The Eye of The Storm

Chapter 16

Towards Philippopolis

Aella was barely able to sleep that night. Each time she rolled over, a new image came into her mind, reminding her that for her entire life she had not been the girl she had thought she was. It had taken several hours for Beatrix's words to sink into her, melding with her skin and becoming part of the blood pumping through her heart. It formed a new identity that Aella herself hardly recognized. She felt the old woman's voice reverberate back and forth against her skull,

You have tremendous power, but you are unaware of it

She could practically see the words scratched into her eyelids each time she closed them, in a desperate attempt to enter  dreamland and leave her problems behind her here on Earth. But no matter how hard she tried, this was the one problem that she could never leave. And now it was even more acutely tied to her.

She was a classical elemental user, as was her aunt Medea. Both were words that still felt foreign in her mouth. She recalled the letters she had seen with Thoren. Medea had written angrily to her mother weeks before the storm had been cast. Did that mean that Medea was the person responsible for the storm?  And if she had equal powers to that of Medea could Beatrix teach her how to use her powers to realign the elements and break up the storm? Beatrix was a sage, after all, and it was her role to direct others.

For the first time in her life, Aella felt as though she had a course to follow that made sense. It filled her with peacefulness, and the anxiety in her mind began to ease. She rustled her head underneath her vermilion counterpane and embraced sleep, dreaming only of wide open fields and skies so blue they bent around her.

✦                                                     ✦                                                     ✦

She awoke naturally that morning, her aching arms and legs rejuvenated by a restful sleep. Today was the day. She wanted to run to Beatrix's tent and start her training immediately. She was vibrating with excitement. Now that she had put so much hope in being able to stop the storm with her powers, she felt a fear eating at her that maybe Beatrix had been wrong. What if she wasn't gifted after all? What if she was just normal? The thoughts were like small beetles that she constantly flicked off her skin.

Over a meager breakfast she could feel her parents eyes watching her as though she was a specimen on display. She wanted to wave her hands in front of them and shout, Hey! I'm still your daughter! Nothing inside of me has actually changed! She wondered if Thoren had told his father the general, or any of the other soldiers. She hoped not. Having two people, and her parents at that,  treat her so differently was one thing. She didn't need the whole encampment watching her in awe.

It was her mother that broke the uncomfortable silence first. "Aella, dear. Beatrix has given us a proposition."

Aella looked up from her meal and stopped chewing. The food immediately turned to grey dust in her mouth.

"A generous proposition at that." Her father chimed in.

"Well, what did she say?"

Her mother daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin before continuing, "Beatrix has offered to help you learn how to utilize your abilities."

Aella tried not to look visibly relieved but in truth she was. She had been dreading having to try to convince her parents to let her spend more time with the old woman and now the problem had solved itself. She silently thanked the gods and Beatrix for making this all possible.

"But she cannot teach you today." Her father said, crushing her hopes of meeting with Beatrix immediately. His quick-tempered eyes jerked from his daughter to his bowl of food. "We must move towards the city with the eye."