Ch. 2 Meeting with the Queen Mage

"Lyra!" someone yelled as they shook me awake, my eyes flung open to find myself looking into Lilly's. Her eyes the exact same shade of golden brown as her father, Nael's. "You were sweating and tossing around, I thought you were seizing," Lilly continued, unaware of the inner turmoil I was fighting. She didn't know what I had just been dreaming about or what she'd saved me from having to relive again. She didn't know about that night where everything went wrong. Didn't know that the fire magic that I now wielded had once belonged to her brother. Or that I treasured it as much as I treasured Ignatius' memory.

"Sorry," I gasped out, wiping away the sweat that covered my forhead. I was soaked through with it.

"Bad dream again?" Lilly asked, backing up the respectful distance that all mages kept from their leaders. 

"Yea," I mumbled, swinging my feet out of the bed.

"Same one as usual?" Lilly asked and I looked at her again. There was a pained look on the other mage's face and I nodded.

"Yes, and I still don't want to bore you with the details, so don't ask," I murmured, pulling my fire forward like a cloak against the cold my own magic always left behind.

"You fire mages and your emotions," she sighed out with a sly grin and I forced a smile back at her. "By the way, your mother, the Queen Mage, says she wants to speak with you, she said she's received word on something," Lilly bowed and turned to the door. "I had a bath filled for you a while ago. I figured you could just heat the water back up when you used it. I have to get back to work, are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, thank you, Lilly." I assured her. She nodded once more then left.

Alone again, I collapsed back down on the bed and rubbed my face with my hands. Hard. Like I was trying to wipe away the emotions from that nightmare memory that had plagued me all these years.

Six full seasons. It had been six whole years since that night. I wasn't thirteen anymore. I had a little more control over my powers now. But the thought of my magic and what it was capable of always left me feeling unsettled.

The blood and death from that night constantly haunted me, but the worst part of it all was knowing that Ignatius was gone because I had been too weak to control my magic. I took a deep breath, steeling myself as I suppressed his fire and pulled my own magic forward, feeling the familiar coldness that came with it seep into me. And just as soon as it came forward, I slammed it back down. As if I was punishing it for daring to come forward like I'd told it to. 

I hated it. I replaced the void that locking my magic away created within me with Ignatius' heat again and took a deep breath as I stood up and headed into the bath.

I pushed the memory away and focused instead on what Lilly had said about mother. I wonder if it was more news about last night? But if it were that, I feel like mother would have divulged that with Lilly. No, mother was vague for a reason... Maybe she got word back on a possible alliance with someone? My parents had been putting out requests to the nearest lord-doms about possible alliances, but it hadn't been going too well. With the bias the humans had toward us mages, it was hard to find anyone who would trust us. Or harder than that, humans that the we could trust not to shove a dagger in our back once it was turned.

All of this was made even worse with the wars that had been raging rampant for the better part of a decade now. I sighed as I tried to push those thoughts away, letting my nightrobe slip from my shoulders and pool on the floor around my feet while I bent and swept my fingers over the cool water.

I pulled on my fire magic, as it came alive, my body heated up, warmth spreading over my skin. I knew I'd have a pink flush to my complexion if I looked in a mirror. I pushed the fire magic away from myself and into the water which immediately began warming up, the surface rippling slightly like there was a current underneath, spreading the warmth outwards.

Steam soon began rising from the surface and I stepped into the tub, sinking into the water that was hot enough now that most people would find it uncomfortable. Dipping my head under, I began washing away the pain and heartache from the past along with the sweat my night terror had caused and prepared for my meeting with the Queen Mage.