Fire on Fire: A Koralie Story

Chapter Nine: Oralie

3393 words. Hehe so I forgot to upload this one shkdsjfd. It'll get good soon, trust. Super minor TW? it, like, vaguely suggests intoxication and potential (but prevented) violence.

Please comment, vote, and enjoy!

Oralie

Nisha, Oralie decided, was a fascination.

They sat in the living room, Oralie with her back straight and her hands clasped carefully on her lap. And yet, Nisha, sprawled across the opposite couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table, could've owned the place. For a moment, the perpetually unimpressed look on her face made Oralie panic, like she was the Councillor, and Oralie was the juvenile.

Elwin was silent next to Nisha, his lips twitched downwards, his jaw clenched, like he was expecting — and prepared for — a fight. But when he looked between Kenric and Oralie, the way they sat stiffly a few inches too far apart, she could've sworn he was teasing her.

He and Nisha exchanged glances, wearing remarkably similar expressions, but neither of them spoke. If Oralie had to guess, it was a great show of restraint for Nisha.

"Your hair," Elwin said instead.

Oralie looked at Kenric, who tilted his head. He ran his fingers through his hair, soft like wisps of fire now he'd he'd washed it, and gave a small smile. "It's longer, isn't it? Reminds me of the good old days. Maybe I should grow it out more."

"Don't you dare!" Oralie said, earning wide eyes from Elwin and Nisha.

Kenric's smile grew.

She blushed furiously, staring at her plate, which sat untouched on the coffee table. She wasn't hungry, but Della offered twice, a sympathetic look in her eyes, and by the third time, Oralie didn't have the heart to refuse. Something about the sweet scent of food made her stomach twist.

"Never mind, then." He filched a small cookie from her plate and ate it carefully, savoring it like it was the last cookie he'd eat in years. Or the first, she supposed.

Elwin let out a tiny gasp. "Is that chocolate?"

Oralie smiled, turning her plate so the chocolate piece was closer to him.

He grinned his thanks, a boyish gleam in his eyes, and munched happily on the chocolate.

Nisha gave him a look. Oralie was beginning to think this was her usual expression.

"What?" he mumbled, wiping the corner of his lips. "You know chocolate makes everything better. It has magical properties.

She snorted, closing her eyes. "Some doctor you are." She sank deeper into the couch cushions — and yelped when Elwin shoved her feet off the coffee table. She opened one eye to glare at him. Then she looked at Oralie, like she could see past the circlet to find a foolish woman fooling herself with a crown. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes. The Council is . . . interested in you."

Nisha shot her a dirty look. "Interested in me," she repeated slowly.

"The Neverseen would never free someone as valuable as Kenric without a plan." Not without dangling a thread over her hands only to snatch it away.

Nisha raised a sharp eyebrow. Her gaze drifted lazily across the pristine table, the intricate chandelier, the gold candleholders. Under her gaze, its beauty withered and turned dull. "Is this how you interrogate seasoned Neverseen members? The Council never ceases to disappoint."

"Is that what you are? A seasoned member?"

"Nah." Nisha sat up and plucked a flower from the vase in the center of the table. "And truthfully, I don't know if they have a plan. I doubt they even know Kenric's still alive and not crushed under the rubble of Eyithes — the hideout you destroyed, that is."