The look in her parents' eyes broke Ixis’ heart.
She could feel her face burn hot with shame, lowering her eyes to focus on a speck on the ground. Which was exactly how she had felt the moment she stepped foot in the Undercity. Her hands trembled, forcing herself not to cry and willed for her Oathed to find her and whisk her away from here. But Hydra wasn’t here.
“I wanted to tell you…but after the speech…and the protests…I heard you were away in Pelt and…you both sent me to Opalis to learn I just…I got promoted and everything and I just…”
Everything she had wanted to say collided together in a mess of words. Her hands clung to her hair and face, trying to wipe away her tears and Garrus’ horrid spit. Ixis brought her other hand up to help, stifling a yell once she had realised her injury.
“You what? You couldn’t bear to tell me you were second in command to the woman who drove us out of our home? Who caused all the riots that killed Gracie?”
The sheer leap her mother had made between one scenario and another baffled Ixis into silence. This was why she didn’t want to tell her. Ixis had known her mother’s bias stemmed from their Throneholder but the wild link to an innocent girl's death was the last straw.
“I was injured I wasn’t there-“
“Maybe you got injured because you were the one who pushed her-“
“Kalaris!”
Coltin didn’t need to raise his voice. He rarely did. But Ixis had never heard him so angry before. Her Fire Trait had a bad habit of bursting forth when she least expected it but her father’s heat was a calm, blistering aura. It was like the Caldorian desert. Ixis was barely a few metres from him but the heat was making her dizzy. The Shadecaller’s that had gathered for the sheer spectacle of an argument had quickly scarpered, clutching at their collars to rid themselves of the stifling heat. Kalaris was sweating but did not budge.
“I knew Ixis was the Regent of Opalis and I am nothing but proud of her.”
Ixis clapped her hands over her mouth, stifling a sob and the urge to hug her father despite his anger. Colton’s simple statement matched the look of pride in his eyes. There was no betrayal, no malice in his eyes. Just a look of sincere love for her and how far she’d come. Jerimiah, still held in his mother’s arms, began to giggle, reaching for his father and fussing when he didn’t get his way.
“Yet despite your and my brother’s insistence about what is owed I have never, not once regretted giving our daughter the chance to do what we couldn’t. Learn to control our Trait.”
Kalaris tucked a stray hair behind her ear, turning her head away to hide her shame. Her mouth twisted into a grimace, Coltin’s calm demeanour aggravating her but she still tried to soothe her son and stand her ground all. Jerimiah’s prized hawk plushie was slowly beginning to twist in the air, Ixis gaping at the sight of her little brother’s latent Air Trait. Until Kalaris turned its wings to ash.
“Well, I won’t have it. Regent or not, Jerimiah deserves better than a sister he won't even remember. No matter what gifts you give him.”
Ixis' hopes of reconciling with her mother crashed like the keepsake she had given her new brother. Hawkins shrill wails were silenced by the slam of a door and the last thing Ixis saw was the sight of a toddler scrambling against his mother’s back. That was it. That was all she had to say. Ixis shaky legs were no longer able to support her with the weight of all that she’d done collapsing beneath her. She never even got to say goodbye.
“Ixy…”
Garrus leaned sullenly against the same broken section of wall he started at, a dirty rag next to a swollen eye and split lip. He looked queasy, like the sight of her physically sickened him and the murderous glare from his one working eye didn’t help.
The wingless toy was now abandoned and ruined by muck and dirt. Coltin was left speechless at the foot of his house, his daughter cast out and his son locked in. He gently picked up the little hawk and pocketed it, smiling sadly at the memory and went to comfort her.
“No! Just…don’t. Don’t. I didn’t want to come home, y’know? I wanted to stay as Regent and try to help with the mess I caused but it seems it follows me wherever I go. Mother's right…I-"
Coltin held her tight but her throbbing wrist made Ixis pull away, the barbs of her family's words still hurting no matter how much she had missed him. Kalaris' cutting reminder her youngest sibling wouldn’t remember him hurt the most.
“Please, Ix. It wasn’t your fault. If it wasn’t Gracie it would’ve been someone else, heck it could’ve been you. Stay. Just until the end of the ceremony. Please.”
Ixis shook her head, her fierce stubbornness reminding her of her mother’s look of disbelief. She buried her face in his chest, taking a shaky breath despite the doubts rushing through her mind. Gracie could’ve been spared if she had been there. She was the Regent of Opalis. She should’ve done something. Instead, here she was. The traitor of the Undercity.
“I can’t. They're right. I should go back to Opalis. Back where I belong. But I have some business to take care of first.”
Forcing herself to break from his grasp, she gave her father one last hug. Peering at the dusty streets of her home, Ixis realised how little she recognised. Once she had found this place full of potential and had longed to improve what she could. But now all Ixis saw was heartbreak.
The people sallow and unchanging, unused to outsiders and quick to anger the moment anyone dared to step within their boundaries. The rustic, narrow houses were now dangerous and abandoned with no attempt made to restore it or keep it intact. No one wanted to change from their situation. They were broken and Ixis couldn’t fix it on her own.
"I'm sorry, uncle Garrus. I hope the Bluestone is as beautiful as it sounds. I was never allowed to stay up for it as a kid. Just know that I tried.”
Ixis counted the steps away from her family and tried not to cry.
Daring to discard her sling to provide the full use of her Trait, she made the decision to use a move only privileged to the few who had mastered the contract between Traited and dragon. Ixis called to her Oathed, the tether between her and Hydra still burning bright despite all the doubt and anguish her family had caused her. Except for one.
Her Trait mimicked her father’s for the last time.
The harsh red glow around her turned amber and then a seething blue that called to a single, sleeping dragon nestled within the darkness. Kalaris hated how she had developed her Trait. It was a shame she’d never get to see it.
The familiar scent of her mother’s cooking still clung to her mind, her father’s coal and brandy smell from working outside the mines and the distilleries that had collapsed under the weight of her flames. Scholar’s Keep was no more. She couldn’t let that happen to the Undercity too.
Ixis stared back at the perfect row of lanterns in the crooked streets of her home. Her head lifted towards the sky, the Shadecaller’s still on edge with the confirmation of her status and her display of Trait they could never match. Gracie’s name popped into her head and she smiled, looking forward to how furious her family would be if she messed with tradition. The only thing she knew about her was her favourite colour.
The Bluestone lanterns all burned with purple flame.
Ixis was already gone.
YOU ARE READING
Who The Fire Favours (ONC2023) gxg
Romance#SHORTLISTED 2023 When Ixis became the second in command to the Throneholder of Opalis she expected rules, patrols and structure for her Fire Trait to shine. Not being caught in the middle of a looming war and a botched assassination she should've s...
