Pushing away from him, I denied it. “I’ve never done that!”
“It’s the same for you as it is for me. We both need to be very careful of the decisions we make.” He brought me back to him. “The night in the hotel room...it was the ultimate Pyres’ playground and you gave in easily.”
At first I was mad and was going to blast him, but what he was saying started sinking in.
“You were willing to allow me to seduce you and with that, risk losing your parents’ trust. It would have been a double whammy against your Spirit Light.”
I snapped, “You didn’t seduce me!”
Nathanael tried to calm me by kissing me gently. “Yes I did, not intentionally, but I did.” Then hesitated. “Saydi, you were so quick to jump into bed with me no matter what. It would have destroyed the trust your parents have for you and you would have given something that shouldn’t be given until marriage. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted it to...”
It saddened me to hear him say it. “So, you didn’t mean what you said about wanting to show me what real love was about?”
Hovering near the edge of my mouth, he confirmed softly, “I meant every word.”
Nathanael left me to the Tovs, insisting that since I wasn’t going back to school, training was in order and he’d be shutting off his emotions. They were too much of a distraction for me and I could get hurt. But I did plead with him to at least mind-talk to me while he was with his dad, so I knew he was all right. That was, again, something he adamantly refused to do, since it would definitely cause a screw up. However, he did reassure me that his dad wouldn’t do anything at that specific moment.
Somehow, that didn’t do anything to ease my worry.
With Nathanael heavy on my mind, André was quick to take on the task of beginning my training with fire, since I had none as of yet—the weeks before had been spent focusing on wind and water.
“Wow, that’s a pretty big fire,” I said, watching the flames lick the sky ten feet above me.
André laughed. “Yes, it is. It has to be to begin with, but eventually we’ll be able to simply work with a spark.”
That was hard to believe. “Yeah, right!”
“Trust me, you will. We have much work to do, so let’s get to it.”
He placed his hand into the middle of the flame and pulled out a baseball-sized wad of fire. Bouncing it in his palm, he commanded, “Now, concentrate. You don’t have to put your whole hand in, simply get used to the heat first. It’s very much like when you take a hot bath. At first the water seems really hot, but then your skin gets used to it.”
I stared at it and took one step closer holding my hand out. Then I took another couple steps until the flame was about a foot away and the heat was well...hot!
“Take your time, Saydi, let your skin get used to it,” he said softly.
After a minute or two I was able to move closer, then waited and was surprised to find that as my hand adjusted to the heat, so did my body. Two more steps found my hand touching the edge—it tickled, and I could actually feel the flame, it felt like a feather stroking my hand.
I looked at André and smiled.
His eyes narrowed. “Concentrate!” My attention snapped back to what I was doing.
Slowly I maneuvered my hand farther in, then tried to grab the flame. It simply waffled through my fingers each and every time, getting me increasingly frustrated.
“Saydi, it’s not like picking up a baseball. Remember how you command the wind, it’s the same. Use your mind.”
“But the wind automatically allowed me to grab it,” I said, clenching my hand hard.
“Yes, because wind is your natural donum. Fire is a learned one, and it will take lots of work and concentration. You cannot lose concentration when dealing with fire. It will still burn you.”
“I’ll just blow on it and heal it.” Being sassy.
“Concentrate!” he emphasized, frustrated.
My eyes blurred watching the flame flicker.
Come to me.
Nope.
Let me have you.
Nope. My mind went to Nathanael that night we first played with the water and how he popped the fire through the middle.
“You got it! Saydi, take it out.” André was excited.
In my hand was a little golf ball-sized flame. It felt like a fur ball and was soft as it tickled my skin. “That’s cool,” I breathed, amazed at myself.
“Now gently blow on it. See if you can increase the flame... Now be careful.”
Puckering my lips, I blew. The flame leapt from my hand and quickly bounced through the air. André ducked just as it whizzed past him, missing his head by an inch.
"Whoa!” he yelped as he waved his hand and a splash of water came from the pool, quashing it out. He slowly revolved around and looked at me with one eyebrow raised.
Shrugging, I said, “Sorry.” Then looked to the ground.
“Well, that was actually a good first lesson, well done. As you can see, fire is light, very light, and it doesn’t take much to make it fly.” He smiled. “Let’s continue.”
For the rest of that day, even though Nathanael constantly made his presence known in my head, André was able to focus me on grabbing fire and getting the right amount of air so it increased in flame, while not starting the neighbor’s house on fire. He seemed happy with my progress. Playing with fire became a whole different meaning for me.
It was dinnertime before Nathanael finally knocked on our door, not to mention an instant relief. I threw myself at him. “How are you?”
Laughing, he put me on my feet. “I’m good.”
“How did it go? Did you talk to your dad?”
The small smile that was on his face slowly faded and his body stiffened. “Mm-hm,” he managed.
The air shifted immediately, giving a warning not to push it, but of course, I did, trying to make light of it. “It must have gone well, since you’re still with us.” Oops! It would have been wise to pay attention to the warning.
A snarl filled the front entryway as he yanked his hands from mine. “You think that’s funny?” he hollered, throwing me a look that was nothing short of outrage. His voice got louder. “I told you he wouldn’t do anything there! He would wait to kill me in front of Mora!”
“Nathanael!” The tears were instant.
Sighing, he looked up behind me. It was obvious others were present. He put his hands up palm forward. “I’m sorry. It was a trying day today. I apologize.” Then he focused on me by kissing my hand.
“I’m sorry," he said once more. "It was just the way you said it, like it was a joke.”
I stuttered, “I didn’t...mean it...like that.”
His finger caressed my cheek. “I know. It went better than I anticipated. He seemed happy I knew about her, though he continued to insist Mora left on her own accord because she couldn’t stand the fact we were part Pyre.”
His features were disheartened as he added, “And he insisted she never once tried to see us, nor did he threaten to kill me.”
“I don’t believe that!” I blurted.
What
he
actually believed, I couldn’t tell.
Continuing with a smile, he added, “He enlightened me to the fact that he didn’t tell us about Mora and her donum because as we were growing up, he could see the donum we received from him were incredibly powerful. There was no need for us to know, constantly being reminded our mother didn’t want us...”
It was something I couldn’t believe, but then again, Mr. Braxton had given them a fairly normal childhood. Outside the training and some not so nice tasks, he did seem to love his sons. I saw it in him the first time we met.
“Now he wants us to study and train to strengthen any new donums we may possess.”
“Do you believe what he says about your mom? That she never tried to contact you?”
He shrugged, not willing, at that point anyway, to reveal what he was thinking.
~ * ~
Nathanael was invited for dinner and during it, told everyone what had transpired, including a part he conveniently left out when we were alone: how often his dad wanted him home to train with his brothers, pretty much leaving little, if no time, to train with me.
It upset me. I wasn’t a fighter to begin with, and Nathanael had trained his whole life. I was the one who needed the help. Shutting away my feelings, I asked simple questions. “How are we going to learn to fight together if we don’t train together?”
“I’ll have some time with you, Saydi. This is something I have to do.” Whether I misinterpreted it or not, it seemed very cold the way he said it, not to mention it felt like he was looking forward to it.
Dad shoveled a fork full of food into his mouth. “Nathanael’s right, Saydi. Besides, he’ll be able to inform us of any new discoveries.”
“We have a couple of hours tonight. Let’s get some training in now,” Nathanael suggested, simply humoring me.
Everyone took his side, turning my already alone feeling into a complete abandonment issue. It was maddening. I shoved away from the table, grabbed my plate and packed it in the dishwasher. “No thanks, it’s too cold out. I’m going to my room.” Departing, I didn’t even look at them.
Nathanael was in the hall doorway by the time I got there. His eyes were narrowed and with a not so loving tone, said, “Saydi, we only have limited time. Don’t be like this.”
My so-called control disappeared and I flared, “Whose fault is that? What? Am I supposed to do it at your convenience?”
The green/blue in his eyes turned almost black. “Can I speak with you privately...outside?” It really wasn’t a question.
Grabbing my jacket, he shoved it at me, then briskly escorted me out the back door by my arm. He spun to face me, but not before he blocked his emotions. “Why are you being like that?” he seethed, throwing his hand out toward the house.
“Because between your work, and now your training, I’m never going to see you!”
His breathing got heavier with each inhale and exhale. “Oh! Well of course it would be about you!” he fired.
Discharging a nasty look, I threw back, “And just what is that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what it means! I’m playing both sides of the fence to be with you and all you care about is how it’s affecting you!”
“That’s not true!”
It was calm, a dangerous calm. “Oh, isn’t it?” Then came the storm. “Not once did you ask how I felt about having to teach my brothers! Not once have you asked how I felt about having to train my brothers to eventually fight me and quite possibly to the death!” Putting his face an inch away from mine, he added, “Not once!”
What a bunch of crap! After all, I had tried to talk to him a couple of times.
“You never want to talk about it and if I do bring it up, it makes you mad!”
“All you care about is ‘when is Saydi going to get what she wants’?”.
That comment had my blood boiling. “Fine! Then I won’t want you. Get out!”
He gestured out toward the yard. “No! We have to train!”
Our eyes locked in a furious hold, neither willing to back down.
A distinct creak and groan from a solid mass came from behind me. It resisted the rising water that lay underneath it, then it snapped as it let go, shattering into a million pieces. Nathanael threw his arms up over his face and bent down while small shards of ice pelted against his body.
Gasping I took a step forward. “Are you all...?”
Slowly he pulled his head up; there was a very menacing half grin on his face, but there was also a definite twinkle in his eyes. He gradually brought himself back up to the upright position, never taking his green/blues off me.
“Are you okay? What was that?” I asked.
The grin slowly receded, while he eyed me. “I’m okay,” he said slowly. “How did you do that?”
“I didn’t do it.”
He nodded. “Yes, you did.”
Why was he picking a fight again?
“No, I didn’t! You saw my hands. Nothing moved.”
With a jerk, his arms were in the air and the sound of water whooshed up from behind me. Our eyes stayed locked, then the Pue snaked quickly through the trees and houses. The pink floating mine monster moved stealthily as it picked up speed.
My mind was secure on the target—Nathanael.
The Pue encircled the water, twisting it up then it veered around me and went straight for him.
In one quick rotation of his hands, the water let go and plunged down, soaking the ground all around him. The Pue latched onto my hands for the first time that night, awaiting a command.
Our heavy breath tumbled on the air while we took in exactly what happened.
Nathanael disappeared. I whirled around to see his hand above the embers of the fire. Within a second, a spark flew up. He grabbed it and wheeled around.
No! Don’t throw fire at me, I haven’t learned much!
My mind screamed.