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A savage, destructive, desperate hunger; never satisfied, always devouring. Nothing can stand before fire. It knows no love, no compassion, no gentleness. It knows only its own need. It feeds, it consumes, and only moves on when nothing remains.
“You grip tightly because you have not their love as I do. Take the remainder of your time. You have little left . . .”
A murmur passed through the circle. She looked to Tabin for explanation. He smiled through the sadness in his eyes. “Then, Iris, you are in good company. We too have no home.” Tabin threw his arms wide to encompass the entire camp. “All you see here—these people, these beasts, these wagons with their contents—this is all we have in the world. We travel always; we stop, but never for long. We are strangers in every land. They cheer to see us arrive but are relieved to see us go. They fear us. But you . . .” He lowered his face to hers. “. . . you need not fear us. You are one of us.”
“As long as you hide from your fear, you are a slave to it.” He seemed to have moved beyond her with his words to address the entire camp, his powerful young voice ringing against the sky. “A slave to fear is a danger both to herself”—he indicated Iris where she knelt—“and to everyone around her. Face your fear, Iris, and stay with us. Give us your fire.” Like a blessing, he placed both hands on top of hers and then straightened, backing away.
“Nothing happens by chance, Iris”
Why did they suspect her so? Why were they afraid of her?
It's wild considering she is but a girl...
Somehow, she knew that the Dal-Ishnadi, leader of the Traders, held Iris responsible.
So jacked up...Iris is just a girl!
“You.” Spinning, she fixed her glare on the Dal-Ishnadi. “You made me do this. I didn’t want anything more to do with fire! I wanted to be done with it, but you made me use it, and now . . .” A sob choked her, but she fought past it. “Now look what I’ve done!”
“I hate politics,” Besaun grunted. “I could do without them.” “Politics is the alternative to war.” “I’ll take war, please. At least in war, I won’t have to marry someone I don’t love and spend the rest of my life pretending to rule while others make the decisions. I would love to go fight.”
“Freedom is not free, Besaun. It is bought. Bought with lives, with blood. Bought with politics. Bought with wars. Many people today are free, but you can never be.”
“Then why have you not returned his song to him?” The Dal-Ishnadi folded her stocky arms and glowered down on Iris. Iris withered under her gaze.
Imma fight yall on Iris' behalf smh....
She started to walk away, but his hand brushed her arm, stopping her. “Wait.” She turned back. “I trust you, Iris.” His gaze brought a rush of heat to her cheeks. She pulled away. “Should you?” Without waiting for an answer, she wove her way through the trees back to the caravan.
“My name is Sephone.” Iris hesitated. “Alright . . .” “And Tabin is mine. So keep your gritty, ash-stained hands off him.” Iris gaped at the girl. Before she could form an answer, Sephone spun and marched away, hips swinging.
Little asshole....
The woman’s blow had not fallen because she was being held back. By Jacin. Jacin had seized the woman’s hand just before it fell, and as Iris watched, he spoke. “Enough, Miriyam.”
Interesting...
There was an agreeing rumble throughout the room. Gendau raised his hands for quiet. “Yes, yes, Councilman. I am well aware of the great threat to the mighty Fire Empire from young children—a girl, you say? Yes, quite right. Young girls are indeed the greatest threat to our mighty bloodline. You were wise to end her life.”
Lmao
Besaun didn’t release Allsander till they were in the receiving hall. Then he flung him away, wiping his palm on his vest. “You have no respect, Allsander.” Allsander smirked at Besaun, rubbing his shoulder. “I think you pulled my arm out of it’s socket. Yes, I am injured beyond repair. I can’t possibly be expected to attend any more meetings today; how unfortunate.” He turned and sauntered down the hall.
She unwound her hair scarf and spread it on the soft ground, then lay back and turned her face to the sky.
Duuumb you're supposed to be hiding your ears!
Mila’s countenance darkened, and it was as if a cloud passed over the sun. “Peaceful? Sometimes, maybe. Or maybe peace is a thing that lives not in the world around a person, but in their heart. These Creaturebloods do not have peaceful lives, but peace lives within them.” Iris frowned, pondering Mila’s words. “They choose to be happy, and so they are?” Mila smiled. “Exactly.”
She touched Iris’s hand, bringing her eyes up to meet hers. “You’ve known pain, Iris, but you do not own it.”
“Hello, Iris,” Sephone purred, her voice honey sweet. Iris glanced up, surprised by the lack of malice. The other children grouped around Sephone, a silent wall. “Uh . . . hi. You want Mila? I can wake her.” Iris reached to shake Mila’s shoulder. “No!” Sephone snapped, and Iris drew her hand back, startled. “Ah, I mean, no need to trouble Mila. She must be exhausted from the trail. Anyway, it’s your help I need.” Iris peered up at Sephone warily. “What do you want from me?” “Nothing much. Just a tiny spark is all.”
Bad news!
“You know, Jasmin, there are many who say you are dangerous. That you are unsafe to have around us, and you will bring us bad luck or even betray us.” Iris winced, pulling back, but Sephone’s hand tightened on Iris’s upper arm. “But that’s not what I say. I say you can be useful to us. This is your chance to prove me right. Will you help?”
Don't do it!
She gave one short nod.
Noooooo
Iris frowned down at the cord. Sephone might be lying. But what could be in it for her? There were no Creaturebloods nearby to catch her using fire.
Why risk it, child?!
Iris’s mouth fell open as the betrayal settled over her. Sephone. Somehow, she had tricked her, rigged the rope to trip the boys . .
>.>
“Mark this, son. I will rule one day, with or without you. Don’t disappoint me.”
Class A mother >.>
“Let me try.” Iris was surprised to hear her own voice in her ears and realized that she had left her spit and was standing beside the boy. He jumped when she spoke, twisting to look up at her. “Uh . . . ok.” He stood and handed her the flint, backing away.
Iris Iris Iris....
“Why didn’t El stop him?” The old woman shifted her glowing eyes from the horizon back to Iris. “Because, child of fire, El does not want to make slaves of man. He wants the joy of being chosen, and will accept the pain of rejection for a time, out of hope.”
“How did you know who I am?” The Storyteller did not look back, and Iris almost gave up when at last she parted her lips from the flute long enough to say, “You can’t trust everyone, Iris, but you can trust me.” Then she returned to her fluting.
And rather than betray her and have her removed from the village, or worse . . . the old woman had lured her up the mountain to listen to a song.
Iris paused. “I am tired,” she murmured. But it wasn’t that kind of tired. She was tired of hiding. Iris touched the back of Tabin’s hand. “I will go starlighting . . . whatever it is.”
Gradually, the world stopped spinning. Faces appeared above her—Mila, Tabin, and the others. They waited with hesitant grins. “That was . . .” Iris pressed a hand to her reeling forehead, then a laugh burst from her chest. “That was amazing! Let’s do it again!” Cheers erupted around her, and many hands reached down to pull her to her feet.
<3
“Away, dragon.” The dragon reared up, stretching full before Jacin. Iris’s jaw dropped as the dragon inclined its great head. Was the dragon . . . bowing to Jacin? Jacin did not hesitate; he inclined his head in return.
“But I have seen that I was wrong.” Iris’s head jerked up. She stared at his back as he spoke. “I watched her fight for control over her fire. I saw that she had been isolated from her family’s corruption and thirst for power. Today, I saw her use her fire not to kill, but to save a life.”
“What do they think I am?” Iris asked helplessly. “I’m just me.” Mila hesitated. “It is not the Trader’s legend. Traders are wanderers. Any stories we make, we leave behind. Our wisdom is in letting go. But these people . . . they have old stories, far older than any others. It is not for me to tell you who you are.” “But is it for them?” The line between Mila’s eyes deepened. “Let us hope so.”
Mila was almost out the door when Iris remembered. “Mila, you didn’t tell me . . . your mother?” Mila paused, the curtain held aside. “She sleeps on.” Iris took in this news, then, “And Max? What of him?” The dim light from outside lit Mila’s features enough for Iris to see a true smile. “You healed him, Iris. He lives.”
“Not only you, child, though you have allowed it, and even perpetrated it.” His voice was a gentle reprimand. “Your kind. The bloodlines of the world. You’ve always had a choice. I would never take away the honor of choice from the ones I love.”
The warmth of an embrace surrounded her again, and a feeling from him . . . Hope. “I am waiting, Iris. Waiting for you to choose. I stand by because I believe in you. I believe that you will not succumb to evil. It’s why I made you.”
“It will always be easy with me. Goodbye for now, Iris.”
She bunched the material in her fists, longing for something solid to cling to. Longing to be floating again in the sunshine with El.
Strength is found in peace despite suffering.
“If I failed to recognize the power of El in the girl who faced a dragon and exposed her secret to save one life . . .” Tears of gratitude shimmered in her dark eyes. “I could not claim to be a child of El myself.”
Elder Olkeli laid one heavy hand on her shoulder. “We are not defined by what happens to us, but by how we respond to it.”
It was a little red book, only the size of Olkeli’s palm. It rested cozily there, the cover worn and soft, the wrinkled pages inside pressing back against the cover as if to escape. Elder Olkeli lifted it reverently. His eyes shone as he handed it to her. She took it and ran her finger over the gold lettering on the front. She whispered the words as she read: “The Book of El.” She turned her face up to his. “What is it?” “It is a book written a long time ago, written for us—for these times—so we would have a way to remember the ways of old. So we would have a way to remember who we are. Open
...more
“Those who have nothing to hide do not fear the light.” Cackling to herself, the woman turned and moved down the passage.
“Few remember the old times.” The old woman had gone so long without speaking that Iris jumped when her voice reverberated around her. “They’ve gotten used to hiding. Only the timid survived the Great War. They’ve forgotten El did not make this world to be a burden to them, but an adventure. They all sleep. All but a few,” she added, winking one burnished eye.
Her laughter passed as they moved. She added, almost to herself, “We have to be a little insane to still believe in this day, don’t we?”
The Storyteller’s arms descended slowly to her sides. Her eyes smiled at the ceiling, then down at Iris. “The Fire Emperor will be given this time to rule the earth. At the end, the Fire bloodline must choose between Harmony and Khaoss. The Fire Emperor was raised high by fire, and so shall he be brought low. Hope shall come when fire is born innocent.”
“The sky screamed its fury at us, and do we not deserve its wrath?”
“What, you think you should go first? You think you are better than me, fire royalty?” the old man spat. He backed away, bowing low at the waist. “Please, your highness, eat before me while I grovel at your feet.” A spatter of harsh laughter from others around the circle egged him on, Sephone loudest of all. Iris was frozen in place, hand white on the dipper handle. “Yes, fire royalty, ride in splendor, eat the best of our food . . . and burn us all to death in our sleep when you tire of us!”
So damn annoing and insufferable at this point....
When Tabin jumped down from the back of the wagon, no one dared breathe. His eyes glittered like ice as they swept over the circle, landing on Rioho. A flash of anger in them was Rioho’s only warning before Tabin leaped the length of the circle and seized the front of the old man’s shirt, drawing a frightened squeak from his lips. A breath away from his face, Tabin growled loud enough for everyone to hear. “Next time you want to mess with someone I love . . . don’t.”
Yayyy Tabin <3
