Sister. The word echoed through my mind as I stared at Tandie. He had a sister? What else didn’t I know about him? My eyes returned to the girl, and suddenly I saw it. The hair, the eyes, even the faint dusting of freckles; it was all the same. I could’ve guessed they were related if I’d thought about it.
At my lack of response, Tandie bit his lip awkwardly and continued. “Arabelle, this is Owen. Owen... this is my sister, Arabelle.”
Arabelle flashed me a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Pleased to meet you, Owen. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I stared for half a second before replying. “Um, it’s nice to meet you too. I...” My eyes flicked to Tandie and back again. “Tandie hasn’t mentioned you.”
A faint smirk appeared for a brief moment. “Of course he hasn’t.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that. She laughed, a light sound. “Goddesses, you are too funny.”
My brow scrunched. “What-”
“You’re just as awkward as Tandie says,” she said, cutting me off. Her face, carefully composed up to this point, broke into a large grin. “I like you.”
Completely befuddled by now, I simply nodded. “Okay,” I said, though it came out sounding more like a question. In an attempt to regain my composure - if I’d ever had any - I turned back to Tandie. “So...” I began, wondering how to phrase it. “You have a sister.” Okay, not what I meant to say. But that’d work.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Yeah... long story.” Arabelle looked at him, jabbing him with her elbow, and he yelped slightly. “Oi! Watch it,” he said with a hint of a glare. She simply smiled, and he sighed. “Anyway, she’s here as a... as a...” He stopped and took a deep breath. “I’ll regret this later, but she’s here as a recruit.”
Immediately, I felt my eyebrows shoot up. Whatever reasons I’d thought up for him introducing me to her, that wasn’t one of them. Automatically, I started summing her up.
She was thin, lithe in a way that would be good for thieving. She held herself confidently, head high. This I wondered about, but I knew thieves like that, and they were some of the best in the business. Her face was innocent, unassuming, though her eyes still held a challenge. I wondered for a moment if she was older than I’d previously thought; innocent faces can seem younger. I dismissed the thought. It wasn’t important.
I thought back to when I’d first seen her step out; she was graceful, I decided, an attribute that would be useful. She was small, shorter than I was. Better for nooks and crannies, I thought. Tandie shifted uncomfortably, and I was brought back to the present.
“Sorry. Recruit, right.” So much for regaining my composure. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a slight smirk on Arabelle’s face. I turned to her. “So you think you have what it takes to be a thief, eh?”
She nodded confidently. “I think I have more than what it takes.”
I felt the corner of my mouth twitch in amusement. She was cocky. “Then show me what you’ve got.” I held my arms open wide, stepping backwards a bit, giving her room.
She faltered for a brief moment, and I eyed her, taking note of it. What would she do? Her eyes glanced towards Tandie, who had also backed away slightly. An area of five feet or so had been cleared around her, giving plenty of room for whatever she had to show me.
I blinked, and she smirked. She held up her hand, dangling what looked to be a silver ring hanging from a braided flaxen cord. My eyes widened and my hand flew to my throat, fingers scrabbling for the cord that should have been around my neck. How had she stolen that? She simply laughed as she swung the ring back and forth through the air.
“Looking for something?” she said sweetly. I took a deep breath and looked at Tandie, whose eyes were as wide as my own had been. He turned his head and met my eyes, gently shaking his head. I nodded slightly, eyes returning to Arabelle and the ring.
That ring was the one thing I had left of my life before that night. Alec had found it with me, strung around my neck, and I’d kept it, never taking it off. I couldn’t remember where I’d gotten it, or who might have given it to me, but it had always been with me. The lack of the familiar weight of the ring around my neck felt odd.
“Impressive,” I said simply, my voice cool despite my efforts. I held my hand out for her to return it. Her smirk faltered, as if realizing she’d gone a step too far, but unsure how. She walked forward and placed the ring in my hand, her face now blank. My fingers clutched around the familiar metal, and I lifted the cord, replacing the necklace around my neck. My possessions returned, I gave her a small smile. “Mind showing me how you managed that?”
Her confidence returned in an instant as she saw I was interested. A grin spreading across her features once more, she walked towards Tandie, who looked less than pleased. Stopping in front of him, she turned back to me.
“Watch and learn.” She blinked slowly, holding her eyes closed for a brief moment longer than normal. When she opened them, she smiled, looking at me. I cocked an eyebrow in question; I hadn’t seen anything change. She sighed and motioned me over.
I walked closer. After a long moment, I realized what was wrong. Tandie wasn’t moving. He stood frozen in the position I’d seen him last; arms folded, feet spread apart, and a displeased quirk in his lips. I stared at him a bit longer, waiting for the coin to drop. He didn’t move an inch, didn’t even blink. I turned my gaze to Arabelle.
“I don’t get it.”
She smirked again, an expression I was becoming accustomed to seeing on her face. “I froze him.”
At the simple statement, my brow scrunched. “Froze him?”
“Yes, you lump of fur. I froze him,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
I held back a snort at the ‘lump of fur’ comment. She really was cocky. I crossed my arms. “All right, you froze him. How’d you do that?”
She paused a moment, tapping her fingers against her leg. “Here. I’ll show you a better example.” With another long blink, Tandie was released. His eyes turned to me, unsurprised to see that I’d moved. Off to the side, I heard Arabelle clear her throat. “Pay attention.”
I turned to see her crouched on the ground, waiting impatiently. “Paying attention,” I said, curious to see what she would do. First she’d lifted my ring off me - clearly using the same trick she’d used on Tandie - then she’d frozen Tandie in front of me; what was next?
She didn’t reply, placing the palm of her hand against the dirt floor. This time, instead of simply blinking, she held her eyes closed. I watched in astonishment as frost spread from her fingertips, tendrils winding away from her hand slowly, the quiet crackle of ice sounding through the air. I took a step backwards as it inched closer to my feet. How was she doing that? My mind raced. That was a malkin ability. A Glazer ability. How could she be a Glazer? She was a human.
By this point, the frost had reached to just a few inches away from me when it suddenly stopped. I glanced up from it to where Arabelle was straightening, the frost already starting to disappear around her. I turned to Tandie, eyebrow raised in silent question. He shook his head. ‘Later,’ he mouthed. I sighed quietly and nodded. He’d better have an explanation for this.
I turned back to Arabelle, who was looking at me expectantly. At first I was unsure what to do, but slowly I raised my hands and began a slow applause. I knew it was worth it when I saw her eyes light up. I suddenly began to wonder about her; who she was, where she’d come from. Why she seemed so desperate for acceptance. And above all, why Tandie had only just now told me about her.
At the thought, I glanced at him, my hands still clapping slowly. He knew I’d be confronting him later; we’d known each other long enough for him to read me easily. I just hoped he had good answers.
====================
The frost was gone now, melted. It wasn’t nearly cold enough at this time of year to sustain something so fragile for any amount of time. I was sure it was only Arabelle’s concentration that had held it so long. Nevertheless, I sat on the ground beside where it had been, my fingers tracing patterns in the dirt as I waited, thinking.
I’d sent her home, telling her I’d think about it. I’d felt torn about the decision the moment I saw her face fall. But I had to speak to Tandie first. It wasn’t like we accepted members flippantly anyway. We selected carefully. Ours was a small band because of this, six members including Tandie and myself. Many bands were larger, having up to twenty, but we liked it small. Too large, and things got messy, as we’d discovered before we’d broken off from our previous band.
A shadow fell across the patterns I’d been tracing, and I looked up as Tandie took a seat beside me. He’d gone with Arabelle, saying he wanted to speak with her about some things. Probably many of the same things I wanted to speak with him about. It had been an interesting meeting.
Tandie sat there, saying nothing, so I decided to break the silence. “So what’s the explanation?”
He looked down at his lap, fingers fiddling with one of his many rings. “There isn’t one.”
I stood. “There isn’t one? Are you kidding me? You bring me here, introduce me to your sister - who I had never met before, by the way - have her perform this little mojo trick of hers, and you don’t have an explanation as to how or why?”
He stayed seated, eyes following my movements. Suddenly I felt embarrassed of my outburst. It hadn’t helped the situation any. Slowly, I sat back down. He looked at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. I opened my mouth to protest that I should be the one apologizing, but he continued before I could say anything. “I don’t have an explanation. She’s a Glazer, but she’s not.” He shook his head, looking away. “I don’t understand it any more than you do.”
All of a sudden something clicked in my mind. When I’d first met Tandie, he hadn’t been scared of my abilities as I’d expected. He’d been excited, intrigued. I hadn’t understood it at the time, but...
“How long has she been able to do that?” I asked, cutting off my own thoughts.
His brow scrunched slightly. “I... I’m not sure. Years, though. Ever since she was old enough to talk, really. Maybe even before that.”
I nodded, saying nothing for the moment. So he’d been accustomed to seeing magic performed, by his sister no less. It explained a lot, really.
Tandie spoke again. “I realize that I should have told you about her a long time ago, but...” He sighed. “I was scared. She’s my baby sister. Who knows how people would react to a human doing malkin magic?”
I knew how they would react. They would react the same way they do to me, but on a larger scale. She would’ve been shunned, hated, scorned. I didn’t blame him one bit for keeping her a secret, I realized. I would’ve done the same.
“I understand,” I said, looking at him. “You wanted to protect her.”
Relief spread across his features. “I did. I still do. But she wanted so badly to become a thief.” He shook his head again, a short laugh coming out. “Follow in her idiot brother’s footsteps. I don’t know why. But I couldn’t stop her. It was our band or another, and I don’t think I could’ve handled that.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, but as usual, my mouth took over. “Then she’s in.”
He turned and met my eyes. “What?”
“She’s in,” I repeated. “Part of the band. She’s good, you know, and she knows it.”
“Sometimes I think she assumes she can do too much, actually,” Tandie sighed. “She’s a bit cocky, you may have noticed.”
I laughed. “More than cocky some of the time. But don’t worry, I’m sure we can keep a handle on her.”
He gave me a wry look. “We can only hope.”
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Hihi! Another update, whoo! I'm quite pleased with this chapter, actually. I didn't expect Arabelle to be so interesting, but she took up a whole chapter xD Let me know what you think of her, eh? And what you think of the chapter in general xD So, vote, comment, etc :3 Lovels you! xx