Soar

Chapter 1

When I was a child, I met a witch who told me my eyes were blue because I was born to gaze at the sky.

She was the only one who ever told me to keep my head up. It wasn't long after our meeting that I discovered the only way to live was with my gaze firmly fixed on the dirt. No one else wanted to see a hint of my blue eyes. If I was careful to keep my hair covered as well, I found that people were more inclined to tolerate me. That was the closest I could hope to come to being safe.

Or, at least, safe from my masters. The other slaves were another matter.

It had rained in the night, and the ground of the kitchen yard was a mess of mud. I could feel the cold seeping through my thin cloth shoes. All I wanted was to get back to the kitchen so I could kick them off and dry my feet by the fire.

There was only one thing preventing me, and it owned the pair of too-big boots planted firmly in the mud in front of my eyes.

"Do they make a new hole every time, witch?" the stable boy taunted. He flicked the heavy ring in my left ear.

I had heard him coming too late. Normally I would have waited until he grew bored with me and moved on, but today Cook had warned me to be quick. I was more concerned with what Cook would do to me than this boy. I shifted the rope handle of my bucket of water and kept silent.

"Did you hear me, witch? They say all your kind are witches."

If I was a witch, I could make him move.

If I was a true witch, I would not have been standing in that muddy yard to begin with.

"Look at me," he said, spit flying onto my face.

Forcing myself not to flinch, I raised my head and met his gaze. His dark eyes were small in his dirty face. I held his stare, heedless of the trouble it could cause. Perhaps I did have a little power, because sometimes just looking at a person for long enough could make them leave me be.

Not today. The boy shot out a dirty hand. I grimaced and pulled back, but all this did was cause his broken fingernails to scrape my chin as he caught it. "Master's silver looks good on you," he sneered. His eyes moved to my ear and I knew he was counting the holes there.

The kitchen door was behind him. He was not allowed in there. I weighed my options while he twisted my head back and forth and the rope handle cut into my palms.

"It's going to rain," I said through gritted teeth.

The boy raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Of course it is. That-"

Desperately, I tossed the bucket's contents at his face. The boy recoiled against the cold water. I ducked under his arm and ran.

There was a momentary pause in activity as I burst through the kitchen door. Most people returned to their tasks without a second thought to me.

Not Cook. "What's this, then?"

The empty bucket dangled from my fingers. I pushed away from the door and tried to hide it behind me, but Cook had already seen it.

"You a half-wit? I said 'fetch water'."

"I-" A blow to my face silenced me. Stars flashed in my spinning vision, and through them I saw Cook loom over me. She brandished her meaty fist and breathed heavily through her nose. I braced myself as her hand shot out, but it was only to snatch the bucket out of my hands as she called to the nearest serving girl.

"Fill this," she snapped. "And if you dally, I'll whip you both."

The girl cast me a look as she took the bucket, then slipped past to get through the door. I pressed against the nearest table. My fingernails dug into the wood.