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A headache bloomed with knowledge that Niya spoke of so flippantly. It seemed I knew nothing of this world. It was so much bigger than I ever could have imagined. “And each of these places...they all control a different element?”
She shot me another look as if my lack of memories truly were frustrating at times. “Of course, they do. That’s what makes them belong to their clan. It’s not their skin colour or race that depicts where they belong but what element has touched them.” Glancing at my balled hands, she added kindly, “You speak Firenese. Therefore, you must come from Quelis and carry the same spark within you. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to understand us and wouldn’t be permitted to become Nhil because one element cannot mate with another.”
My headache grew stronger; my heart fluttered faster. “You’re forbidden to be with someone just because they come from somewhere else?”
I couldn’t believe that. The Nhil had been so welcoming, so open. I could never imagine them turning someone away just because they ventured from a different kingdom.
She sighed, her nervousness at Solin’s brooding silence making her irritable. “Not forbidden, Girl. Just not done. Someone from Quelis cannot bed someone from Vetak because their water element would extinguish our fire element. Just like someone from Rivoza cannot mate someone from Lokath because air and earth are opposites. The borders are there for our protection.”
I couldn’t understand.
I’d walked this world.
I’d walked for an eternity, and I hadn’t stumbled over borders or forbidden places. Up until the day the Nhil found me, I’d believed no one else existed.
To be told that there were other villages, other clans, other kingdoms...it made my temples throb and a sickening thought spill through my mind.
I...I spoke another language.
His language.
What was it? Where was it from? Earth, air, or water?
Where was he from?
And how did I understand him if we were from different kingdoms?
I shook my head, trying to form more questions, but Niya glanced around, jumping in surprise as Hyath appeared, her pale skin looking as white as the full moon when she dropped to her haunches beside us. “What’s Solin doing?” Hyath whispered. “He’s just standing there, watching. The feast is over—”
“Tonight’s feast has a second purpose,” Solin suddenly announced, slipping from silent to commanding. His voice was as cutting as the fire. “I wish we could’ve had two naming ceremonies for the two newcomers to our family, yet a name cannot be given to someone who already has one. Someone who has forgotten it as surely as she has forgotten her past. Someone who has proven herself worthy of becoming Nhil.” His dark eyes locked on mine, glaring at me through the flames.
The entire clan shifted; my skin seared as each one studied me.
I shrank beside Niya, hugging my knees and fighting the urge to bolt into the tall grass.
“Tonight, I have been given permission by our chief and chiefess to perform something dangerous. I have been your Fire Reader and Spirit Master for many years. Serving you has been my greatest honour. As you know, my heart belongs to the flames. I have been steadfast in that calling, yet I cannot ignore the calling I now have toward the girl Niya found a moon ago.” Pointing at me, he commanded, “Stand, Girl.”
I trembled and didn’t move.
Aktor crossed his arms, his shoulders bunched with unconcealed disapproval. Kivva slipped closer to the Nhil heir, his lips twisted with falsehoods and slander. They whispered together at the top of the fire, throwing me angry glances.
What were they saying?
Why did they—
“Stand, Girl,” Solin snapped. “Now.”
“Get up,” Hyath whispered fiercely, cupping my elbow and hoisting me upright. Niya slapped a hand on my hip, steadying me as I swayed. I blinked as the fire surged, blinding me with orange and yellow heat.
I froze as a hiss slithered through the crackles, coiling around my neck, fingering my hair.
I shuddered.
I’d felt that.
Felt the hiss.
Felt the burn of the fire as it grew in size the moment I stood before it.
It danced and glowed, as if proving to me that I was descended from its flames and it would have no more of my doubting.
I swallowed hard as Solin narrowed his gaze at the flickering flames before lowering his hands and fisting them by his sides. Smoke poured from his clenched knuckles, feathering down his bare legs and soaking into the ground.
I couldn’t look away.
“This girl has no memory, but she is one of us,” Solin said. “She carries fire in her blood, I am sure of it, and it’s time for her to remember so she can face her fate.”
My fate?
I balled my hands. My smokeless, flameless hands.
I possessed no such gift. I didn’t carry flames in my blood. I was just....me.
But you don’t know who that is.
My trembles increased as Solin opened his fingers, the smoke that’d poured from his palms igniting into a snarling blaze. The flames danced up his arms, but his skin didn’t catch fire. He didn’t burn. Didn’t scream.
