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Most of the hallway was untouched. Despite my room blazing red with fire, it had only gone out a few paces away from the opening that used to be my door. The hallways were made of stone; the fire did not have a place to go.
Xira and I were panting as we stared at the fire. Fire elementals were already here, trying to put out the fire before it spread further than the outside of my room, but the fire was still blazing inside the room. I could hear it crackle.
“Who did this?” Xira asked beside me as we stared at the elementals fighting the fire. “It’s only your room. And it... It’s not a natural fire.”
“I don’t know,” I said, and before she could say anything else, I turned to her. “Why did you come in? You could have died.”
“I’m a fire elemental,” Xira said as though that was answer enough.
I grabbed her hand. She flinched.
“You are hurt,” I said, forcing her to meet my eyes as I released her hand. “You could have died. You put yourself in danger. Why?”
Had she done this to prove that she wasn’t the sort to abandon another to protect herself?
Was she trying to take back what she had done at the trials when she left me behind because she had thought I would be an obstacle to her survival?
Xira met my gaze. There was hesitation in her. She did not say anything.
“Why didn’t you wait for the elementals to put out the fire?” I asked. “You could have died.”
I did not know why, but I wanted to hear Xira’s answer. I needed to hear it to understand.
She cocked her head.
“I didn’t think,” she said. “I guess that’s what happens when you like someone, and they’re in danger.”
My pulse raced. We were both covered in soot. I leaned in, and so did she.
We were too close.
“What happened?” Seren stepped out of her room.
She wasn’t looking toward us, her sleepy gaze was focused on the soot covering the walls as she tried making sense of what was happening.
Xira smiled at me. Then, as though she forced a shift, her expression changed as Seren turned to us.
“There was a fire in Lady Casja’s room,” she said.
“Oh,” Seren’s lips quivered in fear.
“Seren,” I said, suddenly deciding. “We need to talk.”
“What?” She replied sheepishly. “Now?”
“Yes,” I replied, taking a step away from Xira. “Let’s go into your room.”
The soldiers were still working on putting the fire out, but I knew I would not be getting my room back anytime soon. I did not want to think about what had just happened between Xira and me, and I had the perfect distraction.
Seren and Xira followed me into Seren’s room. I waited by the door as they entered and closed the door behind us.
Seren seemed confused and scared as I turned to her.
“We need to talk about Liltra,” I said. “We think someone murdered her.”
Xira’s brows raised. She was surprised that I chose to tell Seren about it even though Orla had insisted we did not share this information with anyone. Perhaps I wasn’t thinking straight...
“What?” Seren shrieked. “Who?”
