Here's the next chapter! Please vote and comment for it! I hope you guys like it and please vote and comment for it! :D I'm still dedicating the chapters to my loyal readers so please vote and comment to identify yourselves to me! :D In the next chapter, there will be the Day of Funerals, which will teach all of you guys about magician customs, haha. Okay, enjoy! :D Picture of Benjamin on the side! :D
Chapter 26
“The first line of the prophecy is the one that proves that it involves you,” Kayla told Troy, breaking the silence. “The only way magicians of all the four elements could unite is with a Magician of Fire descended from Varmer’s bloodline to be on our side.”
At Kayla’s words, Dahlia diverted her attention back to the others. Arulan let out a silent breath that he didn’t know he was holding. She was too observant for her own good; it seemed like her father really had trained her well to read people’s facial expressions.
Troy grimaced, but he didn’t contradict Kayla. “What about the other magicians? It seems like it could be anyone from Dahlia to Luna to you, Kayla. How do we know who’s involved and who isn’t?”
Romulus grinned. “You’re forgetting about a mysterious little diviner called Luna,” he told him. “She knows more about the prophecy than any living person.”
Kayla cut in. “Yeah, Troy,” she continued. “Remember that Luna told us that she had a vision of us fighting Varmer? Well, the people involved in that premonition are undoubtedly the people in the prophecy.”
Dahlia rubbed her forehead which was starting to ache. “Okay, so she saw me and Troy and… who else?”
It was Kayla’s turn to grimace. Luna hadn’t been extremely clear about each and every one of her visions, but she did know that sometimes Luna could make mistakes interpreting them. No matter how clear she tried to outline the future, things often came out in different order or in different ways that she had predicted although almost every vision she got came to pass.
“Luna will have to tell you that,” Kayla said flatly. “Because I don’t really know myself. The last few times that Luna tried to interpret her far-off visions of the future, some details turned out differently. The only thing that she is positive of is that you two are definitely involved in the prophecy, no matter what.”
That was helpful. Kayla could see the frustration in both of their faces for both of them had been promised answers and what they were getting were more like vague promises of what the future held.
“That’s not very definitive,” Dahlia complained.
“It’s a prophecy,” Kayla argued. “It doesn’t have to be clear. It just has to exist.”
“How clear,” Troy grumbled. “Oh, there’s a spy but we don’t know who the Magician of Earth is. Someone tried to assassinate Luna, but we also don’t know who that is. Raven’s in a coma, but we don’t know how to heal her. Jenna’s disappeared and we think we know how she was kidnapped, but we can’t get her back. Why? Because we have to go through the House of Glamours and we don’t know how to defeat it. And now, the best one. There’s a prophecy and you’re in it, but we don’t know who else or how you can defeat Varmer. Great.”
Saying it like that really made Kayla feel stupid and also frustrated. Troy was right; they had so many questions and no answers for any of them. But there was nothing Kayla could do about that, except continue to blunder through things and hope the spy slipped up. Exactly how, she had no idea, though.
Reading the exasperated expressions on their faces: the crinkled brows on Troy’s face and the anxiety shining in Dahlia’s eyes, reminded her of something that she had to tell them.
“You need to learn how to make a poker face,” she told Troy. “Every time you feel something, you show it on your face. You need to look emotionless, to do nothing, so that people can’t tell if you’re lying.”
Troy raised a sceptical eyebrow. “I don’t-”
“You’re doing it now,” Kayla scolded. “That raising eyebrow thing. That proves that you doubt me.” She almost smiled at the frustrated expression on Troy’s face. “You have to work at it. It’ll come… eventually.”
Romulus smirked at their discomfort but it was his turn to cringe when Kayla turned to frown at him.
“You too,” she scolded. “It’s more important for Troy and Dahlia, but everyone should learn how to control their expressions.”
“What is today?” Troy grumbled. “The learn-how-to-become-a-doctor-in-one-day and control-your-expression day?”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “Just do it. It’ll save your life someday.”
“Are you a diviner now?” Dahlia tried to joke, but the exhaustion in her voice was evident. Arulan caught it too. He grimaced, glancing at the old grandfather clock in the corner of his room. It was past six o’clock in the morning now and Kayla, Troy and Dahlia hadn’t slept all night.
“Get some rest,” Arulan told them, standing up. “We can go through the rest of this when you’ve all had some rest. The girls can take my chamber; Troy, Romulus, the couches are available to both of you.”
Dahlia stifled a yawn behind her hand. The shadows under her eyes were more prominent than the time that she and Troy had been sleeping half their nights for almost six months.
“What about the Day of Funerals?” Kayla asked. “We can’t sleep through that.”
“You’re right,” Arulan told her. “But it’s starting at ten so you can get maybe four hours of sleep if you hurry.”
Kayla ran her fingers over the artefacts on the table. They had stayed up for nearly an hour, talking, but they still hadn’t figured anything out about who the spy was. On the bright side, they had managed to clear some things up for Troy and Dahlia. At least that was something.
“What about the artefacts?” Kayla asked, feeling a little protective over them. “Can I… keep them?” she felt rather exposed, asking such a thing and she knew that her voice was rather vulnerable.
Arulan cast an experienced eye over the artefacts on the table. He sighed, examining the magical items that Kayla owned. He grimaced, rubbing his fingers over his head and through his beard. She prayed inwardly, hoping against hope that he would let her keep them.
“Alright,” he said, sighing. “I’ll let you keep them… for a while, anyway. If we need them for the war against Varmer, I’ll ask you and I expect you to oblige.”
Kayla gritted her teeth. She knew that she was being suspected of being the spy, but the trust that Arulan put in her that she wouldn’t use the artefacts against them was strangely touching. Her hands were shaking as she reached for the magical items and swept them into the velvet bag. She paused when her hands reached the pendants, her fingers trailing over the jewellery.
For a moment, she warred with herself, hating her feelings. After all, the pendants had been given to her and Benjamin, to link them even when they were apart. That was their job. But she was feeling selfish; she wanted to keep them to herself. Finally she sighed and reached for the two pendants, before stretching her hand out slowly with them in her open palm. Almost against her will, she held out her hand to Troy and Dahlia.
“I think, Troy,” she said finally, each word taking what felt like eternity to come out. “You should have someone know where you are at all times since you are a subject of the prophecy. “
Kayla slowly held out one of her twin necklaces to her half-brother. He stared at it in awe, knowing full well how much it meant to her.
“But it’s yours,” he protested. “I can’t take it from you. I know how much it means to you.”
Kayla shook her head. “It’s time it had a new owner. Besides, I’m not going to be the one keeping tabs on you. Dahlia will.”
She held out the other pendant to Dahlia who gasped and back away from Kayla, almost as if she was radioactive.
“I can’t take that, Kayla,” Dahlia stammered, shaking her head.
Kayla took the other girl’s hand in her own. “Consider it a gift,” she said, putting the pendant in her hand and curling her fingers over the infinitely precious gift. “That’s part of the magic of these; once I give it away, you guys are the new owners. It won’t work for me as well as it works for you anymore. It’s yours.”
“Kayla…” Troy’s voice trailed away. “What can I say?”
“Thank you would suffice,” Kayla said innocently.
Dahlia giggled, a welcome sound after all her tears and worries over the last twenty-four hours. “Did you just make a joke, Kayla? I don’t believe you’ve ever made a joke before.”
Kayla rolled her eyes. “Just put them on. Once you wear them, only you guys can take them off. I think. Theoretically. I’ve never tried it before.”
Troy slipped the chain around his neck, sleep-deprived fingers fumbling on the small clasp. Dahlia’s soft fingers stopped him.
“Let me,” she whispered.
Troy removed his hands, letting her control the clasp. She hooked them into one single chain, her fingers gentle on the back of his neck. Once she was done, he turned her around and did the same for her, brushing her long ponytail out of the way.
The second the pendant was clasped, a faint gold glow gleamed against her neck. A matching shine could be seen on Troy’s neck as the twin pendants shared their connection.
“It’s working,” Kayla said, satisfaction replacing the jealousy of their relationship.
“Now get some rest,” Arulan scolded. “Dahlia, Kayla, my room is yours. Troy, Romulus, the couches are for you.”
It was strange to see anything else of Arulan’s chambers. Before, Kayla had only seen the exterior living area where they always had their meetings. But she and Dahlia walked into Arulan’s bedroom. There was a single four-poster bed in the middle of the room made out of black velvet. And that was the only thing in the plain brown room.
It figured. Arulan had styled the room to himself; it was plain and outlined just like him. Too tired to talk, they staggered to the bed and collapsed in it, more than half asleep already.
“Kayla?” Dahlia’s voice was sleepy and curious.
“What is it?” Kayla asked, pulling the pillow over her head.
“I’m sorry that I doubted you,” she muttered. “I should have known that you wouldn’t betray us… And thank you for trusting us with your story.”
Kayla stifled a yawn that was masked by the pillow. “It was worth it. Both of you deserved the truth… After so many months of deception.”
Dahlia grimaced, pulling the comforter over her. Kayla’s many layers had been chipped that night; her many barriers were slowly peeling away. Maybe the next day, it wouldn’t be as easy to talk to her, but for now, Dahlia knew that Troy had appreciated the truth as did she.
“We all lie sometimes, Kayla,” she said sleepily.
Kayla rolled over. “Yeah,” she said drowsily. “Good night.”
As Kayla drifted off to sleep, she remembered that although she had confessed a lot to both of them that day, there was still one secret that she was keeping from them. She closed her eyes, trying not to feel guilty but two faces kept flickering through her subconscious: Benjamin and Jenna.