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  Quickly I found my favorite village, where Kegan resided, but I never stayed in the same place for too long. There was no need for firm attachments. That lesson was deeply ingrained in my mind and heart. The only exception I made was Kegan. She wasn’t the hugging type of person. Instead she respected my desire for distance, and my desire to continue to work in many different places. Aside from asking once as to why I was traveling, she didn’t pry me about my past and loved keeping things in the present. Part of me thought she knew something was up, but the rest of me was just glad she never seemed to care enough to ask.

  Chapter 8

  When I awoke it was already dark out. For a moment I felt uneasy and had to think hard to recall where I was. Smells of freshly cooked food reached my nose and I wondered how late it was and hoped I wasn’t leaving a bad impression with the VanEllens. Had it recently gotten dark, or did they just leave something over the coals for me? I glanced over at the water basin and saw it had fresh water. After quickly cleaning up I made my way downstairs where the soft sounds of chatter could be heard.

  Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, I could see Celia sitting on a chair crocheting in the living room. Alex, just out of sight, was saying something to her. Celia glanced up and smiled at me.

  “Well, well, welcome down, sleepy head.” She nodded towards the pot of soup over a slowly dying fire. “Help yourself and come join us. We were just discussing the short notice my sister gave for her visit.”

  I nodded in response, seeing a free bowl and spoon laid out on the table. “When is she due to arrive?” I asked as I filled the bowl and went to sit.

  “Two days. Plenty of time to air out the extra blankets. I may ask you to take the sofa or our spare cot while she’s here.” Celia continued her work on what looked like a small sweater.

  “More than fine by me. A sofa is always a comfort when the ground is cold,” I replied as I ate.

  “Where is it you’re from again?” Alex asked curiously.

  “Just outside of Petal Lake,” I supplied. It was a small town just past the proper castle villages. I visited there a couple of times as a child.

  “This is a pretty far journey from there.” He looked up from the book he was reading, a question in his eyes.

  I finished my spoonful of soup before answering, “Yes, it really is, but going back to tragedy isn’t worth the memories. The last couple of years I’ve mostly been in this area, which is how I know Kegan.”

  “Does that mean you’re likely to stay around if you keep coming back this way?” Celia asked with unhidden interest.

  I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, “Maybe. I do like this area more than others I’ve visited, but there is still a lot to see.”

  Celia nodded, concentrating for a moment on her work. “Traveling is probably best when you’re young. Just don't be afraid to settle down. Traveling yourself to death isn’t worth it.”

  “And your sister will say the opposite,” Alex mused, going back to his reading.

  “How she does it, I’ll never know,” Celia scoffed, crocheting faster.

  It was quiet for a few moments and I managed to finish my meal in peace.

  “Why does your sister travel?” I asked. The thought of a traveling family member made it understandable as to why they’d be so willing to have a traveler living with them. Celia’s sister probably often depended on the kindness of strangers.

  Celia didn’t look up from her work as she replied, “The short of it is that she’s a traveling physician of sorts. A few times a year she may send word and stop in if her destination is on the way. Sometimes she stays just a night or two, sometimes longer. Once she stayed an entire month.” She paused. “Of course I love my sister, I just want a little more notice and to know where she’s coming from.”

  “That sounds reasonable,” I agreed.

  Celia mumbled a sound of acknowledgement at my comment but didn’t continue.

  “Aren’t you leaving out some of the important specifics?” Alex asked carefully.

  “Only the ones that aren’t important,” Celia said, eyeing him carefully. “She can speak for herself when she gets here.”

  Alex nodded. “Fair enough.” He stretched as he got up, “I think this is a wonderful time to call it a night.” He left the room without another word.

  Celia looked up at me when he was gone, “My sister is an oddity. We both are. As are you.” Her words took me by surprise but she continued before I could think of anything to say. “Nothing wrong with it. I’m going to keep pretending that my life is normal though, so ignore any of the nonsense that my sister brings. It’ll be swept out when she leaves.” Setting her work aside, she left the room.

  Not knowing what to think of the strange statement, I took my gloves off and washed my dishes. The kitchen was otherwise clean so with my task done, and gloves back on, I went to bed myself. Her sister was an oddity? The thought circled in my head, frustrating me. She didn’t say it in any sort of mean way, just tired. As if she thought I’d understand right away what she meant, but I didn’t. What did that mean? Eccentric? Magic? Was she implying I was involved with either of those as well? It was hard to say, and meeting her sister was probably the easiest way to find out.

  The next morning I was up and ready by dawn. Downstairs, Celia was already preparing breakfast. There were eggs in a basket, bacon waiting to be fried, and the strong smell of coffee slowly coming from the pot over the fire.

  “You must be up before the sun,” I commented.

  Celia had been staring out the window and turned to look at me. “Oh, um, yes. Couldn’t seem to sleep.” She yawned and stretched out, “The well is just beyond the back if you want to fetch a pitcher of water. Breakfast, then morning chores. Lots to do today.” She stared out the window again. “I think my sister’s going to be early,” she mumbled as she went to check on the coffee.

  Grabbing the pitcher from the table, I made my way outside. The wind was blowing softly as the sun brought soft pinks to the sky. The air smelled of dew and in it there was a feeling of magic. Shrugging it off I continued on with my task. There were likely plenty of people with magic in the area. A nice quiet village didn’t mean there would only be normal people.

  The morning went by swiftly with all the chores at hand. Celia was driven by caffeine and some internal confirmation that her sister would soon arrive. By afternoon, the whirlwind of morning chores were done, but the dust created by the work from the shop gave me new assignments. Not finished with an unseen order in the shop front, Celia sent me out to get some things she needed for dinner. A few of the people in the market recognized me, and I quickly got to know the people Celia most frequently spoke with by answering questions of who I was and where I was staying. With all the extra conversation I was late getting back, and I was worried Celia would have my throat. She didn't notice.

  Surprised, I came to find Celia sound asleep on the sofa. Since she had her neighbor, Mariann, watching the shop I decided it was best for me to start preparing dinner myself. No one had instructed me on how the shop was handled yet, so I thought it was best leave it to someone they trusted with it. Dinner was already going to be a part of my routine, so I began the preparations to cook. We had everything for a nice fish stew and leftover bread made great bowls and proved to be an easy meal. After I diced the veggies and tossed it all with the fish, Celia awoke.

  With a yawn and a nod at me as I finished my task. “Alex should be about done for the day.” The light was already starting to fade, nudging at cooler weather to come.

  As I stirred the stew the words she had spoken last night came back to me. Oddity. She said they were different, and I was too. Letting the stew be, I mulled over the implications once more. Nothing reasonable came to mind, so I continued with the few remaining dinner preparations, humming my favorite tune to myself.

  Dinner was a fairly dull affair. I spoke of those I met at the market. Alex had finished a few commissions and some other one-of-a-kind piec
es and went into great detail about the designs, clients, and the varying parts of each newly completed project. While he primarily made jewelry, his silversmithing did bring in requests for knives, daggers, and other small blades. Celia didn’t say much, but asked plenty of questions to keep the room from getting too quiet. It seemed to me that she had much on her mind, and did not want to discuss any of it.

  After dinner there was more crocheting for Celia, and some reading for Alex. I glanced over the small collection of books and chose one to read for myself once the kitchen was back in order. It was well read and I took great care with it as I began flipping through the dog eared pages and made up my mind to give it a shot. The title was intriguing, Once a Tempest, and I was quickly engrossed in the odd tale.

  Alex went to bed first, barely making it up the stairs with his tired, sluggish pace. I would be surprised if I didn’t find him asleep in the hall with how exhausted he appeared.

  I was going to ask Celia a question, when I felt an odd tingling at the back of my neck. Celia looked past me to the door.

  “I knew she’d be early,” she said while setting her work aside and heading for the door.

  A few moments passed. From my spot I couldn’t see them come in. I turned to hear their voices, talking softly. They were much too hard to hear until they appeared in the doorway.

  Twins. Celia had a twin sister. Magic filled the room.

  Taking in the sight of the twins and the feel of their unmasked power, I noted that the only big difference was that Celia’s sister was slightly taller and had shorter, unkempt hair. I raised an eyebrow at them. “You’ve magic as well then?” I asked both of them. It was strange that I hadn’t felt it before, but if she wasn’t using it or hiding it, how would I know? My skill in picking up those signs wasn’t very well honed and wasn’t one I had considered practicing. Maybe I should reconsider it.

  Celia chuckled and sat on the sofa. Her sister joined her.

  “She often doesn’t mention the twin part, nor the magic,” her sister told me with a smile.

  Celia shrugged. “I speak often of my sister. Not many ask about our age difference and there's rarely a need to bring the magic up.”

  Her sister just shook her head. “I’m Leia. I’m the only healer in the family, so if she mentioned that it wasn’t a lie.”

  Waving off her sister's comment, Celia supplied an answer. “My magic allows me to know what a person is feeling. I can see the good and evil in a person and which is more dominant at any given moment. I can feel someone's emotions without ever seeing them. Being close is enough.”

  “Sounds like fairly noble gifts,” I replied.

  Leia laughed. “They are certainly seen that way now. She forgot to mention the sight. I see the past. She sees the future. Father cast us out, even though it was his fault. He made some sort of pact that caused us to have magic but the terms weren’t horribly against us. For a time, as I’m sure you can understand, we thought they were terrible curses only demons could use. We know better now. They are good gifts, and even better if used wisely.”

  “He cast us out because he knew that we were aware of what he had done. Luckily, he didn’t kill us. There were so many possible futures in that moment,” Celia replied.

  Shrugging it off, Leia glanced at me with interest, “We were taught at the Order as well. If you’re a seasoned wanderer with magic, you’ve been there.”

  “I have.” I wouldn’t deny it to the one who could easily see my past.

  “And what is your magic?” Celia asked.

  “Unlike your oddity…” I said the words directly to Celia, trying to figure out what I wanted to say. I gave up. “I don’t really want to discuss it.”

  Leia looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, “Your past can explain it.”

  “My past is where it should be,” I replied carefully. I was glad they were choosing not to use their gifts and instead respected my privacy.

  “Undoubtedly your future would speak of it as well.” Celia teased.

  “Mages are the worst to have a nice conversation with.” I crossed my arms sternly. I knew they wouldn’t use their magic in that way. They would have already if that were the case.

  After a few moments of silence Celia started on a different track. “We spent almost a decade at the Order.” She mused, picking up and putting away her various mending and crocheting tools.

  “We’ve seen and experienced so much,” Leia continued, focusing her attention on me. I could tell they were trying to convince me to tell my own story. Of course they would likely understand, but I just shook my head at them as they continued. Too much had happened recently and it bit hard at my heart.

  “Gifts,” Celia said, carefully spacing out her words. “Powers not in control. Curses.” Celia smiled. I remembered in that moment that she didn’t need to see the future. She could read my feelings and reactions to the words. That may not be a gift so easily turned off. I had a feeling that she had already learned my secret.

  “Yes, fine. I have a curse.” I held up my arms, and motioned to my appearance. Gloved to the elbow and shirt covering the rest of my arm. No doubt they had seen others like me before at the Order. I closed my eyes and silently fumed for a moment. My cheeks were hot from frustration more than anger. There was no harm in them knowing. Actually, it was probably safer if they did know. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking at them again. It would be more to my advantage if they knew to keep themselves at a reasonable distance.

  “I had a feeling. It was either that or you were hiding some form of deformation.” Celia nodded. “So you’ve learned how to deal with it. That’s a good start.”

  “And the rest needs not be discussed,” I added firmly.

  Leia nodded. “Fair enough. Just one quick question. How sensitive is it?”

  “Not that sensitive,” I sighed, glad they were asking for a simple explanation. “Skin to skin contact is required.”

  Leia decided to leave it at that for now. “It’s been a very long day.” With a yawn she stretched her arms out. Leia got up and glanced at her sister. “Best be off to sleep. I assume you’ll be up with the birds?”

  “And you’ll be up when I throw something at you, as per usual. Sweet dreams, dear sister.” Celia smiled and followed her sister upstairs.

  I felt very uncomfortable with my current situation, but tried to reason with myself. While on the one hand I should be grateful for their quick acceptance and easy understanding, I despised how it was brought about. There was no warning to it being brought up. I wondered if it would have been different if I had known that they were gifted to begin with. Grumpy and slowly growing tired, I grabbed a blanket and fell into an uneasy sleep on the sofa.

  Chapter 9

  In my dreams I saw them all again. Being forced into talking about my ill luck made them resurface. I missed my youth and the ignorance of my curse. I missed the family I lost to death and the family I ran from to save them from the same fate. I missed my second family. My first love and kiss. Depression set in and settled deep in my chest.

  Somehow Celia had managed to get up and start coffee without making a sound. I awoke to its sweet smell and that of eggs just being put on plates for breakfast. I laid there confused for a few moments. How did one move so silently? I wiped the sand from my eyes and considered what would come today. It was hard to say, but it was better to face the day head on rather than let my nightmares resurface by going back to sleep. As I folded the blanket I had used, I pushed back the pictures and thoughts my dreams had brought to the surface. A fresh made bed hopefully would help bring a good start to the day.

  Breakfast was a quiet event. Everyone still seemed tired from the night before. Only the sounds of forks and morning birds could be heard. Not knowing what else to do after, I started on the morning’s chores just like the day before. Just as quick as the day before, it suddenly was afternoon. We sat down to a light meal and then went back to work. Out of nowhere the twins ambushed me
again while I was trying to finish my tasks in the living room.

  “I’d like to know your story. Or what you feel up to speaking about,” Leia said softly.

  The fire boiled within me and I stopped working on the apron I was mending. It wasn’t from anger, and surprisingly it wasn’t from frustration. I was tired. Recent events had left me overwhelmed and I was trying to block them out, but every moment I spent trying to fight against what had happened both years ago and more recently seemed to be bubbling to the surface in a wave of fire. I could feel it latching onto my skin. I could feel her wanting to let her instincts take over and try to fix me. Curses like this couldn’t be fixed with simple healing magic.

  “Please tell us. Maybe we can help you. Our gifts together are capable of so much,” Celia pressed, concern lining her features as she stood in the doorway.

  Sighing, I put my work aside and closed my eyes. “To see into the past you could see what caused this. To see into the future you could see directions to find the answer. You can’t see the answer because it’s not something either of you can solve.” Opening my eyes, I readied myself for their replies. After my time with the Order I had heard those things said over and over.

  “You don’t know that,” Leia began to say.

  I put my hand up to stop her. “What I learned at the Order and from those I once cared for is that my foolish father tried to sell my soul. He didn’t just find some demon to make a wager with. Even better. He found the demon of fire.”

  “Oh,” they said softly together, things clicking into place.

  Low level demons had weaker curses. So it would make sense that there were many types and many strengths of demons for all the varieties of curses out there. My father had made a bargain with the king of fire demons.

  “He lost his life before the bargain could be completed,” I continued. “While it can be something that’s cured, it’s not something that anyone but me can solve. I’ve been told to embrace my curse. Embrace my fire. Aside from it keeping me from freezing to death, I have no idea of how to do this,” I finished. Even after years of trying to figure it out, I was still coming up short.