My mother – Kari, I made up my mind to call her from now on - ended up being gone for a lot longer than “a bit”. I wandered into the kitchen and found Trent there. He was leaning one hip against the counter, studying what looked like a recipe book, long blonde hair obscuring his face.
He looked up when I walked in, face brightening with a smile, “hey, how’d the lesson go?”
“Well, she knows I have the link now,” I tried to keep my voice bright, but it must have rang false, because he scrutinized my face harder, setting the book down, “are you okay?”
“She found the link,” I fidgeted with the bottom of the black sweater I was wearing, running my fingers over the cotton so wouldn’t have to look up at him, “it was, weird. When she tried it, I sort of…I dunno, felt like she was trying to intrude.”
Trent grimaced, “Uh oh. So, it didn’t work at all? Not like…like it worked with us?”
I thought of the rush of feelings when he’d touched me, the heat of his gaze, the brush of his thoughts against mine, and wanted to say it was nothing like what we’d felt. Instead, I just shook my head, “it didn’t quite…work. She said was resisting.”
“Hm,” Trent turned back to the cook book, flipping through the pages casually, “you’re just nervous, I’m sure she realized that. You’ll have to forgive her if she comes off…you know, over eager. She really does care.”
Thinking about the way she marched out as soon as she knew I had the link made me wonder if he was right, “she didn’t really help me with the fire,” I glanced over his shoulder at the book. Trent appeared to be looking at pictures of deserts, “she sort of just left as soon as she tested the link.”
“New recruit,” he shrugged, “don’t worry, Jess. It’ll all work out fine,” he turned and took my hand, surprising me enough that I could feel my cheeks flush instantly, “I promise.”
Not wanting to look like a blushing school girl, I took my hand back gently and tried my best too look casual, “So, brownies?”
He grinned, brushing his hair behind one ear, “I figured we could do a bit of baking, you know, to take your mind off things. Brownies demand nothing from you, that’s the best part about them…well, and the chocolaty goodness.”
Something about him saying the phrase “chocolatey goodness” had me stifling giggles with the sleeve of my sweater, “okay, brownies. That sounds good actually.”
“There is no situation that cannot be made better with chocolate,” Trent reached into one of the cupboards and started pulling down ingredients, “at least, that what girls always say, right?”
“Right,” I agreed, looking over the brownie recipe, “chocolate and lots and lots of money.”
Trent laughed, “wow, alright then. Here, pass me the sugar, will you?”
It was quickly apparent that Trent was not a natural baker. He nearly dumped in two tablespoons of salt instead of teaspoons, and covered himself in flour so thoroughly that he looked like a tall, blonde ghost. Finally we got the batter the way it should look, and Trent poured it clumsily into a shallow square baking dish, splattering chocolate on both of us in the process. He slammed the oven door shut and straightened triumphantly, turning back to me,
“There! In twenty minutes we’ll have beautiful chocolate…” he trailed off into laughter, staring at me, and I blushed furiously, “What? What’s so funny?”
“You’re nose,” he snickered, “you’ve got chocolate…here, I’ll get it…”
Trent leaned in and swiped one finger on the tip of my nose, pulling his hand back to show me the globe of chocolate on his finger, eyes twinkling with suppressed laugher, “you’re messy.”
“You’re the one that splattered it everywhere!” I protested, then grimaced at him when he licked his finger, “ew! You just ate my nose chocolate!”
“It’s delicious,” he teased, “It tastes better that way, here, try it. I’ll put some more on you.” He dipped his finger in the bowl, and I shrieked and back peddled as he came at me with chocolate covered fingers, stopped by the handle of the stove pressing into my back. Trent pressed in close, chocolate covered fingers held out threateningly.
“Don’t you dare!” I shrieked, trying to hold back laughter, “quit that!” I tried to lean back, but the oven was making it impossible to back away any further. Trent dotted my nose with the chocolate, “gotcha!”
When the laughter subsided he was still standing over me, face inches away from mine. Still curved slightly in a grin, and again I had the urge to reach up and pull him closer, maybe get both my hands in that soft blonde hair. What would his lips feel like on mine?
He leaned forward and I stiffened. His lips brushed mine for a split second and I jerked back, startled.
We both froze at the sharp “click clack” of high heels on the tile behind us, and Trent whirled around, his fingers suddenly tight on my arm. Kari stood in the doorway, her hair slightly windswept. Her mouth was drawn in a thin line, and though her face was still relatively smooth, something sparked in her dark eyes that told me she wasn’t happy about what she was seeing. She swept across the room in a rustle of skirts and set a firm hand on Trent’s shoulder, and he took a step backwards. Trent looked like a kid whose hand had been caught in the cookie jar.
Kari’s voice was hard as a rock, “Trent, what exactly are you doing with my daughter?”
His voice was a decibel higher than usual, “making brownies?”
She glanced down at the mixing bowl, then at my face, “So it would seem. Jessica, you appear to have chocolate on your nose.”
My voice didn’t seem to be working, so I only nodded and scraped at my nose with one finger, cheeks burning. We both watched as Kari turned without another work and strode from the room, high heels cracking across the tile like gun shots as she left. Trent ducked his head and mumbled something about taking the brownies out when the timer goes off, and I noticed his shoulders were hunched, like he was expecting a blow from somewhere.
We ended up sitting in the dining room awkwardly, listening to Troy, Teddy and Maria talking about the new recruit, who was apparently coming to stay at the house tomorrow. The timer dinged and Trent practically vaulted out of the armchair he was sitting in, “brownies are done, I’ll get them.”
“Good,” Troy said, “bring them in here. I’m starving.”
Maria chimed in, “oh, chocolate brownies, yes! So anyways, this guy seems pretty great, and the truth spell I did made it obvious that he thinks the same way we do.”
“You made him swear to see Kari to the throne?” Troy rocked back and put his feet up on the table with a clunk, “sometimes they bulk at that. Like they were thinking it would be anarchy or something when we bring the queen down.”
“Yeah, anarchy,” the girl with the long dark hair rolled her eyes, “for the first little while, when we bring the ice palace down in shards. A little anarchy could be fun.”
Teddy glanced over his shoulder, which I was beginning to notice was a habit for all of them before they said anything that they thought my mother might not like, “yeah, a little anarchy and looting. I’m gonna make me rich.”
“So when Kari takes the throne is the little kid here gonna be a princess?” Louis was flipping idly through a home and garden magazine, and now he shot a look at me over the top of it, “I don’t plan on taking orders from her.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” I snarled back, “and you better hope she doesn’t make me princess, or the first thing I’ll do is have you drawn and quartered.”
Maria tipped her head back and laughed, “Oh yeah, you go girl.”
“I’ll be in the front row watching,” Teddy rumbled, giving me an amused look.
Louis straightened up in his seat, opening up his mouth to say something else, but luckily Trent arrived just on time, with a plate of steaming brownies. I grabbed one before the others could fall on them like vultures, and Trent settled in beside me, keeping an obvious distance between us.
I let the conversation wash over me, enjoying the taste of chocolate, but feeling slightly weird about the fact that Trent was acting…well, weird. Apparently the little confrontation with my mother had really unnerved him. I took another big bite of brownie, letting my eyes glaze over as I stared at the fire. The hold that Kari seemed to have over Trent, was it healthy? Or did she have them all cowed like that, looking over their shoulder all the time to make sure she wouldn’t hear them. What would happen if she overheard them, what would she do?
The next morning we had a quick breakfast of oatmeal and chopped fruit, and I nearly fell asleep in the cereal bowl. Trent kept shooting me worried looks,
“You alright, Jess? You look…tired.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, “I’m okay.”
The truth was I hadn’t slept very well last night. Thoughts kept running through my mind, the memory of Kari’s furious gaze on Trent and I. The way he’d reacted and how he’d barely looked at me for the rest of the evening. I kept thinking that he almost seemed nervous of her. I was beginning to wonder if I liked my newly found mother, and I certainly didn’t trust her. She hadn’t really given me any reason to trust her. I’d barely seen her yesterday, save for that strange little lesson she’d given me in the tea room, and she was absent again this morning, apparently gone out to town for something. Trent didn’t ask me anything else, luckily, he just went back to his breakfast, glancing over at me from time to time when he thought I wasn’t looking.
Last night I’d been torn between two thoughts. Part of me was seriously contemplating running again. I wasn’t clicking with Kari, the resentment was just simmering below the surface now, instead of out in plain sight, and I didn’t really like any of the others. Maria seemed nice enough, but the others seemed sort of aggressive, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t my imagination. Most of them didn’t like me. I wasn’t welcome here. So why would I stick around and help them fight a battle that didn’t even have anything to do with me? It wasn’t like I had their passion about whatever this war was. I didn’t care about rebels and royals and whatever had happened in the past. Maybe if my mother had taken me with her when I left, then I would care. Maybe I would be the loyal daughter she wanted me to be. But she hadn’t, and I wasn’t. I didn’t have a dog in this fight, and I didn’t care.
The only thing that was keeping me in this place was Trent. He seemed genuinely sweet, and when I thought about leaving, about running away from all this, it sent a pang through my gut. What would he think if I just vanished? I could imagine the disappointment on his face. It felt like I was just getting to know him, and like…I dunno, like this might actually be going somewhere.
“Ready for another lesson?” Trent asked, “maybe you can start learning to control the fire today. That would be good, right?”
“Sure,” I forced my voice to sound cheerful, “that would probably be good, you know, before I burn something else down.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Trent grinned, “Maria was able to do a few spells on the house, it’s pretty much fire proof. It’s sort of a requirement for gathering places when you get a bunch of us together,” he glanced up at the clock on the wall, “Kari should be back soon…”
The door banged, making everyone at the table jump, and Kari appeared in the kitchen. He hair was scraped back and pinned in a bun at the back of her neck today, and she wore a red silk blouse and tight fitting black jeans, “Trent,” her voice was cool, “follow me please to the tea room, please. We must chat.” She shot me a smile over her shoulder, “Jess, I’ve asked Louis to give you a brief lesson on control, since he’s the best out of the lot of them.”
“I…right, okay…” I peered cautiously over my mug of tea at the dark- haired Louis, who smirked at me and rolled his eyes.
Great, the guy that hates me the most is going to give me lessons. That’s awesome.
Kari turned and walked out of the kitchen, high heels loud on the tiles, and Trent followed her, raking his fingers through his blonde hair. Troy gave a low hoot into his breakfast cereal and nudged the girl with the long hair, who rolled her eyes back at him and took a big bite of toast.
“Someone’s in trouble,” Maria snickered.
His chair scraped back as Louis stood up, motioning that I should follow with a jerk of his head. I glanced down at my unfinished toast and shrugged. My stomach was churning anyways, I didn’t want it anymore. I followed Louis into the dining room, staring at his back as I did. He even walked like he was bored with everyone, hands shoved in his blue jean pockets, shoulders slumped as he slouched forward. I half expected him to leave a trail of black scorn and derision on the floor behind him, it seemed to ooze out of his very pores. When we reached the dining room he planted himself in the middle, putting his hands on his hips and staring at me. His gaze traveled from my face…and down, and I grimaced at him, “Just what are you looking at?”
He grinned, “not much, I’ll tell you that right now.”
A flash of anger hit me, and I tried to make sure it didn’t show on my face, “you’re very amusing. Now can we get started so we can get this over with?”
“Fine,” Louis crossed his arms over his narrow chest and eyed me critically, “so, you just get a flare up when you get pissed off or afraid, right?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, “yeah, so what?”
“So I’ll have to teach you how to fight that,” Louis took a step towards me, and his thin lips curled on one side, “which means we need to trigger it.”
“Excuse me?” I didn’t like where this was going, “what do you mean ‘trigger it’?”
Louis took another step towards me, looking smug, “we have to make you angry…or scared.”
“Well you’re making me angry,” I snarled, backing up as he came towards me, “you seem to be good at that.” My knees hit the couch cushion, forcing me to sit down abruptly, and Louis was suddenly right in my face, hands on my shoulders, shoving me back against the couch. He leaned over me, placing one knee between my legs so I couldn’t slide out from under him.
“How about this?”
“What the hell are you doing?” I lashed out with both fists, punching him in the chests and arms, but Louise only laughed, which made my rage burn even hotter. My wild swinging clipped Louis’ jaw, sending him reeling backwards onto the floor. He looked back up at me, dark eyes furious, but then his expression changed, flashing to triumph, “told you it would work.”
I glanced down at my curled fists, still shaking with anger. Orange flames were flickering across my knuckles, and I turned my hands over, uncurling my fingers to reveal the flames dancing over the palms of my hands.
“Now,” Louis’ voice was low and steady, “turn it off.”
“Turn it off?” My voice wasn’t nearly as steady, and my body was still shaking with repressed anger, “there isn’t a damn switch for this.”
“There is,” Louis said, “in a way. Inside your head. You can shut it off whenever you like. You can throw it, you can make it grow bigger, smaller. You can do whatever you want with it.”
My anger slowly drained away, replaced by interest as I stared at the fire on my palms. The flames suddenly grew smaller, until they fizzled out completely.
Louis looked annoyed, “you didn’t shut it off, you just got distracted. Not mad anymore, are you?”
I glanced at him as he picked himself off the floor, “I still hate you, if that’s what you mean.”
“You need to be mad,” he started for me again, reaching out one hand towards my shoulder, and I shot up off the couch and batted his arm away, “NO!” I stumbled backwards, “there is no god damn way you’re going to just attack me every time you want me to get mad at you. Good lord, you’re a terrible teacher, what was my mother thinking?”
The idea that Kari had probably known Louis’ training tactics made me furious all over again, and I marched down the hall, heading for the tea room, intending to give her a piece of my mind. I didn’t care if she was in the middle of a serious conversation with Trent, or scolding him for flirting with me. The conversation was about to be interrupted.
I reached the door and yanked it open, stepping into the dim interior of the tea room, full of righteous anger. The words I’d been planning out died on my lips when I saw my mother. She wasn’t alone, there was another person there with her…intertwined with her on the carpet in front of the fire. My mother was kissing him aggressively, one hand in his blonde hair, the other moving down his shirt as she unbuttoned it. She was sitting astride his hips, dark hair undone and falling down her back. One side of her silk blouse had slipped off her shoulder.
I couldn’t move. My feet were stuck to the carpet, and I could feel my mouth hanging open, the shocked look that must be on my face. My mother jerked upwards, and she and Trent stared at me, he with a horrified look on his face, she with shock and a hint of amusement.
“Jessica,” Kari said, “dear, try to remember to knock in the future.”