House of Winter

Chapter 44

And then he stepped down, and held out his hand.

"We're twins," he told her. "Equals."

Lumi took his hand and let him lead her up to the top of the tower. She took a moment to catch her breath. From here, it was just possible to see through the snow, to the battle below. There was a clash of fire and ice. Lumi caught a glimpse of the huge black wolf, charging through, and then saw Virani's white tiger, before they were lost in a blaze of smoke and snow that blocked their view.

"She's the only family we have, Lumiko," Tai said. "And she has a vision for the future. A vision for the Fire Lands and Norrlund, to come together. Fire and ice have always been two sides of the same coin. We would be stronger together. And she would lead us. She's more powerful than anyone. More powerful than you and me combined."

"She killed our mother, Tai," Lumi said.

"She had to," Tai said. "These are the sacrifices we make, in war. We make hard decisions for the greater good. In Lombardia, I could have set explosions to that whole championship arena. I could have killed all of those people. But I didn't. I only killed who I had to - one prince - and it was enough. Lombardia was growing too powerful. You know it. And Matthias has never been a good king. Vastier is corrupt, and their corruption is spreading. Our own people, fire starrlings, have been defying our own laws and trading with the Vastiens. Trading in illegal goods. That corruption would burn through the Fire Lands if left unchecked. I needed to take our enemies down."

"War doesn't help anything," Lumi said softly.

"War was the one thing that strengthened the Fire Lands beyond anything it has ever been," Tai said. "Before the Fire War, the Fire Lands were fractured and weak. Plagued with famines and drought, always on the verge of collapse. But our father united our people and made them stronger than ever, in a battle against a common enemy."

"Our people are scarred by one war. They don't want another," Lumi said.

"You don't know our people," Tai snapped. "You've never spoken to them. I've spent years of my life with the army soldiers of the palace, learning their stories, their hopes, their ambitions. I understand our people. While you have always hidden in your room, too afraid to even talk to your servants. Do you know how pathetic you were? Always pining after Auntie V. Always following me around. Always whining. Putrid little pest."

Lumi turned to him, and saw the hatred in his eyes. He truly hated her. She had never done anything to make him hate her, but he hated her.

"You're so terrified that anyone would think you were weak, like me," Lumi said. "You hate me for my weaknesses because you're scared that deep down, you're the same. When you look at me, you see yourself. So you've beaten me my whole life, and hoped that it would beat the weakness out of you."

Tai surged her then, with a power so immense it made her feel weak. She screamed. For a moment, she could do nothing but feel his power surge through her. And then she pushed back, quelling his fire with her own. She felt the shock as their magics matched as equals, and then she felt her strength return as she pulled against him.

Around them, the watch tower erupted into flames. The heat on the back of her neck matched the burning in her hands. She quelled, and he fell backwards, leaning against the balustrade. He stretched out his hand, trying to reach her, but she was out of his reach.

"You cannot win this," he said. "If you quell me, your magic will die too."

Lumi remembered the time she had first felt the fire power.

They'd been skiing down perfectly plump white slopes, racing faster and faster, daring each other on, laughing and delighted. But Tai had always been more competitive, and when Lumi beat him in the race, he was angry. He had attacked her in the snow, and she'd screamed as he'd unleashed his fire power on her, trapping her face down while he burned a handprint into her back.

She'd only been a child. She'd stayed like that, lying in the snow, crying, for longer than she cared to admit. Finally, she'd sat up and felt for her own fire in her palm. She remembered that she'd made a promise to herself to fight back, but somehow, she'd forgotten that promise to herself. She'd let him beat her, again and again.

"You will never hurt anyone, ever again," Lumi promised, and she held her hand on his throat. He clawed at her hands desperately, but he was too weak now. She quelled with all her strength, all of her anger that she had bottled up inside of her since she was a child. She quelled, and she quelled, and the blackness spread up her hands to her elbows and she kept quelling. Tai let out one final wail, and then he fell to the floor of the tower.

She thought for a moment he was laughing. He was face down on the ground, his hand over his eyes. But then she realised he was sobbing. His body was shaking. She'd never seen him sob like this, like a little child. He heaved with the effort of it.

Lumi slid down beside him, leaning against a pillar, and looked at her hands. They were burnt to blackness, and she tried to wipe the charcoal from them, but her flesh was seared.

She swallowed, trying to gain enough breath, but she was dizzy. The tower seemed to be spinning in the snowstorm, and she was being swept away. The darkness welcomed her with open arms like a mother.