Starrlings 1: House of Fire

chapter 76

A R I

They practised for hours, through to the early hours of the morning, until it was clear that Lumi was exhausted. But before becoming tired, the fire princess had been able to block Tom, Katja and Sanna's magic. Ari had watched it all, a useless spectator, forgotten in the darkest corner of the underground room, while Hart had calmly instructed the others on the best way to help Lumi.

"You'll need to keep practising," Doctor Hart told them as she left, letting Mondli the lion lead her back through the tunnel. "And don't let the professors catch you out of bed," she warned, as she was already walking away.

Tom rolled his eyes at her retreating figure, but Ari found herself grinning. She liked Doctor Hart, despite everything. The chancellor had given Bell a chance when no one else had. She'd given Bell an opportunity. And as much as the chancellor had always seemed strange and aloof, she had always had wise words.

Tom was leaning against a dusty table. "How do you feel, Lumi?"

Lumi seemed somewhat bewildered to be referred to by her own name, but after a moment she said, "I feel... cold."

"We should probably go to bed," Katja said. "Doctor Hart's right. We can't be caught out this late. Not with that curfew."

"Not that you'd ever be in trouble," Sanna said dismissively.

"Right," Tom said, stepping in before Sanna and Katja argued. "So, should we plan to meet here again tomorrow night?"

"Don't you have training?" Katja asked. "We can't steal you away."

Tom shrugged. "I can do both."

"You'll wear yourself out, Tomas," Katja scolded. "I'm sure Lumi and I can work together. Can't we?"

Katja raised her eyebrows at the fire princess, and Lumi returned the ice princess's stare. Ari felt a sudden chill in the air. There was so much unspoken in the space between them.

Two princesses, fixed in a silent battle of wills, power, temperament. Maybe Katja was still thinking about Raphael. Or maybe they were sizing each other up, to see which one would come out as dominant - the leader of their little group. Or maybe they were deciding whether they could truly be allies.

Ari noticed that Sanna was rolling her eyes. Ari and Sanna's gaze met, and Sanna sent a conspicuous smile in Ari's direction. She found herself blushing at the older girl's smile. Sanna was the one to lead them out of the underground room.

The five of them followed the snaking tunnel, past the skulls staring down at them, and emerged into the kitchens. The wall shimmered and returned behind them, the illusion settling back into place, and Tom and Ari moved a few of the boxes to their original position.

The fire princess was yawning as the emerged into the frosty morning air. There was a blueish glow of light to the Lothern sky. Soon, the suns would rise from over the mountains and Ari would need to be awake, with Katja's coffee and a newspaper.

As they made their way down the cobblestone pathways that led to the houses, Katja murmured, "Sanna, stop doing that."

"I'm not doing it," Sanna replied.

Ari realised that the snow appearing in the air had not been made by either Katja or Sanna. She looked up to see tiny white snowflakes gently drifting down towards the ground, silent and beautiful.

"Snow," Lumi murmured.

She'd stopped in the middle of the street they were in - a cobblestone street that led away from the mathematics faculty, past the college's small theatre, and towards the canal. The cobblestones were now dusted with fine white powder, but it melted almost as soon as Ari looked at it.

The fire princess seemed entranced.

"Have you never seen snow before?" Tom asked her.

Their voices were hushed, matching the soft quiet of the falling snow.

"When I was a child I lived in the mountains," Lumi murmured. "It snowed almost all year around. We were hiding from the war."

She took off her glove and held her palm out, and watched the snowflakes land on her skin, only to melt away in an instant.

"I didn't realise how much I missed it," the fire princess murmured.

Tom was smiling as he watched her. The fire princess was oblivious, staring up at the dark sky, entranced by the snowflakes.

"We'd better move," Sanna whispered. "We can't be caught out."

The magic was broken, and Lumi lowered her gaze, and nodded.

Ari followed the others to where the street split into two. In one direction was the House of Winter, and in one direction was the House of Fire.

"I'll walk you to your door," Tom said to the fire princess.

"It's fine," Lumi said. "It's only just beyond the cemetery."

But Tom insisted.

"I'm freezing. Let's go in," Katja said.

The three girls said quiet goodbyes to Tom and Lumi, and then let themselves into the House of Winter. They walked silently up the stairs to the top floor, where they discarded boots, coats, scarves, hats and gloves in reckless abandon. Ari didn't even bother to pick them up after the winter princess.

"I'm going straight to sleep," Katja said with a yawn. "See you in the morning, Ari. But don't you dare worry about a newspaper, okay?"

"Goodnight," Ari said.

She found Sanna was standing in the hallway, looking out one of the windows at the lightening sky. From here, it was almost impossible to tell it was snowing. It was only when Ari focused on the beam of light from a solar lamp that she could see the tiny snowflakes lit up in its glow.

"Perhaps Katja can have her prince after all," Sanna mused.

Ari followed Sanna's gaze, to where she could now see Tom walking along the cobblestone street, alone, on his way back to the House of Winter. His hands were in his pockets and his head was down against the snow, but as they watched, Tom stopped and glanced back behind him, once, before carrying on.

"You don't think...?" Ari asked.

"I think a princess of the Fire Lands would never be allowed to marry a lowly commoner," Sanna said.

"Fire Lands?" Ari asked. "You mean Kakaio?"

Sanna blinked, and then turned to Ari. "Yes, Kakaio. The Kaio call their empire the Fire Lands. Goodnight, Ariane."

Ari watched Sanna's straight back as she returned to her room, closing the door behind her.

• Author's Note •

Hi everyone! Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter :)

elle xx