The Book of Arenden

❀ Twenty two ❀

❀ Twenty two ❀

"So, how did you do it?" asked Caith.

Nicholas responded with a confusing frown. "What do you mean?"

"You know," she said. "Feel those fires. I never feel anyones fire before."

"That's because you need practice," he said, turning his back away from her. "You're lacking them."

"Practice?" she repeated. "Hey! Where are you going?" she asked but followed him anyway.

He took a glance back towards Caith and raised his eyebrows. "Aren't training already ended? I was getting back to the palace of course."

"Oh" is the only thing that left out of her mouth.

"You don't have to follow me," he said. "You were after all wanted to train there on your own."

Caith thought of it for a second before she looked up to Nicholas. He was walking fast and he was creating a lot of distance between them.

Then, she took a glance behind her to the cave before catching up to Nicholas. He looked surprised to know her decision of following him but he shrugged it off.

"Naah," she said. "You haven't told me how you do it." He was just about to open his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "If you're asking me what 'do it' is. I will knock you off your feet."

He raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Do you even know how to do it?" he asked. "The knocking-me-off-my-feet-thing?"

She gave him a look that made him smirked playfully. "Whatever," he said. He sighed. "Fine. I tell you." Caith's eyes lit and she was waiting for him to say another word.

"But I'm too tired to open my mouth right now, so figure it out yourself," he said and Caith's smile fluttered. She pushed him.

He barely moved. "Don't push me," he said, casually, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

"Are you seriously not gonna tell me?" asked Caith. He sighed.

"You need to ignore your surrounding if you want to feel one's fire," he said and Caith shut her mouth. "Focus on their breathing. Focus on them. You can feel an attraction between you and their fire. Once you do, you can already feel it."

Silence. Trying to get the information inside her head. Before she spoke.

"How can you focus on their breathing?" asked Caith. Nicholas shrugged.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I have already mastered it and I don't need those techniques anymore when I actually already used to it.

"Try it. Maybe, you'll get use to it by your own techniques."

**

Silence. The whole apartment was silence. The Book of Arenden were placed on the table in the centre of the room as everyone stared at it.

The five of them were sitting on the couch, surrounding the table.

None of them spoke. It is not an awkward silence where all of them were begging for at least someone to break the silence. No. It was silent because everyone was thinking.

It was Nea who broke the silence. "The ball."

"The queen informed us that the ball is tomorrow, that's the same day as our awards show," said Raylene.

"And so, what are we going to do?" asked Frana.

"Of course, we need to attend both of them," said Ella. "We didn't want to disappoint the queen nor the fans or even... April."