Mariana Nichols and the Cerelian Ring

Foster

Riley and I were leading the horses back into the barn when I saw it. Mr. Foster, the groundskeeper I noticed the other day, was refilling some of the animals' water bowls. But not how any normal person would do it. Foster held one hand out in front of him, as a stream of water floated through the air, from who knows where, into the bowl.

"Are you kidding?" I whispered to Riley. "Does everyone around here have powers?"

"Not that I know of....."

I waited there until he finished filling the bowls. "Hello, Mr. Foster." I greeted him, hoping he didn't suspect we saw what he was doing.

"Ah, hello, Miss...."

"Nichols." I finish for him. "Mariana Nichols."

"Well, hello, Miss. Nichols." Our entire three second conversation, Mr. Foster's eyes never left my hand, which was gripping Phoenix's reins. But this was also the hand my ring was on.

That had me worrying. Does someone else know already? I thought I was being careful, but obviously I wasn't.

"That's an interesting ring you're wearing." Foster commented. "It reminds me a bit of my necklace."He untucked the pendant necklace from his dirt covered shirt.

Foster was right. The black gem in his necklace does resemble the red stones of my ring, and the gold on Riley's brooch. Almost like they were a set of some sort.

"Have you ever heard of the Cerelian jewels?" Foster questioned after neither of us said anything.

Luckily, I didn't have to say anything, as Riley stepped in. "Excuse me, Mr. Foster, But Mari and I really have to get to practice." She ushered me away, and neither of us looked back.

"I've been getting a weird vibe from that guy ever since I got here." I decided to tell her.

"Me too, but I've been here a lot longer."

"What do you think it is?" I asked. She has been here a lot longer than I have. She's obviously had her brooch longer than I've had my ring. She knows more about this than I do.

"I don't know. But it can't be good."

"Alright, that's enough practice for today. Same time tomorrow, everybody!" Kieran, one of our team captains, called out.

I didn't bother climbing off of Phoenix as we all walked toward the barn. Riley and Fairie fell in place beside us. "What Mr. Foster said earlier has been bugging me all practice." I tell her.

"Do you know what the Cerelian jewels are?" Riley asked.

"I was hoping you knew." I waited until everyone else was inside the barn before asking, "What about you, Phoenix? Fairie?"

"I don't know if you realize this, kid," Phoenix started. "But before the two of you came along, we were just ordinary horses! I don't know nothing about no jewels."

"I do!" Fairie chimed.

"You do?" Phoenix and I answered in sync.

"She does?" Riley asked, clearly amazed.

"Yeah! They're shiny, and colorful, and-"

"No, Fairie." I cut her off. "Not just any jewels, the Cerelian jewels." I corrected. We followed the rest of the team into the barn, and led Fairie and Phoenix into their stalls. "You know, I think it's time I talk to Aunt Wendy."

"Are you sure, kid? What if she doesn't know anything?" Phoenix asked, but of course Riley didn't know that.

"You're aunt? What does she have to do with anything?"

"She gave me the ring. But it's not just that, she's not even really my aunt. She's my step-siblings' aunt. She said it's been passed down through the family for centuries. The ring was Wendy's, until she gave it to me a few days ago." I let all the words fall from my head and out my mouth without stopping them. "And when I told her she should keep it in the family, she insisted I have it! Wendy must know something. She must know I'll come to her eventually."