Chapter 16 - Selera

~ Eleven cycles of the seasons - 12 Years earlier ~

Midnight black hair tumbled as she stirred; her blanket half-covering her and pillow on the floor as she had slept on the settee. She winced slightly before opening her eyes in shock. Quickly sitting she glanced about, getting her bearings. The sun shone in through the window near the entry, granting natural light and the lanterns that lit the room with magical flame came to life, sensing that its occupant had awakened.

Selera stood, wrapping her blanket around her and stepping over to Lia’s bedroom. The door was open and on quick inspection she found that it was empty. Outside was a faint ring of steel on steel, intermittent clashes and drawn out silences. A man’s voice would occasionally call out as if giving instruction before more clashes and the ringing of steel. Her bright blue eyes took in the room then the lounge in a surprised silence, the furnishings and appointments catching her off-guard. Stopping in front of a mirror, she corrected her dishevelled appearance, folded her blanket and stacked it tidily atop the pillow on the settee before taking one last wide-eyed look and making her way to the entrance.

She squinted slightly as the rays of sharp sunlight cut through the canopy of the forest and onto the path that ringed the sanctuary. She frowned, looking at the trees suspiciously as they seemed to beckon to her, wanting her to be lost within their domain. She moved silently, her bare feet on the stone path. The sounds of steel striking steel grew louder and she could now recognise the sounds of a pair sparring with blades. Passing another door on her left, the forest opened up and she could see the entrance to the guest quarters and her room in the short distance.

Each and every strike of steel rang loudly now and it was with shock when she realised that is was Lia and a seasoned fighter sparring on the grass.

“Papa, she is awake!” said Lia as she span, her sword keeping Erann at bay for the moment.

“I did not want to,” she ducked and rolled out of Erann’s feint, “wake you.”

“Focus Lia! We are using steel now, remember!” Erann said, his eyes on her as she paced to the side, searching for a weakness, “A small slip-up and you could be injured.”

Selera looked alarmed as Lia laughed, “Erann, don’t worry, I’ll fix you if I break you!”

“By the old gods!” he barked before laughing and rushing her, his blade chopping and slicing at the air as Lia danced and deflected blow after blow.

Selera stared in awe as Lia seemed to be everywhere at once, her blade flashing in the air as she traded blows with Erann. She made her way over to Harks, keeping her eyes on the display as Lia launched herself backward, ducking and moving acrobatically.

“Moves like those won’t help you in a fight, stop showing off.” Harks said with a serious tone.

“Yes, Papa.” she called back.

Selera stopped at Harks’s side, “Good morning, Master.”

“Harks will do, Selera.” he said, glancing at her briefly, “You slept in Lia’s rooms?”

Selera nodded.

“She told me about last night.” he winced involuntarily as Lia stumbled, catching herself and keeping her defence in place, “Depending on how you both feel about each other within the next week, we might shift you in with Lia if she agrees.”

He glanced at Selera again, “The next few days will be spent acquainting you with the Academy and getting you settled in before we start testing how capable you are.”

Selera nodded, an earnest expression in her eyes.

“Tomorrow we will head down into the city and purchase any necessities that Jaina and the Chancellor can think of. I am sure Lia would like to accompany us.”

Selera met Harks’s eyes, “Does Lia not need to devote more time to her studies?”

Harks smiled slightly, “Lia has been using her thread since she was five, she is already quite accomplished, despite her age. A few days to help show you around won’t be an issue.”

“Since she was five?”

Harks nodded, “She has been focusing on building her stamina with the individual strands, pushing their limits and her own. She has made remarkable progress.”

“Individual…But what of the other arts? Surely she has started specialising in other disciplines of the Arcana?”

Harks smiled, nodding, “What of yourself Selera?”

“I am not sure. That is why I am here, to be shown the path.”

A troubled frown grew on Harks’s brow as he considered her words, “Shown the path? That thread inside of you, are you at peace with it?”

Selera looked away, gnawing at her lower lip.

“You fear it?” he said.

“It is the thread of the demon, the demon’s thread. Any that do not do good are of the demon.”

Harks looked at her in surprise, “You have not learned to control it yet?”

“I am not allowed to use it; father says that it is too much for a child to control. That after I have learned of the Arcana I will have the discipline to command...” she stopped, noticing the sharp glare in his eyes.

“What does your mother say?”

“When she heard that the Harks of the Vale had returned to the Academy, she immediately contacted the Chancellor. Father was not happy, he said I was not ready.”

Harks nodded slowly, “Your mother…I now understand.” he said, watching her as she followed Lia’s fluid movements, slipping out of the path of Erann’s blunted steel sword, batting it away before reversing her momentum and re-engaging.

“She sent you to me to undo what has been neglected.” he slowly rested a hand on his hip, thinking, “Here, there is no such thing as the ‘Demon’s Thread’, only power and how to control and apply it.”

Selera stared at him, “But Father said that…”

“I do not care what your Father said, Selera. You are here now, in my and the Academy’s care. The moment your Mother surrendered you to the Chancellor was the moment your journey started. Neither she or your Father have a say over what happens here. You either succeed and graduate, fail and leave with your pride in tatters, or die pursuing your craft.”

Selera looked at him in shocked silence, the sharp ringing of blades clashing in the morning air.

“How old are you, Selera?”

“I am nearly fifteen cycles of the seasons.” she said proudly.

Harks nodded, looking at her, “Then you have half the time to do double the work.”

She stared at him in confusion, “What do you…”

He pointed at Lia as she threw herself in savagely, blocking Erann’s strike with her bare trailing arm and simultaneously advancing within his reach. She dropped her sword as she closed the distance, suddenly holding a wooden dagger to his throat.

“Lia is only eleven. Tomorrow we start testing your limits with your thread and with the blade. My daughter will be your partner in both.” he said tightly, “You will have to excuse me; I need to discuss this development with the Chancellor.”

Selera stared at him, “She is eleven?! But I don’t know how to fight!” she called out as he walked away along the path, heading for Eira’s chambers.

He stopped, “Dearest Daughter?”

Lia turned, having picked up her sword and saluting Erann quickly, “Papa?”

“Morning before breakfast and afternoon before dinner, sparring with Selera. The basics, batons and handling, go soft on her.”

“How long?” she said, adjusting her gloves and glancing at Selera.

“Until she can’t feel her arms.”

“Aye Papa!” Lia said, walking over to Selera with a grin on her lips.

“You are eleven?” asked Selera, her blue eyes wide.

Lia nodded, her eyes sparkling and pony tail of rich copper bouncing with the movement.

Doubt looked up at Lia as she lay stretched out, “What happened?”

“What happened?” Lia asked in mild surprise, sitting cross-legged.

“Hmmm. Don’t you think it is strange that she was being controlled in this way, to be so afraid?”

Lia nodded slowly, “I thought it was strange at the time, but every family is different Doubt. What may seem normal to us, is not normal to others.”

She slowly rose, stretching out and sighing, “Some take issue with how I am more physical with those I keep close. My whole life, I have struggled to keep those I love close. I could have built a wall between myself and others…”

Lia smirked, “But that is not who I am. Instead I build a wall around myself and those who I allow in, holding them close and protecting them.”

“Why the boy?” Doubt said, closing her eyes.

Lia grimaced, “Little Prince? He does not deserve his sister’s anguish. I nursed him back to health; you do not know what I did to bring him back from that edge. He was burnt out beyond any limit, our flame alone was not enough.”

Doubt’s eyes snapped open, “You gave a part of yourself?”

She turned away, her amber eyes smouldering in frustration, “Yes, I did. And yet the firebrand kept on the attack this past ten months, it’s in his nature to protect her, to just keep giving no matter how much she takes. All I can hope is that they are still alive and she has continued on her path to finding peace in herself.”

She breathed deeply, “And now, he is gone. Somewhere beyond my reach.”

“Is that why?”

“Yes, Doubt. That is why I am stuck here now, waiting. It is not just our bond as Mistress and Apprentice that connects us.”

Doubt stared at her, “What did you give him?”

Lia glanced back at Doubt, the girl now standing.

She smiled, “Selera feared her potential, she was made to be wary of it.” she said, changing the topic, “The first time I used my thread in front of her I had to chase her down. The flaming eyes were too much.”

Doubt looked at her shrewdly, but not pursuing, “Did she overcome her fear?”

Lia nodded thoughtfully, “When she became the elder sister to Groyven and Tiffaniel she was no longer the dangerous thorn in her father’s sight. He agreed that her time at the Academy was well spent.”

She frowned, “…No longer a thorn?”

“Was he distracted by the twins? Or did her father no longer see her as a threat?”

Lia stared at Doubt as a twisted smile came to the girl’s lips, “Why is Groyven the head of the family and not Selera?”

“Because it is a part of the bloodline. The head is the most powerful.”

Doubt smiled again, her lips twisting further, “Is that your excuse or her parents’ explanation?”

“It is her mother’s.”

“Lia?!”

“I am in here.” Lia called back, looking at the shelves and pulling a book out before shaking her head and replacing it.

“Lia, I am a big sister!” announced Selera from the lounge.

“I know Lera! And I am your little sister!” Lia called back, shaking her head in exasperation while pulling another book off the shelf.

Selera burst into the room, her midnight hair dishevelled and excitement in her eyes, “No Lia, I have a little brother and sister, twins. Mother gave birth a week ago.”

Lia stared at her in surprise, “Twins? Your mother was pregnant?”

Selera nodded quickly, pulling at the lacing of her blouse and slipping it out of her loose pants.

“I don’t know what to say! Congratulations!” she said, quickly hugging Selera and dragging the now taller girl down to kiss her on the cheek.

“But, why are you undressing in the library?” Lia asked with a raised eyebrow, catching Selera’s pants as she threw them at her.

“I am returning home tonight, for a week, maybe two!” Selera said as she ran from the room, “Eira just came to my class and told me on the way back here.” She called back over her shoulder as she disappeared into her room, which was Lia’s private study before Selera arrived.

“But you haven’t been back since you arrived here.”

“I know! I am not a little girl anymore, Mother needs me, even if it is for only a little time.”

“What about your Father?”

“I will show him that I am not some delicate flower that might raze the village to the ground at a moment’s notice!”

Lia sat on Selera’s bed, watching her hurriedly undress. Over the last year, Selera had overtaken her, growing taller and maturing into a young woman of seventeen with charms that had many of the boys in her class whispering behind their hands and the similar aged girls glaring in envy. To transform into such a beauty, favoured by the Chancellor and her inner circle and also close friends with her thirteen year old daughter, placed Selera in another sphere of influence that others could not hope to attain.

Selera suddenly stopped, seeing herself in the mirror, “I almost look like mother.” she turned slightly, seeing her naked profile and frowned, “Lia?”

“Hmmm?”

Selera turned to Lia, a worried expression in her eyes, “Lia, I have changed so much.”

Lia looked at her and struggled to stop herself from laughing at Selera’s expression, “Did you only work that out now? Lera, you have been taller than me for this whole year! You are a woman now, I am still a child.”

Selera stared at her while slipping a fresh blouse on, “Lia, I might be older, but you are more worldly and mature. If it wasn’t for you here with me… I don’t think I could have got this far. I would still be that frightened girl hiding behind her books, terrified of the power inside of me.”

She turned and looked at herself in the mirror, “I never would have met Harks or Jaina. In fact, I don’t think my father will recognise me when I return. I was so scared all the time, afraid to be me.”

“Lia, I know this might sound strange, but Harks is like the father I wish I had. You are so lucky.” she said, her bright blue eyes finding Lia’s amber in the mirror, “It is like I have two families.”

Lia laughed, “You do!” she watched Selera admiringly as slipped into her clothes, “Now you have a little brother and sister, they will look up to you. In three years you will be graduating, and you can…”

“I can what, Lia? I need you to be out there with me.” Selera looked at Lia, her eyes showing a hint of anxiety, “You are always so grounded, you are like my anchor!”

“Well, your anchor is telling you to get your clothes on and stop flaunting your curves before she gets jealous.” Lia said, pulling a bag out from under the bed, going to the drawer and picking out warmer clothes for Selera.

Lia walked back from the entrance hall, Eira at her side. The few academics and students that they crossed paths with bowed or gave short greetings. Only a handful of moments earlier they had seen Selera off, watching as she crossed over the threshold of the portal, a woman and no longer the child that arrived three years ago.

Eira glanced at Lia while they walked, her adopted daughter in a thoughtful silence.

“Lia, what is on your mind?”

Lia frowned deeply, her lips pursing, “Mama, did you have a good relationship with your father?”

Eira looked sidelong at her, an eyebrow rising, “You speak as if I didn’t.”

“No, what was it like when you were a child?”

Eira smiled, “Much the same it is now, just closer.”

She met Lia’s confused stare, “My father, he doted on me. Every single moment he could spare and many he couldn’t, I was at his side. Much like you and I, though closer still.”

“What of your mother?” said Lia, a look of relief on her face.

“My mother? She died within hours of giving birth to me. But, she is with me in every important moment.” Eira said, her ice-blue eyes considering Lia’s expressions.

“I actually have a young brother and sister, a year or two older than Selera. Maybe next year I can take you with me when I visit them, it really depends on timing.”

“But I can’t speak common from there.”

Eira laughed, “Then you know what you need to do, ask Selera and Harks to start teaching you and once you can speak a little I will talk it too. Selera learned this continent’s common tongue I am sure you can learn without much effort.”

Lia nodded slowly, walking beside Eira in a contemplative silence. Eira frowned slightly, “Lia, what is bothering you?”

“I worry about Selera.” Lia glanced back over her shoulder, “He doesn’t want her to be here, and what if he stops her from returning?”

“Selera’s father does not have a say in the matter, he is not the head of their family. The decision is not his to make.”

Lia’s eyes widened, “Her mother is?!”

Eira nodded with a smile, putting an arm around her, “Don’t worry Lia. Selera will be back within a fortnight.”