At the far end of their vegetable garden, among the thorny reek of tomato plants, Aurelie sat cross-legged and very irritably attempted to push the fire within her out of her palms. The sodden earth coated her legs like stockings.
The power of three dragons clung to her insides and boiled beneath her skin, but out of stubbornness that it acquired right from Aurelie's core, it refused to come out.
Why will you not just work? Her pulse rose. She yanked her upper arms to her chest, held her breath, and tightened her stomach. The vein in her temple hardened and pulsed.
She had practiced for years. Exhausted all of her ideas and came very close to pulling out her hair on more than one occasion. Well, the latter was not her fault entirely. When the magic stirred within her, it thrust her emotions into a wild, destructive spiral and the longer she kept trying to conjure the fire, the harder it was for her to stop.
Aurelie pushed again, harder this time. Her pulse slowed, but the pounding in her temples knocked harder. Specs of red appeared in her vision as her eyes filled with the shade of molten fire.
Aurelie exhaled, releasing a cloud of steam into the night sky. You will work. You will! Sweat soaked through the fabric of her dress. A drop rolled down her forehead, and onto her nose. She dragged her fingers across her round cheeks, scratching her skin.
Her chest felt tight with anger.
"Work!" she shrieked, her throat raw from the earlier tantrum. "What kind of a dragon can't conjure fire? Stupid, stupid!" Aurelie grabbed her hair and pulled, yanking out strands that tangled around her fingers. Steam rose from her heated skin and rose over her eyes, hiding the garden behind it.
Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, Aurelie tried to calm herself. The power within her churned, unhappy with the decision. Anger, heavy as stone, pressed into her chest. She dug her hands into the grass, twisted her fingers, and ripped it from the earth.
"Aurelie!" Aunt Elizabeth yelled from the steps of the cabin.
A spark as little as a firefly flashed in Aurelie's hand, leaving a thin line of white smoke behind.
"What are you doing out there?"
"Did you see?" Aurelie squealed. Sliding her sleeve across her upper lip, she wiped away some of the mud and moisture. "It just happened . . . almost!"
"You're still not ready?" Aunt Elizabeth said, standing in line with the candlelight coming from the kitchen table. Aurelie only saw her silhouette, but by Elizabeth's tone, she knew what expression her shadowed face hid.
"I thought I was staying home." They had talked about whether or not she accompany them about three times, always coming up with a different answer.
Aurelie stood and walked toward the cabin. She almost felt a slight pang of regret. Almost. The spark was worth her aching scalp, and the hot stinging that crept up her face. She pressed her hands against her cheeks, and let out a painful, "Owwe."
"Kaiden wanted you to come."
"I can go if needed." She was getting closer now. Aunt Elizabeth wore her best dress, a light blue V-neck that fluttered wildly when she walked. Her uncle must have managed to warm her up to the idea of him taking the job.
Aurelie barely made it up the wooden steps before Aunt Elizabeth put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her from moving any further. "My God, look at you!" Aunt Elizabeth's sharp brows rose up. They made her look angry by nature but Aurelie could not remember the last time she actually saw her mad. "Did you have a fight with a thorn bush?"
Aurelie smiled and shook her head. The way she looked was far down the list of her worries. She created a spark. A wonderful, bright, glinting spark!
"I'll get cleaned up in a second. Got a little carried away down there but I think it paid off. There was a spark. Only this big," Aurelie held her index finger over her thumb, "but I definitely saw it."
Aunt Elizabeth did not smile. She hated that Aurelie wasted so much time practicing what she regarded as the thing that would eventually get her killed.
"My young dragon," she tried to say with as much pride as her worries would let her. "I'll tell Kaiden you're not coming, he's been insisting on it but he'll just have to do without you for the evening. Go get cleaned up. There's some cheese in the breadbox and bread on the counter." She shook her head, pursing her lips. It was probably Aurelie who left the bread out there, she remembered making a jam sandwich earlier and putting things back in their rightful place was not what she was known for around the cabin. "We'll probably be gone by the time you're back."
"Alright. Have a good evening."
"With the Sproots?" Aunt Elizabeth let out an exaggerated laugh. "I doubt it."
The mud on Aurelie's legs started to itch. She was about to head to the well when Uncle Kaiden walked out of his bedroom. He looked up, stopped and took a large step back when he saw her.
"You're a mess."
"That's alright, Kaiden," Aunt Elizabeth said. "I told her she didn't have to come."
"I promised Mr. Sproot she'd be there; he all but made me swear to it."
The light was dim inside the cabin. They were running out of candles, which meant a trip to town. Aurelie was not allowed. Her magic was too unpredictable, her uncle had told her. A small fright could supposedly set off a blaze - even though nothing ever happened. She was bound to four walls, hiding from the Dragon King whom she was, thankfully, yet to meet. By now, he sounded more like a myth created by her aunt's overprotective nature rather than an actual man.
"I made a spark today," she stole his attention away from her aunt. They'd been arguing about whether or not Aurelie should go to dinner since Sunday. She did not want to join them, she never did, but she would if she had to.
His eyebrows jumped up in surprise. He gestured for Aurelie to move off the wobbling steps and followed her out. He was going to fix them a month ago and after two months passed, he was quite adamant that he would certainly do it at some point, about once a month.
"How big?"
Aurelie showed him with her fingers.
"Eh," he shrugged, a sly smile spreading on his lips, "I've seen bigger."
A warm cloud of pride settled in her chest, but now that she had a taste of her magic she wanted more. Her uncle was the only one she could push. She had been so happy that she did not even mind joining them at the Sproots this evening.
"You really want me to go?" she asked him, lifting her skirt so that it would not snub the rows of cucumbers that crawled on either side of her.
"I think it would make Mr. Sproot very happy. Perhaps, even happy enough to let me say no to his offer."
Aurelie said nothing to this. Both her and Aunt Elizabeth knew that he wanted to give them a better life and taking the position Mr. Sproot offered him would certainly do that.
She followed him through the dark garden, letting the cool wind dry her clammy skin before switching to the topic she really wanted to discuss with him. "If you can only give me an hour to practice," Aurelie started.
Uncle Kaiden frowned, the deep lines on his forehead creasing. "Half hour, that's what we agreed on."
"But!" Aurelie exclaimed, and lowered her voice, "that's not nearly enough. I should be practicing more."
"And look what that half hour has done to you. You've got bruises running down your cheeks. I'm half inclined to reduce it to fifteen minutes. God knows, your aunt would forbid it altogether."
Aurelie opened her mouth to protest but was stopped in her tracks by a raspberry bush that caught her skirt with its thorns. She yanked, causing a small tear. Damn it!
Uncle Kaiden didn't wait. His tall silhouette melded into the dark garden a few steps away.
The path to the well was lined with berry bushes. He was meant to trim them but got caught up with the roof which apparently needed fixing for the coming rain season. She saw him napping up there while sneaking out to practice fire on more than one occasion.
Aurelie ran to catch up, gathering her words in the process. "What's the point of that? You know that I'll just stay up longer or steal a moment between my chores. Isn't it better that you know my progress?" Aurelie recounted his argument to her aunt almost word for word.
"Aurelie, a half hour is more than enough. I can still see that vein on your forehead popping." He pressed his finger against the spot he referred to. "My father first let me study dragon magic when I was eighteen; you're almost a year ahead." He held his finger out while talking as if that would somehow help convince her.
If she was competing with him, the thought would comfort her, but she wasn't. Ever since he told her about her father, Emile Dranoir, the king of Highfire, whose power came as easily as taking a breath, her focus had shifted to beating the man. Emile first used his fire when he was sixteen, and later grew powerful enough for her aunt and uncle to start worrying about their safety.
"If I can only summon the fire, I know I'll be able to keep my temper at bay." Eventually, he'd give in, and talk some sense into Aunt Elizabeth. Though, whenever it concerned her magic, he had been harder to persuade than usual.
"It's not about your temper!" He sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "If you keep letting it feed your emotions, I'll stop the whole thing altogether."
"It's more dangerous if I let it stir."
"Let's see how tonight goes, alright? I don't want to argue with you now," he said. "Come, I'll help you with the well."
There was a short pause in her father's step. "So, how did it feel?" he asked, his voice ringing with its usual gentle tone.
"Like victory." She smiled and rubbed her scalp that still ached from the missing hair.
"And your face?"
They stopped. The thick trees covered the sky under which only the round silhouette of the well appeared. "It'll heal."
"It didn't hurt," she said after a moment. She didn't add that the anger blocked out all the pain and that bits of grain still scratched her eyes. "A pinch here and there, but that's it."
Uncle Kaiden remained quiet, which worried her. Again, the wrong words escaped her lips. Aunt Elizabeth had the concern covered. She couldn't have him doubting her tooânot more than he already had. Aurelie didn't need both of them to strut around her and tell her how bad the magic was for her.
They stopped at the well. A small flame ignited in the palm of Uncle Kaiden's hand, giving just enough light to reveal the rope. He pulled out the bucket, placed it on the stone ledge of the well, untied the rope around the handle, and placed it at Aurelie's feet.
He sighed and opened his mouth to speak. Unsure of what to say he closed it again. The third time around, he gathered his words. "You cannot let it consume you, Aurelie. I'm proud of you, I am." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "But we don't want to see you with slashed cheeks, and hair wild from pulling. You've got this happiness inside you, but you've failed to realize what caused it. You did not control your magic tonight, it controlled you. And that is very dangerous, my dear."
Aurelie lowered her eyes. First, he refused to help her with the magic, and now he was scolding her for trying to figure out how it worked. These were Elizabeth's words that came out of his mouth. He was taking her side, and she had no idea how a dragon's power worked! She was a witch, not a dragon. Her magic stirred. The tips of her fingers heated.
Her hands formed fists. She spoke without thinking, letting her rage gather her words, "I don't know why you insist on babying me like this. What, are you afraid my magic will take me to my father and I'll end up liking him more than you?" She raised her eyes to look at him, her lashes touching her brows. That little magic that was still awake within her had just gotten her into a lot of trouble.
His head leaned to the side. "I do not like who you're becoming. This magic, it's eating away pieces of who you are. Listen to the way you speak to me, and tell me that it has ever happened before you started practicing your magic. We were such great friends, you and I. Now you bark at me and Elizabeth like a mad dog. We tolerate it because we know what your magic does, but make no mistakes, dear girl, we will not tolerate it much longer!"
Aurelie bit down on her bottom lip to keep any more words from falling out. The sting of guilt set over her chest and merged with the ever-burning rage. These were not her words, she hoped he knew that.
She sat down beside the bucket with her legs outstretched, and scrubbed, ignoring him. Goosebumps rose on her skin as the breeze of the cool night blew past her. The water dropped out of her shaking hand long before it reached her legs.
"I think it is best you stay home this evening."
She turned to see if Uncle Kaiden still waited for her, but he had turned back toward the cabin. Aurelie lowered her face into her palms and sighed aloud. Stupid, stupid, stupid! That last statement would cost her a week of practice, no doubt about it, and to top it off, she hurt her uncle's feelings. She did not mean a word of it . . . Or she did not think she did. In all honesty, she worried where the words had come from. Surely, if she were able to say such things, she must have thought it to some degree. That was not like her at all, her uncle was right about that.
Frustrated with the sluggishness of her pace and sickened by her own thoughts, Aurelie stood up and stepped into the water. Most of the mud had dried, forcing her to use her nails to scratch it off.
With Kaiden gone and being too lazy to gather a clean bucket of water herself, she decided that she was clean enough. She climbed out, wiped her legs with her hands, and dragged her feet to the cabin as slowly as she could to miss her aunt and uncle.