How Shadows Turn to Ash

Chapter 19: Antonia

After escaping, Nema and Antonia had traveled toward the sea, hoping to find a boat out of Romanov. Antonia had yet to decide where she wanted to be. If there was a chance her family was still alive... she needed to find them. Would her mother and Trajan have left the country?

Antonia stepped out of the hostel, keeping her head low as she ventured cautiously through what looked to be a market. It was nothing like the market outside the castle that sold everything from expensive cheeses and fish to fine dresses. The stalls were smaller, and people much less friendly as they bitterly held their hands out for payment whenever anyone drifted too close to their merchandise. Antonia felt her stomach churn, hunger settling in now that her mind had slowed down long enough to register it.

When was the last time she had eaten? Her legs felt numb at the memory of the cooks making plum pudding back in the palace. They had food at Lord Savoy's castle, of course, but it wasn't nearly as lavish.

Antonia looked down at her hands. Could she...?

Octavia would be horrified. Even if Antonia could make food from her magic, she would tell Antonia not to dare try such a thing where others could see. Antonia doubted she could create such a miracle anyway. Her magic felt like a moving thread she could never fully grasp. Something powerful could be at the end of it, but it always slipped through her fingers before she could reel it in.

"BREAD!" a woman called, holding up a steaming loaf. "FRESH FROM THE OVEN! THREE COINS!"
Antonia wanted to cry. Three? She licked her lips and inched closer. The smell of wheat rippled over to her. Her magic almost reacted instinctively, the black smoke twisting in her palm. 

Antonia clenched her fists, though not before noticing it slipped away from her, zipping into the merchant's eyes. Antonia blinked. The woman kept calling out, offering bread, but as Antonia drifted closer, she didn't seem to notice her.

"Hello?" Antonia tried. The woman kept shouting. When Antonia looked at her, black smoke filled her gaze, unaware of Antonia's presence. Interesting. She reached forward, plucking a piece of bread from the pile and backing away. The woman didn't notice. Tucking the bread in her skirts, she held out her hand. The smoke zipped out of the woman's eyes, moving back into Antonia's palms.

"BREAD!" the woman shouted again, and this time when Antonia walked forward, she waved at her. "Need any bread, darling?" she asked. Wordlessly, Antonia shook her head and the woman turned to someone else.

Antonia mulled over the interaction as she continued to weave through the market. How did it work? Did Antonia turn herself invisible? Had she blinded the woman? Did her magic merely react to her hunger? None of it made sense.

Chewing a piece of the bread, she let the warmth flood her mouth as she walked up to another stall. This one wasn't filled with food but with necklaces. They weren't as nice as the black pendant around Antonia's neck - the one thing she had refused to sell - but a golden pendant looked a little similar. It reminded her of Nema. Then again, almost everything pretty did. Absently, she picked it up, running her fingers over the gold.

"Ten coins," the merchant told her. Antonia nodded, opening her palms. Black smoke flew out, going directly into the man's eyes. Grinning, Antonia pocketed the necklace and stepped away. 

"Hey!" the man snapped when she turned away. "I said ten coins-"

A hand closed around her arm. Antonia jerked away, alarm settling in her stomach. He had seen her? But she had done the same thing with the bread-

It didn't matter. Her lack of magical knowledge failed her again. Not waiting for the man to drag her back, she jerked herself free and ran. Shouts followed her, and footsteps began to pound against the cobblestones behind her.