Page 2 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

“No, they started down the arm first and then up until I reached my full potential.”

“How long did it take?”

“About a year?” He shrugs.

“Did you ever hear of someone covering up or losing their markings?”

“No. What are you getting at?”

“Oh nothing, I was just wondering… Does your gift feel like a living thing?”

“What’s with the hundred questions today?” I have his full attention now. “Have we all been mistaken, and you are suddenly gifted instead of cursed?”

I slap him, careful to hit his armor instead of his bare arms. “Thanks for reminding me. I totally forgot I risked your lives by simply existing,” I snark.

“Shit, Ara, you know I didn’t mean it like that,” Ben says, sitting up.

“No need to dip it in honey. I’m the monster in the wardrobe, and everyone would be better off if I didn’t exist.” I jump up and shrug. I’ve grown up with this knowledge, so I have no idea why it affects me like this all of a sudden.

My mind taunts me by replaying the black mark on my skin.

“Fuck. You know I don’t think that,” Ben says. “If the fates had twisted the threads, it would have been me born cursed instead of gifted. It isn’t your fault.”

“Let’s see if you still think so once I start drinking down magic like water and go on a killing spree,” I reply dryly.

“Those are stories to scare children.” Ben shakes his head. “There’s no reason to be afraid of your immunity to magic unless you are a greedy old man who fears what he can’t control.”

“I don’t think the king would be pleased about your description.” I grin, trying hard to convince myself that Ben is right.

But there are things he doesn’t know, things I’m too scared to admit out loud, even to my twin. Like every time my bare hands touch his skin—or anyone else’s who has a gift—something within me reacts. There is a whisper, a sliding, a movement of something that shouldn’t be. A pull. It terrifies me.

“So why are you here?” I ask, attempting to change the topic.

“I went to see Mom and Luc and—”

“You were hurt?” I round on my twin now and scan him from head to toe. Mom and my brother Luc run the infirmary at Fortress Blackstone, an active outpost in the Barrier Mountains, and the only home I have ever known.

Ben would only seek them out during the day if he was hurt during training or combat. Since I trained with Ben this morning, I know it wasn’t the first.

“Nothing big. A little poison splattered over my hand when—”

“Where were you? And why weren’t you wearing gloves?”

“If you would let me finish my damn sentence, you would know all of that already!”

I gesture for him to go ahead.

“We escorted Master Chapman over to the Ice Coast’s bridgepoint. He swears they have the best fur, and he can’t get anything like that from the hunters around here…” He sees my pointed look. “Well, anyway, we were attacked on our way back by some of Arachne’s maidens, and poison splattered on my skinwhen I beheaded one.” He shrugs. “Mom fixed me back up, and now it’s like nothing ever happened.”

That’s another reason being immune to magic is a curse. Healing magic doesn’t work on me either.

“What were those nasty, eight-legged monsters doing so close to the road during the day?” I ask.

“The days are getting shorter. Today is the equinox. The offerings will be moved soon…” Ben shrugs. “Maybe they were hoping to get lucky?”

“Do you think they plan like that?” The thought of monsters and demons actively planning their attacks is troubling. Ben shrugs again.

“Who knows what or if they think at all,” he replies. “Dammit, now you derailed me again, what I meant to say is that Mom wants you to come over… something about measuring and ordering dresses.”

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