn to Kirae, only to find her not paying attention. She has a very short attention span sometimes. ( AN: That is SOO me!)
I frown. What was that about?
"Oh my cactus (which is ONE cactus. More than one would be cacti. Thank you focid 360) pie!!" that is such a LAME saying. The tribal leader hurries over to the prince, probably trying to assess the damage the Bazhir man did on our relations with the prince. Funny, I thought our tribe was supposed to hate northerners.
"All is well!" the tribal leader exclaims after a brief moment. "Go back to your partying! That traitor shall be caught and hung by the morrow!" Great. A public hanging.
Everyone goes back to their partying, but I can't seem to focus my mind on it.
The prince can do magic. Not only can he do magic, but he's AMAZING at it. If only he could teach me…no. Then he would know that I was the one he saw using magic. And then I would be dishonored because he saw my face. Then I would end up stuff in a cactus somewhere.
I shake my head, trying to find my way back to reality. What a boring place reality is though. If I had my way, I'd be far away from here, learning magic. That's fantasy, though. And reality is where I live and where I must stay.
"Miss Jezmen Ka'eere." The voice that whispers in my ear makes me feel nauseous. I resist the urge to shudder.
"Yes, Jeire Lemeor?" I suck in a sharp breath when I see his face. He's sneering at me and I know what he is about to say.
"Dance with me." He doesn't ask, he orders. That's the way he's always been. He always seems to be sneering at someone like he's better than them, or knows more than them.
"I…" I have no valid excuse. The look on his face tells me he knows that too. "I would be honored." It takes a lot to spit that out and saying it makes me want to cut out my own tongue.
Jeire smirks at me as I follow him onto the dance floor. (yes the feast is magically over now. It IS a fantasy story after all.) H e knows my papa is going to sign the marriage contract. And why not? He ALWAYS gets what he wants after all.
Now I make my own revolution. No matter what happens, I will not marry Jeire Lemeor. Like I have a choice.
Jeire pulls me close and now I can smell the weed smoke on him. It enters my lungs and overflows my senses. I feel nauseous.
"Jezmen Ka'eere. So beautiful," Jeire whispers next to my ear. I feel even more nauseous. I don't need this.
He runs his hands through my hair, letting it fall back around my shoulders. I bite my lip. Hard. Blood pours into my mouth and I wince at the taste. It is not a taste I enjoy.
"Soon to be all mine." Jeire whispers, even closer now. I resist the urge to pull away. "And you…"
A throat clears behind us, and I use the chance to pull away from Jeire Lemeor. I turn to see the prince himself. "Hello." He says pleasantly, ignoring Jeire Lemeor's glare.
"Hello." I reply, as not to be rude or anything. That would be disrespectful.
"Hello." Jeire snaps. He doesn't care about being rude at all.
Luckily the prince decides to ignore his disrespect. Luckily for Jeire anyway.
"I notice you dropped this, Miss." There is an amused glint in the prince's eyes and I can't help but think he knows how I was feeling.
I smile brightly at him, thankful. "Thank you, sir. I would surely have lost it for good."
I reach out my hand for whatever he has to give me. It's a ring. A beautiful ring in fact. It has a silver band with an engraving of a rose in it. The stone is gorgeous, colored blue, brown, and gold. My three colors. But…
I look up at him, a question in my face. He shakes his head ever so slightly. I bite my lip, only to remember my cut. Ouch.
"Thank you, sir. I can't even imagine how I managed to drop this. It's so…special to me. Thank you." I curtsey low, my head inclined in a bow.
He smiles at me, and I feel my heart flutter a bit. How strange…
"You are welcome. Have a good night."
He walks away, a grin on his face, as I watch him a little breathlessly.
"Wow," Jeire sneers. "He thinks he's so amazing. Just because he has royal blood." I want to hit him. How dare he.
"That was the last dance for the night!" our tribal leader calls out and Jeire looks put out.
"Well…I guess that's it. Until a later date, my love," he kisses my hand before disappearing into the crowd. I frown after him. Oh how I wish I could magic him away. I'm sure Prince Roald could.
Speaking of Prince Roald…
I look down at the ring he gave me. I know fully well that it is not mine. What I don't know is why he gave it to me. Or how he gave me a ring that is perfect for me, even though he doesn't know me.
The rose, is almost explainable, right? I mean, lots of girls love roses.
But my colors…that's…I don't understand how he did it. Blue, Gold, and Brown. My three favorite colors.
Blue, because it's the color of my magic. Obviously. Then brown and gold because they're the colors of my eyes. Dark brown with flecks of gold in them. Kirae loves them.
I turn to see almost everyone gone. How long was I sitting here thinking?
"Jezmen? Why are you still here?" Magii Youa, an elderly woman of my tribe, asks curiously.
"I...uh...forgot something." I lie, before hurrying on my way back to my tent.
Later that night, I slip out of my family tent to go down and practice my magic.
Once again, I sit down cross-legged, and look inside myself. My ocean blue magic wells out and I am bathed in it. I smile at the sweet feel of it and pinch a little to pull out of myself.
I whirl it about in the air, creating ocean blue sparks in the night. Small crackling noises ignite with each spark.
Then a noise uphill causes me to start. What a see makes me terrified down to my very bones. This cannot be happening.
I watch Jeire Lemeor coming down the hill, my entire body breaking out in a cold sweat. I should have seen this coming. I should have known that he would be watching me extra carefully after tonight. Now I've blown my cover, now he's seen me breaking what is considered one of the main rules of our people.
He draws nearer, a sneer on his face and I know I'm dead.
"Well, well." He smirks. "Jezmen Ka'eere. Here, right here." He draws it out, obviously seeing my fear. "Using magic."
Dun Dun Dun…I feel so evil right now. Good thing I've been working on my evil smile. (One of my friends gets totally creeped out by it. It's great!) Hope you liked it!! :)
WOW! I got so many people adding me to as their favorite story and on story alert after that last chapter! Imagine how excited I was to check my email the day after posting it to find twenty new emails!! You guys are AWESOME!! That just made my day!!! Thank you! Sticker cookies to you all!!
A special, really random note out of the blue that one of you will understand and the rest of you will think I am insane…Yes if you receive any private messages from me, claiming it is me, then yes it is me. Not my other friends who share my account with me!! :D There you go focid 360!!!