Safania's POV
I ate my food quietly, looking around the clearing where the group had gathered to eat. There were probably a couple hundred people, all sitting on logs, eating rice and beans.
"Rice and beans are easy to store," my mom explained. "We vary it so we don't get bored, but it's a huge part of our diet here."
I nodded, but I was only half paying attention. This would be the first night in a while that I hadn't spent with Cassius. I wondered if he was thinking about me. Distracted, I didn't realize I had stopped eating.
"What, is this not good enough for you? Probably used to caviar and grapes fed to her by a bunch of servants," Valery remarked to the women around her.
"Well you would know what that's like, wouldn't you?" my mom replied sharply.
Valery's face turned as red as her hair. "So I was born into money. A fat lot of good it did me. At least I can see my family for the monsters they are, unlike little miss delusional here," she said angrily, pointing at me.
"Leave her alone," Zamari said softly. My mom wasn't like Valery. She didn't get explosively angry, she got quietly angry. But I knew from firsthand experience that I would rather deal with someone screaming in my face for hours than even a few minutes of my mom's quiet rage.
Valery flinched slightly, but she kept going.
"I get it, Zamari, you have a soft spot because she's your daughter. At least I hope that's what it is. Because if you truly think letting a prince waltz out of here is a good tactical decision, I have plenty of questions for you."
"Cassius would never..." I tried to explain to Valery, but she cut me off.
"Oh I know sweetie. He loves you and he would never ever hurt you. He's just not like literally every other royal in the nine kingdoms. He's different," she said mockingly.
"I know him better than you do," I told her.
"No you don't," she replied. "You think you do because you're a naïve little girl. And he's a prince who has been trained his whole life to manipulate naïve little girls."
"Don't insult my daughter," my mother said in a low voice.
"It's not your fault Zamari. You weren't there to raise her. You can't blame yourself. But you know I'm right."
I looked to my mom, who just looked at me with a sad expression. Even though she didn't say anything, it was clear she agreed with Valery.
"Thanks mom," I said, setting down the rice and beans and getting up to walk away.
"Saffy, you know I just want what's best for you," she called after me.
I kept walking back to the tent, as my mom tried to catch up.
"Starfish please, let's talk."
I spun around. "You want to talk? Fine, let's talk. I haven't seen you in over a decade. I had to grow up on my own. I had to survive being a slave for years on my own. I ran away from my former master on my own. I was on the run for five years on my own. I didn't survive all of that by falling in love with the first man to bat his eyelashes at me."
"Saffy, he's not just any man..."
"Would it make it better if he was? He was willing to give up his title for me, I'm sure he still would."
"At least that's what he said," my mom said unconvinced.
"Mom, I really don't care what you think about him. And the fact that you think you get a say after abandoning me..."
"Safania, that is not fair. I never wanted to leave you. You have no idea how hard I searched for you, how many places I looked..." My mom's voice cracked slightly as she spoke, revealing her pain. "It tore me apart that I couldn't find you after the war. Don't you ever say that I abandoned you."
"I'm sorry," I said, calming myself. "That wasn't fair. It was a low blow, and I'm sorry. Just please, stop criticizing my relationship with Cassius. You don't know him."
My mother sighed. After a long pause, she finally looked at me. "Okay," she said reluctantly, giving me a hug. "Let's agree to disagree for now, okay?"
I wasn't thrilled with agreeing to disagree about whether my fiancé was evil, but it was at least a start. I nodded.
"Come on, we have to get you back to the fire pit," she told me.
"Why?" I asked.
"The elders are going to read your marks so we know your abilities."
"The marks actually mean something?" I asked, surprised.
"They do, if you know how to read them. Our powers come from the sun, and they take the form of elemental control. There are five elements, four physical – air, earth, fire, and water – and one non-physical – aether. The marks on your back show which element you belong to. We also have different abilities within those elements. Women who control water might be able control lakes, but they can also learn to create ice or cause rain. Others with control over earth can smash boulders, but they can also make things grow or heal living beings. But we have to know what your element is before we can train you. A little anti-climactic maybe, since you've had your marks for a while and probably know what your abilities are. We would normally do this as soon as the marks first appear."
By this point we were back at the gathering. Some of the women looked up at me as I arrived.
The elderly woman from earlier in the tent, Riko, stood up, and the group immediately fell silent. "Tonight, we welcome a new member to our group. Safania, please come join me."
I looked at my mom, who gave me a quick nod, and then proceeded to walk up to the woman.
"Hello again Safania," she said warmly.
I smiled nervously.
"You have nothing to be worried about dear," she told me. "Come with me."
She led me inside a tent where four other elderly women were waiting. "This is Agnes," Riko said, gesturing to a woman in the corner. "She is an air elementalist, and as far as we know is the only one to have mastered flight."
"Iris," Riko said, pointing to another, "she is an aether elementalist and has the rare talent of reality manipulation."
"What does that mean?" I asked. I saw Iris smile, and in a single blink I found myself in a jungle. A leopard spotted me and began to move towards me. I went to run, only to find myself back in the tent again.
"What...where was I?" I asked, catching my breath from the scare.
"You were here the whole time," Iris explained. "I just made it feel and look like you were somewhere else. Sorry to play a trick on you – sometimes it's easier to show than tell."
"I was never in any danger?" I asked, disbelievingly.
Riko shook her head. "No. But even though the images can't actually hurt you, you can end up hurting yourself trying to react. That's what makes reality manipulation so dangerous."
Iris smiled sweetly.
"So you can make people see whatever you want them to?" I asked.
"And feel whatever I want them to," she replied. "I've been training Maria, another girl here a little younger than you. I think you may have met her earlier. She and I are the only ones at the camp able to sense and manipulate emotions."
"This is Gloria," Riko said, moving on to the next woman. "She is the one of only two tri-elementalists in the camp. That means she has control over three elements – in her case, earth, water, and aether."
Gloria didn't smile, but she looked at me very carefully.
"And finally, Aponi. She's an earth elementalist and can actually move tectonic plates to cause earthquakes."
"Wow," I said, impressed.
"And I guess there's me, but I'm not nearly as impressive. I'm the historian out of all of the elders. I was trained by my mentor, who has since passed, and I've been passing on all the stories to my apprentice, who will take my spot when I'm gone. But that means I'm the one who gets to read your marks for you. Do you know what you are?"
I thought back to the incidents I had. Surely I must be fire...but I also had that water droplet thing happen in the greenhouse...and the flowers after the night with Cassius...
"I don't know," I replied, figuring that would be the easiest answer.
"No worries my dear!" Riko replied. "Just put this on behind that screen over there, and I'll tell you.
She handed me a soft, white gown. I went behind the privacy divider and changed into it. My back was completely exposed, which felt very liberating. I was normally so focused on covering it up, but here I could walk around with my marks proudly displayed.
I came back out into the middle of the tent, where Riko was waiting.
"You look lovely dear. Come here, come here," she encouraged me. I stepped to the center of the tent.
"You're ready?" she asked me, smiling kindly.
I nodded, slightly nervous, but excited to know so I could begin training.
Riko gestured for me to turn around, and I did so, while pulling back my hair to reveal my marks. I felt Riko tracing the lines on my back the way Cassius had when he first saw them.
"Interesting..." Riko said softly. "You're clearly a fire elementalist. But like your mother, you also have more than one gift. It looks like...water."
"Fire and water," Iris said happily. "What an interesting combination..."
"There's more," Riko interrupted. "Earth as well."
"Another tri-elementalist?" Agnes asked. Gloria leaned forward, now very interested.
"No..." Riko said softly. "A quad-elementalist. She has air marks as well. The only marks she doesn't have are aether."
The women were silent.
"Is...is something wrong?" I asked, now scared.
"No, sweet girl, no," Riko said, trying to reassure me. "It's just..."
"There's no such thing as a quad-elementalist," Gloria said.
"You mean there wasn't. There is now," Iris replied.
"Ever?" I asked.
Riko shook her head.
"What does it mean?" I asked.
"It means that something is wrong," Gloria muttered.
"Gloria!" Riko scolded.
"You're the historian Riko," Gloria replied. "Of all of us, you should know that there was usually one multi-elementalist every century. Now there are dozen multi-elementalists in this camp alone. The world is desperately out of balance, and we're not doing any good sitting here twiddling our thumbs."
"We're not having this argument again," Aponi chimed in.
"At least not right now," Riko said, glancing over at my extremely confused expression. "We're sorry Safania. Just a few old women bickering over the same old things."
"It's okay," I said quietly, but easily sensing that whatever this argument was about, it wasn't as trivial as Riko was trying to suggest. "How long do you think it will take me to be able to control all four?"
The women glanced at each other.
"The more elements you have, the more powerful you can become," Agnes explained. "But there's a trade-off: your abilities are more difficult to control, more difficult to train. It's not going to be easy, and it's going to take time. It's hard to say how much because you're the first of your kind."
Of course. Because my life would never be easy. Every time I achieve one thing, three more obstacles pop up. "Is there...is there any way to give it back?" I asked.
"Give it back?" Gloria asked, offended.
"Sweet child, why would you ever want to give it back?" Riko asked.
"Or just...give it to someone else? I'm engaged," I explained. "I love him more than anything in the world. We have fought so hard to be together. But until I figure out how to control my abilities I can't be with him. And now it sounds like that may never happen, because I'm never going to figure it out."
"Safania, you have an extremely rare, precious gift," Riko told me firmly. "It is going to make your life more challenging – that is certain. But the things you could do for this world are limitless."
I nodded, feeling my heart grow heavy. No matter how much Cassius and I fought to be together, it seemed like things would constantly continue to drive us apart.
Sensing my despair, Iris walked to me. "If he is the man you deserve, he will wait for you," she told me. "I can feel the love you have for him. It's incredible. Let that motivate you and drive you. When you think you can no longer train, think of wanting to be with him. When you feel something is impossible, think of what you both have accomplished so far. Love is an extremely powerful force – use it."
I nodded again.
"I know it maybe isn't the news you wanted to hear," Riko said. "But you truly are a miracle. Whenever you're ready, we can go back to the fire and announce it."
"Thank you all," I told the group of elders. "I'm sorry to sound ungrateful. I realize having these abilities is truly a gift."
Gloria walked up to me slowly, then looked me straight in the eyes. "If someone like me could handle three elements, you sure as hell can handle four. Especially when you've got a hot chunk of a man dangling in front of you as an incentive."
That was not at all what I had expected her to say. I broke out in a smile, which she returned, seemingly satisfied that she got through to me.
Riko smiled, happy that I was in a better mood. "Let's go tell everyone the news!" she exclaimed.
The two of us walked back together to the clearing where the women were still gathered. I realized I had never changed back into my old dress, but I enjoyed the confidence I felt wearing the white low-back dress. I stood a little straighter and lifted my head up. "They're back!" someone yelled. The crowd turned to face us.
"Elementalists!" Riko called out. "I present to you Safania, child of fire, water, earth, and air."
There was silence. Then the crowd began to murmur. "All four?" someone asked. "All four," Riko replied.
The murmurs continued until someone started to clap. Slowly, others joined in, until the entire crowd was clapping together. Then they started to cheer. My mom ran up to me and gave me a hug.
"Four elements? That's unheard of!" she exclaimed.
I smiled at her and let her lead me into the crowd to celebrate. I tried to focus on the excitement and energy of the crowd, thinking just of tonight and not tomorrow.
That's when the real work would start.