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Solin paced around the cold hearth, staring at the rocks ringing the ash and charred wood of last night’s flame. He cocked his head as if the fire still spoke to him, even while extinguished. He completed three circles before finally stopping and looking at me across the stones. “A full moon cycle you’ve lived in my home, yet you’re still nameless and clanless. Your memories are stubborn, and despite your desperation to know, you are afraid.”
He crossed his arms.
The air thickened with tension as he said, “I have permitted you to stay, not out of the goodness of my heart, Girl, but because the flames told me of your arrival the night before Niya found you. Just like they told me a stranger would appear and try to take you. A stranger that isn’t permitted to have you.”
I gasped. “W-Who is he? Do you know—?”
Solin ignored me, continuing, “The fire told me of a girl who has sunshine trapped in her eyes, emptiness coating her mind, and flames dancing in her blood. It told me that you are different. That there are things about you that have to be taught and treasured but others that have to be harnessed and feared. I’ve spent many a meeting with our chief and chiefess deciding on what to do with you.”
My knees wobbled as I tripped back a step. “What to do with me?” I glanced at the exit and the setting sun outside. I’d believed I was safe here, yet the way Solin looked at me made my instincts prickle to hide. “I don’t know what that means, Fire Reader.” I bowed my head in respect.
“Neither do I.” Solin clenched his jaw, watching me closely. “But the fact that a strange male tried to take you today—a male that the flames foresaw—means we need to find out, before it’s too late.”
Hugging myself, I said, “I wasn’t going to go with him. I fought. I told him I wished to stay with the Nhil people and how grateful I am for the home you’ve all given me.”
“Good.” He nodded fiercely. “We found you for a reason. The fire whispered of your arrival and guided Niya and the hunting party to find you. It wants you here, Girl, and it sees you are worth protecting if it showed me this stranger last night. A stranger that threatens your life amongst the Nhil.”
I swayed on the spot, trying to braid Solin’s warnings with how I’d felt in the strange man’s presence. Yes, I’d been afraid but also awestruck. I’d been wary but alive. And when he’d touched me...it wasn’t terror that made my skin spark but a connection that twined around my heart full of hope and pain.
Solin’s deep voice cut through my thoughts. “You’re the only one I’ve ever permitted to live with me. My space is guarded because my visions are needed to keep us safe. Yet I permit you to stay under my roof because I see something.”
When he didn’t continue, I asked quietly, “What do you see?”
His eyes locked on mine. “You are not like the others.”
“How?” I whispered, unable to hide my sadness. I didn’t want to be different. I wanted to be like Niya, Hyath, and the other incredible people of Nhil. “How am I not like them?”
“In the same way that I am not like them.” Solin stepped around the stones, keeping his black eyes locked on mine. “The same way the fire whispers to me. The same way the flames grant visions and knowledge.” His voice lowered with weight. “The same way they whisper to you.”
My mouth fell open as I shook my head. “The fire doesn’t speak to me, Solin. I’ve never heard—”
“You have.” Stopping before me, he reached out and cupped my cheek. His skin was warm and dry, weathered but soft. So different from the black-haired man in the grass. So different to the spark and stinging current I’d drowned under when he’d touched me.
“It speaks to you,” he murmured. “I’ve watched you in your sleep. When I’m in a trance, the fire isn’t content to just whisper in my ear anymore. It attempts to whisper into yours. I noticed it the first night you came to us. And it’s the reason I’ve kept you close.” I stopped breathing as he ran his thumb over my cheekbone. “You just don’t know how to listen.”
Dropping his hand, he cut around me, heading toward his furs. “Now, go join the others and help with the feast. Make sure you eat well; you’ll need your strength.”
My legs obeyed him, and I left the lupic without another word, but my heart pounded, pounded, pounded.
Why would I need my strength?
What exactly was he about to do?
* * * * *
I stared into the flames, studying their flicker, straining to hear a single whisper.
