Scars and Burns (No Light Without the Dark #1)

11. Dinalia

11

Dinalia

O nce I finally get back to the castle I bathe and change before supper. Saphrina is already in bed. I try to be a big sister to her as much as I can. But King Elio is very protective of her and watches her with a close eye. He manages all of her lessons and insists on sitting in on her magic wielding course.

On my walk to supper I overhear shouting. I recognize the voices belonging to my Mother and King Elio. As I get closer a knot begins to form in my stomach. Trying to be quiet as a mouse. I sneak over to the room. You can feel his rage seeping through the door. I shouldn’t be listening but the words ‘goddess’ and ‘prophecy’ already caught my attention.

“She’s only six!” I’ve never heard my Mother so angry. She’s never once raised her voice. She’s always been calm and patient. Ever composed.

“She is meant to be blessed by the goddess!” King Elio’s voice booming and I swear the walls shook. “She has bore a full mark of the goddess since the day of her birth. She should be mastering skills well beyond her years. And yet… she has not been able to produce even a resemblance of magic. You bear the light mark and I the dark. ”

Light mark?

Dark mark?

What are those? The only marks I’ve ever heard associated with magic are variations of the goddess’s three moons.

“Logic implies our child would have it all!” Slamming his fists down on his desks. Knocking his glass of wine off and almost everything else with it. “That is why I married you! To have a pure child! To bring peace to the realms!”

“You married me for power! Nothing more. You think you will soon have the power to overthrow the Shadowlands simply because you have an heir. You think with your books and logic and the sense of producing will give you the heir you want. The heir you think you deserve. That is not how magic works. That is not how our Goddess works. You cannot force your will over the Goddess’s!”

King Elio is seething at this point. Clearly not liking the tone my Mother just took with him. But then he does something I wasn’t expecting. He relaxes.

Sighing, he says, “Let’s make one thing clear. I married you because you were always promised to me, Freya. I recognized you the moment you walked into King Charon’s throne room. You may have been able to use your magic to mask your appearance to them. Making yourself appear from the Celestial Realm. But we both know where you are really from. You grew up right here in the castle. And we were meant to be wed until you fled to the Celestial Realm and birthed a mixed blooded bastard!”

What?!?

My Mother grew up here? Meant to be wed to the King all along. Why would she lie? Why did she flee? Why didn’t she tell me?

That explains so much. Explains why Saphrina is praised, not just for her goddess mark, but because she isn’t mixed blooded at all!

A servant is about to turn the corner. I see their shadow growing closer from the light of the torches that line the halls prior. Giving me a chance to leave before I am caught. But before I fully take my leave I hear my Mother say, “Blood for blood. That is the only way Saphrina’s magic will rise.”

Blood for blood.

That’s exactly what she told me earlier today. My magic was released because I brought someone to their death. Is that what Saphrina is going to have to do? Is she going to have to kill someone?

I’m already waiting in the dining hall when my Mother and King Elio arrive. King Elio gives me a look. The hall is dead silent. Aside from the crackling fire that burns in the hearth behind me. I always try to sit closest to the fire for obvious reasons.

I avert my eyes. Looking down at my dinner plate. I see my Mother sit across from me and King Elio at the head of the table to my right through my peripheral vision. I dare not look in his direction or say a word. He’s glaring at me with suspicion. Fear sparks in my mind.

Does he know I was just listening in on his private conversation about his precious heir?

“How is your magic coming, Dinalia?”

I whip my head up. Eyes wide. Unsure of what to say. He has never once asked me a question. He barely even talks to me. I always feel his eyes on me whenever we are in a room together but it’s always with disdain.

But this look. The look he is giving me now is something else. It’s the look he was giving my Mother that night in the Celestial Realm. A look filled with curiosity and intrigue.

Stuttering, I start, “I… my magic… is um…”

“Her magic is developing nicely. Her beautiful starlight magic is warm and fits perfectly with the light of our goddess’s moon. She has a long way to go but I have high hopes for her.” My Mother cuts in. Saving me from answering the King .

The King hums and rubs his chin. The servants enter then with our dinner. It’s a roast duck with sauteed vegetables in a marmalade sauce.

Stunned, I eat my food in silence.

I’m thankful my Mother saved me from having to answer the King’s question but she lied. Developing nicely? That’s a kind way of putting it. I still struggle to even create a flair and sustain it. But starlight magic that’s warm? My magic has sparks of starlight coming out of it but hardly that itself. And as for warmth goes. Let’s just say it’s as cold as the glaciers themselves.

No one else dares say a word. The sound of silverware clanking against our plates. The air grows stale as the night goes on.

Later that night, I lay awake in bed staring up at my ceiling. The light from a fire casting a shadow over my face. My mind is still swirling from dinner and the conversation I overheard. As thankful as I am that my magic surfaced. I still had to kill a man to do it.

My life prior to this was not easy. My Mother and I lived in poverty. I’ve watched people die all my life from illnesses or animal wounds or simply the natural order of things, but Saphrina. Saphrina has lived her entire life in this marvelous castle. Waited on hand and foot by servants. Put on a pedestal since the day she was born for having a complete goddess mark. When would she have the opportunity to kill someone? And could she even do it?

Maybe blood for blood doesn’t mean the same for everyone. Our Goddess works in mysterious ways. My magic was released through bringing another person to their death. Since everyone’s goddess mark is different, maybe awakening one’s magic is different for everyone as well. I hope so… for Saphrina’s sake.

My thoughts drift to the boy who ruined my fun and scared my friend away. Recalling his answer to my question about me not knowing if he is a monster, you don’t .

What kind of an answer was that?

And then it hit me. He was from the Shadowlands.