Over the Sea [Dual Trilogy Book 1]

Kano

"Kano! Lily!"

Lily and I turned to see Sairos running towards us with Princess Rhosyn trailing right behind him.

"Did you two have a nice lunch date?" I asked when they met us in the hall. I saw Sairos blush, and smirked, which earned me a smack from Lily.

"Yes we did," Rhosyn said. "Maggie cooked only the best food."

"Maggie doesn't know how to cook food that isn't 'best'," I told her.

"Why don't you just marry her?" Lily asked.

"I'm sure at one point in his life, he's considered it," Sairos said. "Food is not why I called you, though." He nodded his head toward the stairs that led to the dungeons, and we followed him down the spiraling staircase as he filled us in. "Remember a month ago when the southern villages reported people murdered and hung upside down in the jungle?"

"Yes," Lily answered. "The pictures of the bodies were so terrifying."

"A week ago, I confirmed his location and made a sudden trip to the village to capture him myself. And I brought him back, but with Arlo's death... I wasn't able to interrogate him right away."

We reached his cell and stared at the man. He sat in the corner with his back to us, shaking and mumbling.

"He looks so pathetic," Rhosyn commented. "You can't help but have a little pity for him."

"Trust me, once you've seen the pictures of those bodies torn and hung with birds picking at their organs..." Lily shuddered. "You won't have an ounce of pity for a man capable of that."

"That's Zuxrai," I said. When I mentioned the drug, the man stopped shaking and snapped his head in our direction.

"Four moonlights mention the deliciousness," he mumbled, crawling closer to the bars. He wrapped a thin hand around the bars. I could see each muscle under his papery cheeks. His yellow teeth stayed in a wide smile. "Ask anyone, they know where it is."

I felt Lily jump when he screamed with such volume and agony. He clenched his stomach and, very slowly, crawled back to the corner, remaining on the ground.

Rhosyn tugged on Sairos's arm out of the dungeon. Lily closely followed them, but I watched him shake. Everyone knew the dangers, and knew it was a terribly addicting drug. Most people knew to never tempt themselves, but a little less than half of Broasau took the drug. I watched him tremble and cry, wondering what kind of levels of emotional despair one must feel to succumb to such a low and desperate state.

***

I spent the rest of the day in my room. Lily went to the computer room, and Sairos took Rhosyn on a tour around the kingdom. I sat on my window seat holding a picture of me with my brothers. Arlo's brown eyes beamed up from the middle of the picture underneath his wild curls, with a smile just as bright as his eyes, in the embrace of both me and Sairos. At the time of the picture, Arlo had been ten, I had been fifteen, and Sairos seventeen. It was seven years ago, but I still remembered that day like it was yesterday.

Sairos and I had woken Arlo up early that morning to dash outside into the garden where his powers would be witnessed best. Magicians don't get their power until their tenth birthday, and while everyone had been looking forward to Arlo's birthday, I especially had been eager to no longer be the only magician in the castle.

We had knelt next to the bushes on the dirt path, Sairos and I eagerly encouraging Arlo to do something.

"Come on, Arlo," Sairos said excitedly. "Move this rock." Arlo smirked and picked it up, making me laugh and Sairos scowl. "Not with your hands!"

Still smirking, Arlo set the rock down and tensed his face. His eyes squeezed shut and his fists clenched, trying to make the rock move.

I chuckled again. "No, Arlo, you can't force it." I exhaled and brought over a long stream of water from the nearby fountain, manipulating it into shapes above our heads. "It's something you feel. Feel the presence of that rock from within your bones. Reach out to it like it's an extension of your limbs, and move it like it's your breath."

Arlo tried again. The rock trembled, but didn't budge. Seeing the discouragement on his face, I grabbed Arlo's head and stared intently into his eyes. "Feel the connection between you and this rock," I told him. "Magic doesn't pick the element for you at random, Arlo. Magic is the representation of your soul." A thought occurred to me. "Do you want to move this rock?"

"Yes."

"So move it." Arlo's eyes moved from my blue ones down to the rock that rested in the middle of our little circle. I saw the exhale before the rock undeniably moved about an inch from its original spot.

Sairos and I both cheered for him, squeezing him in celebratory hugs and effectively lifting his mood. When he tried again, the rock had raised into the air and remained there for a few seconds before dropping back down. We had cheered even louder and ushered him inside, where he proudly displayed his new skill to our parents. Father, looking down at our three smiling faces, called for a servant to capture this momentous occasion. Sairos and I lifted Arlo up for the picture.

A tear fell down my cheek, landing on Arlo's young face. I closed my eyes, picturing Arlo's earthly green mark swirling around his forearm, and the unruly brown curls that had once matched my own.