Kindling of Frost and Ashes (Phoenix Chronicles Book 3)

Chapter 5: In and Out

Noelle knelt before Hendrix, one of the Army captains, and tended to the wounds from his latest beating. In her six weeks of captivity, she'd taken on the role of caregiver after interrogations. The Guardian Pollemius had convinced Lady Helena that he would serve best as the captain of the dungeon guard, keeping the men alive until she had reason to execute them.

Helena agreed, and Pollemius's first act was to free Noelle of her cell - or at least, partially free her. Though the other prison guards wouldn't have allowed her to walk out the doors, Pollemius suggested she help them care for the prisoners, as none of them wanted to get too near to an Army soldier, many of them having gifts that proved dangerous.

Therefore, Noelle was allowed to tend to them, care for them, and escape her tiny cell to stretch her legs.

"Thank you, dear girl," Captain Hendrix said as Noelle mopped up the blood from a cut over his eyebrow. "I don't know how we'd survive without you."

"Why do they keep doing this?" Noelle asked, shifting back on her heels as she searched for the bandages the healer had left her.

"They want information on the king and Commander Lee." Hendrix shifted to a more comfortable position, groaning in pain. "It wouldn't be so bad if that Treck didn't move so fast."

Noelle paused, holding a bit of gauze in one hand and a wrap in the other. "Roman Treck?" Hendrix nodded. "He's the one doing this to you?"

"He's in charge until they can find the heir they're all looking for. Helena has him handle us personally."

"And he does this on his own? Beat you for answers?"

Hendrix shrugged. "I suppose Lady Aundreya is there, too."

Noelle's jaw clenched, and she forced her breathing to remain steady. "I bet she encourages him to continue."

The captain considered her for a moment. "She's the one who--" he pointed to Noelle's face. She flinched and looked away. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...why did she do that to you?"

"Just lucky, I guess," Noelle said, pressing the gauze to the man's forehead. The cut didn't hurt as much anymore - most days she'd forget she had it until she saw someone staring. There weren't mirrors in the dungeon, and she didn't know how bad it had scarred. She didn't want to know.

She finished up in silence, leaving Hendrix to rest as she closed his cell door.

"You shouldn't let it get to you."

With a yelp, Noelle jumped and turned to see Pollemius behind her. "What?"

He tapped his own face then pointed to hers. "Scars aren't the end of the world, Noelle."

"When one of these soldiers sees me for the first time, his first reaction is to pull away from me. I don't need to see what I look like to know I'm frightening - which is exactly what she wanted."

Pollemius placed a large, umber hand on Noelle's shoulder, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. "No matter what your sister does, she'll never be able to make you as ugly as she is. She can try, but even with this scar, you're still beautiful."

Noelle pursed her lips in an attempt not to smile. "Yes, I know. I'm beautiful on the inside."

"Even the scar." Pollemius shrugged. "My wife lost her left eye during the battle. Do you think that makes me love her less? Do you think I find her less beautiful? No. She's a warrior. What's not to love about that?"

"You loved her before the battle," Noelle said, grinning at him. "It's different when people meet you like this."

"That's assuming you weren't already loved." Pollemius winked at her, moving away. "From what I heard, you had quite a few friends who thought pretty highly of you."

Noelle's smile weakened. "I wish I knew what happened to them. Abigail and Phoenix are dead; Roman is under my sister's control; Maverick and the others are all missing..."

"They'll return. We know that. Before long, they'll have to."

#

Altair led the way toward a gathering crowd. They'd been to two different towns in two weeks without hearing anything, but Phoenix could almost feel the electricity in the air as they entered this village.

"Look." Altair pointed to where an old woman stood, chattering away to an enraptured audience.

"...everywhere! I couldn't move, my muscles frozen." The old woman's gnarled hands formed into claws, her jowls shaking as she spoke.

"And the snow came from nowhere?" an onlooker asked.

"Out of a clear blue sky. A freak storm appearing from nothing. Thunder peeled across the sky and ice spread over the ground. Within minutes, the blizzard formed so strong you couldn't see an inch in front of your face."

"What happened next?" A young girl asked, eyes wide as she stood with her mother.

"A wind unlike any I've ever experienced blew through the village. The gale force was such that it knocked me flat on my back. When I sat up, only the ice remained - covering the cobblestones. The snow and the storm had disappeared."

"That's ridiculous. How could that happen?" A man turned to his fellow listeners for backup. "It's not possible. Storms don't just happen like that."

"No, they don't," the old woman agreed, her pale eyes alight with secrets. "It's what happened next that was the kicker."

"What's that?"

"Two men stood in the middle of the square - one tall and almost glowing. The other looked harsh, mean as any man I've ever seen. They were yelling at each other, and the mean looking man raised up his hand and brought it slicing down. A jagged ice javelin grew up from the ground and almost impaled the tall man. Then the mean one, he left."

"A man with ice powers?" A woman stared around. "What does this mean?"

"It means," the old woman began, pointing a crooked finger around the crowd. "That the Ancients have returned."

"The Ancients?"

"You think two humans could go toe to toe like that?" The old woman shook her head. "The Ancients have returned, and they're at war."

"Why would they war with each other?" Altair folded his arms as he spoke, and Phoenix could sense his annoyance.

"Everything is topsy turvy. Or hadn't you noticed? Why, just before the snow storm started, a young man and woman were claiming to be the rightful heirs to the throne! They wanted people to follow them to take down some usurper. No one's called Bainon that in a decade."

Altair grabbed a hold of Phoenix's arm, and she glanced up, confused. "What?"

"We need to go."

"Yeah, I get it. Ares is in whatever village she's talking about."

"No. So much more than that." His voice rose to address the old woman. "What village was this in, did the ice melt?"

"Vellaria," the old woman said, brow arched. "Why? Are you planning to go play in the snow, you big goon?"

"Snow doesn't really do it for me," Phoenix said, lifting a hand blazing with fire. The crowd jumped back, screaming in shock and fear. She let the ball of fire spread up each arm and wiggled her fingers as the fire crackled. Though people backed away, they didn't take their eyes off her. Beside her, Altair rolled his eyes. "But if you want to be clear, it's not the Ancients who are fighting."

Lifting both arms, she shot a blast of fire up into the air where it sparked and died, dropping embers.

"It's the Guardians."

Well there you go, Noelle and Phoenix checked back in AND we have an update on where both of her brothers are!

Off to Vellaria we go, right? I kind of love keeping Eric a bit of a mystery...I wonder when we'll see him next?