Page 73 of Pawns of Salistya

‘The first new moon after my sixteenth birthday, it was a black moon. I arrived at the Temple of Wystia with my teachers and no other trainees. Apparently, I was the only one receiving my gifts, which is unheard of as it usually happens in groups. At the time there was nothing to indicate I may be any different from a regularphysical mage, except when my magic was given to me. My whole life I had had the moss-coloured eyes of a Salistyan born. That night they instantly turned lime green. They’ve never returned to their former colour,’ I muttered in disgust, wishing, not for the first time, I could just be normal like everyone else.

‘What gifts were you given?’ he prompted me softly, my clear contempt for my uniqueness placating his anger.

‘As I explored my magic throughout training, everything seemed normal at first. I held all the basic gifts you’d see in a physical mage. Granted I had keener senses, and my strength in other factors were much greater than my counterparts, but that happens at times. It was obvious I would be trained as a Sol and destined to be honed into a lethal assassin, which isn’t anything new.

‘But it wasn’t until six months in when our training turned towards the elements that I realised the colour of my eyes wasn’t the only different thing I’d gained. Every Salistyan royal before me favoured two elements. But I have equal strengths in all four of the elements,’ I stated. His eyes flashed in awe as he gulped down a big breath.

I continued. ‘On top of that, I don’t require those elements to be near me. I can summon a ball of fire with just the thought of it, plant a seedling and command a tree to sprout immediately, watch it grow to whatever height and width I desire. If I want a full glass of red wine in my hand, I just have to …’ I held out my hand as I thought of said wine and a second later, there it was, ‘… imagine it and command it,’ I finished, offering him the wine which he accepted and took a big sip.

‘Granted, my energy reserves deplete much faster when I don’t have a source near me. If there’s a body of water or the rush of wind near, I’ll always opt to use that and manipulate it. There’s no point in expending more energy than necessary,’ I explained frankly.

‘And the flying?’ he probed.

‘Ah yes, levitating and flying. That’s also a neat talent I gained. I admit it’s probably my favourite. It’s a cool trick that no one else can do,’ I grinned proudly for a moment. ‘And before you ask, I created a hole in the shield Maz and Amire had constructed to get through to the beast. Maz favours water and earth, but Amire favours fire and air. Because they’re twins, they can share, transfer and combine their magic to create more power. But because I’m stronger than them, I can counteract their magic. It’s not an easy feat, but we’ve had a lot of practise over the years.’ I shrugged.

He stared at me in wonder for a good minute before asking, ‘So, what does that make you?’

‘I honestly don’t know. I wasn’t lying to you. I’m still trying to figure out what it all means and how I fit. But in its simplest form it means I’m the most powerful physical mage on the Fyriane continent.’ My mind flickered to the book of Wystia and Merlot and I added, ‘That we know of, at least.’

‘Shit,’ he breathed. ‘I’m married to the most powerful physical mage. Isn’t that something.’

I couldn’t help the exhausted giggle that left my mouth at the blatant awe in his voice.

Apparently, that giggle snapped him out of his contemplation. ‘So, the Arlom teens in the Solista Isles, are they receiving this magic?’

I gulped, knowing this was the moment that everything turned south. ‘They are.’

Understanding flashed in his eyes before they settled on rage. ‘So, if Arlomans can receive their magic, why does my Kingdom not know about this? Why am I not a physical mage?’

‘I can’t tell you what I don’t know. I know some things, but not all of them, and that’s what I’ve been trying to work out – you’renot the only one who has been kept in the dark. What I do know, and can tell you, is my own experience.’ I took a deep breath before diving in again, figuring I may as well reveal what I’d found out.

‘From what I can gather, long ago the Fyriane continent was united and ruled by King Merlot and Queen Wystia. How they came to be, I still have no idea. I’ve recently discovered, the king was what they refer to as a psychic mage, whilst the queen was a physical mage. Wystia’s magic source came to be captured in the place we now know of as the Temple of Wystia. Merlot’s magic source, I believe, has been locked in a place near the Nyarelle and Marlyst Doms. If I were to guess, it’s somewhere in the desert far away from our lands, much like the Isles. The royal couple had four children. Each of the Doms we have today are named after them. Salistya and Arlom were physical mages while Nyarelle and Marlyst were psychic mages. I’m assuming upon the disappearance of their parents, the siblings decided to break up the Fyriane continent and took a piece of their own land, starting their own Dom.’

I took a deep breath and continued, needing to give him more information before I explained the Isles.

‘Growing up in the Queendom of Salistya was, to put it short, awful. The Queendom is a stifling environment. Even as the third in line for the throne, I was treated like just another Salistyan woman. Born to eventually give birth to as many children as possible who would then become weapons to serve in the army. However, as the army was the number one priority for Salistyans, female teens are granted a reprieve, and can leave the Queendom for five years to learn how to be a weapon. Only those who showed strengths in more than one element were deemed an appropriate fit for the army. There was still an expectation for those women to procreate, but at least they were able to fight alongside the men. But those who only showed strengths in one element?’ I shuddered in disgust. ‘Theywere immediately brought back and became part of the breeding program to get the population up. The sires of their children were all Sol selectively picked to enhance the possibility of their children favouring two elements.

‘We were raised to think the Arlom Kingdom was weak and didn’t deserve to know or be gifted with physical magic. The Queendom fiercely protected the Isles as they knew this is where the source of their power came from and was their trump card. If they didn’t have this, what would stop any of the Doms from infiltrating their lands? The land is not ideal for agriculture, nor does it have materials to make weapons. They have nothing, only their army and the physical magic of the Isles. The Queendom has never played nice with the others, as you’re aware. We saw it time and time again in the meetings with Slaviya. They stick to themselves and don’t offer more information than required. I’m not sure when or how it happened, but somehow somewhere along the line, Salistya was able to hide the true purpose of the Solista Isles and the physical mages of Arlom ceased to exist.’

Eliasson got up and started pacing again in obvious agitation. ‘So, what changed?’ he challenged.

‘What you need to understand, Eliasson, is that my father was a cold-hearted and calculating man who ruled with an iron fist. I was in the Solista Isles enjoying my respite from being under his thumb, totally oblivious to the growing political frictions between Arlom and Salistya. They didn’t know about my powers, as my mentor had made sure to hide it from them. He knew I would be subjected to whatever awful training or experiments my father would want me to be involved with otherwise. My family sent word that Slaviya was to marry you and unite our Doms. As you can imagine from what I’d been fed from such a young age, I was shocked. Why would the Queendom agree to this? I knew that your Kingdom wanted tobe able to protect themselves and not rely on Salistya as much. Part of that was having access to the Solista Isles.’

‘Yes. We knew your army is trained there. We figured that if we were to strengthen our own army, we would need the Isles to do so,’ he agreed. ‘The betrothal made sense for us to gain access to the Isles, but why would the Queendom agree to it if they wanted us to be shielded from the knowledge of magic?’

‘You heard Slaviya. The tidal beasts are becoming more aggressive and making their way down to Arlom’s territory,’ I said, trying to deflect from the real reason for the union.

‘Yes, but that still doesn’t make sense. They could’ve simply brought this up at the Forum, requesting us to allow their army access. Why now? Why marry me?’ He was spiralling. I could see it in his actions, in his facial features. My betrayal was starting to dawn on him as I saw him make the logical leap.

‘Because the plan was to never keep me as the ruler, was it? Salistya didn’t want a union, they wanted to take over Arlom and the first step would be to marry into the royal family …’ He trailed off. Eliasson’s eyes teared up as he breathed out, ‘My life is in danger, isn’t it?’

I grew increasingly uncomfortable, avoiding his eyes. I’d arrived at the inevitable fork in the road. I knew it was coming the minute my magic was revealed. As far as I saw it, I had two choices, lie to Eliasson and save him the anguish, or be truthful about the reason I’m here and attempt to make better decisions from now on, to follow my own path.

‘I think you’re going to want Fyrel for this part,’ I whispered.

‘Valare, you’re splitting my heart into two,’ Eliasson cried, tears appearing to pour down his face.

The tears I was keeping at bay were released as I sobbed, ‘Please, go get Fyrel. If he’s with Meredith, bring her too.’

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