City of Mages

Chapter 19: Alara

"I'm not brainwashed by the Council, you know?" Alara's voice was quiet, but it echoed in the silent forest.

"You could have fooled me."

"It's complicated."

Quenti stopped and leaned against a tree, looking at Alara with bright eyes. Alara stopped a few steps ahead of her and gazed back at Quenti sharply.

"Look. All I know is last night after the pumisi attacked—after you used your magia to save us—you were excited. There was a spark in your eye, the same one I saw when you were fighting in the dark marketplace thing. You looked... alive. You wanted to do more. To practice more. And then it all shut down. You heard the voice of that woman guilting you for enjoying your powers and reminding you you're supposed to hate them. The spark went out, and you returned to—" Quenti waved a hand haphazardly at Alara. "This."

"How...?" Alara bit her lip and tried not to let Quenti see the tremors in her hands.

"It was the same feeling that I used to get when I was around my papa." Quenti's voice softened a bit. It was perhaps the first time Alara had seen any emotion other than anger or mischief from Quenti. "When I was younger, before I gained control, I would slip sometimes and use magia in front of him. Mama would always come sweeping into the room to erase his memory and give me another speech about keeping my secret. It was confusing trying to make sense of the excitement I felt when I used my powers and the terror in Mama's face every time I did." The next sentence was almost a whisper. "Khuno was the first person who wasn't afraid."

"It isn't just about Emaru or me or you," Alara said. "It's the bigger picture. The Haven is protecting us and the rest of the world from devolving back to where we were during the Bruya Wars. Without control, magia just led to escalating war and death."

"So every time you need to light a campfire, that's what's stopping you? Some old propaganda about the Wars from five hundred years ago?"

Alara was silent at this.

"I thought so."

She broke eye contact with Quenti and leaned heavily against the tree behind her. The bark was smooth and cool where her arms brushed it. "Like I said before. It's complicated."

Quenti just raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, clearly waiting for Alara.

"If I tell you, will you shut up?"

***

The air was cool, but the sun was warm. She could feel a small trickle of sweat slipping down her back, tickling against her skin. She concentrated hard on the frog statue in front of her. The frog was made of cool gray stone and a small stream of water shot from the palm of its foot, which was raised up in front of it like a human hand. It sat on a pedestal in the middle of the village square, its mouth thrown back and open wide.

This is where Alara's eyes focused. She clenched her small fist around the copper coin in her hand.

"Come on, Lara. Just do it already!" The loud shrill voice behind her was disembodied—a blur of brown hair and dark skin. The face had long since faded into lost memories.

Alara placed the coin on her thumb and flicked it. The copper metal spun in the air. And with a small plunk, it hit the lip of the frog and veered off, falling into the base of the fountain.

She felt the weight of disappointment hit and heard the snicker behind her. "I knew you couldn't do it. My turn!"

Alara smirked and jutted her foot out. The boy behind her tumbled onto the ground and Alara jumped, grabbing at the coin in his hand, tripping as she did.