By the Morning Light_Smoke and Mirrors Read online

  “All right.” I nodded slowly. “I don’t know how we’ll find her, but let’s go. Let’s try.”

  Emile pointed to the disc as I slung the cord over my head once more. “Keep that out, over your shirt. If it glows again, we’ll know she’s near. And I don’t want it burning you by accident.”

  I did as he said, but I wrapped a hand around it just in case it started glowing as we walked the streets of Ayres. I figured if it started heating up, I would be able to let go before it burnt me. Still, the realization that we’d been wearing something capable of burning us all this time scared me to my core. I’d always thought it was harmless piece of jewelry. Tonight, it showed me it was more than that.

  Much, much more than that.

  But what, exactly, was it?

  “Will she know?” I asked Emile in a hushed whisper. “Why it turned blue, I mean?”

  “She has to.” His eyes were hard. He looked so unlike my brother at that moment that I did a double take and reached for his hand.

  “Emile, I’m fine.” I didn’t like seeing my sweet brother looking like that, but before I could say more, the disc heated up again and I let go with a startled gasp. “It’s doing it again!” The blue glow was fainter this time, but it still looked like a beacon in the dark. We were at the outskirts of the main part of the city now, where the buildings weren’t so crowded together, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing it.

  “That means she’s close, right?” Emile said uncertainly. He started toward the carnival in the distance, but I paused. “Claudette?”

  There was a faint tug coming from the north. I turned. It was too dark to see too far into the distance, but I knew what lay in that direction. Something clicked inside my head, and I knew where Aeonia was.

  “The monastery,” I said. “We need to go to the monastery.”

  He watched me for a moment, breathing heavily. I was worried he wasn’t going to believe me, but then he nodded and said, “All right. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Ten

  We’d never stolen away to the monastery in the dead of night. The moon had come out from behind the clouds, so we were able to make our way north without tripping and breaking our necks. At the dog-shaped cairn I paused, my hand clenching the disc.

  “Claudette?” Emile said, hovering by my side.

  I was scared. As much as I wanted my adventure, as much as I wanted the truth, I was still frightened by what we would discover. Neither one of us was saying it, but we both knew it was magic. What else could it be?

  The more important question was what should we do when Aeonia confirmed it?

  As squires, we had an obligation to report her. I squeezed the disc harder. But she was our friend. I couldn’t do that to her. Not when I knew what it meant. Exile—or worse.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked.

  “Let’s just talk to her,” Emile said. “We’ll figure out what comes next later.”

  “Emile, I don’t—”

  “I know.” He gently pulled my hand away from the disc. It was still glowing faintly. I thought it would grow brighter the closer we got to Aeonia, and now I wondered if we were headed in the wrong direction. No. I shook my head. She was this way.

  “Let’s go.”

  We walked in silence the rest of the way. The monastery loomed before us, its walls gleaming like skeleton bones in the moonlight, while the air was a mixture of sea salt and heavily perfumed flowers.

  We didn’t have to search very hard to find Aeonia. She was sitting in the middle of the monastery amongst the field of flowers. It was the same spot where we’d first met. Her hands were moving, weaving another crown of flowers, but they stilled when we approached.

  “I knew you’d come.”

  “Why’d you run away?” I held up the flower crown she’d left behind in the castle. “We know you were there.”

  “Because I didn’t want to talk in the middle of the city,” Aeonia responded. She plucked another flower, her deft fingers quickly weaving it into the crown. “In case something happened.”

  Beside me, Emile stiffened. “In case what happened?”

  “In case I lost control.” Aeonia waved a hand, and the disc grew hot and burned brightly again. Around us the plants began growing at a rapid rate, flowers bursting open and tilting their heads toward the moon. Their fragrance overpowered the smell of salt, making my head spin.

  My brother and I clutched at one another, watching as green vines crawled up the sides of the stone buildings. It was as if the plants had become living, breathing monsters, and we were stuck in the middle of them, helpless as we waited for them to devour us.

  Oddly, the plants didn’t touch us or Aeonia. She calmly went back to weaving while Emile and I stared around us, wide-eyed and gasping. Flowers of every color and variety—I spied roses, lilies, hydrangeas, azaleas and lilacs—surrounded us, their faces pointed toward the sky.

  “Claudette, your necklace is glowing,” Aeonia said mildly.

  My hand reached up to touch it automatically, forgetting it would be hot. Except it wasn’t. The metal had cooled again, but it was glowing brighter than ever. Tears pricked my eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  “I stopped it from burning you,” she said as she weaved, weaved, weaved. Her hands were moving so fast they were practically a blur. After finishing one crown, Aeonia began another. “I can’t do anything about the glow, though. It’s my fault it’s so bright. Like calls to like, you know.”

  “It’s magic,” Emile sputtered. Even though we knew that before we walked into the monastery, we were still shocked. To see something like that… It was beyond anything I could ever imagine.

  Aeonia smiled. Why was she so calm? Didn’t she realize what could happen to her now that we knew her secret? Even though I already swore to myself I wouldn’t report her, she was being so careless. What if someone else saw her?

  Unless she wanted us to know. She’d practically told me so that first night at the carnival. I met her eye and she gave me a slight nod, confirming my suspicions. “What about Aurora?” I asked. “Can she use magic too?”

  She seemed surprised by my question. “No. I got my abilities from my father. Her father doesn’t have an ounce of magic in him. But that’s all right. She’ll be a great warrior someday.” Aeonia finished her second crown and put it down before rising. “I was practicing magic in the castle when you two stumbled in.” She put her hands on her hips. “You could have told me you snuck in there, you know! You gave me such a fright that I almost lost control of the magic I was working with, and that would have been bad. Very bad. That’s why I hid and then fled when you were distracted!”

  “What would have happened if you lost control of the magic?” I pointed to the flowers. “Something like that?”

  “Or worse,” Aeonia said seriously. “Magic is a living, volatile thing. And I still have so much to learn about it.” She waved a hand and some of the plants twisted up, slithering around her arm like a bracelet. I watched, half of me nauseated, the other half excited. “But it’s so hard. This world hates magic. If you have the ability to use it, you have to hide it. It’s not just this city that fears magic. They all do.” She flicked her hand and the plants wrapped around her wrist shriveled up and fell to the ground. “But the magic is begging to be used, to be released, and it’s impossible to ignore it. So that’s why I went to the castle. Why were you two there?”

  Emile scratched the back of his neck. “To train.”

  “We use the light of the full moon,” I explained. “To help us see.”

  “Ah.” Aeonia grinned. “So I’m not the only one sneaking around, am I? Does anyone know you go there?” We shook our heads. “Not even your precious Michel?” She laughed when we winced. “I’m impressed. You must really care about being Knights.”

  “We’re not going to report you,” I said in a rush, holding up my hands as Emile nodded in agreement.

  Aeonia tilted her head. “I know. I trust you. I wouldn
’t have shown you what I can do if I didn’t.”

  “But… why? Why do you trust us?” I asked. “You barely know us.”

  “Claudette,” Emile said, his tone of voice indicating that I was rude.

  “That may be true, but the two of you are different.” Aeonia spun her finger round and round, and a vine rose up, reaching for the sky. “You don’t think the magic is evil. Not like the others do.” Suddenly the vine shot toward me. I gasped and stumbled backward, but the vine paused, pointing like a finger at the glowing disc. “You wouldn’t be wearing a magical artifact if you hated magic,” Aeonia said.

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her that up until tonight, we had no idea the disc was magical. I wanted, no, I needed her to realize she could continue to trust us.

  I took a step forward, touching the vine. It curled around my pointer finger slowly, carefully, its smooth texture tickling me. I let out a soft laugh of surprise. A perfect pink flower bloomed, its soft scent washing over me like a breeze. I shut my eyes and breathed in deeply. “It’s beautiful,” I said. “Your magic.”

  When I opened my eyes, Aeonia was watching me, her gray eyes shining in the moonlight. “Thank you.”

  “Can everyone else do this?” Emile asked. “Not your sister, you said, but what about the others you travel with?”

  “Almost everyone has a gift.” Reaching down, Aeonia scooped her flower crown from the ground and placed it on her head. It slipped sideways, but she made no effort to straighten it. “Some are stronger than others. The stronger, more experienced ones weave their magic in their shows. Like the woman with the dogs? She compels them to follow her commands.”

  Emile looked disappointed, like he actually had believed the dogs were able to perform those awe-inspiring tricks on their own.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “And what about the fortune tellers?”

  She glanced at me through lowered lids. “My fortunes were real, Claudette.”

  I shivered. Emile’s dead but not dead lover. My adventure that would take me away from Ayres…

  It was all real.

  “Please don’t let this change anything.” Aeonia came up to me and clasped her hands around mine, crushing the pink flower between our fingers. “I’m still the same person, Claudette, I swear to you. I’ve visited so many cities and I’ve never been able to tell anyone the truth. Do you know how maddening that is? I’m so sick of following their rules!”

  All around us the plants began rustling ominously.

  “They won’t let me tell fortunes for customers. They don’t want me practicing my magic. They don’t want me doing anything!” Her voice rose higher and higher and the plants reacted to it. Vines and leaves and branches skittered across my boots like mice and I gasped. When the vines began wrapping themselves around my legs I jumped backward. My legs got caught and I went flying.

  Emile caught me before my body connected with the ground. He tried to tug me free of the plants, but their grip was too tight. As the vines began squeezing my ankles, I cried out in pain. “Aeonia, enough!” Emile shouted, his voice laced with panic.

  All at once the plants went silent. Aeonia blinked at us, like she’d forgotten we were there. “I… I…”

  “It’s all right.” As my heart pounded madly in my chest I tried to keep my voice steady, afraid if Aeonia heard my panic, the plants would go wild again. “Just… Tell the plants to let me go. Please.”

  “O-Of course.” Breathing heavily, she waved her hands and the plants began retreating. Not just the ones around my legs, but all of them. When Aeonia was done, the courtyard looked almost like it did before she’d started working her magic. The growth was definitely thicker, but no one but Emile and I, who came here often, would be able to tell the difference. Even the flowers closed up, waiting for the sun’s light to coax them open again.

  It was silent as we stared at one another. “I’m sorry,” Aeonia finally said. “I didn’t mean to.” Her face crumpled and she looked away. “Now you see why they don’t want me to use my magic. I’m not ready. I’m can’t control it. I’m horrible and evil and—”

  I pulled out of Emile’s grip so I could hug her. Startled, Aeonia stopped speaking and began crying. “You’re not evil,” I told her fiercely. “You’re not. You just need to practice more, that’s all.”

  She nodded against my shoulder, but I had no idea if she believed me.

  After a few minutes, Emile cleared his throat. “It’s getting late,” he said, his eyes on the brightening sky. “We need to head home.”

  “Will you be all right?” I asked Aeonia. She pulled away from me, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen, and I felt awful leaving her like that.

  With a sniffle she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me tonight. I should be happy someone else finally knows my secret, and instead I’m carrying on like a child.” She trailed off, her expression troubled. “But then I almost hurt you… Claudette, if you never want to see me again, I understand.”

  “What? No!” I exclaimed. “Of course we want to see you again! Right, Emile?” After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded. “We have so many questions for you. Like, this disc?” I held it up, marveling again at how the metal surface was now cool to the touch, despite how fiercely it glowed blue. “You said it’s a magical artifact. Is that true?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know what it is exactly,” Aeonia said. When my face fell in disappointment, she quickly added, “Maybe it can track people with magical abilities?”

  “But then shouldn’t it have been glowing every night when we visited the carnival?” I asked. “And when we met you?”

  She frowned. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what it is. I could ask around, but my people might grow curious and want to see it.”

  My fingers folded around the disc in panic. “No, I… That’s all right, Aeonia. Forget about it.” We’d been wearing the disc for five years now, long enough that it felt like an extension of my body. To give it to someone else… I couldn’t do it. What if they didn’t want to give it back?

  “I understand.” Aeonia smiled. “But if I were you, I’d continue to wear it under my shirt. You have no idea if it’ll start glowing again.”

  “Can you stop that?” Emile asked. “You stopped the burning, so maybe you could stop the glowing, too?”

  To my relief, Aeonia shook her head. I didn’t mind the glowing. It was beautiful, in an eerie sort of way. “I have no idea how to do that. If I was stronger…”

  She looked like she was about to cry again. Holding out my hands, I said, “That’s fine! We’ll do like you said and hide it.” The sky overhead was rapidly changing from dark gray to light pink. “Let’s meet again tomorrow night, as usual? We have so many questions for you now.”

  The corner of Aeonia’s lip curled up. “I’m sure you do.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Aeonia could use magic! Real, actual magic! For all of my wishes for an adventure, I never thought I’d actually see magic in use. But she’d made the plants grow last night, and up until the point where they’d wound their vines around my body, it’d been beautiful.

  And I knew she hadn’t meant to hurt me. Her emotions had gotten the best of her and she’d lost control, but she’d managed to stop them in time. I knew, without a doubt, that the more Aeonia trained herself, the stronger she’d become. What would she be able to do then with her magic?

  The card I’d drawn said I had to leave Ayres to find an adventure, and yet a giant one had fallen right into my lap. I could barely sit still in school the next day, and as soon as our teacher let us out I raced home, my boots kicking up dust clouds as Emile called in vain for me to slow down.

  He found me in my room, my clothes strewn across the floor as I struggled to find the right outfit. Normally I wore skirts to school and pants when I was working on the farm or training in the castle, but today seemed special.

  Today was the first day I
’d woken up and realized magic was now a part of my life. I felt like I needed to celebrate that somehow.

  “What about this one?” I asked Emile, holding up my fancy sleeveless white laced dress that I’d worn a few weeks ago for my fourteenth birthday. Somehow today seemed even more important than my birthday.

  My brother frowned. “What about it?”

  “Should I wear it tonight?”

  “You’ll get it dirty, and then Maman will be cross.”

  Some of my enthusiasm faded. He was right. The carnival grounds were dusty in some parts, muddy in others, and strewn with garbage from the patrons. I always looked at the discarded wrappers and papers on the ground and winced, since it was my people who’d created such a mess. Aeonia told me not to worry about it. She said it was the same no matter where they went and her people were used to it by now. It still made me feel bad. Why did we automatically expect the carnival workers to clean up our mess? If they came into the city and did the same to our streets, the Ayrens would be so outraged the travelers would be forced to pack up their tents and leave.

  With a sigh I surveyed the rest of the clothes littering my room. Nothing seemed right. My fingers tightened around the dress. It was this or nothing else. So what if it got dirty? I didn’t need magic to tell me tonight was going to be special.

  Emile sat on my bed and pulled the disc out from under his shirt. It was his turn to wear it, and it was back to its normal gold color. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to go to the carnival tonight and act like nothing’s changed.”

  “But you have to!” I said. “You can’t gawk, Emile. You heard Aeonia. We can’t let them know that we know.”

  His expression grew worried. “We have to be careful. If Michel finds out—”

  “He won’t,” I interrupted. “He can’t. Emile, he’ll try to hurt her.”