Water {Elements of Power 2}

Chapter 29: Roxy

Even though Tristan claimed that we were taking more direct route than my disorientated flight, the walk back to the capital took the rest of the day and seemed twice as tiring as it had during my escape, despite our steady pace. Perhaps it was because I was no longer running on adrenaline, perhaps I was just demoralised. Either way, Tristan didn't make great company, whistling happily to himself as he went. While I had been staying with him, we never seemed to run out of things to talk about. But now, we walked in silence.

He kept the lykoi with him, circling us—or rather, me—but dismissed them when we were an hour from the capital.

"It's best that nobody sees them. It would only cause a stir."

Or show them what had really been the cause of my capture, diminishing his own glory and show of strength.

I didn't bother to mention this to him though. Winding Tristan up would only be counterproductive at the moment, I was going to have to learn to bite my tongue for the time being.

"There's something else, too," he continued, almost sheepishly.

"What, Tris?"

"Well, I need to put these on you..." He swung his bag off his shoulder and took out a pair of iron chains.

"No rope this time?"

"Not now that you can use your flames..."

"I was hoping you might overlook that small detail."

He smiled, still holding them out.

"Really?" I said, trying not to roll my eyes.

"You need to look more..."

"Subdued?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. Erica is blaming you, loudly, for the fire. We need to make it look as though I captured you rather than talked you into coming back."

"Careful, Sephan, you're sounding rather devious. Weren't politicians supposed to be all about the truth?"

He rolled his eyes. We both knew that, in his case, this definitely wasn't true. "I guess I've been spending too much time with you, Helian," he said, gently bringing my hands together and securing the iron manacles round them. He at least had the decency to look ashamed as he was doing it, which stopped me from fearing that I was being led into a trap.

I fought to repress a shudder as the cool iron hit my skin. It reminded me all too much of Cinaer's restraints. To reassure myself, I sparked a tiny flame in the fingertips of my right hand. When they flared up instantly I breathed a sigh of relief.

I still had my powers.

I was still me.

"Oh, and I suppose I ought to reclaim this too," he said, reaching into my belt and pulling out his dagger. "We wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea now, would we?" As he turned away from me, I was certain I saw him wink.

I smelt the capital long before we reached it; the scents of ash and smoke were thick in the air. As we grew closer, the trees became charred and black, the floor white with ash. Instead of houses, many of the trees now contained little more than smoking wood. But it was the clearing that was most changed. Gone was the space, the grass, the relaxing, happy, Sephans. In its place stood a city of tents; the makeshift homes of people forced down onto the earth they worshipped.

More positively, there was already signs of a rebuild effort. Ash and two other Protectors were stood with their hands pressed to tree trunks, which began, slowly, to heal beneath their touch. I saw Adam in the distance, carrying a long piece of timber over to a tree which had already been healed, and Taryn was sawing wood. Every Sephan I had seen during my time in the Realm seemed hard at work.

I heard Erica before I saw her. Her smug voice called out across the clearing, carrying over the noise of the work. "Tristan Terra let this monster loose on our capital, exposed our people to its danger." I frowned, affronted at being referred to as an 'it'. "I will be the one to recapture it." There she went again. Flames, she was infuriating! "I have stationed Sephan soldiers at every exit out of the Realm and I have sent teams to every major town, to protect our people. It will not escape. It will not hurt anyone."

Tristan smiled beside me. "No, she won't," he called out clearly and loudly towards the crowd that had gathered in front of Erica. "Because I already have her in custody!" He finished with a flourish, smiling broadly at Erica, who was turning an unflattering shade of red.

"Oh please! You are in league with her!" she cried out. "You probably brought her back here to attack us again."

"I have her suitably restrained—with chains this time, rather than the rope you had your men use. Really," he continued with a laugh that was low and practiced, a well polished political tool. "It seems like you wanted her to escape, Erica!"

A hushed silence fell over the crowd as they waited to see how Erica would respond to this allegation. She remained motionless, seething, while Tristan and I drew closer to the makeshift stage she was standing on. As Tristan jumped up to stand beside her, they exchanged a tense look and I wondered if I was about to see my first Sephan fight. But Erica rolled her eyes and jumped down from the stage. "All yours, Terra," she spat. "I can't wait to see how you explain this one."

"Of course," Tristan replied with a mock bow. "It will be my pleasure."

He turned to face the crowd, which had grown with my arrival and Tristan and Erica's exchange.

"Sephans, loyal citizens. While my opposition was standing here delivering promises, I was out in the forest, forgoing rest, to recapture the Helian fugitive and bring her back here to you. And that was after all of the work I put into coordinating the rebuild process as soon as we put out the fire. We Sephans rely too much on talk, on promises. If elected, I will be a leader of actions. She will be the first of many Helians we bring under our control, once we begin to assert our dominance." At this point all eyes turned to me and, as much as I wanted to roll my eyes at Tristan's naive confidence, I did my best to look suitably subdued.

Anything to get me off this flaming island...

"For too long, we have been a nation who lived in the shadows, looked down on by the other Realms and never taken seriously." He continued boldly, his voice ringing out across the clearing. "Even our electoral system is mocked, but in tomorrow's vote, you have the chance to show them that we have the superior system. You can choose leaders who will make a positive change; leaders who will put the Sephan Realm on the map.

"With me in power, I promise each and every one of you that we will no longer be looked on as weak, easy targets by the other Realms. We will prove our strength, our worth, our might. We will be proud to call ourselves Sephans."

His speech met with a tumult of applause. The Sephans were lapping it up and Tristan was basking in their support. Erica was standing at the front of the crowd with a thunderous expression. She didn't say anything else, though.

As I watched the support pouring in for Tristan, heard the shouts of dedicated voters and new converts alike, I remembered the wink Tristan had given me as he bound my wrists and couldn't help wondering if my escape had been entirely my own doing. Maybe the Sephan had dropped the dagger on purpose, so that he could capture me and regain favour in the capital.

Maybe we were all just puppets in Tristan's bid for world domination.

If this was the case, the other Realms had better watch out.

{Tristan: trustworthy or not? Do you think he's going to help Roxy get to the Arcan Realm anytime soon? Please vote and comment to let me know what you think!}